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Harper rules out military mission to Mali Venezuela delays Chavez in-auguration as crisis deepens

Syria rebels free 48 Iraniansin prisoner swap Pakistan terms Indian allegations “baseless and unfounded”

BEIRUT: Syrian rebels on Wednesday freed 48

Iranians they had been holding for months in a

swap for 2,130 prisoners detained by the Syrian

regime, according to a Turkish charity, a rebel

spokesman and Iranian state television.

“This is the result of months of civil

diplomacy carried out by our organisation,” a

spokesman for the Turkish charity the Humanitar-

ian Relief Foundation (IHH), Serkan Nergis, told

AFP in Turkey.

The regime’s prisoners exchanged for

the Iranians were of several nationalities, includ-

ing Turks, he said.

A spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian

Army, Ahmed al-Khatib, confirmed the deal,

telling AFP in Beirut by telephone it was worked

out through Turkish and Qatari mediation with

Iran lobbying ally Syrian President Bashar al-

Assad. Iranian television made no mention of the

swap deal, saying only that “the 48 Iranian pil-

grims were released.”

The Iranians counted several Revolu-

tionary Guards members, according to the rebel

group which snatched them in Damascus in early

August and threatened them with execution.

The rebels released a video on August 5

showing the captives and Iranian military identi-

fication cards taken from them.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar

Salehi on August 8 admitted there were Revolu-

tionary Guards in the group, but claimed they

were “retired”.

Salehi had said all 48 had been on a re-

ligious pilgrimage to a Shia shrine in southeast

Damascus, rejecting suspicions the Iranians had

been providing military support to Assad’s forces.

Wednesday’s prisoner release was not

immediately confirmed by Turkish or Syrian of-

ficials. Separate to the abduction, Iran’s Revolu-

tionary Guards acknowledged on Sept 16 that

members of its Quds Force, an elite external op-

erations unit, had been dispatched to Syria.

But Guards commander General Mo-

hammad Ali Jafari told journalists the Quds de-

ployment was there only to “counsel” Syrian

forces fighting insurgents, and not for combat.

Salehi’s foreign ministry days later

stressed that Jafari’s admission did not in any way

mean that Iran had a “military presence” in Syria.

Iran has said it is providing only eco-

nomic and humanitarian aid to Syria’s regime,

which it sees as part of a regional “resistance” to

Israel. The United States and its Western allies be-

lieve that Iran is also providing weapons, snoop-

ing technology and military personnel skilled in

hunting down and suppressing opposition

members.

CARACAS: Venezuela heads into uncharted po-

litical waters Wednesday without ailing President

Hugo Chavez amid calls for the Supreme Court to

decide if his government’s postponing his inaugu-

ration is constitutional.

After days of suspense, the government

confirmed Tuesday that Chavez, recovering in

Cuba from cancer surgery, was still too sick to re-

turn for his re-inauguration Thursday and would

take the oath of office at a later date before the

Supreme Court. Leaders of the leftist government

insist that, under the circumstances, the president’s

current term can be extended beyond the January

10 inauguration date until he is well enough to be

sworn in to another six-year term.

“If anyone has doubts, then go to the

Supreme Court, go ahead to the Supreme Court,

explain what your doubts are,” Diosdado Cabello,

the National Assembly speaker, said in a stormy

debate after the delay was announced. “We don’t

have any doubts about what we have to do and

what is (stated) here in the constitution,” he said.

The Supreme Court, which is controlled by pro-

Chavez magistrates, called a news conference for

Wednesday amid opposition demands for it to rule

on the constitutionality of the government’s deci-

sion. Chavez, who has not been seen in public for

nearly a month, the longest stretch of his 14 years

in power.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada is “not

considering” a military mission to Mali, where an

al Qaeda-affiliated terror group has taken hold in

the country’s north.

Harper made the comments on Parliament

Hill following a meeting with Thomas Boni Yayi,

the president of Benin and the head of the African

Union. In a joint press conference, the pair an-

nounced a new For-

eign Investment

Promotion and Protec-

tion Agreement

(FIPA), which they

said offers protections

to investors in both

countries that they

hope will boost eco-

nomic activity be-

tween the two

nations.But the first

question from a re-

porter was about the

deteriorating situation in Mali, where the militant

group Islamic Maghreb recently took advantage of

a military coup to gain control in the north. A UN

Security Council resolution last month called on

member states to contribute troops, equipment and

other support to an African-led military mission to

curb terror activity in Mali.

Harper said Tuesday that Canada is “very

concerned about the situation,” but will concentrate

its efforts in the region on contributing humanitar-

ian aid and diplomatic negotiations with its allies in

Africa and the West.

“The government of Canada is not consid-

ering a direct Canadian military mission,” Harper

said, though he noted that, “the development of es-

sentially an entire terrorist region in the middle of

Africa is of great concern to the international com-

munity.” Boni Yayi said he discussed the UN reso-

lution with Harper and welcomed the prime minis-

ter’s diplomatic and humanitarian efforts. But he

emphasized the need for international help to curb

terror activity in Africa, and went so far as to call

for the assistance of NATO troops.

“We need to react for the simple reason

that not only does this issue go well beyond the

scope of Africa, but

also we must be fo-

cused on the fact that

the scourge of terror-

ism is an issue of the

entire international

community,” Boni

Yayi said.

The prime

minister’s remarks

were in step with

what the office of

Foreign Affairs Min-

ister John Baird said

Monday, that Canada is “not contemplating a mili-

tary mission” in Mali. But last week, Defence Min-

ister Peter MacKay indicated that Canada would be

willing to send military trainers to Mali.

After MacKay’s remarks, Baird’s office

said Canada is not considering sending troops. On

Monday, an anonymous official said Canada “will

wait to hear what people are requesting, if they are

requesting anything.”

The official said Monday that “nothing

has been asked” of Canada yet.

The government’s position has angered

former diplomat Robert Fowler, who was kid-

napped by Islamic Maghreb militants in 2008. He

and a fellow Canadian diplomat, Louis Guay, were

taken captive in Niger, where Fowler was stationed

at the time, and held for 130 days.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday strongly

rejected what it called “baseless and unfounded al-

legations” by India of a cross-border attack by Pak-

istani troops killing two Indian soldiers, adding that

it was ready for a probe by a UN observer body into

the incident.

“These are baseless and unfounded alle-

gations,” said a statement issued by the Foreign Of-

fice. “Pakistan is prepared to hold investigations

through the United Nations Military Observer

Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) on the

recent ceasefire violations on the Line of Control.”

The statement said it was important that

serious efforts be made to maintain the progress and

improvement achieved by the neighbouring coun-

tries in the dialogue process and bilateral relations,

emphasising that “negative propaganda” be

avoided. The Indian army has claimed that firing

by Pakistani troops near the heavily militarised

Line of Control (LoC) had killed two Indian sol-

diers on Tuesday, with one’s head allegedly severed

and taken away.

A senior military official in Islamabad had

earlier denied that Pakistani troops had been in-

volved in any attack, similarly claiming that India

was using “propaganda” to divert attention from a

deadly raid on Sunday.

Pakistan’s army says Indian troops

crossed the LoC on Sunday and stormed a military

post in an attack that left a Pakistani soldier dead

and another injured. India has denied crossing

the line.

Warning against further escalation

India also summoned Pakistan’s envoy in

New Delhi on Wednesday to protest the alleged

killing. Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid

said Pakistani ambassador Salman Bashir had been

“spoken to in very strong terms,” but he struck a

note of caution and warned against further moves

to inflame tensions.

“Whatever has happened, should not be

escalated. We cannot and must not allow for an es-

calation of a very unwholesome event that has

taken place,” Khurshid told a press conference.

Khurshid earlier said the attack, which

followed a deadly exchange along the border at the

weekend in which a Pakistani soldier was killed,

was designed to wreck an already fragile peace

process. Relations had been slowly improving over

the past few years following a rupture after the

2008 attacks on Mumbai, which were blamed by

India on Pakistan-based militants.

The clash took place in Mendhar sector,

173 kilometres west of the city of Jammu.

A ceasefire has been in place since 2003

along the Line of Control in Kashmir, but it is ac-

cused to have been periodically violated by

both sides.

10 January 10, 2013

Bitter Gourd Filled With Lentils

No workout worries

Ingredients

Bitter gourd ½ kg

Lentils ½ kg

Onions 4

Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp

Whole coriander 1 tbsp

Fenugreek seeds 6

Turmeric powder 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Jiggery ½ tbsp

Tamarind juice ½ cup

Green chilies 4

Fennel seeds 1 tbsp

Onion seeds 1 tsp

Red chili flakes 1 tbsp

Coriander as required

Mustard oil 1 cup

Salt to taste

Cooking Directions

Slit bitter gourd and marinate

with turmeric powder, salt, jiggery and tamarind

juice for 20 minutes.

Wash thoroughly and strain excess water.

Boil a cup of lentils.

In a cooking pot, heat some oil and fry onion.

Then add fennel seeds, coriander seeds, onion

seeds, fenugreek seeds, salt to taste, ginger garlic

paste, turmeric powder and chili and mix.

Sauté and then add fried onion, green chili and

tamarind juice.

Fill bitter gourd with lentils and onion mix.

Tie with a thread to close the opening.

Leave the remaining onion mix in the cooking

pot. In a frying pan, add some oil and fry stuffed

bitter gourd.

When bitter gourds are golden brown, shift them

to the onion mix cooking pot.

Then add jiggery and finely sliced fresh coriander

and put on dam.

Delicious bitter gourds filled with lentils are

ready to serve.

This is for those of you who are not yet exercising.

Who think perhaps that you don’t need to, or can’t.

This is also for those who tend to take long breaks

in your fitness routine ever so often on some vague

pretext or the other, those who tend to keep ‘falling

off the wagon’ so to speak.

I’ve heard all the excuses: I don’t have

time; I don’t need to, (I am slim, I don’t have any

medical disorders and so on); I have tried in the past

but have always failed, so why try again?; I hate

exercise, I can't find anything I like to do.

Well, here is the news flash; you have to

exercise whatever your shape, size, job, family sit-

uation... Time? I haven’t heard of anyone who has

more than 24 hours in a day, so you haven’t been

singled out with a shortage of time. Strangely, I find

the busiest people are the ones who “find” the time

to workout. No, actually they do not “find” the

time; they “make” the time. It is all about priorities.

You have to decide what is more important to you.

Watching that TV serial or chatting for hours on the

phone or getting a quick 30 minute workout. Once

you make a priority list, then the hour you spend

working out becomes non-negotiable. You sud-

denly, magically, “find” the time.

If you can’t find anything you like, just

do it anyway. Exercise is not meant to entertain

you. Grow up. Sometimes we need to do what we

need to do. Surprisingly, after doing it often

enough, your body begins to recognise it as some-

thing you do and is able to cope with the drudgery.

It is all about perspective. You start looking at it as

something that makes you look, feel and BE better.

Not as something you hate or can’t do.

Sometimes I think one of the reasons peo-

ple do not start at all is because the goals they set

for themselves are so daunting that they don’t know

where to begin. They expect results overnight; they

think about the terribly difficult task ahead; they

imagine the struggle they face and just back off in

frustration even before they start.

They key is to set simple, realistic goals.

More important, to set more than one single goal.

Make sure the goals are not all focused on the

weight on the scale because, that is NOT the only

reason you need to exercise.

I will workout five days a week.

I will aim to burn 100 calories more per

workout next week.

I will fill in my food journal every day

and pay attention to what I eat every day.

I will be more active during the day and

not plant myself in front of the TV for more than

15 minutes at a time.

I will do sit-ups at every commercial

break on TV.

These are all goals that you can follow

and feel pleased about achieving.

It’s not hard. Start with a 15-minute walk

every day. Cover a certain distance. Increase the

time to 20-30 minutes. Increase the distance you

cover in that time. Add weight training to your rou-

tine at least twice a week; 20 minutes a session. In-

crease the intensity.

Get more active during the day. Don’t re-

main seated all day. Move as much as possible.

Buy a Pedometer. It clocks the number of

steps you take a day. Put it on and try to cover at

least 10,000 steps a day.

Find a mentor, preferably someone re-

sponsible. This could be an integral part of keeping

you motivated. This is something like an AA spon-

sor/guide who is responsible for your progress. You

become accountable to that person. You feel bad if

you don’t show up for your workout. You feel

guilty for letting them down. This is great to start

with. It keeps you motivated, even obligated ini-

tially. After a while (hopefully) you start feeling re-

sponsible for yourself and are able to stand on your

own two feet. Gradually it becomes a habit. An in-

tegral part of your day that you are loathe to miss.

You start seeing results (however slow) in your

body that you appreciate and this motivates you to

keep going. You try new things.

Add Zumba to your cardio. Pilates for

your Core. Oh yes, it CAN be fun too!

Health

New regime to reduce mother-to-child transmissionAs per the report, over 14,000 children were in-

fected with HIV in 2011 and over 10,000 deaths

of children up to four years have been reported

during the year.

With mother-to-child transmission

(MTCT) being the highest cause of HIV infection

in children in India, the State Health Department

is all set to launch a new effective regime for pre-

vention of MTCT on January 3.

According to the latest report by the

UNICEF, while new HIV infections in children

are down, reaching the goal of an AIDS-free gen-

eration requires more HIV positive pregnant

women to receive anti-retroviral treatment. This

is to decrease the risk of infection for their babies,

the report said.

As per the report, over 14,000 children

were infected with HIV in 2011 and over 10,000

deaths of children up to four years have been re-

ported during the year.

Upbeat about the decline in HIV preva-

lence in the State, from 1.2 per cent to 0.63 per

cent in 2011, the government is now making a de-

termined effort to prevent mother-to-child-trans-

mission. Health and Family Welfare Minister

Aravind Limbavali will announce the adoption of

World Health Organisation’s (WHO) MTCT

regime in the State on January 3.

NACO guidelines

Giving details about the programme,

Health Director B.N. Dhanya Kumar told The

Hindu that the new regime was as per NACO

guidelines under the National AIDS Control Pro-

gramme — phase III (NACP III).

The department will also launch free

travel facilities for those afflicted with HIV, who

are taking anti-retroviral therapy (ART). “Al-

though such a system was in place earlier, the bus

passes issued to the persons revealed their HIV

status in public. So we have now put in place a

system where those coming to the district ART

centres for treatment can get their conveyance ex-

penses reimbursed,” Dr. Kumar said.

He said a proposal to cover the person’s

wage loss for a day (when he/she has to miss work

to avail ART treatment) was also on the cards.

January 10, 2013 11

Islamabad braces itself for Qadri’s marchISLAMABAD: Although the capital admin-

istration and police have started acquiring

containers to seal the red zone on Jan 14,

they are in a quandary over whether to let

Dr Tahirul Qadri’s march proceed to the city

or counter it in the absence of a clear direc-

tive from the government.

Sources said the administration

was waiting for the interior ministry’s ad-

vice about ways of handling the march, but

there was a complete silence. The adminis-

tration and police expect a large number of

people to turn up and feel that there is need

to make proper arrangement so that resi-

dents are not inconvenienced, chalk out

plans for blocking roads and diverting traf-

fic and, if necessary, declare a holiday in the

city. The deployment of police and person-

nel of other departments is yet to be fi-

nalised.

A senior police officer told Dawn

on Tuesday that Punjab and Kashmir police

had been requested to keep 5,000 and 3000 person-

nel, respectively, on standby and send them imme-

diately when asked for. Rangers have been

requested for 5,000 personnel.

The officer said Punjab and Kashmir po-

lice had been asked to arrange 10 armed personnel

carriers, 1,000 rings of barbed wire, long- and

short-range teargas shells, guns and rubber bullets.

He said the capital police were arranging 40 con-

tainers to seal the Grand Trunk Road and Motorway

if the government denied permission to the long

march.

He said Interior Minister Rehman Malik

was likely to convene a meeting on Wednesday to

decide whether to allow the march or counter it.

All entry points from Margalla, Ataturk

and Suharwardi roads would have to be sealed by

containers if the government decided to block the

march, another police officer said, adding that the

containers had been placed on the roadside as a pre-

cautionary measure.

CONFISCATION: Over 25 containers

were confiscated by police from GT Road on Tues-

day and taken to different areas in Islamabad.

Dil Afser Khan, owner of the Lahore-

Hazara Goods Transport Company, said Tarnol po-

lice had confiscated their containers.

“Police have confiscated three containers

of my company. But after a request and payment of

some money, two containers loaded with goods

were released,” he said.

Senior Superintendent of Police Yaseen

Farooq did not receive calls despite repeated at-

tempts. SHO of Tarnol police station Fazalur

Rehman confirmed the confiscation of containers,

but did not say who had ordered them to do so.

The capital police had confiscated 17 pri-

vate containers to block the red zone during a

protest against an anti-Islam film in September last

year and the containers were not returned to the

owners even after a fortnight. In a report sent to the

inspector general, the special branch of capital po-

lice said the strength of police was inadequate to

tackle a large number of marchers and called for

seeking help from police of other provinces. The

report said the Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran had as-

signed the task of bringing people to the march to

its office-bearers in the capital.

Sources said officers of the administration

and police were of the opinion that the government

should not allow the march.

In a letter to the interior secretary, the ad-

ministration called for seeking necessary man-

power and logistics from other provinces to

maintain law and order and avert any untoward in-

cident. It has also sought permission for making

arrangements and facilitating the marchers in case

the government intends to allow the march and sit-

in. The letter written on Jan 5 by Islamabad Chief

Commissioner Tariq Mehmood Pirzada said there

were reports that Dr Tahirul Qadri also planned to

hold a sit-in outside the Parliament House till the

acceptance of his demands.

The interior sec-

retary was informed that

officers of the capital ad-

ministration and police

said at a meeting that the

government should not

allow the march because

Islamabad was a city of

diplomats. Any rally held

in the city will inconven-

ience the diplomatic com-

munity.

Besides, Islam-

abad is a city of 0.831 mil-

lion people and a gathering

of one or two million

would adversely affect its

civic life.

“The weather is

extremely cold and serious

health-related issues can

arise.

Health institu-

tions are not in a position

to cater for the medical re-

quirement of a huge

crowd,” the letter said,

adding that the TMQ rally

might also attract terrorists

who had already placed Dr

Tahirul Qadri on their hit

list. MEETING WITH

TMQ: Meanwhile, a meeting was held between the

capital administration and a delegation of the TMQ.

It was attended by the interior secretary, chief com-

missioner, IG and director general of the National

Crisis Management Cell.

The TMQ delegation sought permission

for a sit-in in the Parade Ground and parking facil-

ity in F-9 Park.

IGP Bani Amin Khan said the Parade

Ground could not accommodate four million peo-

ple and suggested that the sit-in should be held in a

segregated place like F-9 Park which could be cor-

doned off effectively by law-enforcement agencies.

The interior secretary said that because of severe

cold weather the marchers would wear warm cloths

and it would be difficult for security personnel to

carry out adequate body search. He suggested that

the march should be postponed to mid-February.

The TMQ delegation assured the meeting that

matchers would remain peaceful and would not go

to parliament or Diplomatic Enclave.

PPL to start drilling in Arabian seaISLAMABAD, Jan 8: The Pakistan Petroleum Limited, in collaboration with

ENI, a foreign exploratory firm, is set to start drilling of a well in the Arabian

Sea along Pakistani waters for discovery of oil.

The PPL has acquired exploration rights in a block located at

100km from Baghdad for oil exploration and it is hopeful about discovery

of oil. In a briefing to Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural

Resources at the Parliament House, the PPL MD, Asif Murtaza, informed

that drilling of exploratory well has already started in the block acquired in

Iraq and there are bright chances of oil discovery.

In case of major success, the Pakistani company would benefit. The

company is already working in Yemen on two blocks.

Regarding previous attempts made by the company to find oil from

the sea, off Pakistani coast, the PPL MD informed the committee that in

Mekran deep sea, some 12 exploration wells were drilled, but none suc-

ceeded. The committee, which met with Senator Mohammad Yousuf in the

chair, was informed that many foreign exploration companies still have in-

terest in drilling of exploration well in Mekran Deep Sea. However, drilling

has been delayed for one year due to various reasons.

Additional Secretary of Petroleum Naeem Malik informed the

committee that drilling of an exploration well in deep-sea requires at least

$100 million investment and foreign companies take decisions with due care.

The federal government recently announced new exploration in-

centives and the companies which would make first three discoveries in

deep-sea would be given extra benefits with incentives to encourage more

companies to come forward. The PPL MD informed that PPL is working in

Zandan Block (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and is planning to acquire five more

blocks in KPK as Tal Block area has great potential of discoveries.

To exploit un-conventional gas reserves in the country, some seven

exploratory wells, eight appraisal wells, and 19 development wells have been

planned in the next five years and the expected outcome would be 150bcf

shale and tight gas production in the country.

He informed that shale gas and tight gas price approval has been

sought from the regulator to speed up exploration activity. He further in-

formed that some seven pilot projects have been planned for exploration of

shale and tight gas reserves. He further informed that in Kirthar block, one

exploratory well Rahman-1 is under way.

He informed that Hala, Kotri, Notari North, Jangshahi, Gambat and

South blocks are potential areas for discovery of shale and tight gas reserves.

The committee was informed that PPL has geared up its seismic

survey in the country and some 780sq kms were surveyed in 2011-12, while

during the current fiscal year, some 1,400sq km have been surveyed.During

the meeting, it was informed that District Kohlu (Balochistan) has huge gas

reserves and due to law and order situation, exploration companies do not

go there. The committee was informed that the federal government was col-

lecting 12.5 per cent royalty on gas production and the entire amount is trans-

ferred to provinces and if any provincial government is not spending the

amount on welfare of its population or in the relevant district, where oil and

gas have been found, it is their internal issue.

12 January 10, 2013

IHC judges appointment delay: Contempt proceedings sought against presidentISLAMABAD, Jan 8: With the government still

weighing options to move a review petition against

the Dec 21 order asking it to notify the appoint-

ment of two Islamabad High Court judges, the

Supreme Court received on Tuesday a petition

seeking contempt proceedings against the presi-

dent, prime minister and law minister for resisting

the appointment.

Moved by Advocate Akram Sheikh on

behalf of Advocate Nadeem Ahmed, the petition

requested the court to initiate contempt proceed-

ings against President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Min-

ister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Law Minister Farooq H.

Naek and Law Secretary Yasmin Abbasey for wil-

ful disobedience by not issuing notifications to ap-

point Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui as a regular

judge and Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi as addi-

tional judge for six months.

On Dec 21, a five-judge bench had asked

the president to appoint the two judges in line with

the Sept 22 recommendation of the Judicial Com-

mission (JC) which was also approved by the Par-

liamentary Committee (PC).

But instead of handing down its opinion

on a presidential reference, the apex court had is-

sued an order on a petition also moved by Advo-

cate Nadeem to the competent authority to notify

the appointment of the two judges.

Consequently, the law ministry had on

Dec 26 sent a summary to the prime minister for

the issuance of the notification about the appoint-

ment. The petitioner also requested the court to ini-

tiate proceedings against the respondents under

Article 6 of the Constitution, read with provisions

of the High Treason Punishment Act 1973.

“Although the president enjoys limited

immunity from criminal prosecution under Article

248(2) of the Constitution, contempt proceedings

can be initiated against him since contempt pro-

ceedings in stricto senso are not proceedings of

criminal nature,” the petition said. It added: “Since

the respondents are not implementing the orders

with malicious intent, impleading him as a respon-

dent is mandatory in terms of the law declared by

the Supreme Court in the 1990 Aman Ullah Khan

case.” Advocate Nadeem contended that conduct

of the respondents required issuance of show-

cause notices asking them why action should not

be taken against them for causing obstruction to

justice and wilfully flouting the judgment of the

august court as well as the constitutional process

for more than two months from the unanimous ap-

proval by the PC.

Even if the summary was to be treated as

advice in terms of Article 48 of the Constitution,

the time for taking action by the president was not

more than 10 days, he said.

The petitioner requested the court to

order the law secretary to issue the notification in

terms of the law to protect the fundamental rights

of consumers of justice to enable them to have an

unimpeded access to the IHC.

As an alternative, the petition said, the

court should withdraw the short order it had given

on a set of challenges to the 18th Amendment re-

garding the functioning of incumbent procedure

about the appointment of judges in view of Article

175-A and restoring the earlier procedure on the

appointment of judges which was prevalent after

the Al Jihad Trust case.

Murders in ParadiseThe recent revenge killings of the three older

brothers of the two boys embroiled in the “video

scandal” in Palas Valley, has brought the remote

region of Kohistan back into the news. The story

broke last year, when a video allegedly showing

five girls clapping and dancing at a wedding in

Kohistan in the presence of the two younger boys

was circulated. News began filtering out of the re-

gion that the five girls in the video had been mur-

dered on the orders of a tribal “jirga” for “bringing

dishonour” to their tribal traditions. Although an

investigation was ordered then by the Supreme

Court and indeed it looks like they might re-open

the case now, it all remains a mystery as to what

really happened.

It made me sad to hear this horrific news

story for Palas Valley in Kohistan, located half

way between Islamabad and Gilgit on the Karako-

ram Highway, has long been considered a biodi-

versity hotspot in scientific circles. I feel strongly

about this picturesque tribal area because I had the

good fortune of visiting it a few years ago through

WWF-Pakistan, who then had a field office in the

small town of Pattan on the Karakoram Highway

(just after Besham). In this region, you find the

thickest natural forests left in Pakistan – pine and

deodar trees and even Chilghoza trees at higher al-

titudes.

Palas Valley, its mountain ridges hidden

in clouds, lies just opposite the town of Pattan

across the Indus River. Due to its inaccessibility,

its forests and rivers are undisturbed (there are

only a few jeep tracks leading into the valley).

Half the valley lies inside the monsoon belt while

half is outside and the great range in altitude

means that there are a variety of habitats, from

sub-tropical to alpine. Upper Palas has pristine

forests, home to rare species of pheasants like the

Western Tragopan, which was thought to be ex-

tinct but was spotted and then captured on film in

the valley.

While I didn’t get anywhere close to the

Western Tragopan since it is only found in the

Upper Palas side which is a good two days trek

from Pattan, I did spend three days visiting some

of the nearby villages and climbing up to the see

the thick forests. No more than 4 per cent of Pak-

istan’s land mass is today under the cover of

forests so to be able to visit the remaining few nat-

ural forests is indeed a special experience.

Massive deforestation started in Pakistan

in the 1990s and the greatest victims were the

conifer forests in the Himalayan belt. The massive

earthquake that struck Pakistan’s north on October

8th 2005 resulted in widespread land sliding in the

mountains. The land sliding was a direct result of

all the deforestation that had taken place in this re-

gion and claimed thousands of lives. Villages in

Kohistan were badly affected as well – those lo-

cated near the thick forests, however, were spared

the destruction of homes.

The UN has recently introduced a mechanism for

financially compensating countries to reduce

emissions from deforestation. It is called Reducing

Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation

(REDD) and the goal is to reduce global deforesta-

tion by 50 per cent by 2020. While REDD has

started in Nepal, it is still in its introductory phase

in Pakistan.

Workshops have been organised with the

Forest Departments to introduce the concept of re-

ceiving dividends from the protection of forests.

On the way to Pattan, one could see piles of timber

lying on the KKH, so clearly the timber mafia is

active in this area. A strong REDD mechanism

could of course galvanise the government into ac-

tion. Given the incentive of financial compensa-

tion, they might actually think it is worth their

while to move against the influential timber mafia

and save these old forests.

During my visit to Palas Valley, I met

with members of the community based Palas Con-

servation and Development Federation. Their

project was encouraging the locals not to cut the

trees by introducing non timber forest products

like medicinal plants, fruit orchards, beehives and

the marketing of Chilghozas. The aim of the proj-

ect was to conserve the moist temperate forests of

Palas Valley by introducing the concept of man-

aging non timber forest products. The process was

slow but word was spreading throughout the val-

ley. The villagers were beginning to realise that

they could make more money from these yearly

activities than by selling their timber every 20

years.

I was told that the people of Palas have always re-

spected their natural environment – for example

they consider it unlucky to cut a green tree in

spring, but they do have to feed their children as

well and Kohistan is a poverty stricken region

where jobs are rare and every day is a struggle for

survival. People own small plots of terraced land

and basically live off what they can grow. Many

men go in search of work to Karachi and other

large cities.

The mountain people, with their tall

physiques and rugged good looks have survived

for centuries in this harsh albeit beautiful environ-

ment. Unfortunately, feuds are common in the area

and almost every grown male carries a gun. Most

homes have watchtowers from where they can

guard their property. Feuds are over land and

women – and can last for generations. The women

are not allowed to mix with the men and have to

veil themselves, although they work hard in the

fields and have to walk for miles to fetch fire wood

and spring water.

I remember asking one of the local men,

“why the need for all this feuding? Your lives are

so tough already”. His haunting reply was, “We

are human, not animals, we only pick up our guns

and use them when we have to”. From the ac-

counts that I have heard of those five women, I’m

afraid, that may not be the truth.

02 January 10, 2013

S

Rocket attack near Kandaharairport; PIA plane safe

ISLAMABAD: Unknown assailants fired several

rockets near Afghanistan’s Kandahar airport on

Tuesday while a Pakistan International Airlines

(PIA) plane was on the tarmac ready for departure,

DawnNews reported. The flight PK-199, with 42

passengers on board, was ready to depart for

Quetta when eight to 10 rockets were fired from

multiple sides close to the airport.

However, PIA officials confirmed that

the passengers and flight crew were safe and that

there was no damage to the aircraft.

The plane was grounded temporarily as

the airfield was shut down following the attack.

However, officials confirmed that the field was

subsequently cleared for operation and that the

PIA flight would depart shortly.

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Brampton: 6th Jan 2013 on the appeal of Punjabi

Press Club of Canada well over 300+ people

gathered @ The Rose Theatre in downtown

Brampton to pay homage to the New Delhi India

Rape Victim and many more helpless victims

like her in those parts of the world & all around

the globe. Punjabi Press Club Of Canada which

has well over forty media outlets as its members

did also mange to gather a lot of elected officials

and community leaders from various Organiza-

tions who seemed to be equally concerned & vis-

ibly disturbed not by this gruesome act, but also

the irresponsibility of the Indian Government &

Local Police. The often muted Prime Minister of

India Manmohan Singh only spoke when he saw

that the protest by various groups and students

has brought the Indian Capital to a virtual stand-

still and thus this incident has gathered media at-

tention from all around the world. Than

overnight those six animals were arrested who

were responsible for this act. All today defied the

cold winter night and stood there to have their

presence felt and yes we all made a difference as

our voices not only reached all around Canada

through different media outlets both national and

ethnic but did show our Solidarity with all the

helpless whose voices can’t reach out most of the

times. A special thanks from Punjabi Press Club

of Canada to the City Of Brampton & its staff

who left no stone unturned to help us feel at

home. This is why my and our Canada is all

about understanding each other and standing out

for the a right and just cause. One again big

thanks’s to all supported and helped. This is what

our Press Club's mission is to create awareness

and always stand-up for a cause which is worthy

of it.

Candle Light Vigil for Delhi Rape Victim

January 10, 2013 03

ECP finalises consultation with political parties on code of conduct

Obama names Pentagon, CIA new chiefs

ISLAMABAD, Jan 7: Senior officials of the Elec-

tion Commission of Pakistan (ECP) completed on

Monday the process of consultation with political

parties on the code of conduct for the coming gen-

eral election.

At a meeting of Senate’s special commit-

tee on election issues, presided over by its chair-

man Jehangir Badr, political

parties agreed to empower the

ECP to hold a summary trial

of polling staff found involved

in attempts to steal the man-

date of a candidate through

any irregularity.

In September last

year, the ECP had unveiled the

draft code of conduct, which

for the first time barred the

president and provincial gov-

ernors from taking part in the

election campaign after the an-

nouncement of poll schedule

and sought suggestions from

political parties within

15 days.

Several political par-

ties had decided to give their

proposals from the forum of

the Senate’s special commit-

tee, which for all practical pur-

poses has turned into a

parliamentary committee.

Jehangir Badr, who is also Leader of the

House in the Senate, told a press conference after

the meeting that the committee had completed its

recommendations on the code of conduct and de-

cided to empower the ECP to hold free, fair and

transparent elections.

He said election officials found involved

in malpractices would face punitive action. No-

body would be allowed to steal the elections either

by bullying and rigging or by using guns or money,

the senator asserted.

He invited input from all stakeholders on

the code of conduct. “This is a message for Dr

Tahirul Qadri, as well,” he remarked.

Leader of the Opposition in the Senate,

Ishaq Dar, said all parties represented in the upper

house of parliament were part of the consultative

process. He said the ECP would review the recom-

mendations made with consensus and come back

to the committee after three days.

Ishaq Dar said consequential amend-

ments in electoral laws would be reviewed in the

light of the code of conduct and he would pilot

these amendments with the same spirit of consen-

sus. He said the punishment for election-related

crimes would be enhanced.

Electoral reforms would be completed

within a few weeks, Mr Dar added.

During the meeting, Director General

(elections) ECP Sher Afgan explained difficulties

in implementing directives of the Supreme Court,

including provision of transport and sending

‘parchis’ (voter’s extract) to the electorate.

He said that provision of transport would

cost about Rs12 billion and ‘parchis’ would in-

volve Rs400 to 500 million, making it the most ex-

pensive polls in the country’s history.

He said ‘parchis’ were required to have

particulars, including polling station of each voter,

and polling stations would be finalised two weeks

before the polls. “How would we print and send

millions of ‘parchis’ in such a short time,” he won-

dered.

The meeting decided that the ECP would

go in review against the judgment. Various politi-

cal parties found it not feasible. They were of the

view that the candidates should be allowed to give

‘parchis’ to voters with their election symbols and

set up camps outside polling stations.

Ishaq Dar said that ‘parchis’ were a sub-

stitute to handbills and would help reduce the elec-

tion expenditure.Ishtiak Ahmad Khan, the ECP

Secretary, informed the meeting that the commis-

sion would consult the secretary of postal services

to explore the idea of sending

‘parchis’ along with utility

bills. “We will love to do it if

it is found possible,” he re-

marked.

Sughra Imam of the

PPP was of the opinion that it

would be impossible and in-

appropriate to send parchis to

voters by post.

The directive of the

Supreme Court about a ban

on car rallies from travelling

long distances also came

under discussion and it was

observed that the ECP would

not be able to keep a check on

the expenditure involved.

Shahi Syed of the

ANP, in a light mood, said

there should be a ban on car

rallies and it should be en-

forced before January 14 –

the date of Dr Tahirul Qadri’s

long march. “We will come

on foot,” Col (retd) Tahir Mashhadi of the MQM,

sitting beside him, retorted. The committee en-

dorsed the idea of “PTV democracy” channel for

coverage of pre-poll activities and said that a for-

mula for allocation of time to political parties was

being worked out. The idea floated by Ishaq Dar

was supported by the ECP secretary.

The issue of election campaign in the

cantonment areas was also raised and it was de-

cided that the ECP would take up the matter with

the defence secretary.

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama

Monday nominated his counterterrorism adviser

John Brennan as CIA director, and Chuck Hagel, a

former maverick Republican senator, as defence

secretary. Brennan’s choice as head of Central In-

telligence Agency, came two months after David

Petraeus stepped down admitting an extramarital

affair. The president, who will be formally sworn

in to begin his second term in office in just two

weeks, announced his nominations Monday after-

noon from the White House in Washington. “These

two leaders have dedicated their lives to protecting

our country,” said President Obama.

“I’m confident they will do an outstand-

ing job.”Both Brennan and Hagel have been ru-

moured in recent days to take on new roles within

the Obama administration, but only with Monday’s

announcement from the president himself did the

news become official. A confirmation battle in the

Senate is expected to follow the choice for these

key posts, although Obama asked lawmakers to

confirm both men “as soon as possible” after mak-

ing his announcement.

Hagel, 66, will replace the current US De-

fence Secretary Leon Panetta at the Pentagon, if

confirmed by the Senate. He will also be the first

veteran of the Vietnam War to hold the post. “To

this day, Chuck bears the scars and the shrapnel”

of service in Vietnam, the president said on Mon-

day. Accepting the nomination, Sen. Hagel replied,

“I am grateful for

this opportunity

to serve our men

and women in

uniform again.”

Known as an

outspoken critic

of the US wars in

Iraq and

Afghanistan, as

well as an oppo-

nent of the ‘Jew-

ish lobby’ in

Washington and

of the possible

strike against

Iran, Hagel has

faced tough criti-

cism for his re-

marks. On Monday, however, President Obama

saluted Sen. Hagel’s “willingness to speak his

mind” in Congress, “even if it wasn’t popular.”

“That’s exactly the spirit I want on my national se-

curity team,” said the president. Obama’s adminis-

tration officials have already dismissed claims of

Hagel’s anti-Israel and pro-Iran stance, saying he

is “completely in line with the president” on these

issues.Brennan,

57, who has

worked in CIA

for 25 years and

played a key

role in the plan-

ning of the 2011

raid on Osama

Bin Laden, has

been behind the

controversial

US drone pro-

gram. He advo-

cated the use of

drones over-

seas, calling tar-

geted killing

o p e r a t i o n s

“legal, ethical

and wise.”During Monday’s announcement,

Obama called Brennan“one of our nation’s most

skilled and respected” intelligence leaders.“He un-

derstands we are a nation of laws. In moments of

debate and decision, he asks the tough questions

and insists on high and rigorous standards,” he said

of his nominee.

Brennan had withdrawn his CIA director

nomination back in 2008, as questions about his in-

volvement in enhanced interrogation techniques

forced him to assert he is “a strong opponent” of

the George W Bush administration policies. Speak-

ing from the White House on Monday, Brennan

said, “Leading the agency I served for 15 years

which would be the greatest privilege of my life.”

Agencies add: Obama said Hagel “understands that

America stands strongest when we stand with allies

and with friends,” after criticism by Republican

lawmakers of the former Nebraska senator’s past

statements on Israel.

He said that Hagel, a Republican who

broke with his party through his criticism of the

Iraq war, earned “respect of national security and

military leaders, Republicans and Democrats, in-

cluding me.”Obama called Hagel “an American pa-

triot” and said that he would play a critical role as

the first person of enlisted rank to serve as defense

secretary. “Chuck knows that war is not an abstrac-

tion. He knows that sending young Americans to

fight and bleed in the dirt and mud, that’s some-

thing we only do when it’s absolutely necessary,”

Obama said.

04 January 10, 2013

Our TeamCheif Editor and Publisher-----------------------------Akbar Warris

Asst. Editor--------------------------------------------------Saad Ali

Advisory & Editorial Board-----------------------------Ahsan Qureshi,

Ausim Mobeen, Zahid Rashid, Aneela Husain, Mushtaq Anjum,

Komal Popli

Technical Assistance------------------------------Ahmad Ashraf

Legal Advisor-----------------------------------------Barrister Khalid Sheikh

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Email: Canadianpakistanitimes@Gmail.com

Sahid kardar

Gender inequality in education

Convoluted expectations

January 14: what are we looking at?Dr Haider Mehdi

Canadian PM to meet indigenous leaders

The world is happy to know that Malala Yousufzai

from the Swat Valley in Pakistan is doing well and

has been discharged from the Queen Elizabeth

Hospital in Birmingham in the UK.

Yousufzai has become a hero for the ma-

jority of people in the world for challenging the

anti-intellectual Taliban in her country, who iden-

tified her as a threat to their political agenda when

she demanded education for girls.

What Yousufzai wants is not different

from what the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) wanted

for girls. Since the Prophet’s (pbuh) time until

today, the situation has not changed. Gender in-

equality remains one of the biggest challenges in

Pakistan in the 21st century. The majority of girls

and women in this country remain one of the most

uneducated people of the world.

Pakistan is the second largest Muslim

country after Indonesia and the number of Muslims

there constitutes 11 percent of the world’s Muslim

population. However, gender inequality in educa-

tion is still extreme despite the Quran’s spirit of

“Iqra” (read). According to the Convention on the

Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against

Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the

Rights of the Child (CRC), almost 77 million chil-

dren worldwide are deprived of one of their basic

rights: education. Girls make up 56 percent of

these children. The Global Campaign for Educa-

tion reports that more than 5.1 million primary

school-aged children in Pakistan do not attend

school. Sixty-three percent of them are girls. This

is the third highest number of out-of-school chil-

dren in the world.

A chronic absenteeism from school

among girls is worse in rural areas of Pakistan than

in the urban areas. Because of the gender inequal-

ity in education, the UN Development Programme

(UNDP) 2010 report ranked Pakistan 120 out of

146 countries based on its Gender-related Devel-

opment Index.

A major portion of the Pakistani society

is not welcoming for girls, who want to attend

school. Even those who are enrolled in schools

cannot attend them on a regular basis. What is

holding Pakistan back in gender equality in educa-

tion? There are various reasons, including gender

discrimination, early marriage and pregnancy, and

physical and mental violence against girls within

and outside of schools.

Cultural and social beliefs, attitudes,

stereotypes and practices in Pakistan discriminate

girls from getting equal educational opportunities.

The general tendency in society is to invest in

sons’ education, rather than daughters’. Such dis-

crimination against girls results in poor self-esteem

among girls in Pakistan, who only envisage a fu-

ture as wives and mothers.

Early marriage and pregnancy also play

a central role in why girls do not receive equal ed-

ucational opportunities in Pakistan.

Another key reason why Pakistani girls

do not attend school is because of violence. A joint

report by the UN and the Pakistani government

pointed out: “Females in Pakistan face

(Cont.. to next page

ALL and sundry continue to protest the lending be-

haviour of commercial banks and their large

‘spreads’ (the difference between the interest rates

on their lending and the interest rate that they offer

on deposits).

They protest that they are not catering ad-

equately for the private sector, and the SMEs in par-

ticular, and instead holding Rs3.3 trillion worth of

government securities, well in excess of the mini-

mum Statutory Liquidity Reserve requirement es-

tablished by the State Bank of Pakistan.

Complaints abound that SBP rhetoric and

the moral suasion to get banks to lend to these neg-

lected sectors is not enough and that it should “di-

rect” them to advance funds to private enterprise;

whereas more sophisticated analysts argue that a ro-

bust system of incentives and disincentives be put

in place to get them to do this.

Faced with the large portfolio of non-per-

forming loans of the private sector in an economy

gasping for breath and a sovereign with a voracious

demand for funds the banks are understandably re-

luctant to lend to the private sector in general and

the SME and agriculture sectors in particular.

Even the lowering of the interest rate on

government securities by 2.5 percentage points in

the last 12 months has not been that successful in

luring banks away from government securities in

favour of the private sector, although it has given

respite to the private sector through reduction in the

servicing cost of its existing stock of debt.

Why are banks continuing to invest in

government securities even after the attraction for

such instruments is supposedly losing its lustre with

interest rates now below the expected rate of infla-

tion and the prospects for capital gains on existing

holdings in these securities having run out of steam?

Before we discuss this aspect we need to be mindful

of two facts not generally well-known or appreci-

ated. To begin with, had the State Bank not ‘in-

jected’ in excess of Rs600bn into the system, the

deposit base of banks would not have been able to

support the increased borrowing of both the gov-

ernment and the private sector, particularly at the

current low rates of interest; without SBP pumping

money into the banking system the interest rate

would have shot up to support this enlarged demand

for funds from the existing pool of deposits.

Secondly, the government has also bor-

rowed close to Rs420bn for its “commodity opera-

tions” (its purchase of wheat, fertiliser and now

sugar) — to appease different lobbies — at interest

rates that are at least 1.5 percentage points higher

than those charged by banks to their prime private-

sector borrowers! Therefore, banks are not just

picking up more of government securities even at

low interest rates they have other ways of making

money at the expense of a reckless sovereign.

It is the State Bank’s prudential regula-

tions with respect to capital adequacy requirements

for commercial banks that have tended to reinforce

and strengthen this role of the banks. All commer-

cial banks are required to maintain a ‘minimum

capital to total risk-weighted assets ratio’ of eight

per cent.

Resultantly, along with having to bear the

cost of funds for holding government securities

banks are also required to carry the burden of an ad-

ditional charge on their activities, which in turn de-

pends upon the categories of assets held in

accordance with the ‘risk-weights’ assigned to each.

Presently, the risk weights assumed are

zero for investments in government securities and

100 per cent for practically all categories of loans

including those to the most creditworthy corpora-

tions and businesses; and even the balances held

with scheduled banks are assigned a risk-weightage

of 20 per cent.

With this difference in relative capital

costs owing to these risk weights the manner in

which the capital adequacy norms are being applied

(Cont..to next page)

“Dr Qadri….…has firmly put himself across as the

voice of Pakistan’s moral consciousness, rising to

press the government for finally delivering the

rights of ordinary Pakistanis.”

– Farhan Bokhari,

Indeed, Bokhari has made a sound and ap-

propriate observation in connection with Dr Qadri’s

sudden and yet vitally significant entry into Pak-

istan’s pre-election politics. The fact of the matter

is that Dr Qadri’s abrupt self-introduction into Pak-

istan’s political arena is no threat to the nascent

democracy in the country. It is, on the other hand, a

timely resplendent political action and a responsible

political initiative to correct what is fundamentally

wrong with this country’s contemporary political

culture and its electoral process. And that, in

essence, poses a grave threat to the incumbent rul-

ing elite and its future plans to hijack the people’s

mandate through decades-old fraudulent political

practices - stealing people’s democratic rights by

highly organised and manipulative methods of

enormous anti-democratic significance.

The Pakistani public is well aware of how

this charade is played out again and again with sen-

timental psychological symbols, meaningless dem-

ocratic rhetoric, ideological and religious slogans,

bribes, favours, use of government machinery and

administrative force, “kunba-parveri” (nepotism)

and so on and so forth. At last, the people of Pak-

istan are saying enough is enough - this must come

to an end now!

Take a logical and rational view of Dr

Qadri’s massive public rally in Lahore. Combine

this political event with Imran Khan’s jalsas in La-

hore and Karachi last year. Aren’t these immense

political gatherings a public democratic referendum

against the incumbent ruling parties, the PPP and

PML-N? Aren’t these political rallies convincingly

and openly public indictments against the PPP and

PML-N leadership? What other rational explanation

is there of such a massive and collective expression

of public dissatisfaction, distrust and rejection of

the so-called democratic leadership in the country?

How else can we understand this recently emerging

phenomenon of “Public Political Discontent” ex-

pressed so vividly, so convincingly, so profoundly,

so collectively, so peacefully, so powerfully, so pur-

posefully, so democratically and with such a

strongly united demand for a fundamental change

in the ways and manners in which practical politics

is conducted in this country.

Democracy is not being threatened by

Qadri’s political initiative - it is being strengthened:

the fact of the matter is that finally the forces of

change and the status quo forces in Pakistan have

come face-to-face for a decisive showdown. On the

one hand is Dr Qadri’s politically correct, valiant

and well timed call for public mobilisation on Jan-

uary 14, along with Imran Khan’s PTI’s as well as

MQM’s auspicious political endorsement for

change in Pakistan’s political culture, structural

norms, rules and process of election practices. On

the other hand is a dysfunctional, incompetent and

corrupt political system and leadership that has

failed to deliver basic human rights, economic well

being, political stability, justice and equality, safety

and security, law and order, self-sufficiency, self-

reliance, national dignity and honour. In fact, this

so-called democratic leadership has vested interests,

has compromised time and again with external

forces against Pakistan’s national interests, is patro-

nised by Washington and London and other Western

powers, and has at times, even compromised this

nation’s sovereignty for personal benefits and as-

cendency to political power. January 14 ought to be

doomsday for Pakistan’s farsoodah leadership. The

writing is on the wall!

What has Dr Qadri publicly proven so far

since his public rally in Lahore? Let us review his

credentials with an unbiased, honest and rational

spirit of inquiry. Obviously and unquestionably, Dr

Qadri is the most eloquent politician of our time.

His scholarly intellectual, conceptual and articulate

credentials are impeccable and matchless compared

with any other politician in Pakistan. His command

of theological knowledge, Islamic political history

and understanding of the dynamics of political

Islam are at a capacity and capability absolutely be-

yond the ability or competence of any of his politi-

cal contemporaries or adversaries. Let us admit that

Dr Qadri is a scholarly phenomenon in himself and

as such is capable of delivering and contributing to

Pakistan’s politics what has been fundamentally

missing so far.

Let us start with some basics: Dr Qadri’s

Lahore rally has proven certain things. First, he has

organisational management skills par excellence.

His communicative links from the top of the organ-

isational hierarchy to the bottom levels are efficient,

conducted with clarity and without delays. His

chain of command is highly organised. His policy-

making process is visionary and futuristic. The im-

plementation of policy decisions is managed at

decentralised levels (all these attributes are essential

to the sustainable development and progress of any

human organisation). Dr Qadri sits atop a huge or-

ganisation and financial institution spread over 90

countries that operates with impeccable efficiency

(that is Dr Qadri’s claim, and his Lahore rally seems

to endorse it).

Politics, in the sense of an organisational

entity, is the most complex human organisation in

existence because its business is to deal with mas-

sive and complicated societal problems and offer

urgent resolutions. My simple question is: can’t

Pakistan benefit from a person’s scholarly knowl-

edge, management expertise and political correct-

ness even if Dr Qadri holds dual citizenship? Why

is suddenly this uproar and outcry that Pakistani

democracy is under definite and serious threat?

Why are the majority of TV anchors conducting dis-

appointing and misleading TV talk shows, mostly

asking irrelevant questions and maintaining unhelp-

ful lines of inquiry on Qadri’s political phenome-

non? The real issue in present-day Pakistan is how

to maintain national solidarity and enact a political

initiative of fundamental change that will save this

nation from further sliding into an economic-polit-

ical abyss and ensure its national survival.

It is my considered opinion that time has

arrived for the “political forces of change” to join

hands in the struggle to save Pakistan from the

clutches of vested-interest political leaderships.

This is the only option for a future political dis-

course that will save Pakistan and put it on a path

to becoming a democratic self-reliant welfare state.

Imran Khan (as well as Sheikh Rasheed)

would be well-advised to enter into well intended

and serious negotiations and political alliance with

Dr Qadri. This alliance would have to define the

fundamentals of a comprehensive national agenda

in the post-2013 election in Pakistan as well as de-

velop an understanding of the nature and dynamics

of national leadership that would emerge out of the

said process. The sooner it is done, the better.

In the meantime, let Dr Qadri and his as-

sociates challenge the forces of status quo on Janu-

ary 14 on Constitutional Avenue in Islamabad and

drive them to their ultimate political demise!

Let it be known: mobilising the public to

demand their fundamental rights and dismantling

the political oligarchy are democratic norms!

Nelson Mandela, the most profound polit-

ical philosopher and political activist of our times,

once said that politicians always set their eyes on

winning elections while a leader sets his or her at-

tention on the welfare of the people and the future

well being of the generations to come.

My question is: what has the traditional

leadership done so far? Win elections and demon-

strate apathy for public welfare. Stop them now -

before it is too late! That is precisely what Dr Qadri

is preaching - and that is what January 14 is all

about!! Is it not?

THE Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper,

has agreed to a meeting with First Nations leaders

following indigenous protests sparked by a

hunger strike.

Since Dec 10 there have been road and

rail blockades across Canada, flash mobs and sol-

idarity events as far away as New Zealand, in the

biggest grassroots social movement in North

America since Occupy.

On Algonquin Island in the Ottawa

River, within view of parliament, Chief Theresa

Spence of Attawapiskat, a poor aboriginal com-

munity, has been living in a teepee in sub-zero

temperatures subsisting on liquids. Two other abo-

riginal elders were in week four of their fasts when

Harper agreed to meet to discuss aboriginal rights

and economic development.

Spence said she would continue her fast

until the meeting had produced concrete action

and a promise of consultations.

Harper recently forced through parlia-

ment two budget bills, each more than 400 pages

long. MPs had limited time to study the hundreds

of legislative changes, let alone debate and amend

them. The protest movement, under the slogan

Idle No More, started as a campaign by four

women who feared that the bill’s changes to the

Indian Act and environmental deregulation would

disproportionately affect First Nations peoples,

many of whom already live like second-class cit-

izens. News of the meeting, scheduled for Jan 11,

has done little to slow the momentum of the move-

ment, a self-professed leaderless and bottom-up

mobilisation driven by aboriginal women and

media-savvy youth.

First Nations constitutionally protected

land rights are often seen as red tape in the way of

the government’s economic plans. Clayton

Thomas-Muller, a Manitoba Cree running the In-

digenous Environmental Network’s tar sands cam-

paign, called for a “separation of oil and state”.

“400 years ago we had Jesuit priests

come into our First Nations in black robes prom-

ising a better way of life by changing the way we

communicated with our creator,” he said. “Today,

CEOs come into our communities in black suits

promising a better way of life if we change the

way we relate to the sacredness of mother earth.”

By: Nazila Isgandarova

January 10, 2013 05

Gender inequality in education

Convoluted expectations

discrimination, exploitation and abuse at many lev-

els, starting with girls, who are prevented from ex-

ercising their basic right to education either because

of traditional family practices, economic necessity

or as a conse-

quence of the de-

struction of

schools by mili-

tants.” In 2008

and 2009 more

than 40,000 girls

in the Swat Val-

ley, where

Yousufzai lived,

did not attend

school due to

threats by the extremists.

There are many reasons why the existing

gender inequality in education in Pakistan is prob-

lematic. First, the militants violate the Quran by de-

priving women of their right to education and

banning school for girls, even at the expense of their

lives and their families. Unfortunately, these people

make their claims on behalf of the sunnah, the say-

ings and actions of the Prophet (pbuh).

Second, Muslims in Pakistan fail to pass

on the true spirit of Islam from generation to gen-

eration. How is it possible to accomplish this im-

portant task if girls are deprived of their rights that

the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) declared in the sev-

enth century?

Third, without education women and girls

in Pakistan cannot claim their economic, political,

social and spiritual rights. Education is the only way

to establish, promote and protect human rights.

Fourth, imposing limits on girls acquiring

education pre-

vents not only

women, but also

men from fulfill-

ing their moral

responsibility as

human beings.

Thus, gender in-

equality in edu-

cation in

Pakistan pre-

vents women

from fully participating in the social, economic, po-

litical and spiritual life of the country. It harms so-

ciety by reducing national and international

competitiveness. Therefore, in order to emerge and

grow as a country, there must not be a barrier to ed-

ucation for women.

The writer is a Toronto-based researcher

and analyst, who also

works for the Azerbaijani

Women’s Support Centre.

This article has been re-

produced from the Turk-

ish newspaper, Today’s

Zaman, which with

TheNation has a content-

sharing agreement.

has also created an incentive for banks to invest in

government-guaranteed securities. The large sums

invested by the banks in government paper are

largely then the natural outcome of these policies.

Even if these norms do get changed even-

tually it does not follow that when the commercial

banks reduce their investment in government secu-

rities they will necessarily increase their private-

sector lending portfolio at the same pace.

As other financial institutions pick up

these securities there would be a flow of household

savings to them, resulting in a shrinking of the de-

posit base of banks with, perhaps, only a marginal

increase in the total value of loans made by them.

Moreover, lower interest rates will also disincen-

tivise household savings in rupee deposits even

with reduced investment opportunities in the region

— e.g. real estate in Dubai (although beginning to

pick up, activity in this sector will take time to reach

levels of the heady days).

Banks have to be given freedom in man-

aging and pricing the asset side of their services that

most commentators are reluctant to give, because

banks are being expected to also serve social objec-

tives through the asset side of the services, i.e.

through loans and advances.

Why should the principles that would not

just be accepted, but stoutly defended, for organi-

sations in other sectors be different in the case of

banks? In my view such objectives are better ful-

filled through the liabilities side of the balance

sheet, by serving and protecting the interests of the

depositors. Compared with borrowers, depositors

have lower per capita incomes. Therefore, if any so-

cial objectives are to be fulfilled, it is the interest of

depositors that must be accorded a higher priority.

It is not the banks but the government that

has the responsibility to meet social objectives, a

task in which it is failing by soaking up the bulk of

household savings which it could put to better use,

thereby discharging its social responsibilities more

satisfactorily.

The government for instance could amend

the subsidised Export Refinance Scheme (72 per

cent of whose funds are with just 31 exporters —

‘big boys’ who don’t need official help) and restrict

its scope to SMEs.

As for the issue of the large ‘spreads’ it

will only get resolved once you take the gorilla, Is-

lamabad (with its insatiable appetite for funds to fi-

nance its misspending), out of the room.

Following the government’s diminished

yearning for cash from banks the latter will have no

choice but to compete among themselves when

lending to the private sector, which will inevitably

lead to a narrowing in these spreads.

Regrettably, a substantial proportion of

our private sector does not have the credibility re-

quired to raise funds, at any rate of interest, from

the public, which is holding on to Rs2tr worth of

cash, the equivalent of 36 per cent of bank rupee

deposits.

SC accepts surprising Altaf apology

Four killed in Karachi violence, 23suspects arrested, arms recovered

LAHORE: South Asia, the most volatile region,

mourned the murder of 25 media persons, with Pak-

istan again remaining on the top with its 13 journal-

ists losing their lives during 2012.

This has been stated in the South Asia

Media Commission’s (SAMC) Media Monitor

2012 report which was made public by the body’s

Secretary General M Ziauddin here on Sunday. The

report was simultaneously launched in all eight

countries of South Asia. The launch, attended by

senior journalists from all the four provinces and

the tribal areas of the country, coincided with an-

nual meeting of Media Commission-Pakistan, the

local chapter of the SAMC. According to the report,

five journalists were killed in India, three in

Bangladesh and two each in Nepal and Afghanistan.

Though luckily no journalist was killed in Sri

Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives, media persons

there continued to face professional challenges and

hazards. The media also came under scrutiny for

laxity in professionalism in achieving accuracy and

being unbiased. Despite the UN Security Council’s

adoption of Resolution 1738 in 2006, which

stressed the need to protect journalists in dangerous

areas, violence against them, their physical security

remained a major issue and one of the biggest

threats to freedom of expression in most of South

Asia. Those killed in Pakistan included Saqib Khan,

Ummat, (Karachi), Rehmatullah Abid, Dunya

News, (Pujngor), Mushtaq Khand, Dharti Televi-

sion Network, (Mehran, Khairpur, Sindh), Abdul

Haq Baloch, ARY Television, (Khuzdar), Abdul

Qadir Hajizai, Wash TV (Quetta), Razzaq Gul, Ex-

press News TV, (Turbat), Mukarram Khan Aatif,

Freelance, (Shabqadar), Mohammad Amir, ARY

News (Peshawar), Aurangzeb Tunio, Kawaish Tel-

evision Network, (Lalu Ranwak) Tariq Kamal, re-

porter for a local Sindhi newspaper (Karachi), Syed

Tariq Hussain (Karachi), Aslam Raja (Karachi) and

Jamshed Kharal (Quetta). The report said journal-

ists in Pakistan faced pressures from all sides. His-

torically, it was the state power which curbed

freedom of speech and attacked journalists. Now

journalists are under attack from non-state actors

also. Press freedom has made journalists more au-

dacious in performing their job which, in turn, has

also made them a very threatened lot. Killings with

impunity aside, there have been various incidents

of attacks on media houses and threats and violence

against media persons with perpetrators remaining

unscathed. There have also been reports of journal-

ists sustaining injuries in protests and bomb blasts.

Violent protests that erupted against the

anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims” in Septem-

ber took a heavy toll on media professionals in Pak-

istan. One media worker was killed and many

others were injured as they covered the protests that

turned violent in many cities of the country. Jour-

nalists were beaten and dragged by protesters who

complained that they were not being given

proper coverage.

Other than the physical threats, the pres-

sures on the media are tremendous, the repot says.

It says the ban on YouTube in Pakistan imposed on

September 17 was meant to pacify incensed emo-

tions following the release of the anti-Islam film.

At least four persons were killed and several oth-

ers injured in fresh spate of violence in different

localities of the city on Tuesday. The police arrest

23 suspects during operation and recovered arms

from their possession.

According to details, unknown armed

men barged into a house located in Baloch Goth

area of Orangi Town and opened indiscriminate

fire at the residents killing two people on the spot

and fled the scene.

The bodies were shifted to Abbasi Sha-

heed Hospital where identity of the deceased was

confirmed as Ayub and Riaz.

In Soldier Bazaar, armed assailants shot

at and killed one person identified as Imran while

he was on his way to school to drop his children

there. Police said that the murder seems to be out-

come of personal enmity. The deceased was a res-

ident of Golimar.

Police recovered tortured dead body of

a woman near Bismillah Market in Gulshan-e-

Maymar. Firing incidents continued in different

localities of the city during which more than 15

persons were reported injured. The wounded per-

sons were shifted of different hospitals of con-

cerned areas where condition of some injured

persons was stated to be serious. According to

DIG West Zone, Asif Ijaz Sheikh, on a tip off re-

garding presence of criminals, police accompa-

nied by women constables conducted search

operation in Itehad and Nawab Colonies of Baldia

Town. During security forces action 23 suspects

were arrested and arms including a Kalashnikov,

100 TT Pistols and hundreds of rounds of different

bores were recovered from the possession of

detainees.

06 January 10, 2013

January 10, 2013 07

Enter tainment

Ekta Kapoor brings David and Varun Dhawan together Shah Rukh's planning to buya football team may go awry

First person: Plastic fantastic

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's proposed deal to buy stake in the Goa-based

Dempo Sports Club is reportedly "dying out" as the superstar is finding it dif-

ficult to attend soccer matches as required by a clause.

Dempo Sports Club owner Srinivas Dempo told that the deal may not

materialise as Shah Rukh has no time to attend the matches, which was a crucial

understanding in the deal.

The club had approached Shahrukh, who is the co-owner of IPL team

Kolkata Knight Riders, to pick up a stake in the club, the winner of last year's

I-league championship.

"The proposal is still in the pipeline. Officially it has not been called

off", Dempo said, adding the draft of the agreement had a clause that Shah Rukh

will attend at least 8-10 matches annually.

"But he (Shahrukh) has indicated that he is finding it difficult. We are

yet to reply to him", Dempo said.

He did not reveal the exact stake the actor was supposed to pick up in

the Dempo Sports Club nicknamed 'The Whites'.

Dempo said the majority stake would have remained with the parent

management even after inking the deal with Shahrukh.

"It was not about the money; it was about the popularity of the club.

At least for important matches we were expecting his presence", added Dempo.

Varun Dhawan, who made his debut with Karan Johar's 'Stu-

dent Of The Year' in 2012, is all set for a bigger career boost

this year. Producer Ekta Kapoor shelled out 2 crore for the Hindi

remake rights of a Telugu blockbuster, which she's making with

the youngster under the aegis of his filmmaker father, David

Dhawan. Interestingly, a number of producers and actors were

vying for its rights, but Ekta, being the determined producer she

is, stayed back down South till she closed the deal.

Calling Varun India's youngest teen sensation, the pro-

ducer says, "An established actor wouldn't get the youth and the

young girls' craze that we want. Varun is like a young Salman

Khan, he fits the bill perfectly. He's comfortable with humour,

his acting is very good and he's a wonderful dancer, too." The

ensemble cast and two heroines are yet to be finalised for the

film, which is scheduled to start in a couple of months.

Ekta, who's making the movie in the space of Wedding

Crashers (2005 Hollywood film) meeting a KJo production,

continues, "Before Aamir (Khan), Salman (Khan) and Govinda

became stars, they were popular with the teens of that time —

Aamir with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988), Salman with

Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) and Govinda with Love 86 (1986). I

see Varun becoming a major masses' star in five years. But be-

fore that, he's becoming a huge teen star, not just for Mumbai

and the other metros, but also for small towns."

Ekta is optimistic that Varun will set a trend with his

attitude and style. "And besides Ranbir Kapoor, no other young

actor is being emulated. Varun will surely be the next," she as-

serts. Equally positive is David, who feels this is a wonderful

movie for his younger son. He says, "Varun is a very aggressive

actor, he has that passion and goes all out with his performances.

He's a good dancer, good in romantic scenes and convincing in

emotional parts. In short, he delivers all that is expected of a

Hindi film hero."

Conceding that he wanted to make a film with his son,

the director says that this is a perfect opportunity. "Ekta bought

the rights and our idea is to take it to another level. We're sure

people feel that Varun has grown as an actor and is going ahead

in his career. Having made entertaining films with actors like

Salman, Sanjay (Dutt) and Govinda, what more would I want

as a father than to make a mass entertainer with and for my

son?" he concludes.

She’s the kind of plastic that is durable and weather

resistant; unaffected by the harsh weather changes

in her life and there have been many. She’s also

malleable, the word ‘change’ being her mantra

whether she’s changing roles, relationships or

whether she’s using that malleability for profes-

sional expansion. How the Nabila brand grew from

a tiny garage operation to a multi-million dollar en-

terprise featuring salons, a bridal studio and nail

bars is an inspiration to every woman. She’ll be

opening her very own barbering shop next month.

We meet as she’s training barbers from as

far as Soldier Bazaar and Christian Town.

“We’ve been cutting hair for as long as we

can remember,” says Javed, who’s delighted to

have been recruited for the upcoming salon and is

training under her these days. “We have learnt on

the job but ma’am is teaching us technique and

styling.” They’re in awe of her, held in admiration

for this ‘plastic fantastic’ specimen of a woman

who works 14 hours a day, like a clockwork doll

whose energy dies down only when she needs

to be rewound. Nabila’s energy does die down

around 9pm every night. That’s when she says: “I

don’t want to see another human being after 9 o’

clock. Thank God my kids have moved out and my

husband works in his studio very late every night.”

Despite retiring from the madness of her

life at 9pm, she stays awake on her one guilty pleas-

ure: Karachi’s famous chili chips. Salty snacks are

her weakness. But she’s also an incorrigible insom-

niac, no matter how well her ‘mind coach’ counsels

it. The only person she’ll listen to is herself and for

her adult years (she’ll be celebrating her 50th birth-

day in a couple) that has been more than good

enough. She, being the only woman in a group of

59 trekkers, was able to scale the inhospitable ter-

rain of K2 base camp last year. It was a personal

goal she had set for herself and accomplished. “I

didn’t slow anyone down,” she says as she chalks

up plans of tackling Everest next year.

Nabila is her own competition and is un-

perturbed by the sway of politics that forever blows

through the fashion industry. She styled the opening

days of both PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Weeks (in

2011 and 2012) and claims that the reason she

hasn’t been involved with either Fashion Pakistan

Week or PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week is because

she’s never been asked. The councils say she’s too

expensive.

“I have offered to style fashion weeks free

of cost as my contribution to the industry,” she of-

fers. Contrary to peoples’ opinion of her being a cut

throat aggressor, life isn’t all about work and per-

sonal goals. It wouldn’t be possible to achieve a

healthy mind-body balance without the positive

karma, she firmly agrees with Oriental wisdom.

That karma comes from her contributions

to organizations like LAML (Light a Million

Lives), an initiative to illuminate villages in Punjab

or Hunar Foundation, an enterprise that aims to

give vocational training to people from the streets

and empowering them financially. Nabila has vol-

unteered to mentor individuals interested in beauty

and styling by providing them with world class pro-

fessional training. “I started from scratch,” she says,

“and there is no reason why everyone else can’t.”

Plastic is protective and whether that ap-

plies to her as a mother, a wife or more simply just

a human being, Nabila is protective too. It’s her

cosmetic line of products that she’s busy protecting

these days. Something she calls her ‘gold mine’ she

has conceived, created

and christened the prod-

uct but needs to patent it

before it is launched.

“I’ve been ready

to launch for a while,” she

confesses at the risk of re-

vealing any information

that may jeopardise her

plans, “but I have to copy-

right the name as well as

the product first. It’s not

just a product, it’s a con-

cept and should be legally

patented.” It will release

early this year, she shares.

Until then she has her

hands full of other things,

including styling Hu-

mayun Saeed’s image for

his upcoming feature

film, in which he’s cast

himself in the role of a

cricketer from the ’90s,

no points for guessing

who’s the inspiration. Nabila is also styling the

‘item song’ in the film, which will feature none

other than Mathira. And submerging into her pro-

tective, quiet mode she refuses to let out further in-

formation. What she is happy to talk about is her

recent showcase at the PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal

Week, in which the ‘Paper Doll’ concept was some-

what lost on people. She sent a perfectly plastic

Barbie doll (depicted by fashion model Ayyan)

down the runway in what was intended as a reflec-

tion of what women in Pakistan wanted to look like.

“Girls want plastic perfection,” she ex-

plained. “They come to me asking to look like a

doll; they beg to look like a doll. So I showed them

what dolls look like. Months of research and prepa-

ration went into developing the concept and it was

executed with perfection. Ayyan did look flawless.”

Flawless can appear plastic on the surface; it can

even appear unreal but as far as Nabila is concerned

there is no such thing as unreal. There isn’t any-

thing that can’t be fixed and she sums up the solu-

tion in two words: “If you don’t like it, change it.”

She’s the kind of plastic that is durable and weather resistant; unaffected by the harsh weather changes in herlife and there have been many. She’s also malleable, the word ‘change’ being her mantra whether she’s changingroles, relationships or whether she’s using that malleability for professional expansion. How the Nabila brandgrew from a tiny garage operation to a multi-million dollar enterprise featuring salons, a bridal studio and nailbars is an inspiration to every woman. She’ll be opening her very own barbering shop next month.

08 January 10, 2013

Zardari hints at expanding BISP

Three policemen injuredin Swabi grenade attack

Three killed in incidents of firing in KarachiDelhi gang-rape: Indian activists slamguru who held victim responsible

2012 deadliest year in Karachi for two decades

SWABI: Three policemen were injured

in a grenade attack on their van while pa-

trolling the area on Swabi-Mardan road

near Al-Falah link road on Tuesday.

All injured were shifted to the

District Headquarters Hospital Swabi.

The unknown attackers fled

from the scene after the attack taking ad-

vantage of the low visibility conditions

in the area. In an unrelated incident the

slaughtered body of a Sikh man was

found in Chora area of Jamrud Tehsil in

Khyber tribal region. The killers left a

chit on the body claiming that the victim

was killed due to his involvement in spy-

ing activities for the banned religious

outfit, Lashkar-i-Islam.

The deceased was a resident of

Bara and a practitioner of herbal medi-

cine, who was kidnapped a few days ear-

lier from Tirah valley in Khyber tribal

region’s Bara Tehsil. Peshawar, the cap-

ital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, situated be-

tween Khyber and Orakzai tribal region

is home to the largest Sikh population in

the country.

KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari indicated on

Monday that the Benazir Income Support Pro-

gramme (BISP) would be expanded and the matter

would be incorporated into PPP’s manifesto for the

coming general elections.

“It’s a legacy of Benazir Bhutto that the

BISP is being run transparently,” he said. “The pro-

gramme has achieved success to a large extent.

We will expand it to ensure employment

of skilled people.” Addressing a ceremony held at

Bilawal House for distribution of prizes among

5,000 fresh graduates, the president said the pro-

gramme had been appreciated worldwide because

of its transparency, objectivity and efficiency. The

BISP has reached out to over seven million families

in a short span of four years.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali

Shah, BISP Chairperson Farzana Raja, Higher Ed-

ucation Commission’s Chairperson Shahnaz Wazir

Ali, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari,

Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari and Aseefa Bhutto

Zardari attended the ceremony.

“It’s one of a few programmes from a

third-world country which has been recognised by

international institutions. It’s purely because of per-

sistent efforts of BISP board members that the pro-

gramme has become a success,” Mr Zardari said.

He said the society had accepted the BISP

because it was in accordance with local culture of

savings under which families organised ‘commit-

tees’ to meet their major expenses. The programme

is now a part of culture which is needed to be ex-

panded and made part of the PPP manifesto.

The BISP chairperson spoke about

achievements of the programme.

Ms Raja said 10,000 youths had been

equipped with vocational skills to enable them to

make their living in a respectable manner. Another

150,000 youths would be trained in different trades

and vocations and efforts would be made to find

overseas jobs for them.

APP adds: The president thanked the in-

ternational community and partners for their

support to the programme which had brought

about a revolutionary change in the lives of the

poor and dispossessed.

Mr Zardari said he was personally moni-

toring the progress of the Poverty Scorecard

Survey and other initiatives of the BISP. He said

he was satisfied that work on the survey was

progressing well.

He said it would be ensured that public

money was transparently utilised and for this

purpose the BISP had introduced mobile phone

banking.

KARACHI: Three people were killed in incidents

of firing in Karachi, DawnNews reported on Tues-

day. Two people were killed in Orangi Town’s

Baloch Goth area and their bodies were shifted to

the Abbasi Shahid Hospital. Police said the two

were killed over a personal enmity and took four

people into custody. Moreover, unknown assailants

gunned down one man in the city’s Soldier Bazaar

area. The man was a resident of the city’s Gulbahar

area. Separately in Gulbahar, two people were in-

jured in an incident of firing.

Furthermore, in Karachi’s Gulshan-i-

Maymar area, the body of an 18-year-old girl bear-ing torture marks was recovered. The girl had how-

ever not yet been identified.

KARACHI: Activists in India slammed Asaram

Bapu, a so-called spiritual leader, over his com-

ments regarding the Delhi gang-rape victim, re-

ports in the Indian media said.

Asaram had stated that the 23-year-old

gang-rape victim was “equally responsible for the

crime and the girl could

have called her as-

sailants brothers and

begged them to stop”, a

report published in the

Hindustan Times said.

The girl was

gang-raped on the night

of Dec16 and had died

nearly a fortnight later

at a Singapore hospital.

In a recent ad-

dress to his followers, Asaram had said that when

the girl had encountered the men “she should have

taken God’s name and could have held the hand of

one of the men and said I consider you as my

brother and should have said to the other two

‘Brother I am helpless, you are my brother, my re-

ligious brother.’ She should have taken God’s

name and held their hands and feet…then the mis-

conduct wouldn’t have happened”. “Galti ek taraf

se nahi hoti hai (mistake is not committed from

one side),” he had stated in his address.

“The accused were drunk. If the girl had

chanted hymns to goddess Saraswati and to Guru

Diksha then she wouldn’t have entered the bus…

,” he had said.

In the wake of the comments, activists

have demanded that India’s religious and political

leaders be held answerable for their statements.

All India Democratic Women’s Associa-

tion’s Sudha Sundaraman condemned the remarks

and advocated stern punishment against leaders

making irresponsible

statements, the Times

of India stated in a re-

port published Tuesday.

Sundaraman termed

the statements “highly

objectionable, regres-

sive and anti-women”.

“Such people should be

called to question. This

is further victimisation

of the victim and

deeply insulting to women,” the Times of India

quoted Sundaraman as saying.

The statements were also condemned by

Ranjana Kumari of the Centre for Social Research.

Kumari said such “irresponsible and

ridiculous statements were responsible for encour-

aging rapists.”

“Such people should be socially boy-

cotted. It is these people who are responsible in so-

ciety for creating misogynist values,” the Times of

India quoted Kumari as saying.

The statements were also condemned by

activist lawyer Brinda Grover, social scientist Im-

tiaz Ahmad, academic Ayesha Kidwai and lawyer

Kirti Singh.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s financial hub Karachi saw

its deadliest year in two decades in 2012, with

around 2,000 people killed in violence linked to

ethnic and political tensions, raising fears for elec-

tions due this year.

Karachi, a business centre with a popula-

tion of 18 million, is the beating heart of the nu-

clear-armed country of 180 million.

It accounts for 20 per cent of GDP, 57 per

cent of tax revenue and elects 33 lawmakers to the

federal parliament.

Yet enormous waves of migration have

tightened resources and exacerbated a fight for

identity and control that has only become deadlier

in the five years since the main ruling Pakistan Peo-

ple’s Party (PPP) took office in Islamabad.

Trapped in the middle are ordinary people

who one day leaves home, never to return alive —

victims of faceless gangs condemned by political

parties yet linked to ethnic and political factions,

and who escape with impunity.

“My son went to pay his respects at his fa-

ther’s grave, but he never came back. We found his

mutilated body in a bag,” says Shahida, sobbing un-

controllably in her damp home.

Faysal, 16, was her only son. When he

went missing last month from their home and was

later found in a rubbish-strewn alley in the working

class district of Lyari, her world collapsed.

He was shot in the head, and there were

drill marks on his head and stomach, says Faysal’s

uncle Mohammed Hussein.

“We don’t know who did it and why… I

don’t have a reason to live any more,” his mother

cried. According to the Citizens-Police Liaison

Committee, 2,124 people were killed in Karachi in

2012, the worst year since records began nearly 20

years ago.

The Human Rights Commission of Pak-

istan (HRCP) says 1,800 people died in targeted

killings in the first nine months of 2012. In 2011, it

put the number at 1,000, which was then the dead-

liest in 16 years.

Karachi has all the ingredients of an ex-

plosive cocktail — gang warfare, land grabbings,

drugs, extremism, political rivalries, ethnic ten-

sions, poverty and a mushrooming population

owing to migration.

Police insist killings related to ethnic and

sectarian disputes accounted for only 20 per cent of

the murders, but rights activists say a shortage of

law enforcement officers is part of the problem.

Karachi is becoming a city

where controlling violence is becoming increas-

ingly difficult because of an insufficient police

force, which is less than 30,000 for around 18 mil-

lion people,” says Zohra Yusuf, HRCP chair-

woman.

Pakistan is scheduled to hold elections by

the end of May, which will mark the first democrat-

ically elected transition of power ever in the coun-

try, dominated for decades by military rulers.

No date has yet been set for the polls, but

parties are disputing the boundaries of constituen-

cies and accuse each other of distorting their re-

spective voter list to inflate their chances of

success. “I am very fearful about the coming elec-

tions,” said Fateh Muhammad Burfat, a criminolo-

gist at Karachi University. The different groups

“will try to show their power and there is only one

way to show power here — it is violence.”

When British colonial rule ended in 1947,

and Pakistan was created, Karachi became a capital

overnight and the destination of ten thousands of

Indian Muslims.

Today, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement

(MQM) controls most of the city apart from Lyari,

a bastion of support for the PPP, and areas home to

new migrants, ethnic Pashtuns from the northwest.

For the past three or four years, Lyari has

seen clashes blamed on two rival groups.

“Land in Karachi is very precious and

grabbing is the bone of contention, the mother of

all conflicts,” says Zafar Baloch, number two in the

first group.

In the spring, a police operation tried but

failed to dislodge his men from Lyari.

“Sometimes they call us drug mafia,

sometimes they call us land mafia, sometimes

gangsters, they give different allegations because

we are their main obstacle to the project to control

Lyari,” he told AFP.

Outside Lyari, ethnic tensions are blamed

for much of the violence.

The MQM vents about alleged Talibani-

sation, pointing to suicide and bomb attacks linked

to the Taliban-led insurgency.

“The major criminals are these suicide

bombers, these Taliban extremists, whoever they

are, are here and have access to local criminals,”

complains Khawaja Izhar ul-Hasan, a provincial

cabinet minister from MQM.

“Now they are like a mafia, from mobile

phone snatching on the street to bank robbery,

everybody is connected.”

The Awami National Party (ANP) accuses

the MQM of power politics.

“MQM wants to occupy and control the

whole city,” said Bashir Jan, ANP secretary general

for southern province Sindh, of which Karachi is

the capital, who says he has survived three assassi-

nation attempts since 2007.

January 10, 2013 09

SPORTS

‘PCB needs to rethink Misbah’s place’

Misbah, Hafeez laud superb show by youngsters in India‘Junaid and Irfan outclassed India’

Umar Akmal draws criticism

DUBAI - Former India great Sunil Gavaskar

termed Pakistan’s abject surrender in the 3rd ODI

against India “baffling display of timid batting”

and suggested captain Misbah-ul-Haq rethink his

place in the shorter-form of the game.

Pakistan, who won the three-match ODI

series 2-1, lost the last game in New Delhi by 10

runs chasing a paltry total of 167. Although the de-

feat was drowned in euphoria at Pakistan’s tri-

umph, the Indian batting legend said the PCB

needed to take some tough decisions.

“One would have thought that the expe-

rienced Misbah-ul-Haq would have been able to

handle the situation, but he inexplicably went into

a shell and at the other end the excitable Umar

Akmal was just waiting to do something rash,”

Gavaskar said in his columns for Gulf News.

“It was the approach of Misbah that cost

Pakistan the game, much as it did in the semi-fi-

nals of the World Cup two years back. Pakistan

may have won the one-day series 2-1, but if they

are to carry on winning then some serious thought

needs to be applied to Misbah’s position in the

team. He is not getting any younger and it was his

dropped catch in Chennai that allowed Dhoni to

go on to a century,” he added.

Gavaskar also tipped M Hafeez, Pak-

istan’s captain in T20s, to take charge of the ODI

side. “Hafeez is looking a good leader and the way

he is batting and bowling, as well as taking superb

catches, he could be the man that Pakistan needs

to win glory again. With the World Cup just a cou-

ple of years away, Pakistan, like India, should be

looking at building a nucleus for that event — just

like India seemed to be doing with the messages

sent to two senior and prolific players by leaving

them out of the team,” he said.

Whether Pakistan are ready to follow

India’s lead it remains to be seen, but they will

need to iron out the chinks fast as their next as-

signment pits them against the top-ranked South

Africans in a three-match Test series, two T20s

and five ODIs. The long tour starts on January 25

and will run until March 24.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan one-day captain Misbah-ul-Haq on Monday

credited left-arm fast bowleder Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan for

the 2-1 series victory over India, the team’s first win in India in seven

years. Irfan and Khan combined for 11 wickets in the series and destroyed

the top order batting lineup in all the three matches. Khan claimed the

key wicket of Virat Kohli for 0, 6 and 7 in all the three matches which

severely jolted the Indian middle order. Kohli was adjudged ICC’s ODI

player of the year in 2012 while scoring 1,733 runs in 31 ODI matches

including eight centuries.

”The way they (Irfan and Khan) have performed, it shows they

have a bright future,” Misbah said. ”They proved against the world’s best

batting lineup and simply outclassed them for a huge win.”

India averted its first ever whitewash at the hands of Pakistan

when it successfully defended a small total of 167 in New Delhi to win

by 10 runs.

Misbah said he had aimed for the clean sweep and that was the

reason he didn’t used the bench strength like fast bowlers Anwar Ali and

Wahab Riaz despite taking a decisive 2-0 lead after victories in Chennai

and Kolkata.

”We were not relaxed (at New Delhi), we were determined to

win the third match and that was the reason we didn’t make changes,”

he said. ”But we should give credit to the other team as they fought very

well.” Pakistan’s new batting sensation, Nasir Jamshed, scored back-to-

back centuries at Chennai and Kolkata. Private TV channel Geo reported

that the left-hander forgot his man of the series trophy at the team hotel

when the team left for the airport on Monday.

Pakistan was also impressive in drawing the Twenty20 series

1-1. After winning by five wickets at Bangalore, Pakistan threatened to

chase down a target of 193 at Ahmedabad before falling short by 11 runs.

Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez hoped that Pakistan’s

performance in India will open doors of reviving international cricket in

Pakistan.

”We showed how good we are,” Hafeez said.

”I hope after this performance the ICC and rest of the cricketing

world will think about reviving international cricket in Pakistan.”

No foreign team has toured Pakistan since gunmen attacked the

Sri Lanka team bus at Lahore in 2009 and Pakistan has played its ”home”

series mainly in the United Arab Emirates.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf, who also at-

tended the ODI series, said he was hopeful of India’s return tour to Pak-

istan this year and denied reports that India has refused to play in

Pakistan. ”Cricket diplomacy is going on with India,” he said. ”The day

is not far when India too will come to Pakistan and I am quite hopeful.”

Pakistan suffered a huge setback when Bangladesh postponed

its tour to Pakistan for the second time in 10 months. Ashraf met with

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan in New Delhi on

Sunday and was still optimistic the tour will take place.

KARACHI - Pakistan's young batsman Umar Akmal

has drawn flak from former players and critics for his

below-par performance during the just-concluded tour

of India.

Even Pakistan's former captain Wasim

Akram singled out Umar for criticism after the third

and final one-dayer in Delhi on Sunday. "When will

Umar learn to play responsibly. He has been around

in international cricket now for a considerable time.

He really needs to think about his game now," Wasim

said.

Umar, the younger brother of wicketkeeper

Kamran Akmal, got out at a crucial time in the match

with Pakistan chasing a low total of 167 set by India.

Pakistan's former captain Rashid Latif was more

forthright in his views about Umar and the match.

"I think it is about time Umar is told by the

selectors he is not needed in the national team until he changes his

approach and attitude towards the game," Latif said. "Umar has to

be sent back to domestic cricket until the selectors see a visible

change in his approach and attitude. He has got too many opportu-

nities to realise his talent. But he is not finishing games," Latif said.

Umar was also in the eye of the storm before the Indian

tour when his department, Sui Gas, which includes Mohammad

Hafeez and Misbah-ul-Haq, sidelined him after he missed some

games in the President's Trophy tournament due to the wedding of

his brother Adnan.

Former Pakistan captain Moin Khan also felt that Umar

was not doing justice to his enormous talent. "He is talented no

doubt about it but he needs to learn that all this talent is useless until

it results in good results for his team. He is just not showing the ap-

proach of a finisher which is sad," Moin said.

Umar, who played in three matches on the Indian tour, is

expected to be axed for the forthcoming South African tour as the

selectors have more confidence in upcoming batsman Haris Sohail.

LAHORE: While noting teamwork as in-

strumental in Pakistan’s victorious tour to

India, ODI and T20 captains Misbah-ul-

Haq and Mohammad Hafeez on Monday

praised young players’ exceptional perform-

ance under high pressure that led to Pak-

istan’s wins against the ODI world

champions on their home turf.

Speaking to media after the na-

tional team arrived at the Allama Iqbal In-

ternational Airport here on Monday from

India, Misbah said Pakistan’s victory in

India came due to the combined effort.

Pakistan, after drawing the two-

match T20 series against Mahendra Singh

Dhoni’s men, clinched the ODI series 2-1.

“Pakistan’s win on Indian soil is

the result of teamwork. The outstanding

performances by the youngsters made all

the difference and they are a big hope for

Pakistan in the future,” Misbah said at the

airport where a significant number of jubi-

lant cricket fans chanted slogans in favour

of the triumphant national team.

Rookie left-arm fast bowler Ju-

naid Khan, lanky paceman Mohammad

Irfan and dashing left-handed opener Nasir

Jamshed all excelled on the high-pressure

tour to India, giving impressive perform-

ances when it really mattered.

Junaid and Irfan combined for 11

wickets in the series and destroyed India’s

top order batting in all the three ODIs. Ju-

naid took the key wicket of Virat Kohli for

0, 6 and 7 in all the three ODIs which put

the Indian middle order on the

defensive.Misbah had a special word of

praise for Junaid and Irfan.

“The way they [Junaid and Irfan]

fared in India, it shows they have a good fu-

ture,” Misbah said. “They proved them-

selves against the world’s best batting

line-up and played crucial role in our wins.”

The skipper was also impressed

by Nasir’s magnificent run in India where

he struck two back-to-back centuries in the

first two ODIs which were won by Pakistan.

“The way Nasir is batting, it is

making our [individual] scores look ordi-

nary. But apart from me and Azhar [Ali],

our batsmen have been doing pretty well,”

Misbah stated.

To a question about losing the

low-scoring third ODI in Delhi, Misbah dis-

pelled the impression that he had taken the

match lightly.

“The conditions changed [in

Delhi] for the team batting second. Further-

more a commendable fielding effort by the

Indians also helped them earn the victory,”

he remarked.

It is pertinent to mention that Pak-

istan for the first time ever were at the brink

of whitewashing India in an ODI series as

they marched towards the 168-run target at

Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on Sun-

day. The tourists had already bagged the se-

ries in the second ODI at Kolkata with a

huge 85-run victory.

However, Misbah and company

— from 113-3 in 34 overs — dipped dra-

matically, losing their last seven wickets for

mere 44 runs to lose the nail-biting game by

10 runs with seven balls still to be bowled.

Hafeez, meanwhile, said the entire

nation should be proud of the win in India,

adding the youngsters’ performance was

commendable.

“They did not surrender in the

high pressure games and gave some out-

standing individual performances, which

kept Pakistan going in almost every match

of the series,” Hafeez stated.

“The most encouraging aspect of

the tour was that the entire team was fo-

cused on the series and everyone was con-

fident to add his contribution for the team,”

the all-rounder added and hoped that the

team’s fine performance against India

would help the PCB restore international

cricket in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, PCB chairman Zaka

Ashraf, who accompanied the team praised

the boys for Pakistan’s remarkable win in

India. “Pakistan team’s showing was com-

mendable. Beating India in India is a big

achievement and all this was possible due

to teamwork,” he said.

“The boys displayed great unity

and fighting spirit.” Zaka also lauded Mis-

bah under whose leadership Pakistan won

the ODI series.

To a query about Bangladesh’s ex-

pected tour to Pakistan, the PCB chairman

said the two boards were still holding dis-

cussions. “On my invitation BCB president

came to India and watched the last ODI in

Delhi and we will soon make an announce-

ment in this regard.”