-
Sunday, 15 July, 2012 Shaban 24, 1433Lahore editionRs 22.00 Vol
iii no 20 19 pages
BISHAMAPP
PRIME Minister Raja PervaizAshraf on Saturday urged op-position
parties to shun differ-ences and come forward tohold free, fair and
transparent
elections in the country.Election is the only process to
reach
the power corridors, the prime ministersaid while addressing a
function after in-augurating 72MW Khankhwar hydropower project in
Bisham town of KhyberPakhtunkhwa. Ashraf said he did not
have differences with any oppositionparty and all should make
collective ef-forts for holding free and fair elections.
He said a consensus chief electioncommissioner had been
appointed be-cause we do not want any hanky panky
in the polling process. The PM said hehad never made any effort
to manipulatethe elections, rather we are victims ofconspiracies.
The prime minister saidthe present government would remain inpower
until God wanted to.
Some people have been giving timeand dates for the departure of
the govern-ment, but all such speculations fizzled outwith the
passage of time, he added. Hesaid no effort should be made to
destabi-lize the government and collective effortswere needed to
steer the country out thecrisis. The prime minister said he
wassincere in establishing cordial relationswith the opposition
parties.
He regretted that dictators ruled thecountry for more than 10
years at a go butno one stopped them from their uncon-stitutional
actions, but an elected govern-ment was unnecessarily being
targeted.He said all hydro power projects, includ-ing Neelum
Jehlum, Dober, Kohala andDasu, would be taken up for overcomingthe
energy crisis.
The future of the country lies inincreasing hydro power
generation,he said, adding that work on the TharCoal project had
already been initi-ated. The prime minister said severalinvestors
had left the country due toundue criticism of independent
powerproducers (IPPs). Ashraf said powercrisis would have worsened
if the IPPswere not put in place. He said the gov-ernment was
focusing on hydropowergeneration projects to produce inexpen-sive
and environment friendly power.
The PM said the demand of powerwas increasing eight to 10
percent annu-ally and this challenge could only be metby plugging
the demand and supply gap.
Govt to raise
POL, CNG prices
by up to Rs 5 ISLAMABAD
Agencies
The government on Saturday decidedto increase the prices of
petroleumproducts and CNG from Re 1 to Rs 5.Per reports, CNG price
is likely to soarby Rs 1.25 per kilogram in region-I andII, which
will push the gas price to Rs71.89 per kg in region-I and Rs
78.62in region-II. According to thePetroleum Ministry, petrol price
willbe increased by Rs 1.41 per liter, LightDiesel by Rs 1.62,
Kerosene Oil by Rs1.94 and High Octane price will beraised by Rs
5.64. The price of HighSpeed Diesel will be retained at thecurrent
level. The notification for thenew prices of petroleum products
willbe issued today (Sunday). Earlier, thegovernment had
substantially slashedPOL prices twice in a month in movescriticized
by many as bids to regainpopularity among the masses ahead ofthe
election. The government had cutpetroleum prices by up to Rs 6.44
perlitre and CNG prices by Rs 4.59 per kgon June 30, and as the
electionsneared, people were expecting POLprices to fall further.
Asked about thePOL price hike, a customer at a CNGfilling station
said it was expected, butnot this soon. I thought they[government]
would stick to theirdecision of keeping POL prices low,but its sad
they could not sustain thelittle good they did, he said.
g Ashraf says elections only
way to come into powerg Future of country lies in
increasing hydro-power
generation
Quotas for youth:PML-Ns panaceain a PTI pinch
LAHOREUmAir Aziz
The newly-proposed legislation to benefitthe youth and
technocrats in the newly-proposed Punjab Local Government Act,2012
currently in the Punjab Assembly is said to be politically
motivated, andwithout any provision in the constitution,Pakistan
Today has learnt.The prime mover, sources privy to thedevelopment
reveal, is the Punjabsincumbent political dispensation newly-formed
strategy to woo the youth andtechnocrats with an eye on the
forthcomingelections. The mouthwatering carrot of thereserved seats
is meant to engage thesetwo fast emerging voting niches before
theelections because these vast urbansegments have the potential to
swing theelections for the PTI at the PML-Nsdetriment. The
beleaguered PPP and itscoalition partners in the federalgovernment
are currently being hammeredby most political opponents and
analystsover a brace of politically motivatedlegislation. By no
means is the practice isthe exclusive preserve of the PPP. ThePML-N
too has a history of indulging itselfwith gay abandon, finding
justification ingarnering selfish ends even when meansare far
removed from justified.Last month Shahbaz Sharif presided over
thecabinet meeting, which approved the draftlaw of the Punjab Local
Government Act2012. The meeting also proposed four-yeartenure for
the local governments, besidesrestoring offices of mayor, deputy
mayor andchairman replacing the Nazimate introducedby Gen
Musharraf. Addressing the cabinet,the high-sounding CM had termed
the newsystem more in tune with the modern age,closer to the
aspirations of masses and thepromotion of democratic process. He
furtherallocated five percent quota for the youth togive effective
representation to the youngergeneration in the decision-making
process.Special seats have also been reserved forwomen, minorities,
farmers and workers togive due representation to all segments ofthe
society. The draft bill also sets an agelimit of 21 years to 25
years and a minimumqualification of Masters degree for the
youngcouncilors. Sources in the governmentexpressed their
reservations on setting this asthe minimum qualification, which was
noteven required for the countrys superiorservices. However, the
legal experts confidedto the scribe that the matter of
qualificationand age limit is secondary. The primaryissue is that
the constitution does not providefor the reserved seats for
technocrats andyouth, while it backs minorities, women andpeasant
seats in the supreme document.There is always a rationale in the
provisionsof the constitution; women, minorities andpeasants have
been mentioned there, butquota for the youth and technocrats has
sospace, said a senior legal expert, seekinganonymity.The legal
experts are of the opinion thateven if the Punjab Assembly passes
the bill,it will still remain challengeable in courts,which can
strike it down. Interestinglyagain Punjab would be the first
province tohave a special quota for the youth in localbodies, which
according to the critics is anattempt to sneak into the PTI
chairmanImran Khans overwhelming influence onthe youth. The PML-N
senator PervaizRasheed however said the government hasonly decided
to present the draft bill in thePunjab Assembly, which has a
strongopposition, which will grill the bill beforepassing it, and
in the process highlight ifanything is against the constitution
afterwhich the PA will decide a way out. To aquestion, Rasheed said
the cabinet has justgiven approval to present the draft bill inthe
assembly.
BAlochistAN shuts dowN oN ANP strike cAll
BAlochistAN shuts dowN oN ANP strike cAll
QUETTAAgencies
A shutter-down strike wasobserved across Balochistan onSaturday
on a call given by theAwami National Party (ANP)against Fridays
bomb attack onits rally. Meanwhile, at least 10workers of the ANP
were injuredwhen unidentified gunmenopened fire at a party
gatheringat Quettas Zarghoon Road.Following the strike call,
commercial areas and otherbusiness centers of Quetta,including
Liaquat Bazaar,Jinnah Road and Abdus SattarRoad remained closed and
lessthan routine traffic waswitnessed plying the roads. TheANP also
announced three-daymourning over the terroristattack on its rally
in which sixpeople were killed. There was asecurity high alert put
in placeacross the city, with securityagencies patrolling around
the
city to avert any untowardsituation. The strike was alsoobserved
in Pishin, Kochlak andChaman.Expressing grief over thekillings and
condemning theKochlak massacre,Pakhtunkhwa Mili Awami
Party,Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), JamiatUlema-e-Islam-Fazl
(JUI-F),Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI)and Anjuman Tajiran
alsoannounced complete backing forthe strike.
10 hurt in firing on ANP workers in Quetta
PM offers olive branchto Opp for free, fair polls
Continued on page 04
LHR 15-07-2012_Layout 1 7/15/2012 5:45 AM Page 1
-
02Sunday, 15 July, 2012
News
Todays
LookQuick
NeWS
Story on Page 05
WorLd vieW
Story on Page 17
cartooN
Page 11
Decision to be made after consultations with allies: khosa the
strange case of Jonathan Pollard
Contempt law challengedin SCs Lahore RegistryLAHORE: The
recently approved contempt law has beenchallenged in the Lahore
Registry of the Supreme Court on Saturday.Petitioner Barrister
Zafarullah stated that the new contempt law wasa conspiracy to
limit powers exercised by the judiciary and anattempt to amend the
constitution. However, the new prime ministerwill be tried under
the contempt law of 2003 and not the new one, asthe action was
initiated on the National Reconciliation Ordinance(NRO) case under
the law of 2003. APP
Two soldiers killedin SWA clashesWANA: Two soldiers were killed
and several others were injured inclashes with militants in Baddar
village of South Waziristans Ladhatehsil on Saturday.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesmanIhsanullah Ihsan claimed
that the clashes were continuing betweenthe security forces and the
militants in Baddar since Friday night inwhich two soldiers were
killed and several others were injured so far.However, the ISPR has
not issued any statement about the clashes. inP
Nine killed as bus, truckcollide near JampurAt least nine
people, including three women, were killed on Saturdaywhen a bus
carrying pilgrims collided with a truck in Dera Ghazi Khan,a
private TV channel reported. Dozens of people were
reportedlyinjured in the crash. The accident took place on Indus
Highway nearJampur tehsil of DG Khan. According to police, the bus
was heading toHafizabad from Sehwan Sharif when it hit a truck head
on, leavingnine people dead and several others injured. monitoring
Desk
Eight Gujrat attack suspectsarrested in GujranwalaGujRANWALA:
Law enforcement agencies on Saturday arrestedeight more suspects
involved in the army camp attack in Wazirabad.According to
officials, the police along with intelligence personnelcarried out
a joint operation in the Peoples Colony and Amainabadarea of
Gujranwala and arrested eight suspects from politico-religiousand
outlawed outfits. The police said that these fresh arrests
werecarried out on information gathered through interrogation from
thosealready in custody. They were shifted to an undisclosed place
forfurther investigation of the Gujrat attack incident. The
operation waslaunched in areas surrounding the Chenab, following a
terrorist attackon an army camp at the river bank. Sources said
that the countryspremier intelligence and other agencies were
actively working on thecase and the role of local police had been
marginalised. Agencies
Women honourably killed jHANG/ FAISALABAD: Two women were killed
in the name ofhonour in two separate incidents on Saturday. A young
girl Sumera,daughter of Ghulam Murtaza, was shot dead in the
jurisdiction ofGarh police station, Faisalabad, by Nasir Ali,
resident of ChakNo.549-GB, and others on suspicion of having an
affair. Anotherwoman in Jhang was electrocuted by three persons, in
thejurisdiction of Satellite Town police station. The police
reported thatMuhammad Ramazan, a resident of Basti Bajaywali,
reported topolice that Yaqoob along with two others barged into his
house lastnight and killed his niece Saira Bibi. Agencies
LONDONnni
PAKISTAN Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif
hasaccused Pakistan Peoples Partys coali-tion partners of doing the
politics ofvested interests.Addressing a press conference on
Satur-day, the former prime minister also ac-
cused the PPP and its allies ofdestroying Pakistan. He said
those
who backed off from their promisesof giving evidence to the
Scotland
Yard had changed their positionsand they were unfit to run
the
country, an obvious referenceto Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
Chairman Imran Khan.Khan had said he wouldprovide the London
Po-lice with evidence againstthe Muttahida Qaumi
Movement. Nawaz said hehad sacrificed his govern-
ment in Sindh for law and order and over the murderof Hakim
Muhammad Saeed in Karachi. He said heshould be given credit of good
work that he carried outduring his stint as the prime minister of
Pakistan. ThePML-N constructed airports; made Pakistan an
atomicpower and finished unemployment from the country.There was no
existence of terrorism in my tenure, hesaid. The former prime
minister said he had built themotorway where fighter planes like
JF-17 Thunder andF-16 could land and take off, signed deal for the
JF-17Thunder project, invited Indian prime minister, elimi-nated
unemployment and was about to eliminatepoverty when his government
was toppled by thosewho were against development. He said 70
percent ofload shedding should have been ended by the govern-ments
in its four years of rule. The PML-N presidentsaid he considered
party workers a priceless asset.Nawaz said long marches were
obvious, as generalelections were nearing. He said he was blamed
forbeing a friendly opposition, but said friendly oppo-sitions did
not stage long marches. He accused Pres-ident Asif Ali Zardari of
violating the Charter ofDemocracy (COD) signed by him and PPPs
latechairperson Benazir Bhutto. Nawaz said ShahbazSharif had show
exceptional performance in Punjab.
Govt, allies doing politicsof vested interests: Nawazg PML-N
chief says he should be given credit of good work as prime
minister
DPc long marchsets off for chamanto save Pakistan
QUETTAshAhzADA zUlfiqAr
The Difa-e-Pakistan Council on Saturday kicked off itsmarch from
Quetta to Chaman against thegovernments move to restore NATO
supplies throughPakistan, with only a few DPC figures leading the
rally.Maulana Samiul Haq, Maulana Amir Hamza, HafizFazal Muhammad
Bareach, Maulana AurangzaibFarooqi, Maulana Qadir Luni and Abdul
Kabeer Shakirparticipated in the march. A large number of
peoplehailing from various religious parties took part in thelong
march. After a few speeches at Meezan Chowk inQuetta, the
procession set off for Kochlak town on themain Quetta-Chaman
highway to address anotherpublic meeting. The participants stopped
at Kuchlakand Yaro where Maulana Samiul Haq and otherleaders
addressed the people. The sole purpose of thislong march is to
safeguard Pakistans frontiers becausethe US is now focusing on
Pakistan after targetingAfghanistan, Haq said, adding that the US
wasinvolved in the ongoing unrest in Pakistan, particularlyin
Balochistan. He said by participating in the rally, thepeople of
Balochistan had proved that they were truePakistanis and lovers of
Islam. Haq said the rulers hadgiven priority to the US by restoring
NATO suppliesagainst the wishes of the people and disrespected
themasses as well as parliament. The DPC leader said theforum would
adopt all peaceful means to stop NATOsupplies via Pakistan, as
blocking NATO supplies wasindispensable for the security of the
court.
LHR 15-07-2012_Layout 1 7/15/2012 5:45 AM Page 2
-
03Sunday, 15 July, 2012
NewseditoriaLUntimely
coMMeNt
articles on Page 14
NABs reopening of cases against Sharifs
humayun gauhar says;Small men: We know well what happens to them
when given power
saad rasool says; Conflicted from within: And no, Ababeel dont
show up anymore
artS & eNtertaiNMeNt
Story on Page 12
buSiNeSS
Story on Page 18
SPortS
Story on Page 15
sylvestor stallones son found dead sorry brother Pakistan, your
wheats bad quality: iran Pakistan want Drs for all intl matches
PESHAWARstAff rePort
OPPOSING the re-sumption of NATOsupplies on Saturday,Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaaf Chairman
Imran Khan said the decision wascontrary to the wishes and
expecta-tions of the people of the country.
Addressing a large sit-in on GTRoad, Khan said, The nation
isagainst the war on terror as it isAmericas war.
The sit-in was arranged toprotest the resumption NATO sup-plies
and it was participated by PTIworkers and stalwarts from all
overthe province and the Tribal Areas.
Amidst sizzling heat, thousands
of PTI workers poured in Peshawarfrom all over the region and
stageda sit-in on the main GT Road. PTIworkers chanted slogans
against thegovernment and demanded an endto all sorts of relations
with theUnited States.
Khan said Pakistan and its peo-ple did not have any concern
withthe war on terror as it is Americaswar. Pakistan must
disassociate it-self from it without any delay.
Khan said the US was only inter-ested in safeguarding of its own
in-terests in this region, adding that itwas not with terrorism,
militancy oreven human rights.
The PTI chief said the entire na-tion had insisted on linking
therestoration of NATO supply routeswith an end to the US drone
strikes
but it was astonishing that withoutensuring that, the government
hadallowed supplies to NATO troopscamping across the border
inAfghanistan. Khan said all US dronevictims were Pakistani
nationals.There are no foreigners, he said,demanding the government
take outa list of the names of the victims ofdrone strikes.
Leveling corruption allegationsagainst the government, Khan
saidbillions of rupees were embezzledevery day. He said right from
thepresident to the common worker ofthe ruling party, all are
involved incorruption and malpractices.
Khan said the ANP leadershiphad also broken all records of
cor-ruption in joining hands with AsifAli Zardari.
Reaffirming his support to thechief justice of Pakistan,
Khanwarned of staging what he called atsunami rally in Islamabad
ifsomeone jeopardised the sanctity ofthe Supreme Court. He said the
gov-ernment needed to obey all direc-tives of the Supreme
Courtotherwise it would lose its right toremain in power.
Khan said the PTI was deter-mined to make a new Pakistanwhere
people enjoyed equal rightsand privileges without any
discrimi-nation, adding that the PTI wasgoing to set up
organizations for thepropose.
He said the PTI would lead ajirga to Waziristan by the end
ofSeptember to ensure the return ofpeace to the region.
govt trampled peoples wishes
on naTo supplies, says imrang PTI chief says Pakistan must
disassociate itself from Americas war on terror
NEWS DESK
Islamic groups in Pakistan were initially hos-tile to cable TV
because of concerns aboutobscene foreign imports, but religion
nowdominates the airwaves. A new breed of Is-
lamic TV evangelist has emerged, leading toa confrontation with
liberals, according to areport in the BBC.
On any day of the week, television inPakistan is a potent
cocktail of soap operas,fiery political debate and, increasingly,
pop-Islam. This last strand of programming hasa set format. Viewers
call up to ask questionsabout Islamic rulings on everything
fromhair removal to ethical mortgages. The an-chors - part
celebrity, part religious leaders -dish out bite-size fatwas
(theological rulings)for audiences with a seemingly insatiable
ap-petite for religion on TV. Controversy hassurrounded many of
these programmes andthe pious presenters that front them.
Farhat Hashmi has been accused of em-bezzling funds from her
television show andfleeing to Canada to avoid prosecution,
al-though she denies any wrongdoing. AndMehar Bukhari, known for
her political in-terviews, sparked outrage by declaring the
politician she was speaking to was a heretic.Another mullah
clashed with a Bollywoodactress on live television after
condemningher behaviour - that clip subsequently be-came a viral
hit. But the best-known of all theTV evangelists is Dr Amir Liaqat.
From aglossy television studio above a parade ofrun-down shops in
Karachi, he had an audi-ence of millions for Alim aur Alam, a
liveone-hour show that went out five days aweek across
Pakistan.
The programme allowed Dr Liaqat toplay the role of a religious
Agony Uncle,remedying the religious dilemmas of his au-dience. In
September 2008, Liaqat dedi-cated an entire episode to exploring
thebeliefs of the Ahmedis, a Muslim sect whichhas been declared as
un-Islamic by muchof the orthodoxy. In it, two scholars said
thatanyone who associated with false prophetswas worthy of
murder.
Dr Khalid Yusaf, an Ahmedi Muslim,
watched the programme with his family, andsays he was shocked
that a mainstreamchannel would broadcast this kind of mate-rial.
They talked about murder as a religiousduty. A duty for good
Muslims.
Within 24 hours of the broadcast, aprominent member of the
Ahmedi commu-nity was shot dead in the small town of Mir-pur Kass.
Twenty-four hours later KhalidYusafs father, another Ahmedi
communityleader, was killed by two masked gunmen.
Liaqat has distanced himself from theshootings. I have no
regrets because it hasnothing to do with me, he says. Im hurt
bywhat happened and Im sorry for the familiesbut it has nothing to
do with me or anythingthat was said on my programme.
Although Liaqat attracted some criti-cism within the comment
pages of Pakistansbroadsheets, the Ahmedi incident hasntdamaged his
career. Hes being paid to en-dorse a brand of cooking oil and hes
soon to
launch his debut album of religious songs.He continues to
present his television showand has this month returned to his old
chan-nel Geo, one of the most popular networksin Pakistan.
PEMRA, the Pakistan Electronic MediaRegulatory Authority, is a
government or-ganisation entrusted with policing the na-tions TV
channels. One of their stated aimsis to stop the broadcast of
programmes thatpromote communal and sectarian attitudesand
disharmony.
Critics have branded the organisation astoothless after they
failed to take any actionagainst Liaqat. PEMRAs general managersaid
he didnt want to speak about the regu-lation of religious
broadcasters as it would belike starting a fire.
But not everyone in Pakistan believesthat theres a problem with
television evan-gelists. Liaqat says these programmes haveappeal
because they educate. I want tospread a message of love. Despite
all the con-troversy I am still here and audiences loveme because
people want to learn about reli-gion. Thats why people watch these
pro-grammes. People want to learn.
The rise of The TelevangelisTs
PESHAWARstAff rePort
Expressing severe resentment over theincreasing confrontation
between theexecutive and judiciary, JamiatUlema-e-Islam-Fazl chief
FazlurRehman on Saturday called it harmfulto the very interests of
the country andthe democratic process.
Conspiracies are being hatchedagainst democracy, Fazl said
whileaddressing a function arranged byJUI-F in Peshawar on
Saturday. Hesaid the conspiracies against the dem-ocratic process
could be averted byholding of early elections. Fazl, how-ever, said
for such a purpose, under-standing was essential between
thegovernment and opposition. Referringto ongoing hostilities
between the ju-diciary and government, Fazl said,Affairs are
getting personal, addingthat the judiciary had become aparty.
The JUI-F chief suggested the ju-diciary remain impartial.
Welcomingthe appointment of Justice (r)
Fakharuddin G Ebrahim as the chiefelection commissioner, Fazl
said, Itcould be hard for the CEC to under-
stand the election complications atthis stage.
He, however, said he desired im-partial and transparent
elections. Re-garding extraordinary activism on partof certain
religious-politico groups, hesaid, Secret agencies are
patronizingthe groups involved in sectarian vio-lence. He said the
agencies were uti-lizing these groups for meeting itsnefarious
designs. Fazl accused the es-tablishment of creating hurdles forhis
party, saying, The reason is clear,JUI-Fs reluctance to toe its
(agencies)line. He said the JUI-F was capable ofgetting rid of its
rivals, but fighting theestablishment was very hard. Ex-pressing
disappointment with the per-formance of the present government,Fazl
said all policies and decisionswere still made by corps
commandersrather then governors and chief min-isters. He said
supplies to NATO hadresumed, but the US still continued toconduct
drone strikes.
New CEC cant apprehend election complexities in this age:
Fazl
Man buries newborn daughteralive in KhanewalKHANEWAL: A man
buried alive his newly borndaughter in the Kacha Koh area of
Khanewaldistrict for being handicapped, police and witnessessaid.
Chand Khan, a father of five daughters, had asixth daughter the
other day, who wasunfortunately handicapped. Hospital sources
saidKhan had insisted the doctors poison his daughter,but the
doctors refused to do so. Later, Khan tookthe newborn from the
hospital to his village andannounced that his daughter was born
dead. Heasked a local cleric to offer the funeral prayers, butas
the prayers were in process, the child startedcrying, taking the
villagers aback. Khanimmediately made away with his daughter. Later
atnight, Khan went to a nearby graveyard and buriedthe child alive.
Residents informed the police of theincident, who arrested the
culprit and registered acase against him under Sections 301 and
302. Policehave moved a plea in the sessions court forexhumation of
the childs body. Agencies
PESHAWAR: PakistanTehreek-e-InsafChairman Imran Khanaddresses a
protestrally againstreopening of NATOsupply routes onSaturday.
STAFF PhoTo
LHR 15-07-2012_Layout 1 7/15/2012 5:45 AM Page 3
-
04Sunday, 15 July, 2012
News
ISLAMABADonline
MISAPPROPRI-A T I O N S ,frauds, lossesand thefts havebeen
un-
earthed in the Pakistan Postcaused a loss of Rs 69.744million to
the national ex-chequer.
The auditor general ofPakistan in its report has re-vealed 97
cases of deflectionsand losses during 2003-04for which no
disciplinary ac-tion was taken by the admin-
istration. These cases wereneither reported to the auditat the
time of their occur-rence nor had the process torecover the amount
been ini-tiated. The administrative ac-tion against the
delinquentswas also slowed down.
The repot said under Ar-ticle 24 of Posts, Telegraphsand
Telephones Initial Ac-count Code Vol-1 Losses andFrauds were
required to bereported to audit offices onoccurrence even if the
losshad been made good but de-spite that the PPO adminis-tration
favoured the officials
involved. It has been also saidthat in cases of fraud,
embez-zlement or similar offences,departmental proceedingsshould be
instituted at theearliest but nothing had beendone. The DAC in its
meetingheld on February 4, 2006 haddirected the management
toexpedite action to be taken atthe departmental level in allsuch
cases. The managementof Pakistan Post has directedby the Public
Accounts Com-mittee to hold an inquiry intoit and give a report
regardingall the irregularities with inq0 days to the
committee.
BISHAMAgencies
Prime Minister Raja PervezAshraf on Saturday launchedJuly 2012
anti-polio cam-paign and vowed to eradicatethe crippling disease
fromthe country.
The prime ministerkicked off the three-day drivefrom July 16-18
by adminis-tering anti-polio vaccine tosix children at the Civil
Dis-pensary, Shung. He was ac-companied by Minister forWater and
Power ChaudhryAhmad Mukhtar, Special As-sistant to PM on Polio
Eradi-cation Begum Shahnaz WazirAli and Pakistan Baitul
MaalChairman Zamurd Khan.
The July 2012 anti-poliodrive will target over 34 mil-lion
children across the coun-try, with particular focus on
5.12 million minors in KhyberPakhtunkhwa and the Feder-ally
Administered TribalAreas (FATA). Ashraf said hewas personally
monitoringthe implementation of aug-mented emergency responseaction
to control polio.
He said the federal gov-ernment had recently re-leased an amount
of Rs 35.15million for strengtheningunion councils polio
eradica-tion committees at the rate ofRs 10,000 per union
councilfor each campaign. He said16,795 teams would adminis-ter
oral anti-polio drops tochildren in KhyberPakhtunkhwa. Ashraf
saidthe government was aware ofreported cases of polio insome parts
of the country,adding that special steps hadbeen taken to vaccinate
thechildren in FATA.
Five gunneddown inbalochistanviolence
QUETTAstAff rePort
At least five people weregunned down in variousincidents in
Balochistan onSaturday. A couple was killedin the name of honour
inDhadar area of Bolandistrict. Levies officials saidAbdul Fateh
killed his sisterand her alleged paramour,Barkat Ali, in Nafari
area forhaving illicit relations. Fatehfled the scene
aftercommitting the crime. Thebodies were taken to anearby hospital
for autopsy.The officials registered a caseand started
investigations.Meanwhile, unidentifiedarmed men tried to snatch
amotorcycle from Abdul Kabirin Sabzal Road area. Whenhe resisted,
the assailantsfired at him and took awaywith the motorbike.
Kabirwas critically injured andsuccumbed to injuries on theway to
hospital.
NEW DELHIinP
Former Indian minister andMP Shashi Tharoor, says thatthere is a
systematic effort toshield the perpetrators of theMumbai terror
attack, but itis in our interest to havepeace with Pakistan,
becausedevelopment was not possiblewith troubled borders.
There is an element ofconnivance with the
Pakistaniestablishment, as revealed byDavid Headley and now
AbuJundal, which hasnt beendealt with convincingly by thePakistani
authorities, saidTharoor to Indian media.
However, he said, therewas a realistic case for Indiato make
peace with Pakistan.Its in our interest to havepeace with Pakistan.
We haveaspirations for ourselves andour people which are
notcompatible with hostility with
Pakistan. We wont be able tofocus on development if wehave
troubled borders, hesaid. Tharoor, an MP fromThiruvananthapuram,
and aformer UN official, was min-ister of state for external
af-fairs when Indias relationswith Pakistan were severelystrained
after the 26/11 at-tacks and dialogue betweenthe two countries was
frozen.
Tharoor attributes thedismal state of India-Pakistanrelations,
and the slow paceof 26/11 justice to the stran-glehold of Pakistans
military-dominated establishment.There are elements in Pak-istan
who dont want peacewith India, because it will de-stroy their
excessive claim toinfluence. Pakistan will not bea
military-dominated state ifthe military cant persuadethe country
that there is athreat from India, he said.
In his new book, Pax In-
dica: India and the World ofthe 21st Century, Tharoorwrites: The
central problembedevilling the relationshipbetween the two
sub-conti-nental neighbours is not, asPakistani propagandists
liketo suggest, Kashmir, butrather the nature of the Pak-istani
state itself - specifically,the stranglehold over Pakistanof the
worlds most lavishlyfunded military (in terms ofpercentage of
national re-sources and GDP consumedby any army on the planet).
Pitching for multi-align-ment as New Delhis model ofdiplomacy in
a multi-polar 21stcentury world, Tharoor hasused the metaphor of
the world-wide web in Pax Indica to de-scribe how India can juggle
aseries of networked relation-ships to realise its foreign
policygoals for the larger overarchinggoal of domestic
transformationand national renaissance.
NEW DELHIAgencies
India has assured Pakistanthat it will consider liftingthe ban
on Pakistanitelevision channels in thecountry.Foreign Secretary
JalilAbabs Jilani proposed lastweek that India not onlyallow
transmission of PTV,but also private Pakistanichannels, both news
andnon-news. Jilani said thatall Indian TV channels areavailable in
Pakistan, andIslamabad has donenothing to imposerestrictions on
theirtelecast. During talksbetween the two countrieslast week,
Pakistanis toldthe Indian delegation, ledby Foreign SecretaryRanjan
Mathai, that if Indiawants to spruce up people-to-people contact,
it mustallow Pakistani channels tobe broadcast in Indian
homes. He recalled thepopularity of PTVs soapslike Deewarein,
Waris andJungle in the 1980s, inIndia, saying that
currentprogrammes on Pakistanichannels have the potentialto become
as popular.The delegation was assuredby their Indiancounterparts
that they willlook positively at theproposal although thematter
will first have to bediscussed by theInformation andBroadcasting
ministries inboth countries, as PTVsanti- India campaign inthe past
over internalissues, including Jammuand Kashmir, has been aconcern.
India and Pakistanare looking at signing anMoU for promotion of
artsand culture, during the visitof Foreign Minister SMKrishna to
Pakistan in earlySeptember. The two sidesare expected to
further
hasten the groundwork forKrishnas visit as Pakistanshigh
commissioner-designate Salman Bashir,finally presented
hiscredentials before PresidentPratibha Patil and assumedfull
charge after weeks ofwaiting. As a former foreignsecretary, Bashir
wasinstrumental in bringingties back on track after thehiatus
caused by 26/11attacks.During the talks, both sidesunderlined the
importanceof greater people-to-peoplecontacts and friendlyexchanges
in building arelationship of trust andfriendship between the
twocountries. They emphasisedthe importance of greaterparliamentary
exchanges;promotion of cooperation invarious fields
includingfacilitating visits to religiousshrines and cessation
ofhostile propaganda againsteach other.
Misappropriations inPakistan Post resultedin loss of Rs 67m
PM launches nationwideanti-polio drive to leave forSaudi arabia
today
ISLAMABAD: PrimeMinister Raja Pervaiz Ashrafwill leave the
country today(Sunday) for a two-dayofficial visit of Saudi
Arabia.During the visit, the PM willhold a meeting with SaudiKing
Abdullah bin AbdulAziz and perform Umrah.Saudi Arabias Ambassadorto
Pakistan Dr Abdul AzizIbrahim bin Saleh Al-Ghadeer said the
meetingbetween the two leaders hasbeen planned for Mondayand Prime
Minister Ashrafwill perform Umrah onSunday. He said that
PrimeMinister Ashraf woulddiscuss important issues,including
bilateral relationsbetween the two Islamicstates, regional
andinternational affairs with theSaudi king during themeeting.
oNLINe
Peace with Pakistan inIndias best interest,says Shashi
Tharoor
India might reverse banon Pakistani channels
lAhore: An elderly woman holds a photograph of her missing
relative during a protest outside the lahore high court on
saturday.
MIAMIAfP
A US federal judgesentenced an Uzbek man tomore than 15 years
inprison Friday on terror andweapons charges forthreatening to kill
USPresident Barack Obama,US prosecutors said.Ulugbek Kodirov, 22,
wassentenced to 15 years andeight months in prison forproviding
material supportto terrorism, threatening tokill the president
andpossession of a firearm byan illegal alien, they said ina
statement.Kodirov, who entered theUnited States on a valid visabut
later was in the countryillegally, will be deported toUzbekistan
after hecompletes the sentence, thestatement said. This casehas a
happy ending Kodirov is going to prisonfor more than 15 years andno
one was hurt, said USAttorney Joyce WhiteVance.Kodirov was arrested
onJuly 13, 2011, at a motel inAlabama, after attempting
to buy explosives and gunsfrom an undercover agent.He pleaded
guilty to allcharges in February.As part of his pleaagreement
withprosecutors, Kodirovadmitted he hadcommunicated with asuspected
member of theIslamic Movement ofUzbekistan identified onlyas the
Emir whosuggested that he killObama.The US State Departmentlists
the Islamic Movementof Uzbekistan as a foreignterrorist
organization. Thiscase demonstrates thecontinuing threat posed
byviolent extremists in thiscountry and how lawenforcement works
togetherto neutralize such plots,said the DOJs assistantattorney
general forNational Security, LisaMonaco.Kodirov entered the
UnitedStates from Uzbekistan inJune 2009 on a student visathat was
revoked in April2010 after he failed toenroll in school. But he
didnot leave the United States.
uncontrollable woman of-
floaded from London flight ISLAMABAD: A woman was offloaded from
a plane aftershe went berserk on board an airplane at
BenazirInternational Airport on Saturday. According to a private
TVchannel, Pakistani British Shameen Raza began to run amokwhile
she was on board a London-bound flight of PakistanInternational
Airlines (PIA) before its takeoff. The staffers atthe plane
offloaded her and handed her to Airport SecurityForce (ASF).
According to the ASF officials, the woman wasmentally disturbed.
After she was taken off the plane, thewoman went on a rampage at
the international arrivalcounter and smashed glasses there.
oNLINe
Forklift collides with Pia
plane at Milan airportKARACHI: A forklift collided with a PIA
plane at MilanAirport, after which the plane has been grounded, a
PIAspokesman said. According to the spokesman, the forkliftcollided
with flight PK-749, during shifting of cargo at Milanairport. 169
passengers of the flight were due to land in Paris,but have been
shifted to a hotel, he added. INP
Monsoon spell to continue LAHORE: The Meteorological Department
has announcedon Saturday that more showers are expected in
Punjab,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Kashmir. Heavy rains areexpected
in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore,Sargodha, Faisalabad,
Kashmir and upper and lower parts ofKP. Rain is also forecasted for
the coastal areas of Sindh andBalochistan in the next 24 hours.
Showers are also expectedfor the Gilgit and Baltistan region. The
highest temperaturein the country was recorded at 47 degrees in
Dilbadayn. INP
Uzbek man jailed in USover plot to kill Obama
LHR 15-07-2012_Layout 1 7/15/2012 5:45 AM Page 4
-
Sunday, 15 July, 2012
05
MULTANonline
THE decision regarding writing theletter to the Swiss
authorities willbe made after consultation withcoalition partners,
Punjab Gover-nor Latif Khosa said on Saturday.
Addressing PPP office bearers, workers,and reporters at the
Circuit House, the gov-ernor said the PPP government would con-vene
a meeting of the cabinet members of thecoalition partners in which
the decisionwould be made on whether or not to write theletter to
the Swiss.
Later under the direction and decisionof the cabinet, the
government will put for-ward its stance on the issue in the
SupremeCourt, he said. Khosa said the people and theconstitution of
Pakistan gave protection andimmunity to all presidents of the
country in-cluding President Asif Ali Zardari.
We do not intend to present our presi-dent to a third-class
magistrate abroad,moreover, it will be a disgrace to the country,he
added. He said the PPP governmentwanted to establish a new Seriaki
province forthe people of South Punjab and in this regard,President
Zardari had directed National As-sembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza to
form a 14-
member committee, adding now its the re-sponsibility of the
speaker and the Senatechairman.
Criticising the judges of the SupremeCourt, Khosa said they had
dual standards, ason the one hand, the age of retirement of apublic
servant was 60 while a judge of the SCwas 65-year-old. They are
also not replyingto the Public Accounts Committee regardingtheir
financial matters, he added.
The governor said the Sharif brothers didnot have a democratic
attitude and theyneeded to improve their political skills.
We gave the Punjab government to theSharif brothers as a
donation, Khosa said.
LetteR tO the SwiSS
Decision to be made after consultations with allies: Khosag
Punjab governor says Punjab government was given to Sharif brothers
as donation
Veteran journalistMahmood Hamdanipasses away
ISLAMABADstAff rePort
Veteran journalist Mahmood Hamdanibreathed his last early
Saturdaymorning here at a local hospital. He had stopped eating for
the pastsome days and had been sufferingfrom dehydration. His son
Aliadmitted him at PIMS for treatmenton Wednesday night where the
doctorsdetected a kidney problem. Heunderwent a dialysis but could
notrecover. During his long professionalcareer, Mr Hamdani served
in variouscapacities including Resident EditorThe Nation,
Islamabad. Later, he joined Pakistan Today as amember of its
founding team atIslamabad. He was also an activist forjournalistic
rights and was a very vocalunion leader. Being a leftist,
heremained an activist for the rights ofworking journalists. His
funeral prayers were offered onSaturday evening at his
ancestralvillage, Bahter, near Fateh Jang, alocality in the south
of Taxila.
SRINAGARAgencies
The horrendous tales of torture andmass graves in Kashmir
brought tolight by British media few days agohave received a
positive feedbackfrom Kashmiri citizens and mediaprofessionals in
particular.
Two popular media outlets in UK,The Guardian and Channel 4,
pub-lished an article and aired a documen-tary, talking about
Kashmir being oneof the most under reported conflictson earth.
This has probably happened forthe first time in the history of
mediareportage on the Kashmir conflict,that foreign media has come
out onthe Kashmir issue, with the big brassof UK media tweeting
their views onthe conflict.
However, a leading national dailyquestioned the very credibility
ofthese reports, sensing that UKs mediamight be running propaganda
againstIndia. The report in the national dailysays, The lacuna in
the programme,though, was that no neutral party, letalone
authorities in J&K or at theCentre were given an opportunity
toexpress their point of view. Strangely,the production team was in
the Kash-
mir valley at the time of last yearsstone-pelting incidents in
which overa hundred youths were killed. Thereare questions being
asked whetherthey were tipped off by those whoplanned the
demonstrations.
Internationally acclaimed journal-ists, on the other hand, are
all for UKmedias new found support for theKashmir issue.
Jon Snow, a popular anchor withChannel 4 says, Utterly MUST
SEEFILM on one of the most under re-ported conflicts on earth:
KashmirsTorture Trail, 11.10pm, Tuesday, C4:
Tony Smith, a video journalistwith BBC news, shares his
experience,Did this story 18 yrs ago (and won anAmnesty gong). Sad
its still goingon.
Kashmiri born London basedjournalist and author of The
Collabo-rator, Mirza Waheed opines, Watch-ing Kashmirs Torture
Trail onChannel 4; devastating, damning evi-dence of widespread
torture by Indianforces. A sad, sad night.
Jonathan Miller, Foreign AffairsCorrespondent with Channel 4
Newssays, Award-winning documentaryteam brings us grim tidings
fromunder-reported Kashmir tonight.Kashmirs Torture Trail.
On July 10, UKs leading newspa-per, The Guardian ran an
extensivestory on the mysterious disappear-ances, custodial
killings and subse-quent disclosure of mass graves inKashmir that
took place since theeruption of violence in late 80s.
These series of reports have alsopitched national media against
inter-national media, with a leading na-tional daily blaming
reportage byUKs media, as being biased and nottaking into account
stories from theIndian administration and Securityforces into
consideration.
The backlash does not end there.Kashmir based media personnel
arealso expressing their opinions as towhy national media is
discrediting in-ternational reportage on Kashmir.
What is wrong with human rightsissues being brought to the
surface,and if famed journalists are talkingabout it? For so many
years, thesevoices have been muzzled and Indianmedia has decided to
choose non-se-rious issues over human rights viola-tions in
Kashmir. If they are nowsensing UKs current reportage onKashmir as
a part of propaganda, thenthat has been their problem fordecades. a
Kashmiri journalist wish-ing anonymity expressed.
UK medias coverageon Kashmir HR abuseevokes massive response
qUettA: Difa-e-Pakistan council chairman maulana samiul haq
addresses participants of quetta- chaman long march against the
reopening of nAto supply route on saturday. INP
LHR 15-07-2012_Layout 1 7/15/2012 5:45 AM Page 5
-
PHC takes steps to barhealth facilities from becom-ing
money-making machinesdevoid of all humanity
LAHOREstAff rePort
FINES and other measures havebeen taken in the
recently-in-troduced draft rules of thePunjab Healthcare
Commis-
sion (PHC) to ensure proper healthcarefor the public and to bar
public health fa-cilities from becoming money-makingmachines devoid
of humanity, PakistanToday learnt on Saturday. These draftrules are
intended to assure that highquality of care is delivered in
healthcareestablishments throughout Punjab start-
ing from Basic Health Unitsand dispensaries to the ter-tiary
level hospitalsboth from privateand public sec-tors. Theserules,
proce-dures andMinimumService Deliv-ery Standards shallapply to
each and every health-care establishment including privateclinics,
poly-clinics, private hospitals andpublic sector health outlets
including dis-pensaries, BHUs, rural health centres,tehsil
headquarter hospitals, DHQ hospi-tals and the teaching hospitals
attachedwith public as well as private medicalcolleges in the
province.
The Minimum Service Standardstabulated in the draft rules
include ac-
cess to care, continuity of care, compre-hensiveness of care,
coordination of serv-ices, humaneness of treatment,conservation in
intervention, safety ofenvironment, professionalism of
healthproviders and participation in usefulstudies. In accordance
with the Public
Healthcare CommissionAct 2010, all
healthcare es-tablish-ments will
require tobe regis-
tered and licensed bythe Punjab Healthcare Com-
mission. No healthcare establish-ment shall operate in Punjab
withoutbeing duly registered and licensed by thePHC which will
develop a strategic planfor this purpose. The Act empowers thePHC
to prescribe the appropriate man-ner and form for licensing. This
processmay be initiated in a phased mannerkeeping in view the
grounds reality andallied factors. For the first five years,
aregular license shall be issued on compli-ance with the Minimum
Service DeliveryStandards determined by the PHC. Onreceipt of the
complete provisional li-censing applications, the relevant
health-care establishment will submit detailedinformation of all
health providers in-cluding medical staff, consultants,
para-medical staff and other employees whichshall be deemed
registered under thePHC Act 2010. Once the healthcare
es-tablishment has met the standard deter-mined by the PHC, the
clinician and thehospital management will request theCommission for
an inspection / survey ofthe premises. If the healthcare
outletfails to meet certain standards, the PHCmay issue a
conditional license and incase of meeting the outstanding
stan-dards in a reasonable period of time, aregular license will be
issued to the appli-cants which will be valid for a period of
five years. This license is not transferableor assignable and
shall be valid only forthe premises named in the
application.Re-application for license shall be filedwhen a change
of 50 percent or greaterownership occurs.The PHC may suspenda
license, deny renewal of a license andrevoke a license besides
imposing a finein an amount not to exceed Rs 5 lac oninspection
after a complaint or after find-ing a violation of any provision of
thedraft rules or abetting the commission ofany illegal act like
repeated cases of med-ical negligence against any health
outletwhich will be given reasonable periodof time to respond in
writing with anacceptable plan of cor-rection for
non-compliance.The resultsof the in-vestiga-tion ofany
com-plaintagainst thehealth out-lets will be re-viewed and
uponrecommendation of theteam leader of the in-spection team
for-warded to the Boardof Commissioners forfurther action. Thedraft
rules have beenpublished in thegazette of Punjab anddisplayed on
the web-site of Punjab Health-care Commission.
Sunday, 15 July, 2012
It is healthcare, not some business!
LHR 15-07-2012_Layout 1 7/15/2012 5:46 AM Page 6
-
Sunday, 15 July, 2012
07
ciNe Star brave 10:30 aMPh: 35157462 the aMaziNG SPiderMaN 12:00
PM
PiraNha 3dd 02:15 PMcocktaiL 03:45 PMthe aMaziNG SPiderMaN 06:30
PMcocktaiL 09:00 PMboL bachaN 11:45 PMcocktaiL 02:30 PM
ciNe GoLd cocktaiL 12:00aMPh: 35340000 cocktaiL 02:30 PM
cocktaiL 6:00 PMcocktaiL 9:00 PMthe aMaziNG SPiderMaN 1:00 PMthe
aMaziNG SPiderMaN 3:30 PM
Sozo WorLd the aMaziNG SPiderMaN 06:00 PMPh: 36674271 boL bachaN
08:30 PM
cocktaiL 12:30 PM, 03:30 PMMadaGaScar 3 04:45 PM
Sozo GoLd boL bachaN 12:00 PM, 03:00 PMPh: 36674271 cocktaiL
05:30 PM, 08:30 PM
cocktaiL 12:30 PM, 03:30 PMMadaGaScar 3 04:45 PM
Lahore
LAHOREstAff rePort
PASSENGERS for severaltrains, including theKarachi-bound
Shali-mar Express, on Satur-
day protested over the 5 to 15hour delay in departure.
Accord-ing to reports, minor scufflesbroke out between the
passengersand administration over thedelay.
Pakistan Railway blamedshortage of engines and technicalfaults,
having stopped 45 trainspermanently. The railway is nowconsidering
stopping other trainsdue to lack of engines and othertechnical
problems.
Sources from the railway saidthat a letter has been written
tothe Ministry of Railway, apprisingthem about the current
situation,adding that the condition cannotbe improved without the
provi-sion of more engines.
Railway delaysanger passengers
New cNG buses start disappearingLAHORE: Only five to ten percent
of air-conditionedCNG buses launched by the Lahore Transport
Company(LTC) were providing transport services on Saturday,causing
inconvenience to many commuters. The Punjabgovernment had launched
56 new buses, inaugurated byChief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, for
commuters in Novem-ber 2011. However, because of ineptitude of
officers andlack of proper CNG supply, the services were not
avail-able to the people. Passengers of the route B-9, B-33, andB-6
had to wait for hours, sometimes resorting to hireexpensive
rickshaws to get to their destinations. Whencontacted, Lahore
Transport Company official Amjad Alisaid most buses were off the
road due to CNG problemsand hoped they would start their full
operation withinfew days. APP
LAHORE: Punjab Law Minister RanaSanaullah Khan has said that
powerlessDeputy Prime Minister Ch Pervaiz Elahidoes not let go of
any opportunity toscore points against the Punjab govern-ment and
per his attitude, Pervaiz Elahihas now issued a political statement
onRasool Park tragedy which is like throw-
ing salt on the injuries of an alreadygrieved nation.
Politicians like PervaizElahi sell their conscience every
day.Everyone knows his past. He has a habitof saluting every rising
son for the sake ofgaining power, he said.
The Chaudhry brothers have nowbecome friends with Ali baba and
forty
thieves and all of them are robbing thecountry together, Sana
added. He saidthe government had thrown the nationinto an ocean of
corruption, loadshed-ding, price-hike and unemployment andPakistan
Peoples Party and PakistanMuslim League-Quaid were helping
eachother stay in power. stAff rePort
Muhammad FarooqZaman, senior advocateSupreme Court andson of
Late JusticeKhursheed Zamanpassed away onSaturday. His Namaze
Janaza will be heldat 112, DE/1, GhalibRoad, Gulberg III,Lahore,
today(Sunday) 4pm.
DEAR DEPARTED For saluting every rising sun, Ch brothersget
powerless posts, says Rana
LHR 15-07-2012_Layout 1 7/15/2012 5:46 AM Page 7
-
Low
high
280ctueSday WedNeSday thurSday34c i 28c 35c i 28c 37c i 29c
Prayer tiMiNGSFajr Sunrise zuhr asr Maghrib isha
03:32 05:07 12:09 03:49 07:10 08:46
city directory
reScue 1122
edhi coNtroL 115
MotorWay PoLice 130
PoLice 15
GoverNorS houSe 99200081-7
chieF MiNiSterS houSe 99203226
Fire briGade 16
boMb diSPoSaL 99212111
McL coMPLaiNtS 99211022-29
Lahore WaSte diSPoSaL 1139
eMerGeNcy heLP
hoSPitaLS
bLood baNk
FatMid 35210834-8
iSLaMic aLLiaNce 37588649/37535435
coMPLaiNt
WaPda 111-000-118
Sui GaS 1199
raiLWayS
city StatioN (eNquiry) 117
reServatioN 99201772
raiLWay PoLice 1333
airPort
FLiGht eNquiry 114
Pia reServatioN 111-786-786
coLLeGeS / uNiverSitieS
PuNJab uNiverSity 99231257kiNNaird coLLeGe 99203781-4queeN Mary
coLLeGe 36362942Govt. coLLeGe uNiverSity 111-000-010uMt
35212801-10LuMS 35608000uet 36288666LcWu 99203072SuPerior coLLeGe
111-000-078
Mid city 37573382-3
ServiceS 99203402-11
Mayo 99211100-9
GeNeraL 35810892-8
Sheikh zaid 35865731
Sir GaNGa raM 99200572
uch 35763573-5
itteFaq 35881981-85
cMh 366996168-72
Shoukat khaNuM 35945100
JiNNah 111-809-809
adiL (deFeNce) 36667275
chiLdreNS 99230901-3
deFeNce NatioNaL hoSPitaL 111-17-18-19
YOGA AND MeDitAtiON CLASSeS
date: aPriL 01 to deceMber 30, 2012veNue: Faiz Ghar, Lahore
a unique blend of yoga, Meditation, Neuro-LinguisticProgramming,
Sufism & more.achieve self-insight, mind-body harmony &
betterhealth.
yoga Master Shamshad haider
Partly cloudy
Weather uPdateS
34c
08Sunday, 15 May, 2012
Lahore
100 GhAZALS OF MAULANA RUMi
hast-o-Neest centre for traditional art & culture
invites you to its Monthly Saturday Sitting with
Janab ahmed Javed Sahib
(director, iqbal academy Pakistan)
on 100 Ghazals of Maulana rumi
3:30 to 5:00 pm, Last Saturday of every month
date: March 31 to deceMber 29, 2012 veNue: haSt-o-NeeSt ceNtre,
Lahore
LAHOREtAJWAr AWAn
REHMAN Alis source of livelihoodis his horse and the tonga
(cart).He has managed to educate all his5 children through the
income he
earned by dropping and picking school chil-dren and later taking
passengers from onepart of the city to the other. That was
beforethe ban.
Now, he can hardly provide for his wifeand his youngest son who
still lives with him.
My father and his father both drove ton-gas all their lives.
Back then, rich and poorboth used tongas and there was no Defense
orGulberg. The world keeps closing in on thepoor, Ali said while
talking to PakistanToday.
Long before the British came, tongas weresub-continents most
favoured mode of trans-portation. People from all classes and
back-grounds owned and used horse-plied carts totravel and the
decorations on the cart showedoff the owners wealth for him.
The tongas even had a separate bazaar forthe accessories. The
bazaar, Sazaanwala, sur-vives to this day, however, there are only
afew shops left that serve the bazaars originalpurpose.
Before the ban and the restriction im-
posed by the government on their movementwithin the city, the
number of tongas has de-creased from thousands to a few hundred.A
LEGACY?
According to a historian Dr NosheenZahid, tonga walas usually
gathered aroundthe Lakshmi Chowk from where they werehired by
people.
Their use and importance decreased afterthe British came and
introduced systems thatincreased the difference between
socialclasses. That is when the rich started buyingcars and hiring
chauffeurs while the tongaswere left for the poor, she said.
They formalised the use of tongas for thepublic by introducing
uniforms for the driv-ers. That was not how things were done
here.Tonga walas lived in the same areas as thepassengers; they
were not looked down upon.But this uniform culture subconsciously
im-plied that they were different, they were serv-ing people and
had to dress in a certain wayso that they could be differentiated
from therest who owned cars, for example. That wasnot how the
culture at that time worked, shesaid.
But thankfully, to this day the majorityare still poor and that
is why if you go to theWalled City or the Misri Shah or to
Shahalmiand other so-called backward areas, you canstill spot the
tongas. But the fact remains that
they will disappear if steps are not taken toprotect those for
whom they are the onlysource of income, she said. STILL uSEFuL?
I think if the government can patronisethe use of tongas, we can
actually have a verygood pollution-free mode of
transportation,Momin Bashir, a student of EnvironmentStudies said
while taking to Pakistan Today,adding Why not?
A better plan would be to reserve thearea of the Walled City for
tourists and tongawalas could drive the tourists through, stop-ping
and showing them our citys old build-ings and other monuments, he
added. NO WAY OuT?
My friends and colleagues have suggestedthat I switch from a
tonga to a Qingqi (motor-cycle rickshaw) but I dont think I can
affordit. Plus what will become of my horse? Alisaid, adding that
the ones who have bannedthe tonga should have at least given us
an-other option.
The roads are being constructed in a waythat there is no place
for slow vehicles. I donot think the cyclists can travel safely on
ourroads, let alone the tongas. It is a shame thatwe keep
implementing ideas from abroadwithout pausing and thinking if they
will beviable in our local setting, said Areeb Ahmed,an urban
developer.
The Tongas ride
totheoblivion
KheL JARi hAi
date: 16th to 20th JuLy, 6PM SharP!veNue: aLhaMra MaLL road haLL
2
an urdu comedy Play! Witness as a group of actorsattempting to
put on a play in the midst of continuousre-writes. this is the
hilarious story of a theatre grouptrying desperately to put on a
play in spite ofmaddening interference from a haughty authoresswho
keeps revising the script. For tickets: ahmer zaman
0333-4801990
Govt may have been able to keep tongawalas out of the posh areas
by banning
them, but has anything been done to providethem with alternate
source of livelihood?
LHR 15-07-2012_Layout 1 7/15/2012 5:46 AM Page 8
-
09Sunday, 15 July, 2012
Foreign News
DAMASCUSAfP
SYRIAN troops and pro-regime militias stormed andtorched a
southern town onSaturday, reports said, as UNobservers visited a
central vil-
lage where a mass killing has provokedharsh global
condemnation.
Hundreds of soldiers backed by hel-icopter gunships attacked
Khirbet Ghaz-aleh in the province of Daraa thecradle of a 16-month
uprising amidheavy gunfire, the Syrian Observatoryfor Human Rights
said.
An activist on the ground who iden-tified himself as Bayan Ahmad
gave asimilar account, saying pro-regime mili-
tias were setting alight houses in thetown.
The army entered without resist-ance as the rebel Free Syrian
Army lefttown. The shelling has wounded dozensof people but we dont
have medical re-sources to treat them, he added.
Elsewhere, a pregnant woman wasamong 28 people killed across the
coun-try, the Observatory said, a day after 118people died
including dozens of civiliansgunned down by troops at
anti-regimeprotests.
The violence persisted despite inter-national outcry over the
killing onThursday of more than 150 people in thecentral village of
Treimsa.
The circumstances surrounding theincident have still not been
clarified, but
UN observers made their way to the vil-lage in the central
province of Hama onSaturday to investigate.
Spokeswoman Sausan Ghosheh toldAFP that a group of observers was
visit-ing Treimsa, while an activist callinghimself Abu Ghazi said
they had metresidents and inspected places thatwere bombed and
where there weretraces of blood.BIGGEST MASSACRE: Rebel leaderAbu
Mohamad, whose fighters are basednear Treimsa, had said more than
200people were slaughtered there.
The Observatory was more cautious,saying several dozen rebel
fighters wereamong those killed, adding that onlyaround 40 of the
dead had been identi-fied, while 30 were burned and 18 were
summarily executed.A spokesman for Syrias military
said the army killed many terrorists inTreimsa, but no
civilians, in a specialoperation... targeting armed terroristgroups
and their leadership hide-outs.
Observatory head Rami Abdel Rah-man told AFP it might be the
biggestmassacre committed in Syria since thestart of the
revolution.
If confirmed, the 150-person tollwould exceed that of a massacre
atHoula on May 25, when a pro-Assadmilitia and government forces
were ac-cused of killing at least 108 people.
Treimsa, which had a population of7,000, is empty now. Everyone
is deador has run away, an activist callinghimself Abu Ghazi
said.
Troops storm syria town
as observers visit Treimsag Syria violence killed 118 on
Friday
TRIPOLIAfP
The Libyan authorities shouldtake immediate steps to as-sume
custody of thousands ofdetainees still held by militias,a rights
watchdog said on Sat-urday, after a deadline for ahandover
passed.
Despite months of cajol-ing the militias, the transi-tional
authorities missed thedeadline and failed to gaincontrol over
approximately5,000 people still held arbi-trarily by armed groups,
somesubjected to severe torture,said Sarah Leah Whitson,Middle East
director atHuman Rights Watch.
These detainees and theapproximately 4,000 othersalready in
state custodyshould be granted their full
due process rights, the NewYork-based group said in
astatement.
HRW cited Law 38 passedon May 2 which required theministries of
interior and de-fence to refer all supportersof the former regime,
if thereis enough evidence againstthem, to the judiciary by
July12.
Most detainees are mem-bers of Moamer Kadhafis se-curity forces,
suspectedloyalists of the slain dictator,former government
officials,suspected foreign mercenar-ies, or migrants from
sub-Sa-haran Africa, the watchdogsaid. The authorities havealso
shown a lack of politicalwill to challenge the armedgroups that
fought againstMoamer Kadhafi, HRW said,pointing to the absence
of
clear legal consequences forthose who hold people outsidethe
law. The public prosecutorhas convened committeesunder the justice
ministry toscreen detainees held in mili-tia-run and state prisons
inorder to determine if theyshould be charged or released,the
rights group said.
But some prisoners havebeen detained for more than ayear without
being broughtbefore a judge, as required byinternational law, and
mosthave been denied access tolawyers, it added. In manycases,
there are appears to beno legal basis for their deten-tion. HRW
reports have doc-umented torture andmaltreatment in facilities
runby militias, including caseswhich it says have resulted
indeath.
Libya militias hold thousandsas deadline passes: hRW
Gunman killedin clash withSaudi police
RIYADHAfP
A gunman was killed during an attack on apolice station as four
Saudi policemen werewounded in a separate assault on their
patrolsin the kingdoms Shiite-populated east, statemedia reported.
Four masked gunmen onmotorbikes entered Al-Awamiya police
centrewhere one of them threw a petrol bomb whilethe rest opened
fire at the station, interiorministry spokesman Mansur al-Turki
said,quoted by SPA news agency. The guardsdealt with them, killing
one while the rest (ofthe assailants) fled, said Turki. The attack
inthe Shiite town of Al-Awamiya took place onFriday evening, less
than a week after twoprotesters were killed in clashes with police
inQatif district following the arrest of aprominent Shiite cleric.
In those clashes, onSunday night, activists said dozens
ofprotesters were wounded when police firedon a demonstration
against the arrest ofSheikh Nimr al-Nimr whom the authoritieshave
described as instigator of sedition.Turki said the security forces
would nottolerate rioters, especially those who arearmed, and would
hold responsible anyonewho does not help in handing them over
oroffers them refuge. In a separate statement onSPA, the spokesman
announced that twosecurity forces patrols came under gunfirefrom
masked armed men on motorbikes inthe town of Saihat, wounding four
membersof the security forces.
China state mediaaccuses Clinton ofmeddling
BEIJINGAfP
Chinas official Xinhua news agency onSaturday accused US
Secretary of StateHillary Clinton of meddling in the SouthChina Sea
territorial disputes. Rival claimshave for decades made the
resource-richwaters one of Asias potential militaryflashpoints and
tensions have risen in the lastyear with the Philippines and
Vietnamaccusing China of becoming increasinglyaggressive. At an
Asian security forum inCambodia this week, Clinton called on
allsides to resolve the disputes withoutcoercion, without
intimidation, withoutthreats and certainly without the use offorce.
Xinhua said in a commentary:Though wary of overtly irking
China,Clinton further meddled in the South ChinaSea issue by
repeatedly highlightingAmericas interests there and
openlysupporting individual ASEAN membersscheme to complicate the
maritime dispute.Divisions over members territorial disputeswith
China prevented the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
fromissuing its customary joint statement at theconclusion of its
meeting in Cambodia onFriday. China essentially claims the whole
ofthe South China Sea, which is believed to berich in hydrocarbons
and straddles strategic
Hollande tellspartner to keeppersonal life private
PARISAfP
French President Francois Hollande saidSaturday that he had told
those close to himto resolve personal issues in private, reactingto
an incendiary tweet by his partner ValerieTrierweiler. Private
affairs are resolved inprivate. And I have told this to those close
tome so they can scrupulously accept thisprinciple, Hollande said
during a televisedinterview with TF1 and France 2 on BastilleDay.
The tweet at the height of Francesparliamentary election campaign
last monthsaw Trierweiler backing an opponent ofSegolene Royal, the
presidents ex-partnerand mother of their four children. The
tweetreceived widespread media coverage withthe French press
calling it anembarrassment to Hollande. I think theFrench people
are like me, they want thingsto be clear, that there is no
interferencebetween the presidents private and publiclife, Hollande
said. Hollande also sought todouse speculation that Trierweiler,
whoattended the Bastille Day military paradewith the president, was
not appearing withhim after the tweet.
PARIS: Frenchsoldiers fromthe SignalRegimentparade on
theChamps-Elysees avenueduring theannual BastilleDay militaryparade
onSaturday. AFP
CAIRO: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives in Cairo on
Saturday fortalks with new President Mohamed Morsi, amid a power
struggle between
the Islamist leader and the generals who ruled Egypt after Hosni
Mubarak
was ousted. It will be Clintons second visit to the Arab worlds
most
populous nation since a popular uprising overthrew long-time US
ally Hosni
Mubarak last year. Over two days, she will meet Morsi a senior
member of
the Muslim Brotherhood until he was sworn in last month and
other top
officials, as well as civil society groups, the official MENA
news agency reported.
Clinton steps into the political maelstrom of a complex power
struggle between
the president and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
(SCAF). Last
week, Morsi ordered parliament to convene, defying a military
decision to
disband the house after the countrys top court ruled it invalid.
Morsis
decree was applauded by supporters who believed the courts
decision to disband parliament was political, but it set off a
fire
storm of criticism from opponents who accused him of
overstepping his authority. The origins of the battle for
parliament lay in the constitutional declaration issued by
the SCAF before the president was sworn in. The
declaration, which acts as a temporary constitution until a
new one is drafted, granted the military sweeping
powers, including legislative control, and rendered the
presidential post little more than symbolic. AFP
Clinton headsto Cairo for keytalks with Morsi
LHR 15-07-2012_Layout 1 7/15/2012 5:46 AM Page 9
-
Comment10Sunday, 15 July, 2012
Arif NizamiEditor
Lahore Ph: 042-36298305-10 Fax: 042-36298302Karachi Ph:
021-34330811-3 Fax: 021-34330900Islamabad Ph: 051-2287414-6 Fax:
051-2287417
Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email:
[email protected]
Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami
nABs reopening of cases against sharifs
untimely
The sudden change of mind on the part of ChairmanNAB leading to
the opening of cases against theSharifs only months before the
elections is bound toraise questions. More so in the presence of
several
conspiracy theories centering around the idea of a wellplanned
upsetting of the system. The chairman had earlierannounced that he
was keeping the cases pending till afterthe elections. This was
generally welcomed in politicalcircles with the prominent exception
of the PTI chief. Itwould be interesting to find how the special
committeeconstituted by Admiral (rtd) Bukhari managed to
convincehim to take a 180 degree turn within less than a week.
TheHudaibiya Paper Mills case, Assets Beyond Known Sourcesof Income
case and the Willful Loan Default case belong to1990s. During the
last four years, the PPP leadership hadturned a blind eye to these
cases despite severalprovocations by the PML(N), including the
dragging of PPPleaders to the courts. This indicated that either
there wasntenough solid stuff in the cases or the government
waslooking the other way in line with the spirit of the CoD.
Torevive the cases all of a sudden comes as a surprise.
The federal government is struggling hard to completethe last
few months of its tenure. With one prime ministerremoved and the
other likely to follow suit, the PPP can illafford to open yet
another front. It is surprising that themove comes at a time when
the PPP and PML(N) are busynegotiating the arrangements required to
hold fair and freeelections. The agreement on the CEC was a big
success. Thateven Imran Khan expressed satisfaction over
thenomination of Justice (rtd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim indicatesthat
politicians still have the capacity to resolve knottyissues if they
are determined to do so. It was hoped that thetwo parties would now
take up the question of a neutralcaretaker set up which is an
equally challenging issue.
A continuous confrontation between the executive andthe Supreme
Court does not suit the system. Things arelikely to improve if a
firm date for the elections isannounced through consensus between
the government andopposition. While the offstage players continue
to be adecisive force, the democratic institutions have
alreadystarted nibbling at their power. For the first
time,parliamentary committees which are still in their infancywere
trying to assert themselves though with little success.It was
understood that an orderly transfer of power wouldbring into
existence a more confident and hopefully morepowerful civilian
government. Does the prospect disturb thepower brokers?
Small menWe know well what happens to them when given power
We have proved the adage,Give a small man power andhe will show
you how smallhe is. Small men with soiledhalos hovering above
their
dyed heads infest every state institution. Allsuffer from public
perceptions of improprietyand transgression. All engender distrust.
Theydefy description. They challenge belief. Is thiswhat we made
Pakistan for, to hand it over tosmall, soiled men of questionable
integritywhile we wallow in misery? No, we did not. Itsabout time
we did something about it. If we canwin liberty and change the
course of history bymaking a country, we can certainly put it
right.
Pomp and circumstance, panoply andparaphernalia, do not a big
man make mo-torcades, sirens, strobe lights, private planes,traffic
stoppages, routes manned by endlesspolice needed elsewhere,
hysterical syco-phants twittering, stooges wittering. Actually,they
underline their smallness. A big man isbig in mind, by deeds, by
intentions. Smallmen are mental midgets where intellectual gi-ants
are needed, wily operators where states-men are needed. Small men
are blind too, fornone can see what their families are up to.Should
people so oblivious hold public office?They could unwittingly sell
us down the drain.Or is it that relatives and cronies are frontmen
and potential fall guys too if caught?These are big questions that
need urgent an-swers to the exclusion of everything else if
ourcountry is to be saved from small men.
The result: confusion caused by contra-dictions and hypocrisy in
our basic law. Ourinstitutions are working against rather thanwith
each another. Have you seen theOlympic Games logo, rings within
rings? Thatis how state institutions are supposed towork, in
tandem. Ours are like separate ringsspinning and in their own
orbits without anyrelation to one another, sometimes workingto
knock others out of their orbits. Thus wehave meltdown. Everything
is going to thedogs. Nothing is working. No basic needs, nojobs,
rising prices, falling real incomes whileour country is being
attacked with impunityfrom within and without with small menhelping
the aggressors. Its beyond belief.
Our attention is diverted by a flawed
constitution that gives high officials immu-nity. Is that a
license to elect or appoint thecorrupt to public office? Will we do
some-thing about it or not?
Another question that needs an urgentanswer if the judiciary is
to be protected fromits own: is there any link between the
chiefjustice and property tycoon Riaz Malikthrough the chief
justices son? If it is provedthat there is, then we have a serious
problem.A television programme and Maliks pressconference diverted
attention from it, buttemporarily. The question wont go away andthe
sooner it is answered the better.
A frustrated people think that small menin office are the
problem. A desperate peopleput faith in other small men formerly in
of-fice. Their messiahs of today were small menof yesterday and
will be the small men of to-morrow. Salvation lies not in small
peoplebut in high principles, not in parties but inthe basic law
and the system it spawns. Keepconcentrating on false messiahs for
deliveryand they will invariably show you once againwhat small men
they are.
The problem is the disease. The disease isthe constitution and
the system it spawns.Small men are the symptoms the systemspawns.
How can you expect the symptoms tocure the disease, the spawn to
kill its begetter?In so doing, they would destroy themselves.Mir
kya saada hain, hoovay beemar jis kaysabab; ussi attar kay launday
say dawa laitayhain Simpleton Mir, he looks for the cure inhis
disease. Got it? Stop placing faith in smallmen and focus on
correcting the system. If it ismessiahs you want, then realise that
a messiahlies in each one of us. Collectively we can makea tsunami
if only we would unite over one issue correcting the system and
saving our country.
The constitution makes Pakistan an Is-lamic state. The
constitution reflects the willof the people. It is the social
contract in writ-ing. Was this our social contract? If you dontlike
it change it or make it work by being trueto your ideology that has
become your justi-fication for existence and is the
much-toutedspirit of your constitution.
What a spectacle weve made about dualnationals holding public
office. The answershould be obvious to the meanest mind, butour
small men cannot see. Is it self-interest,perchance? No one with
split loyalty shouldhold public office high or low, including
instate-run corporations. Period. Even privatesecretaries,
assistants and office boys ofsmall men have access to sensitive
files andinformation. This law shouldnt apply only
toparliamentarians but the executive too, thejudiciary, civil and
military bureaucraciesand public sector enterprises. Can we
trustdual nationals in them if they are up for pri-vatisation and
bidders are from their othercountry, or competitors for that
matter?
It gets worse. We have the dangerous situ-ation where a British
national is a member ofour National Command Authority. We have
worked our butts off to make our nuclear assetssafe. Our command
and control is the best. Yetwe let foreigners into it because they
also holdPakistani nationality. Ridiculous. By swearingoath of
loyalty to another country they madetheir choice. They cant have
their cake and eatit too. Why cant we make the obvious choicetoo,
that people are welcome to split their loy-alty provided they stay
away from public office.
Judges demand sensitive governmentfiles? Can they hold dual
nationality? Shouldthey? How can military officers and bureau-crats
be dual nationals when some of themhave important strategies and
policies in theirlaptops? Talk of sleeping with the enemy,
thisnonsense has to end if we are to be safe fromthose we consider
solely our own with undi-luted loyalties before we make ourselves
safefrom those we perceive as enemies.
The tamasha about writing a letter to theSwiss to reopen
corruption cases against thepresident continues unabated. This is
aprime example of small men not understand-ing the disease: remove
as many prime min-isters as you like, the new ones too will
notwrite the letter. What you have to remove arenot small men but
the un-Islamic clause ofimmunity in the constitution. But what to
dowhen the removers are small men too? To ex-pect them to see the
obvious when they can-not see what their own families are up to
isasking for too much.
Why doesnt our judiciary proceed withthe case itself? Why pass
the buck on to theSwiss? The Supreme Court did order a retrial.It
wont happen because the main accused isdead. If she cannot appear
in court the casecant proceed. Have you ever heard of any-thing
more ridiculous? This law is an ass. Itshould be changed. That an
accused has theoption to be represented by council in absen-tia is
enough. If dead, change the main ac-cused. But get to the truth for
Gods sake, notbe diverted by spurious laws. In all this ker-fuffle
the main issue is forgotten, that Pak-istan has lost millions of
dollars that need tobe returned and the thieves punished. Wefirst
pardon alleged thieves and send them toSaudi Arabia or withdraw
cases against them to much public acclaim, dont forget thenmake
them president, prime minister, leadersin waiting and give them
immunity. Then wehowl over our sorry lot. What?
Does contempt of court exist in Islam?Libel, defamation and
slander, yes: contemptof court, no. People have the right to
decentlycriticise any judgment or judge about his extra-judicial
activities. We are told that judges can-not be judged. Does whoever
said this knowabout shirk placing someone besides God?
Our basic law is the disease. Small men areits symptoms. The
people are the host. The hostis always the victim. It is our fault
that we hostthe disease. We have to find a cure, and fast.
The writer is a political analyst. He can becontacted at
[email protected]
By Humayun Gauhar
The Holy Book narrates the storyof Ababeel the mystic birds
thatshowed up with tiny stones intheir claws and beaks, three
each,
to help the righteous in the battle betweengood and evil. I
think of that story, andwonder who the righteous and the
wickedmight have been. And how appropriate itseems that the hand of
Divinity shouldreach down from the Heavens, and rainstones to
decide the primordial (and stillcontinuing) fight between haq and
batil.
I think of it, and wonder, why theAbabeel dont show up
anymore?
On Thursday, just as the day was
breaking in the capital of Punjab, armedgunmen stormed a
building in the bustlingheart of Ichhra, killing nine police
officials,who were visiting from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) for a
training sessionin Lahore. These trainees all between theage of 21
and 25 were training to manthe jails in KP, where several
militantshave been detained for heinous crimes(against humanity).
The gunmen, on threemotorcycles and in a car, were not hidingtheir
faces with a piece of cloth, nor werethey hiding their guilt with
any expressionof remorse. With unclad faces, they wereeager to
accept responsibility for their ac-tions (evident from
Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan publicly accepting responsibilityfor the
barbarianism).
And I wonder why the Ababeel dontshow up anymore?
The crime of these police trainees?They were condemned for
wearing the in-signia of the state of Pakistan on their uni-form.
The price for this crime?Bullet-ridden bodies, all in the early
twen-ties. Their faith? Muslims, but loyal to thestate of Pakistan,
and not to some fanaticmullah. Their redemption? The ChiefMinister
Punjab has vowed a thorough in-vestigation; the KP government
has
blamed Punjab police; and the InteriorMinister has condemned
this attacks.
And I wonder why the Ababeel dontshow up anymore?
This attack comes at the heels of anoverall ramping up of
militant campaignsacross Punjab. Three days earlier, thesame
outlawed group, gunned downseven army jawans and a police official
inGujrat. And later, in a message that beganwith a proclamation of
the mercy ofAllah, they declared (nay, threatened)that these
attacks proved that there is noplace that is out of our reach.
There isnta soul alive in this nation who can disputethat claim.
And no law enforcement agen-cies that can claim to bring all the
mem-bers of this group into the fold of law.
And I wonder why the Ababeel dontshow up anymore?
Is this a failure of the state? Or also anequal failure of the
people who reside insuch a state? Is the police simply
incom-petent? Or are we all impotent for allowingsuch an attack to
be carried out in theheart of a major city, and then allowing
theperpetrators to escape scot-free?
We can all make excuses while sip-ping on imported coffee and
sitting in air-conditioned living rooms. All of us (myself
included) can spin stories to ourselves ofliberal views and a
secular approach tostatehood. That some of us pray five timesa day,
while some drink every night, is nobusiness of any other. And that
regardlessof what any individual does in their pri-vate life, our
only collective goal should beto work towards a progressive,
peacefuland democratic Pakistan. But we will onlybe fooling
ourselves. And, as Wittgensteinonce said, The hardest thing to do
in lifeis to not fool yourself.
The truth is: we, each of us individu-ally as well as
collectively as a nation, areconflicted inside as to what our
identity is.All of us (generalising a bit here) are Mus-lims in
part, secular in part, and national-istic in part. We dont view
violencethrough a singular, humanistic prism butinstead view it
through a multitude of allthese facets that define our
personality.For example, the blowing up a bus of Mus-lim pilgrims
by a certain fanatic group isviewed differently than the blowing up
ofa bus carrying Hindu fishermen by thesame group. Even if both
buses containedPakistani citizens. Somewhere deep in-side, there
exists a continuing tussle be-tween our religious affinity and
ournational identity. And this spills over intoconsequences such as
a fraction of ISI,army or police officials sympathising withthe
militants, or the lawyers showeringrose-petals on Mumtaz Qadri.
This internal conflict, of definingwho we are, is at the heart
of how we as anation react to the extremist threat. Our
collective national identity, in manyways, is simply a sum of
our individualpersonalities (as Iqbal once wrote,Afrad ke haathon
mein hai aqwaam kitaqdeer, har fard hai millat ke muqadarka
sitara). And, consequently, each ofus have to make our individual
choices intilting the balance of our national scales.The buck
doesnt just stop with the lawenforcement agencies. Deep inside,
weare all guilty for allowing to fester a soci-ety where extremist
elements have sym-pathetic appeal. And in this ongoing war,it is
important to define oneself, in thehope that doing so will bring
clarity toour national character.
For now, the gunmen who came ontheir motorcycles and cars had
said theirmorning prayers right before the event,whereas the young
police trainees had justdone their wuzu before having been
mar-tyred. He who pulled the trigger did sowith a scream of Ya
Allah Madad, andthe bullet pierced the heart of one whosaid La
Ilaha Il Allah. The culprits, re-turning back to their underground
hiding,were welcomed with slogans of AllahuAkbar, whereas the
janaza of the mar-tyred was lifted with the same cries.
If the Ababbeel had shown up, I amnot sure if they would have
known whoto throw stones at.
The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore.He has a Masters in
Constitutional Lawfrom Harvard Law School. He can bereached at:
[email protected]
And no, Ababeel dont show up anymore
Conflicted from within
By Saad Rasool
LHR 15-07-2012_Layout 1 7/15/2012 5:46 AM Page 10
-
Comment 11Sunday, 15 July, 2012
I was amazed to read Wapdas advertisement thatappeared in
various newspapers claiming Wapda committed to a Brighter Pakistan
(July 14).
As matter of fact, the role of Wapda has generallyremained
controversial for the last four decades. At leastits three former
chiefs belonging to Punjab openlysupported their province at the
cost of rest of the threeprovinces. They were: late Lt Gen (r)
Safdar Butt,General (r) Zulfikar Khan and Tariq Hameed. Needlessto
mention, two former Prime Ministers, Z A Bhutto andSyed Yousaf Reza
Gilani, called Wapda a white elephant.
A resolution was unanimously passed in the KPAssembly to shift
Wapdas headquarters from Lahoredue to Wapdas policies against three
provinces whereassimilar voices also echoed in the Sindh
Assembly.
For the man-made extensive destruction of Indusdelta the sixth
largest in the world, Wapda, among
others, is directly responsible resulting in sea
intrusioninundating 2.7 million acres of valuable land in
Sindhwhereas non-release of limited water downstream Kotrihas left
2.6 million people living in area of 145kilometres, stretching from
Kotri downstream toArabian Sea, to die due to hunger and thirst
despite theyare Muslims, human beings and Pakistani Sindhis.
Human tragedy due to worst environmentalconditions is expected
in Sindh as a result of non-releaseof at least 10 maf water Kotri
downstream despite WaterAccord of 1991 being signed 22 years
back.
Meanwhile, ever-increasing high level corruption inWapda is also
big problem. Sometime back, the auditorgeneral presented a report
in the National Assemblydisclosing Rs 90 crores embezzlements in
Wapda. Aftera few days, there were other reports in media
disclosingat least Rs 2.2 billion embezzlement in Neelam and
other projects. Such reports are common in media butour elected
government is totally unaware of them.
A large number of people would join me when I sayWapda has
harmed Pakistan more than any foreigncountry by damaging the
interests of three provinces outof four, creating discontentment
among the people. Wapdaalso maneuvered data about release and
availability ofwater to support one province, from time to
time.
I suggest Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistanto take suo
motu action against the ever increasing highlevel corruption in
Wapda and its long standing policiesagainst three out of four
provinces.
Also I suggest PPP government to form acommission to probe
prevailing record-corruption inWapda in addition to its
controversial policies
MOHAMMAD KHAN SIALKarachi
an outburstThis is with reference to the reports
which appeared in all the national dailieson Saturday, regarding
outburst of PML-Qs disgruntled legislator Riaz HussainPirzada over
the appointment of PML-Qs senior central leader Ch Parvez Elahias
the Deputy Prime Minister in thefederal cabinet of new Prime
MinisterRaja Pervaiz Ashraf on the floor of theNational Assembly on
Friday.
Riaz Hussain Pirzada is a seasonedpolitical worker and
parliamentarian. Heshould have known that the appropriateforum for
raising the party matters is theparty itself and not the national
assemblyas such. Furthermore, if he is so muchannoyed with the
party high command,Ch Shujat Hussain and Ch Parvez Elahi,he should
better quit the party and thenseek re-election on PML-Ns ticket or
anyparty of his choice.
There is no mention of the posts ofthe deputy prime minister and
the seniorfederal minister or the senior provincialminister and the
acting provincial chiefminister in the constitution and these
arem