VOLEUM-24 NO. 1 FEBRUARY-2014 PHONE-510-677-4488 WWW.FIJISUN-USA.COM Email : fijisun@gmail.com

first citiZenlaunches annualcorporate planfor 2014

The Office of thePresident todaylaunched their Annual

Corporate Plan for this year.His Excellency the PresidentRatu Epeli Nailatikau whilelaunching the annual corpo-rate plan reminded the staffon the importance of achiev-ing the targets set out for2014. “The AnnualCorporate Plan should pro-vide a direction for every-one, we should know wherewe were positioned last yearbefore beginning this year,”the President said. HisExcellency encouraged thestaff to work towards achiev-ing capital projects to beimplemented by his officeand reminded the staff towork together during thisyear. The President officerecognised the hardworkingstaff from last year with aspecial awards ceremony.

Governmentpoverty pro-Gramme assistslami resident

Epeli Jiloko, of LamiVillage on the out-skirts of Suva is a

happy man after theCommissioner Central’sOffice assisted him with theextension of his house anda walkway under its PovertyAlleviation Programme(PAP). The 53-year old manwho had an accident morethan 10 years ago and isusing a wheel chair to movearound was very emotionalwhen the DivisionalCommissioner Central, LtCol Laisenia Tuitubou visit-ed him at his home. MrJiloko who is being lookedafter by his childrenexpressed his gratitude toGovernment for the assis-tance. “I take this opportuni-ty to thank Government forthe assistance. Since I gotsick more than ten yearsago, it has been very diffi-cult for me to move aroundthe house. I had to rely ontosomeone to take me.”“With the construction of thisporch and the walkway, Iwas able to move aroundfreely without relying on mychildren to take me around,”an emotional Jiloko said. Asum of $3,100.00 was pro-vided by Government for theconstruction of Mr Jiloko’sporch and walkway.

sAcrAmento Lions in Action

fIjI day In santa rosa

fiji Awards night on valentines day with bay Area golden voice

see more pictures on paGe 31 or visit facebook

AzAm And wife zubi cross40th wedding AnniversAry

“God bless the couple and family,” prayed the editor at the celebration.

In the

center are

azam and

wIfe zubI of

bIbI fashIon

flanked by

parents and

theIr three

chIldren at

mehran

restaurant.

see photo

Gallery

paGe 31 for

more pIc-

tures.

7 landmine blastsin Jharkhand, 12security person-nel inJured

Naxalites on Mondaycarried out multipleIED blasts in

Jharkhand's Giridih district,injuring 12 security personnelwho were on a search opera-tion to trace four personsabducted by Maoists.Preliminary information com-ing to the base headquartershere said close to sevenImprovised Explosive Device(IED) blasts were carried outin Dolkata area of the districtwhen troops were out for thesearch operation. "Four secu-rity personnel of the statepolice and eight of the para-military CRPF have beeninjured. The forces are nowtrying to send reinforce-ments," a senior official said.The team that came underthe attack comprise a jointsquad of state polices' Jaguarteam and the CentralReserve Police Force(CRPF).

Governmentallows foreiGnairlines to fly a-380 to india

Air travelers can nowboard a flight on theworld's largest com-

mercial airliner- Airbus A-380-from India. Aviation ministerAjit Singh on Monday allowedforeign airlines to fly this air-craft to Delhi, Mumbai,Hyderabad and Bangalore,subject to their meeting theexisting bilateral agreementsIndia has with their parentcountries. The nod for thesuper Jumbo has come aftera wait of almost four years.Delhi's IGI airport got a code-F runway (wide enough tohandle this large plane) and aterminal that could do twinlevel boarding of passengerson this double storey plane in2010. Dubai's Emirates in factwanted to fly the plane toDelhi the day T3 was inaugu-rated but fearing that it mighttake attention away from thenew terminal, the plane wasallowed here a week after theopening for a one-off flight.Apart from Emirates, Germancarrier Lufthansa was alsokeen to fly the plane to Delhi.Singapore Airlines was theother airline that wanted tooperate it on India routes.However, fearing that Indiancarriers might lose traffic tothe wow factor of the A-380,the government did not allowthis plane to fly here.

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FIJI AwADS NIghT FOLLOwS RIghT AFTER ThE AIM FELLOwShIP AwARD

Prime MinisterCommodore VoreqeBainimarama this

week urged students ofVeisaruSanatan PrimarySchool in the interior of Bato take advantage of thefree education provided byGovernment. “Study hard,make sure you make yourparents and us proud withyour dedication and hardwork,” he told the students.

“I know that many of youare very hard working andGovernment also wants tohelp in any little way we canto make your dreams cometrue.” While in the WesternDivision, the Prime Ministerassessed the constructionworks taking place for thenew Black Rock ArmyCamp in Nadi. Governmenthas allocated $1.7 millionfor the relocation of the

4FIR base camp fromNamaka to Black Rock inVotualevu Nadi. Black RockCamp is earmarked as acentre for peacekeepingtraining for Fijian soldiers.“This will assist greatly inensuring that our personnelhave everything they needin Black Rock and we needto speed up work,” he toldsenior officers at BlackRock.

PRIME MINISTER REMINDS FIJISTUDENTS ON VALUE OF EDUCATION

(See ValentineS Day aD)

HAYWARD – A select number ofnominees will be awarded AIMFellowship award this year at the3rd Fiji Awards Night ceremonythat will be featured on Valentine’s

Day Night here at Raja SweetsRestaurant. FIJI SUN will recognizeall its sponsors and supporters andseveral Fiji US citizens for their lifetime achievements. Host band Bay

Area Golden Voice – led by BabuLal and his team offers buffet din-ner and entertainment for $25 per-son. For tickets please call: 510-706-5013 or 510-781-4884.

American Fellowship Award featured at the Fiji Awards Night

EASY access tot r a n s p o r t a t i o nthrough proper

road network is a conduitto economic wellbeingand Government is deter-mined to ensure peopleliving in rural areas bene-fit. This is the mainstay ofthe development of non-cane access roads by theCommissioner CentralDivision’s office in ruralcommunities in the divi-sion. One such assis-tance has brought a sighof relief from 40 farmersliving along Nakaditaulifarm road in Muaniweni,Naitasiri. Farmers in thecommunity have applaud-ed the move to carry outworks to improve the pre-viously inaccessible roadsthat resulted in the com-munity using the river totravel to Baulevu forschooling and to sell theirproduce. TheGovernment funded proj-ect will cost around$30,000 with the FijiMilitary Force’s engineer-ing unit carrying out the

actual works.Commissioner, MrLaisenia Tuitubou said,“During the profiling, if wesee the road costs morethan the economic returnsso that’s not viable butwhen we reach this stageit means there is a lot ofpotential here”.

Mrs Sushila Kumari,46, who runs a root cropfarm together with herhusband, said the poorroad conditions in thepast compelled them touse the river to travel andthis caused a lot of diffi-culties. “Children had totravel across the river toreach school and as formy husband and myselfwe had to wake up at 3ambecause if there is anydelay then our producedoes not reach the marketon time,” she said. DistrictAdvisory CouncillorJaywant Pratap said for38 years authorities wereturning a deaf ear to theirpleas for assistance and ittook the will of the currentGovernment to make a

difference. “The only waypeople could travel wasthrough the boat and dur-ing the floods or adverseweather they had to strug-gle a lot. Sometimessomebody pushes theboat away or the boat dis-appears so these peoplehad a lot of hardship,” hesaid. Mr Pratap said thecommunity was deter-mined to continue mainte-nance of the road so thatit never reaches that levelof deterioration again.“We will have a meetingsoon about that as thefarmers have said theyare willing to set asidefunding and they will givea certain amount on amonthly basis which willbe used to fix potholesand other things,” he saidNaitasiri provincial admin-istrator, Mr Semi Kurusaid the two kilometreroad will not only greatlybenefit farmers andschool children but alsothe people employed inurban centre like Suvaand Nausori.

NEW ROAD OPEN ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES

FOR NAITASIRI FARMERS

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Fiji Sun 20 Year inBusiness Celebration

With AiM fellowship and

fiji Awards nightour 40 page 20 year old pioneer

fiji newspaper in America has doubled circulation by 5000 copies – found at major fiji,indian and pakistani stores where competition

unable to reach or not even wanted.

Our design and news coverage are verycontemporary and well read.

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Thanks to Hajji MoidinAhmad for proving acopy of a magazine

which features some ofthe pioneer Muslims inFiji and my family mem-bers as well. Here on thispage, a few membersdeserve a special men-tion. The first is picture ofMohammed Kutty elderbrother Saidu Kutty (pic13) who was married tomy cousin who baby satus. Saidu and wife wereone of our favorite rela-tives who were equallyfond of us. The third pic-ture is my fuppajaan HajjiGafoor, an extremely niceand humble gentlemanwho was famous as “CSRengine driver.” DuringEid celebrations, he usedto keep a bagful of quar-ters that he would give toal his children and niecesand nephews who visitedhis home. He also had agood knowledge of home-opathy that he used tohelp cure many. As a kidonce I had urinating issue.My sent me to him. Hequickly prepared a glassof drink with zeera mixedsugar that gave me imme-diate relief. His hallmarkwas an ever smiling faceand friendly attitudetowards children. We arewelcome send me noteson others if you knowthem.(Editor).

peopleprofile

The Minister for SocialWelfare, Women andPoverty Alleviation Dr

Jiko Luveni in partnershipwith the United NationsEconomic and SocialCommission in Asia Pacific(ESCAP) officially openedthe Stakeholders meetingon Poverty Alleviation andSocial Protection today.“Well designed social pro-tection schemes promoteopportunities for individu-als and societies to buildresilience against econom-ic shocks and natural dis-asters,” Dr Luveni said. “By

ensuring individuals a min-imum level income securityand service over the life-cycle, social protectionplays a critical role forsecuring peoples full andproductive participation insociety.” UNESCAP on aninterregional project on“Strengthening SocialProtection” will be sharingthe Social ProtectionToolbox, an online platformthat supports policy mak-ers and stakeholders tobuild broader and morerobust social protectionsystems.

JOINT PARTNERSHIP TO ADDRESSPOVERTY ALLEVIATION

FIJISUN6 Fiji newSFebruary-2014 www.fijisun-usa.com

More than 37,000 Fijiansincluding senior citizensand persons with disabili-ties are benefiting from thegovernment’s bus fare sub-sidy. The Ministry of SocialWelfare, Women andPoverty Alleviation perma-nent secretary Dr JosefaKoroivueta said that 36,280elderly Fijians who are 60years and above, and 1331persons living with disabilitywho are the beneficiaries ofthe bus fare subsidy. In2011, an agreement wassigned between the Fijiangovernment and Fiji Bus

Operators Association(FBOA) that allows elderlypersons with age of 60years and above to pay halfthe fare while persons livingwith disabilities are eligiblefor free bus fares. “TheSocial Welfare Departmentprocesses all the applica-tions for the bus fare sub-sidy, those applying for thisassistance must providetwo passport photos withtheir birth certificate and wewill process theIdentification Card (ID)cards. For the elderly theycarry a yellow ID card and

for permanently disabledthey are given a red IDcard. He said that therecently establishedNational Council for OlderPersons (NCOP) is lookingat programs that promotean inclusive and enablingsociety for the senior citi-zens in Fiji. The NCOP isspearheaded by theMinistry of Social Welfareand has received a budget-ary allocation of $200,000to carry out its plans withinthe framework of Fiji’sAgeing Policy (2011 to2015).

37,000 BENEFIT FROM

GOVERNMENT’S BUS FARE SUBSIDY There is high demand forpine resin globally and FijiPine Limited is hoping totake advantage of this byincreasing quality of resin itexports overseas.Fiji PineLimited has entered into ajoint venture with USbased company CallisonPacific Pine Chemicals toachieve this.The venturehas not only brought abouta new Fijian product for theglobal market but also pro-vided 600 new jobs.FijiPine board chairman FaizKhan says the projectionsfor the country’s pine prod-ucts such as resin, is likelyto fetch the national coffersin access of US$2 million

from 2015.“Pine resin is avery highly demandingcommodity and there isalways a spike for thisproduct globally which weare hoping to take advan-tage off,” he said.“The ven-ture between Fiji Pine andCallison Pacific has beensuccessful and if all goesaccording to plan from thisventure, Fiji Pine willreceive an expected rev-enue of $US2 million($F3.81m) per year from2015 onwards.”Mr Khansaid the venture had seenthe creation employmentopportunities for 600Fijians and more moneyfor land owning units.

SUVA : Fijian PrimeMinister VoreqeBainimarama said hewould resign as Republicof Fiji Military Forces(RFMF) commander inMarch to prepare for theupcoming general election,local media reportedThursday.According tonews website Fijivillage,Bainimarama has con-firmed this during a ses-sion on his tour to theSouth Pacific island coun-try's Northern Division,saying he will resign fromthe commander's post inMarch to concentrate onhis new political party forthe general election to beheld later this year.

The country's PoliticalParties RegistrationDecree states that a public

officer shall not be eligibleto be an applicant, an offi-cial or a member of a pro-posed political party or apolitical party registered

under the decree.Members of the militaryforces are classified aspublic officers.Under Fiji's2013 Constitution, whichcame into effect inSeptember last year, theRFMF commander isappointed by the presidentafter advice from theConstitutional OfficesCommission In the transi-tional period, the primeminister will recommendthe name of the command-er to the president forappointment, said thereport. Bainimarama, anaval officer who came topower after the 2006 coup,has said he would form apolitical party and run forthe upcoming generalelection, which will be heldby Sept. 30 this year.

1 EDUCATION MIN-

ISTER CHECKS IN

ON STUDENTSThe Minister for Education,National Heritage, Culture,Arts and Library Services,Filipe Bole today continuedhis visit to six schools in theCentral Division.MinisterBole said the purpose of hisvisit was to check on howclasses had started for thefirst school term.“I will bemaking visits during the firstmonth of school.” MinisterBole also urged teachers atthe schools he visited tomake education a worth-while experience for stu-dents. Commending theMinister’s visit, head teacherat Pundit Shreeder MaharajCollege.

Government has identi-fied a site for the reloca-tion of the NationalDisaster ManagementOffice (NDMO). TheNDMO in partnership withthe Public ServiceCommission (PSC) haveidentified the formerMinistry of Educationheadquarters building atSelbourne Street, Suvaserve as the dedicatedOffice for NationalDisaster Management.The Director NDMO,Manasa Tagicakibau saidthey are at the initialstages having just identi-fied the property and thatthere will need to be ren-ovation works done to thebuilding so as to config-

ure the space to be con-ducive to a national dis-aster management cen-tre. PSC PermanentSecretary, ParmeshChand said that theappropriate provisionexists in this year’s budg-et to effect the requiredrepairs and fit-outs to thisstrategically locatedbuilding.

It is the PrimeMinister’s vision to set upa dedicated Office for theNational DisasterManagement given Fiji’sresolve to deal decisivelyin preparing and tacklingdisasters and also ineffectively dealing with allmatters pertaining to aftereffects.

The ‘No Take’ policy onharvesting of vulnerableand endangered speciesof sea turtles will bestrongly enforced by theDepartment of Fisheries.

Ministry of Fisheriesand Forestry permanentsecretary, Mr InokeWainiqolo, said they werealso calling on the publicnot to tamper with twogreen sea turtles withsatellite tags that werereleased from theUniversity of the SouthPacific last month. “Westrongly advise any mem-ber of the public, whomay come across thesetwo sea turtles with oddlooking device and anten-

nae to be mindful of thesetracking devices and notto tamper with these spe-cial expensive equip-ment, as they are beingmonitored,” he said.FromSeptember until Februaryevery year, these sea tur-tles have their nestingperiod and Mr Wainiqolohas asked the public to“be mindful of these cur-rent policy to protect seaturtles across Fiji waters”.Coastal communitieshave been asked to bevigilant as the turtles maycome on their beach tonest.“The 10 year turtlemoratorium has beenestablished and has beenin effect from 2009 till

December 31st 2018,and is also currentlyenforced by theDepartment and relevantstakeholders,” the perma-nent secretary said. Themoratorium, he said, pro-hibits any form of captur-ing, killing, handling ormolesting of turtles. In itslast reading, the twosatellite tagged turtleswere around the Vatu-i-rawaters and were headingtowards the NorthernIslands Mr Wainiqolo saidthe high-tech equipmentswere useful in gatheringdata on travel paths andareas for sea turtle migra-tions both within Fiji andoutside Fiji waters.

Jone Ramumu of Wainadoi vil-lage in Navua is now a happyand relieved man as govern-ment’s Poverty AlleviationProgramme (PAP) has helpedprovide a roof over his head.The 76-year old villager, who isbeing looked after by hisyoungest son, is also a SocialWelfare recipient. He was iden-

tified for the program last yearthrough the Ministry of SocialWelfare, Women and PovertyAlleviation and work was under-taken in conjunction with theCommissioner Central’s Officeto assist him. Mr Ramumu saidhe was so grateful to govern-ment for the assistance ren-dered that he did not have

words to express himself. “Iasked for government assis-tance to build my house about ayear ago and I am glad that myplea was heard. It shows thatthere are people who careabout old people like us in des-perate need of help,” MrRamumu said. “I am reallyappreciative of what

Government and theCommissioner Central’s officehave done for me. I needed animprovement to my house sinceit was in a bad condition. Nowthat my house has been builtand I am here to witness it, is abig relief to me.” Governmentprovided a sum of $11,321 tobuy materials to construct Mr

Ramumu’s rural house inclusiveof bathroom facilities. “I did notpay a single cent from my pock-et to construct the house. Oneof my four sons, who is a car-penter, constructed the housewithout pay to help me. The vil-lagers of Wainadoi gave me apiece of land and also helped inthe construction works.

Two companies are beingconsidered to prepare aperformance specificationfor Waila City. This follows atender that was advertisedlate last year. HousingAuthority chief executiveofficer, Alipate Naiorosuisaid, “We would like toengage suitably qualifiedcompanies that will guideour building contractorwhich is Top Symphony onthe exact specifications ofthe what and how to buildaffordable homes in WailaCity.” “Therefore, as a resultof Housing Authority callingfor tender last year, wehave shortlisted two com-

panies.” The Authority is inthe process of finalising thecontract. It should be notedthat the project (Waila City)will proceed as planned,however it will be delayeddue to the technical con-cerns that need to beaddressed first and fore-most. “It must be appreciat-ed that a project of thismagnitude will need metic-ulous planning and whileWaila City was supposedto take off the ground lastyear, we just cannot ignorethe technical issues thatmust be addressed firstwith our contractors. Oncewe are able to sort out

these pertinent matters,then and only then can theactual development takeplace,” Mr Naiorosui said.This painstaking processwill ensure that HousingAuthority will ‘get it rightthe first time’ thereforeminimising any risks thatmay arise later. The devel-opment of Waila City at itscompletion will be home toapproximately 5,000 fami-lies and will be comple-mented with a completecentral business districtserviced with commercial,industrial, recreational,health, educational andreligious facilities.

HIGH DEMAND FOR FIJI PINERESIN TO BOOST EXPORTS

2 NEW SITE IDENTIFIED FOR

DISASTER MANAGEMENT OFFICEFijian PM to resign as military commander in March

RESPECT MORATARIUM AND STUDIES ON SEA TURTLES 5 AUTHORITY PROVIDES UPDATE ON WAILA CITY

POVERTY PROGRAMME SHELTERS WAINADOI ELDER

EU pleased withMSG Fiji observer

announcementThe European Union'sAmbassador to the Pacific haswelcomed the appointment of theMelanesian Spearhead Group asobservers for upcoming electionsin Fiji. Andrew Jacobs says hestill hasn't heard about whetherthe EU will be invited to send adelegation of observers, but hewould be happy if it was to beinvited back. Mr Jacobs says theannouncement of electionsobservers, and the work expertsfrom the EU, Australia and NewZealand have been doing withthe elections office, are very pos-itive signs of progress. "Certainlythere are going to be lots oflogistic challenges to get theelections organised and so onbut we're confident that thingsare certainly moving very well inthe right direction."

FIJISUN 7fiji news February-2014www.fijisun-usa.com

FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu Thevisa issue involvingTuvalu’s Chief Justice,Sir Gordon Ward isbetween the Governmentof Fiji and Sir Wardaccording to PrimeMinister Enele Sopoaga.Sir Gordon Ward wasbanned from travellingthrough Fiji in May lastyear. The reason isunclear but theGovernment of Tuvaluthrough the Ministry ofForeign Affairs has beentrying to uplift the ban onSir Ward so he can comeand hear cases in

Tuvalu’s High Court,reported Tuvalu’s FenuiNews.

Prime MinisterSopoaga revealed thatthe Chief Justice needsto in Funafuti to presideover cases pending in theHigh Court.

Fenui News reportsthat since Justice Ward isunable to travel to Tuvalunext month for the year’sfirst High Court session,an alternative Justice hasbeen engaged by theGovernment to carry outhis duties.

PM Sopoaga believes

the matter is between SirGordon Ward and theGovernment of Fiji. Hisgovernment will try andwork with the FijiGovernment to removethe ban on its ChiefJustice. Efforts to datehave not been respondedto by the Fiji Government.Assistant Secretary forForeign Affairs PasunaTuaga said they are wait-ing for a formal responsefrom Suva. PrimeMinister Sopoaga hopesto discuss the matter withFiji’s President when hevisits next month.

Visa issue between Chief Justice Wardand Fiji Government says Tuvalu PM A total of 904 cases

have tested positive forthe Dengue 3 strainbetween 30th Octoberlast year and yesterday.

Fiji Village reports theActing PermanentSecretary for theMinistry of Health DrMetuisela Tuicakau saysno severe dengue casesor deaths were reported.

The Central Divisionis still reporting the high-est number of cases with766, the WesternDivision 101 with theNorthern Division nowreporting 37 cases.

To try and combat theDengue-carrying mos-quitoes the Health Unit

says it has a monitoringteam on the ground toassess mosquito breed-ing places and carry outlarvae sampling.

Similar clean up cam-paigns are also beingorganised for the Westand the North.

The Health Ministry iscontinuing to warn thepublic to remove mos-quito-breeding sourcesas much as possible.

Former PoliceCommissioner, BrigadierGeneral Ioane Naivaluruahas taken up the posting ofAmbassador at Large for

Fiji. ForeignA f f a i r sMinister, RatuI n o k eK u b u a b o l ahas confirmedto Fijivillage

that Brigadier GeneralNaivalurua started work lastTuesday. He said the newAmbassador at Large will becommissioned by President,Ratu Epeli Nailatikau tomor-row. An Ambassador atLarge is a diplomat of thehighest rank who is accredit-ed to represent his or hercountry internationally.Unlike an Ambassador inResidence who is usuallylimited to a country orembassy, the Ambassadorat Large is entrusted tooperate in several neighbor-ing countries or a region.

Dengue statistics in Fiji highbut no deaths reported

ABOUT 94 staff membersof Telecom Fiji Limited mayface redundancy as part ofthe company's majorrestructure. And the compa-ny began the redundancieson Wednesday. This wasconfirmed by the chairmanof the BargainRepresentatives Unions ofTFL, Uday Raju, after meet-ing with company represen-tatives early this week. MrRaju said he met the compa-ny representatives onMonday and the companymade a proposal to make 94workers redundant. "Werequested the names ofthese workers but the com-pany decided to keep thatinformation confidential," MrRaju said Wednesday. Hesaid it would be a difficulttime for workers who weremade redundant and theirfamilies. "Our hearts go outto them because there's notmuch we can do."

Kamlesh Reddy whoworked for TFL for the past13 years said he receivedhis redundancy letter yester-day and was still trying toaccept the news. "I have twodaughters and I am rentingin Lautoka. Life will be verydifficult for us now," MrReddy said. He said hisredundancy letter stated hewould receive a severancepackage of one month's payand one week's pay for eachyear of his service. TFL is alimited liability company and100 per cent owned sub-sidiary of AmalgamatedTelecom Holdings (ATH).When contacted last night,ATH chairman AjithKodagoda, said he wouldcomment today. "BecauseATH is a public listed compa-ny, it is required by law to getany media release approvedby the Stock Exchangebefore it's released," MrKodagoda said.

Telecom Fiji lay-offs

Naivalurua takesup posting ofAmbassador atLarge for Fiji

Daredevil Ben Cornick sur-vived a fall from 12,000 feet. Buthe needs some help to recoverfrom his last death-defyingplunge.

The Welsh resident sufferedseveral broken bones after hisparachute failed to open during askydiving trip in Fiji last week,according to Wales Online.Among his injuries included afractured hip, arm and a dam-aged kneecap, the websitereported. Cornick, 31, lost controlof the steering on his parachuteand crash-landed into a van trav-eling 40 mph in the South Pacificnation. He was rushed to a hospi-tal where doctors said he neededemergency surgery in NewZealand. The hospital wanted£20,000 - about $27,000 - to pay

for the emergency flight becauseCornick, a professional skydiverwho has done 1,000 jumps, didnot have insurance.

Cornick’s family immediatelylaunched a “Ben CornickDonation Page” on Facebook.The skydiver has had seven pro-cedures and should make arecovery from the accident. Onthe page, Cornick wrote that adonor paid the initial £20,000. Hisfamily now reports they haveraised an additional £10,000 andare close to their goal of £50,000- roughly $67,700 - for the totalcost of his medical bills. “A bigshoutout to the guy who stumpedup the full 20k to get me out a dayearly and possibly saved my life,”he wrote. “You know who youare.” Suzann Lord, Cornick’s

stepmother, said this was his firstserious accident, but they are intotal disbelief at how many peo-ple have helped. People whohave posted on the Facebookpage note that many fellow sky-divers have contributed - eventhose that never met him. “Therehas been a tremendous amountof people who don't know,” Lordtold the British newspaper Metro.“Ben but have donated money. Itis hard to put into words howgrateful we are.”He is expected tobe in the hospital for a few moreweeks. “Hip Surgery complete.No blood transfusion today.Eating and drinking. Morphinereduced. Leg has been movedmore than 1cm without himscreaming. Happy days!!!" readthe lastest update on the page.

Experienced diver Ben Cornick, 31, attempted a 12,000ft jump from a plane over Fiji last week when he lost control of the steering on his parachute and crash-landed on a road.

British skydiver survives crash from 12,000 feet Ben Cornick, 31, crashed into a van at 40 mph when he lost

control on the steering on his parachute. But many in the skyfiv-ing community have pitched in to help pay his medical bills.

The Chief Executive of Fiji'sNGO, the CitizensConstitutional Forum, says thecountry's constitutional processis still flawed, despite theappointment of a new seven-member election commission.

The Reverend AkuilaYabaki says his Forum hasworked with many of the elec-tion commission's new mem-bers and they now hold animportant position in protectingthe integrity of the upcomingelections. But he says theForum still does not have theconfidence that the elections

promised for September will befree and fair. "I've alreadyreferred to the flawed constitu-tion. The Prime Minister chairsthe Constitutional OfficesCommission and the composi-tion of that commission has theleader of the opposition in it,but how can you have a leaderof the opposition when there'sno parliament? So, you can runrings around that." However,the Reverend Yabaki says he isencouraged by the commis-sioners' appointments, calling ita good chance for the electoralprocess to gain some integrity.

Fiji's CCF queries constitution's application

Students of Balevuto PrimarySchool in Ba will soon boast newdormitory facilities after theirrequest for these facilities wasapproved by the Prime MinisterCommodore VoreqeBainimarama today. CommodoreBainimarama made theannouncement during his briefmeeting with residents of the rural

Ba district during his tour there.“The RFMF engineers will soonbe deployed to Balevuto Primaryto construct two dormitories forthe students there,” he said forthe school which caters for morethan 100 students from the largerMoto areas. The Prime Ministerheard that primary school stu-dents were currently staying with

teachers while attending schoolthere. “Education is a very impor-tant cornerstone of development;not only my government but alsothe nation.” Education hasalready been made free from thisyear after government announcedin November last year to pay forall fees of students in primary andsecondary schools.

PRIME MINISTER APPROVES NEW DORMITORY FOR BA SCHOOL

SPC DIRECTOR GENER-

AL HOLDS TALKS WITH

FOREIGN MINISTER

Dr Colin Tukuitonga, thenewly appointed DirectorGeneral of the Secretariat ofthe Pacific Community(SPC), paid a courtesy callvisit to the Minister forForeign Affairs andInternational Cooperation,Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, onthe first day at work. Dr.Tukuitonga expressed hisdeep appreciation for thePacific region and looks for-ward to working with themembers of the SPC includ-ing Fiji. He has held a long-standing career of 27 yearsand has worked on a range ofdevelopment related issues.Minister Kubuabola has wel-comed Dr. Tukuitonga’sappointment and has alsoprovided the support of theFijian Government.

FIJIAN TEACH-ERS BOUND FORVANUATUFAREWELLED

Retired school teachersbound for Vanuatu for a twoyear assignment under theFiji Volunteer Scheme (FVS)were today farewelled at thePublic Service Commission(PSC) headquarters atBerkeley Crescent, Suva.Chairman of the PublicService Mr JosefaSeruilagilagi presentedthese teachers with air tick-ets and other necessarydocuments. The 11 schoolteachers leave for Vanuatuon February 1.

FIJISUN08 INDIA NEWSFebruary-2014 www.fijisun-usa.com

NEW DELHI: Delhi chiefminister Arvind Kejriwal,who faced flak for hisprotest in the heart of thecapital, today said theConstitution does not pre-vent the chief minister fromholding a dharna."I read theConstitution, couldn't findanywhere that a chief minis-ter cannot hold 'dharna'," hesaid on criticism to his two-day dharna outside RailBhavan. He also chargedthat "the media was alignedwith one party or the otherand was doing negative sto-ries on AAP."

Kejriwal's role in leadinga protest while holding con-stitutional office has comeunder the scrutiny of theSupreme Court which yes-

terday slammed law enforc-ing agencies for allowingunlawful assembly of sup-porters of the chief ministerin the heart of national capi-tal. In his Republic Dayaddress at ChhatrasalStadium here, the Delhichief minister said the JanLokpal Bill is almost readyand will be passed at a spe-cial session in RamlilaMaidan in February. Holdingthat security of women inthe national capital is "high-ly compromised", he saidthe government has formeda committee under the chiefsecretary for the formationof 'Mahila Suraksha Dal' inthe city. "Security ofwomen in the national cap-ital is highly compromised.

It is our utmost duty andpriority to provide securityto women. We haveformed a committee underthe chief secretary for for-mation of Mahila SurakshaDal," he said. He said thatit may not have powers likethe police but the force willwork like security guardsstationed outside buildingsand housing societies."They will provide securityto women. We will haveretired army personnel,police and home guards asmembers of suraksha dal,"he said. Kejriwal also saidthe committee under thechief secretary will makeprovisions to ensure thatrapists are sent to jail with-in 3 to 6 months.

NEW DELHI: Global medical charityMedecins Sans Frontieres slammedon Friday a statement by Bayer'schief executive that the giantGerman firm only developed its can-cer drug Nexavar for people whocould afford the medicine, not "forIndians".India's controller general ofpatents angered Bayer in March2012 when he authorized a localdrugmaker to produce a genericcopy of Nexavar, saying the Germancompany charged a price that wastoo costly for most Indians. "We didnot develop this medicine (Nexavar)

for Indians," Marijn Dekkers said at alittle reported pharmaceutical forumlast month, according to the January21st edition of Businessweek.Wedeveloped it for western patientswho can afford it," Dekkers said, andcalled the Indian regulator's action"essentially theft".Bayer said thestatements attributed to Dekkerswere accurate and forwarded writtencomments made later by theGerman chief executive seeking toexplain his remarks.Dekkers saidthe comment had been a "quickresponse" at the industry forum to

the Nexavar issue and added Bayerwants "all people to share the fruitsof medical progress regardless oftheir origins or income".But Dekkersadded in the written comments hehad been "particularly frustrated" bythe Indian regulator's decision,which marked the first time a so-called compulsory licence of apatented drug had been awarded inIndia.Medecins Sans Frontieres(MSF) said on Friday that the Bayerchief's remarks summed up "every-thing that is wrong" with the multina-tional pharmaceutical industry.

Twenty-one people werekilled after a tourist boat cap-sized in the Bay of Bengal in theAndaman and Nicobar Islandson Sunday, official sourcessaid.

The boat called AquaMarine was carrying around 45people comprising tourists fromKanchipuram district of TamilNadu and Mumbai as well ascrew members. It sank on itsway from Ross Island to NorthBay. The South Andaman dis-trict administration confirmed21 deaths and said 13 peoplewere rescued. The civil admin-istration and defence establish-ments such as the Coast Guardconducted rescue operations,the sources said. "PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh hasexpressed shock over the boattragedy in the Andamans and

has condoled the loss of lives,"a statement issued by thePrime Minister's Office said.Rescue operations are on totrack the missing people. It is assuspected that some mighthave been trapped in the cabinof the boat. Though the boathad the capacity to carry only25 passengers, it was over-crowded and this led to theaccident, the sources added.Boat capsize incidents take abig toll on India every year, rais-ing questions over securitymeasures while bringing to forenon-compliance with guide-lines. A group of tourists fromKanchipuram district of TamilNadu who were staying in aresort at Prothrapur in SouthAndaman district, and anothersmall group of tourists fromMumbai were on the boat.

MUZAFFARNAGAR: Afour-month-old girl, whosefamily was displaced dur-ing the Muzaffarnagarriots, has died due to coldat Kandhla town in Shamlidistrict, police said onSaturday. Ahsan, theinfant's mother had beendisplaced from her nativeBahawdi village duringMuzaffarnagar riots andwas living in a relief camptill last month when shealong with her familyvacated the relief camp,police said. After vacatingthe relief camp recently,Ahsan was living with herfamily in a cottage inKandhal, where her infantdaughter, Surrya died ofcold on Friday, said police.An enquiry has beenordered into the death ofthe child, superintendent ofgovernment health centre,

Kandhla, RameshChandra said. A five-month-old baby girl hadyesterday succumbed topneumonia in a relief campat Malakpur village inShamli district here. Sofar, 34 children living inrelief camps have died inriot-hit areas ofMuzaffarnagar and Shamlidistricts betweenSeptember 7 andDecember 20 when thewinter chill increased.While 12 children had diedin the camps, the remain-ing 22 had died in hospitalsor nursing homes wherethey were taken for med-ical care. Over 60 personswere killed and more than40,000 displaced in com-munal violence inMuzaffarnagar and adjoin-ing areas in Septemberlast.

NEW YORK: A Sikh rightsgroup wants CongressParty President SoniaGandhi to depose before afederal court here in ahuman rights violation law-suit filed against her aftershe informed the court thatshe had not visited the USin September last year andwas not served summonsin the case. Sikhs ForJustice (SFJ) has beengiven time till February 6by a federal court to"investigate" whetherGandhi was in the city

between September 2 andSeptember 9, 2013 andfile its opposition toGandhi's motion to dismissthe human rights violationlawsuit due to insufficientservice of summons.SFJ legal attorneyGurpatwant Singh Pannunsaid the plaintiffs willrequest the US federalcourt to make theCongress Presidentdepose regarding herpresence in the US inSeptember 2013 and onthe service of summons on

her. Gandhi had submitteda new declaration onJanuary 13 to the US courtin support of her motion todismiss the lawsuit.

In the declaration,Gandhi stated that shewas "not in New York or inthe US during the period ofSeptember 3, 2013through September 9,2013." SFJ has claimedthat Gandhi was in the cityfor medical treatment atthe Sloan KetteringCancer Centre duringSeptember.

Congress maydrop Rahul adafter BJP raisescopycat chargeAN advertisement releasedby the Congress on Fridaystarring Rahul Gandhi — itslead campaigner for the 2014Lok Sabha elections — leftthe party flustered after theBJP accused it of copying itstagline from none other thanNarendra Modi. The BJPsaid the tagline was coinedand used by Modi inFebruary 2011. Left red-faced, sources in the partysaid the particular advertise-ment is likely to be dropped.The advertisement, whichappeared in all the majorEnglish and vernacularnewspapers, has the phrase“main nahin, hum (Not I,We)” emblazoned behindRahul and takes veiled pot-shots at the BJP’s primeministerial face, saying noone has the magic wand tobring development. The BJPsaid the same tagline wasused by Modi during hisChintan Shibir in 2011 inMehsana. The advertise-ment, sources in theCongress said, was createdby Dentsu India and vettedby the party’s publicity panel.“It (the slogan) was coinedby Modi to inspire govern-ment officials at the shibir,” aBJP leader from Gujaratsaid. “Nakal ke liye akalchahiye (even for imitatingone needs brains).

Gujarat thermal powerplant accident kills two,injures two othersTwo workers were killedwhile two others were seri-ously injured in an accidentwhile they were cleaning aboiler in Essar Power’sSalaya thermal power plantin Devbhoomi Dwarka dis-trict on Friday morning.

Akhilesh Singh Sahai(24) and Ramesh Gorai(23) were killed after ametal object fell on themwhile they were cleaningboiler no. 1 in the 1,200Megawatt (MW) powerplant, police sources said.Arpan Mathai (32) andRadheshyam Kumar (26),the other two workers whowere also carrying out themaintenance work, wereseriously injured in theaccident.

Shocked overgangrape ofwomanStating it was “deeply dis-turbed,” the SupremeCourt on Friday took suomotu cognisance of analleged gangrape of a girlin West Bengal on ordersof a kangaroo court. Abench led by Chief JusticeP Sathasivam directed thedistrict judge of Birbhumto inquire into the allegedincident and submit a pre-liminary report by Monday.The court will take up thematter next on January28.The woman wasallegedly gangraped atLabhpur in Birbhum dis-trict by the 13 persons onTuesday night after thepanchayat head gaveorders for the rape sinceshe was in love with aman from another com-munity.

Kejriwal says Constitution doesnot stop CM from protesting

Andaman: 21 killed as boatcarrying tourists capsizes

Muzaffarnagar riots: Anotherbaby dies due to cold

Sikh rights group wants Sonia to depose before US court

Developed cancer drug for 'western patients' who could afford, not 'for Indians'

A 51-year-old Danishwoman was allegedlygangraped, robbed andbeaten up at knife pointby eight men inside thepremises of the RailwayOfficers’ Club, barely 50metres from the VIPentrance to Platform No.1 of the New Delhi rail-way station in centralDelhi’s Paharganj area,on Tuesday evening.

While the womanmentioned in her com-plaint that she was rapedfor “approximately fivehours”, police sourcessaid she was held cap-tive from 4 pm to 8 pm.Several persons havebeen detained and arebeing questioned. Thepolice claimed to haveidentified the accusedand said arrests werelikely to be made byWednesday evening.According to thewoman’s statement, shewas walking to her hotelin Paharganj when shelost her way and reachedthe State Entry Roadleading to the railwaystation. She said theroad led to a dead end,so she asked someyouths if she could takeanother deserted road

on the left. When theyreplied in the affirmative,she turned towards thatroad.Her complaint fur-ther said that when shetook that road, eight menjumped out from behindsome bushes and cor-nered her. She wasreportedly dragged to anisolated spot inside thepremises of the RailwayOfficers’ Club, adjacentto the officers’ resthousebuilding, and heldhostage at knife point.She alleged that she wasbeaten up by the menwho also robbed her ofher belongings. “Theysnatched my iPod,watch, book, glasses,750 Euros and Rs 3,000in cash. When I tried toresist, they placed asharp knife to my throatand said that they wouldkill me.

Delhi again: Danish woman‘gangraped’, beaten up, robbed

Multi-hued images of India'srich cultural heritage, itsachievements in diverse fieldsand military prowess were onmajestic display at the magnifi-cent Rajpath, the ceremonialboulevard, in New Delhi onSunday as the nation celebrat-ed its 65th Republic Day amidtight security.

There were apprehensionsthat the uncertain weather mightforce the cancellation or curtail-ment of the flypast that con-cludes the event but the mist lift-ed almost at the last minute.Marching down from the seat ofpower at Raisina Hills to RedFort, the parade showcasedIndia's 'unity in diversity' anddefence capability as thousandsof spectators along the 8-km-long route cheered the contin-gents and the mechanisedcolumns. The well-turned outand synchronised military andpolice contingents led byGeneral Officer Commanding(Delhi), Lt General SubrotoMitra, marched proudly to thelilting tunes of bands throughRajpath where President andSupreme Commander of theArmed Forces PranabMukherjee took the salute. Themarch past was watched byJapanese Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe, the chief guest ofthe Republic Day celebration,vice-president Hamid Ansari,Prime Minister ManmohanSingh, UPA chairperson SoniaGandhi and the country's toppolitical and military brass,besides the diplomatic commu-nity. It was the coldest RepublicDay in a decade at a minimumof 9.9 degrees Celsius, forcingspectators - commoners anddignitaries alike - to swathethemselves in layers of protec-tive clothing. Braving the winterchill, a large number of enthusi-astic people came to witnessthe parade that culminated atthe historic Mughal monumentof Red Fort. Minutes before theparade began, the PrimeMinister, defence minister AK

Antony and chiefs of army, navyand air force laid wreaths at'Amar Jawan Jyoti', the warmemorial at the India Gatewhere an eternal flame burns inmemory of those who laid downtheir lives defending the fron-tiers of the nation. A massiveground-to-air security appara-tus was put in place in thenational capital to ensure anincident-free Republic Day cel-ebrations. Snipers of NationalSecurity Guard were deployedat all high-rises along theparade route. Around 25,000security personnel weredeployed across the city whilethe commandos of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and DelhiPolice kept vigil at importantlocations.

FIJISUN 09INDIA NEWS February-2014www.fijisun-usa.com

SRINAGAR: Cold wavecontinued in Kashmir Valleyand Ladakh region as theminimum temperature inmost parts settled belowthe freezing point, with thefrontier town of Kargil beingthe coldest place in thestate at over minus 19degrees Celsius. Kargilwas the coldest recordedplace in the state with themercury settling at minus19.2 degrees Celsius onFriday night as against theprevious night's minus 18.4degrees Celsius. The mini-mum temperature inSrinagar, the summer capi-

tal of Jammu and Kashmir,continued to settle abovethe freezing point for thefourth day today as the cityrecorded a low of 0.6degrees Celsius as against0.9 degrees Celsius theprevious night, an official ofthe MeT Department heresaid. Mercury in Qazigund -the gateway town toKashmir valley - settled atminus 0.4 degrees Celsiusas against minus 1.0degrees Celsius the previ-ous night. Kokernag, insouth Kashmir, recorded alow of minus 1.7 degreesCelsius as compared to the

previous night's minus 1.3degrees Celsius. Mercuryin the tourist resort ofPahalgam, also in southKashmir, settled at a low ofminus 5.6 degrees Celsius- almost same as the previ-ous night's low of minus 5.5deg C. The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg regis-tered a low of minus 8.2degrees Celsius as com-pared to minus 8.4 degreesCelsius the previous night.Kupwara, in north Kashmir,recorded a low of 0.6degrees Celsius, he said.Leh, in the frontier region ofLadakh.

In what may potentially be amajor setback to its restructur-ing process, homegrown auto-mobile major Tata Motors onSunday announced the untime-ly death of its managing directorKarl Slym in Bangkok. Slym, 51,was in Thailand to attend ameeting of the board of direc-tors of Tata's

subsidiary in the country. Hehad joined the company inOctober 2012, as part of amajor management overhaulthat also saw two other top-level appointments, and wasthe brainchild in the company'sstrategy to regain its position inthe domestic market. Hisdemise is likely to be a speedbreaker in that process. “I amdeeply saddened to inform youabout the untimely and tragic

demise of our company’sManaging Director, Karl Slym.Karl was visiting Bangkok for ameeting of the Board ofDirectors of Tata MotorsThailand and passed away ear-lier today,” said Cyrus Mistry,chairman, Tata Group in astatement. “Karl joined us inOctober 2012, and was a val-ued colleague who was provid-ing strong leadership at a chal-lenging time for the Indian autoindustry. In this hour of grief, ourthoughts are with Karl’s wifeand family.” Though the exactcause of his death will only beclear after post-mortem onMonday, company officials saidSlym fell from a higher floor inthe hotel he was staying in andthat may have caused fatalinjuries.

Renowned scientist R AMashelkar is among the126 prominent personali-ties who will be conferredwith Padma awards thisyear. The list of all theawardees is likely to beannounced by Saturdayevening. Mashelkar willget the highest PadmaVibhusan award for hiscontribution in shapingIndia’s science and tech-nology policies. He was amember of the ScientificAdvisory Council to thePrime Minister and also ofthe Scientific AdvisoryCommittee to the Cabinetset up by successive gov-ernments. BesidesMashelkar, others who arebeing rewarded for theirexemplary work includeBollywood actor Paresh

Rawal and poet AshokChakradhar. Late JusticeJ S Verma, who headedthe committee that recom-mended landmarkchanges to India’s anti-rape law following theDelhi bus gangrape andmurder, is also beinggiven the award posthu-mously along with ratio-nalist and authorNarendra AchyutDabholkar, who was shotdead in Pune in August2013.The Home Ministryhas given a list of nearly140 “probables” for theawards which, after secu-rity clearance, is sent tothe Prime Minister’s Officefor approval and, finally, toRashtrapati Bhawan.Praveen Talha, formermember UPSC is also

among the famous per-sonality who is beinggiven the highest honour.Sources said that thewomen this year gettingthe award is highest andpresently stands at 27among the 126awardees.The others inthe list include personali-ties from the legal fraterni-

ty, the bureaucracy, thefilm industry, sport, medi-cine and civil society. Thenames were shortlisted bya committee headed bythe home secretary fromrecommendations sent bystate governments andprominent personalities.The awards, India’s high-est civilian honours, aregiven in three categories— Padma Vibhushan,Padma Bhushan andPadma Shri — andannounced on the occa-sion of Republic Dayevery year.Among thenames which were consid-ered was that of 22-year-old Dipika Pallikal, the firstIndian woman to enter thetop 10 in the WSA rank-ings, the official women’ssquash world rankings.

The Crime Branch probingthe mysterious death ofSunanda Pushkar will gofor advanced forensic teststo determine cause ofinjuries on her body as ittries to unravel whether itwas a case of suicide,homicide oraccident.Investigators saidautopsy report had men-tioned more than a dozeninjury marks on Sunanda’sbody besides a “deep teethbite” on the edge of her leftpalm and they were tryingto ascertain whether theinjuries were “inflicted” onher.They said doctors whoconducted autopsy on herbody had preservedSunanda’s skin sampleswhere the injuries werefound and the advancedforensic tests likehistopathology would becarried out to determinehow old the injuries wereand its causes.UnionMinister Shashi Tharoor’swife Sunanda, 52, wasfound dead in a 5-starhotel in South Delhi onFriday night, a day afterher twitter spat withPakistani journalist MehrTarar over an alleged affair

with Tharoor.The probeinto the high-profile casewas transfered to theCrime Branch on Thursdayconsidering its “sensitivenature” and “complexities”involved.The autopsyreport had mentioned useof blunt force for the injurymarks on both her handsand left cheek. Forensicexperts are of the view thatwhether the injuries wereself inflicted or otherwisecan only be ascertained bydetailed histopathologytests.On Tuesday, a sub-divisional magistrate haddirected Delhi Police toinvestigate the murder orsuicide angles in the casethat the nature of thoseinjuries and how old theywere, would help them inthe case.

Cold wave continues in Kashmir,Kargil coldest at -19.2 degrees C

Sunanda Pushkar case: Advanced foren-sic tests to determine cause of injuries

Tata Motors MD Karl diesafter fall in Bangkok hotel

Paresh Rawal, Ashok Chakradhar and Justice Verma to get Padma awards

Indian Republic turns 65, celebrates unity in diversityImphal: Bombexplodes asR-Day paradebegins

A powerful bomb explod-ed in Imphal city onSunday morning asRepublic Day celebra-tions began in the statecapital amidst tight secu-rity clamped in the wakeof the boycott of theevent announced by mili-tant outfits in Manipur. Nocasualty was reported inthe explosion, officialsources said. They saidthat the explosion wasreported at around 8amas the march past beganat Kangla in the heart ofthe capital complex. Chiefminister Okram IbobiSingh had on Saturdaysaid that violence wouldnot solve any problem ina democratic country likeIndia and appealed to themilitant outfits to join thenational mainstream andparticipate in develop-ment programmes.

FIjISUN10 ART & ENTERTAINMENTFebruary-2014 www.fijisun-usa.com

FIjI US GIrMIt FeStIvAl: New teAMHayward - in an effort tobroaden the leadershiplevel and to obtaingreater public involve-ment following addi-tions have been made. Itgoes without saying thatthere were other takerson the festival who want-ed to do Girmit Festivalbut Fiji Sun had alreadytaken lead and madesome initial announce-ment. The plan was tostart “small and growbig,” avoiding costs.While most sat on theside line or on the fence,we went ahead andlaunched the festivaltwo years ago. With Mr.Zahid Buksh’s additionto the team, he has beena tremendous influenceand has very promisingplans to take the Fiji USGirmit Festival

Not a personal or Fiji Sun project it’s yours, it’spublic Fiji US Girmit Festival is not a personal or Fiji Sun project. It is for the public and specially for theyouth of our society so that may truly appreciate our roots and memorializing their grandparents.

ZAHID BUKSH LALLA RUPEN MOHD. KHAN CHOPRA SUNNy ALI

CHAIRPERSON EVP/SPORTS EVP/OP EVP/ADMIN EVP/ENT

Fiji Usa Girmit Festival Advisory committee

FoLLowinG memBers oF Fiji CommuniTy HAve Been inviTed To serve on THe AdvirAory BoArd:niTyAnAnd mAiku, mAsTer CHAnd, dr. Arun CHAuHAn And ATenrA sinGH.

Chairperson Zahid Buksh is spearheading the team with a

view to holding the 3rd Girmit Festival at Legion Hall inTracy. Food and snacks will be prepared by the chair-

person and his volunteers nearby at his home and catered freeat the dining hall later at night. Free! Admission to the dinner will

be free. Any donations will be most welcome.

Youth Talent/Quiz CompetitionThe show will also have a youth quiz competition basedon

Fiji Girmit to keep our abreast with sacrifices their great grand-parents made in developing their new homeland Fiji.

Exhibitions and DisplaysThe committee is pleased to announce that anyone can send

or bring old pictures of our dear Girmit

2014 Event

CHP Staff Zahid Bukshgets an AIM Press

Council credentials

Zahid Buksh who has servedin Gukf War veteran hasbeen writing cerditble arti-

cles for some time and recentlygot publihed in the FIJI SUN USA.Widely respected in the ethniccommunities, Zahid Buksh has aflair for photojournalism andserving the needy and home-less. We wish him the very bestin life and getting publishedsoon in Photograpers Today.

FIJISUN 11PAKISTAN NEWS February-2014www.fijisun-usa.com

The Pakistani air forcepounded militant hide-outsnear the Afghan border onTuesday, killing dozens ofpeople following deadlybombings against securityforces in recentdays.Elsewhere, a roadsidebomb killed 20 Shiite pil-grims in a separatistprovince, and gunmenopened fire on workersadministering polio vaccina-tions, killing threepeople.The Pakistani gov-ernment has come underheavy pressure to aggres-sively tackle a surge in mili-tant violence instead ofsolely relying on efforts tostart peace talks with theTaliban-led insurgents.

The airstrikes in NorthWaziristan came after thePakistani Taliban claimedresponsibility for a bombthat killed 26 soldiersSunday when it torethrough a military convoyinside an army compoundin the nearby Bannu area. Asuicide bomber also killed13 people, including eight

security personnel, Mondayin the garrison city ofRawalpindi, near the capitalof Islamabad.

The Pakistani military inrecent years has carried outseveral offensives againstthe Pakistani Taliban in thetribal regions borderingAfghanistan, but NorthWaziristan has largely beenspared. The U.S. hasrepeatedly struck the areawith drone strikes targetingmilitant commanders.Therewere conflicting claimsabout who was killed in theairstrikes, which began lateMonday and continued intoearly Tuesday. A militaryofficial speaking on condi-tion of anonymity becausehe was not authorized tospeak to the media saidthey killed 40 insurgents,but two residents said civil-ians were among thedead.Habib Dawar, wholives in Mir Ali, one of thetowns that was struck, saidmany residents sleep in theopen out of fear their homesmight be hit.“How would the

jet fighters know who is liv-ing where and who is a mil-itant and who is a civilian inthe dark of the night,” hesaid.Prime Minister NawazSharif has long supported apolicy of negotiating withmilitants instead of usingmilitary force to subduethem, but so far thePakistani Taliban haveshown little desire to negoti-

ate with his government.Most of the discussionabout whether to holdpeace talks or not has beencentered around groups likethe Pakistani Taliban thatoperate in the northwest.Little mention has beenmade of whether to talk withsectarian groups who oper-ate in areas likeBaluchistan. The govern-

ment also has not outlinedareas where it would bewilling to compromise. “Thegovernment does not haveany strategy at all whetherto talk or to fight,” saidZahid Hussain, a Pakistanisecurity analyst. “The armyis very, very frustrated atthis point. They are underattack and the governmenthas basically no clear strat-

egy.”Amid the criticism,Sharif cancelled a plannedtrip to Davos, Switzerland,this week to attend theWorld Economic Forum,and the prime minister visit-ed a military hospital to talkto those wounded in theBannu and Rawalpindiexplosions.Sharif alsochaired a meeting Mondayto discuss the government’sdraft Internal SecurityPolicy, a much-discussedproposal that is meant toaddress the security prob-lems but has not beenmade public. The PakistaniTaliban said earlier thisweek that they would beinterested in peace talks butonly if the governmentproved it was sincere andhad enough “power,” a ref-erence to the perceptionthat the army wields the realpower in Pakistan.

Critics contend this isjust another attempt atobfuscation by a group witha track record of usingnegotiations as a way togather their strength.

People look at the wreckage of a passenger bus destroyed in a bomb blast in the Mastong district, near Quetta.

Senior military officials ofIndia and Pakistan willmeet in Pooch sector inJammu and Kashmir onFriday to discuss ways tostrengthen the ceasefirealong the Line of Control(LoC) against the back-drop of violations in therecent past. Brigade com-manders of the two coun-tries will meet in Chakanda Bagh area as part of adecision taken during themeeting of the DGMOs lastmonth at the Wagah bor-der. Ways to strengthenthe ceasefire will be thefocus of the meeting, Armyofficials said at New Delhi.In the DGMOs meeting onDecember 24, it wasdecided that two flagmeetings between brigadecommanders will be heldon the LoC to ensurepeace and tranquility and

the hotline mechanismbetween them would bemade ‘more effective andresult-oriented’. A fewmonths back, the LoC waswitness to major violationsfrom the Pakistani sideand the issue had to betaken up by Prime MinisterManmohan Singh with hisPakistani counterpartNawaz Sharif in New York.Army chief Gen BikramSingh on Monday warnedPakistan against anybreaking any rules on theLoC saying India willrespond with equal meas-ure. Soon after the Armychief made these remarks,the Pakistani military saidsuch “provocative” state-ments were counter pro-ductive and claimed thathis statement was “con-trary to the facts onground”.

FORMER dictator PervezMusharraf has refused toundergo an angiography inPakistan and wants to goabroad for treatment,media reports Friday quot-ed a medical board as say-ing in a report submitted toa special court. Though theboard’s report was pre-sented to the court in asealed cover, details of itwere leaked and reportedby several news channels.Express News, which saidit obtained the report, quot-ed it as saying Musharraf’shealth is such that a heartattack could be “life-threat-ening”. The medical boardwas set up by the specialcourt, which is conductingMusharraf’s treason trial,to assess the 70-year-oldformer military ruler’shealth condition after hewas admitted to hospitalon January 2 with heart

problems. The court saidthe medical board’s reportwill be subjected to cross-examination on January29, following which it willannounce its decision onMusharraf’s appearancefor hearings. The reportstated Musharraf wasunwilling to get an angiog-raphy done in Pakistan asthe cardiac support systemin the country is “not up tostandard”, Express Newsreported. The govern-ment’s prosecutor, AkramSheikh, objected to thefindings in the report,which was submitted bythe four-member medical

board headed by MajGeneral Syed ImranMajeed. Musharraf’slawyer Anwar Mansoorrequested the court tokeep the report secret.However, the prosecutorsaid Musharraf is a publicfigure and the reportshould be made public. Hesaid the Constitutionincludes a provision for afree press. Sheikhdemanded that anothermedical board, comprisingcardiologists of Aga KhanHospital, PIMS Hospitaland Shifa InternationalHospital, be formed toreview the report. He fur-ther said the report’s find-ings seemed to imply thatall heart patients should besent abroad for treatment.The three-judge specialcourt subsequentlyadjourned proceedings tillJanuary 29.

Six policemen, childkilled in Pak blast

At least six policemen and achild were killed in a bombblast that targeted a securi-ty van on its way to guard apolio immunisation team innorthwest Pakistan onWednesday.According topolice, the blast occurred inSardheri Bazar area inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa’sCharsadda district, killingseven persons.DeputyInspector General of PoliceMardan Range SaeedWazir said that the bomb,weighing four to five kilo-grammes, was planted on acycle.Nine others, includingtwo policemen, were alsoinjured in the explosion.The injured have been shift-ed to the district hospital fortreatment. Today’s attackcame a day after the immu-nisation drive in Karachiwas suspended followingan attack on a vaccinationteam in the city’sQayyumabad area.

In Pakistan, a country where breastcancer kills more women than terror-ist attacks, an awareness groupcouldn’t even say the word “breast”while talking at a university aboutmammograms and how to check forlumps. They had to use the euphe-mism “cancer of women” to discussa disease often shrouded in socialstigma in this majority Muslimnation.One in nine women inPakistan will face breast cancer dur-ing their life, with the country havingthe highest rate of the diseaseacross Asia, according to the breastcancer awareness groupPinkRibbon, oncologists and otheraid groups.Yet discussing it remainstaboo in a conservative, Islamic cul-

ture where the word breast is asso-ciated with sexuality instead ofhealth and many view it as immoralfor women to go to the hospital forscreenings or discuss it with theirfamily.Now, women like breast can-cer survivor and prominent Pakistanipolitician Fehmida Mirza and groupsare trying to draw attention to thedisease and break the silence sur-rounding it.“There’s nothing to beshy about it,” Mirza told TheAssociated Press in an interview.“No woman, no woman should die ofignorance and negligence.”Nonational database tracks breast can-cer statistics but people who combatthe disease say it kills nearly 40,000women every year in Pakistan.

That’s about the same rate as in theUS, though Pakistan only has 180million residents to the US’ 313 mil-lion. With a health care system inshambles and more young womengetting the disease, breast cancerrates only are expected to getworse. World Health Organizationofficial Shahzad Aalam in Pakistansaid it was difficult to determine theexact magnitude, but that the dis-ease is rampant. “It is the leadingcancer killer among women,” Aalamsaid. Among Pakistani women thereis very little knowledge about thedisease. A study done at RawalpindiGeneral Hospital about breast can-cer awareness among 600 womenfound 70 per cent totally ignorant of

the disease, while 88 per cent didnot know about breast self-examsand 68 per cent did not understandthe significance of finding a lump inthe breast. “If women are beingdiagnosed with breast cancer, theydon’t even share the news with theirfamily members,” said Omar Aftab,who heads PinkRibbon in Pakistan,which put on the varsity presentationwhere organisers couldn’t even say“breast”. “We’re trying to break thesetaboos,” he said.Those culturaltaboos have been one of the biggestissues preventing women from seek-ing treatment or even knowing aboutthe disease. During an awarenessevent in Pakistan’s capital,Islamabad, female students attend-

ing a breast cancer lecture demand-ed the men leave. “It will take verylong for us to discuss these issuesopenly,” said one female studentwho requested anonymity becauseshe feared her family wouldn’t likeher speaking about the issue.Another challenge is Pakistan’sabysmal health care sector that isstarved for money, the latest tech-nology and drugs. Oncologist SairaHasan at Shifa International Hospitalin Islamabad said most major hospi-tals lack a screening centre or mam-mogram facility. Many patients firstgo to a traditional healer and by thetime they visit a reputable doctor, thedisease is often too far advanced totreat, Hasan said.

Many dead as Pakistani air force pounds militant hide-outs

Musharraf wants to leave Pakistan for treatment India, Pak army officials to meet on LoCon Friday to address ceasefire violations

Pakistan’s breast cancer challenge

At least 21 people, includ-ing 19 children, were killedand about 20 othersinjured on Wednesdaywhen a school van collid-ed head-on with a heavytruck in Pakistan’s south-ern Sindh province. Theschool van smashed intothe loaded dump-truck ona road near Nawabshah,about 270 kilometresnorth of Karachi. The stu-dents, all of whom werefrom the Bright FutureSchool of Daulatpur,were going to give theirexaminations. “The acci-dent took place on theQazi Ahmed link roadwhich is outside

Nawabshah and con-nects to Daulatpur,” apolice official said. Atleast 21 people werekilled out of which 19

were children, officialssaid. The school childrenwere aged between 12and 16, Geo Newsreported. The driver of

the school van was killedin the accident. About 20others, including teachersand students, wereinjured and taken toPeople’s Medical Collegein Nawabshah for treat-ment. Six of the injuredpersons were reported ascritical and were subse-quently shifted to theIntensive Care Unit (ICU).Police reached the site of

accident and started inves-tigation. The driver of thetruck was arrested afterthe accident. Pakistan hasa dubious record of fataltraffic accidents which canbe blamed on poor roadsand reckless driving.

FIJISUN12 PAKISTAN NEWSFebruary-2014 www.fijisun-usa.com

A Taliban suicide bomberblew himself up near thePakistan Army headquar-ters in the garrison city ofRawalpindi Monday, killing13 people, including sixsoldiers, a day after a blastinside a cantonment killed20 troops.The bomber,who was riding a cycle,detonated his explosivesafter being intercepted bysoldiers in Royal ArtilleryBazar, which is very closeto the army’s GeneralHeadquarters and otherimportant military build-ings. Twenty-four otherswere wounded in theattack. Witnesses said twostudents wearing uniformswere among the dead.Themarket, a short walk fromthe army headquarters, islocated in one of the mostsecure areas ofRawalpindi, said city policechief Akhtar HayatLalika.The blast came on aday when Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif had con-vened a special cabinetmeeting to approve a draftNational Security Policywith measures to tackleterrorism. On Sunday, ablast within the cantonment

of Bannu city in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincekilled 20 troops and injured30, prompting Sharif tocancel his visit to Davos,Switzerland, for the WorldEconomic Forum.Soonafter Monday’s blast, armychief Gen Raheel Sharifand the premier spoke onthe phone. The bannedTehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan

claimed responsibility forthe attack, withspokesman ShahidullahShahid saying it was car-ried out in response to mil-itary operations in the trib-al areas and the killing ofthe group’s deputy chief,Waliur Rehman, in a USdrone strike last year. Allthe injured were taken tovarious hospitals, includ-

ing the Combined MilitaryHospital. According topolice, the suicide bomberwas aged between 18 and20 years and his vest waspacked with an estimated10 kg of explosives.Theblast shattered windows ofbuildings in the area.Security was put on highalert as the area has keyinstallations like the army-

run National Logistics Celland Armed ForcesInstitute of Cardiology,where former military rulerPervez Musharraf wasadmitted with heart prob-lems earlier this month.President MamnoonHussain and MuttahidaQaumi Movement chiefAltaf Hussain condemnedthe blast.

Hindu girlraped, killed

in Pak PunjabA nine-year-old Hindugirl was raped andkilled in Punjabprovince of Pakistan,officials said Sunday.Basti Kata, a residentof Mauza Ghunia inRahim Yar Khan dis-trict, located 400 kmfrom provincial capitalLahore, said hisdaughter went missingwhile playing outsidehis home on Thursday.

Kata registered amissing person’sreport. On Saturday,some of Kata’s rela-tives found the girl’sbody in an open field.Police took the bodyto a state-run hospitalin Khanpur, where thedoctor on duty refusedto perform an autopsy.The aggrieved familystaged a protest out-side the hospital.Following the interven-tion of the local admin-istration, the doctorconducted an autopsythat confirmed rape. “Itappears the girl diedwhile being raped,

Two death row prisonershave been indicted inPakistan for the murder ofIndian national SarabjitSingh at a jail here.

An additional districtand sessions judge heldtrial at Central Jail in KotLakhpat Friday and formal-ly charged the two inmates— Amer Sarfraz aliasTamba and MuddassarBashir.

During the proceedings,copies of the chargesheetwere handed over to boththe accused. Judge SyedAnjum Raza Syedadjourned the hearing tillJanuary 20 and directed

the prosecution to producewitnesses.

The two accused hadbrutally attacked 49-year-old Sarabjit at the KotLakhpat Jail in April lastyear. Sarabjit, who hadsustained severe injuries,including a fractured skull,died on May 2.

Indian womantravels to Pak withfake passport tomeet ‘lover’An Indian woman wasdeported from the airporthere when she flew in fromDoha using a fake Pakistanipassport to meet a man shehad fallen in love with aftermeeting on a social network-ing website. Nagita Ramesh,who is in her twenties andhails from Gujarat, arrived atLahore international airportfrom Doha Thursday to meetAzhar, a resident of Multancity. “She had come in anearly morning flight. Wedetained her after checkingher documents and eventual-ly deported her back toDoha,” an immigration officialtold PTI. She told investiga-tion officers she “fell in love”with Azharand also said shehad converted to Islam.

A suicide bomber whokilled Chaudhry Aslam,one of Pakistan’s mostdaring counter-terror offi-cials, has been identifiedas the son of an imam, amedia report saidSaturday.According to ini-tial investigations and evi-dence, police in Karachibelieve that youngNaeemullah, who wasidentified through finger-prints, carried out thedeadly attack onThursday, SP Niaz Khosasaid.Naeemullah was aseminary student and sonof Rafiullah, the imam ofMasjid Jamia Sidiqia andadministrator of a madras-sa in Karachi’s restiveOrangi Town, The ExpressTribune reported.Rafiullahand around half a dozen

family members and com-rades have been detainedby the CID. Some bodyparts found at the site,allegedly of the bomber,were sent to the NationalDatabase and RegistrationAuthority for identification.“(We are) 98 per cent sure

that a suicide bomber hitthe explosives-ladenSuzuki cargo van withAslam’s (car),” CrimeInvestigation Department(CID) chief Zafar Bukharisaid.However, police offi-cials insist that the investi-gation is only in its initial

stages and things couldchange.According topolice officials, Rafiullahand Naeemullah arereportedly members ofZikria Mehsud group, theT e h r i k - e - T a l i b a nPakistan’s Karachi chap-ter. Police raided the sus-pect’s house and detainedfamily members in thepast.The PakistaniTaliban used around 200kg of explosives for thesuicide attack on Aslam,known for his crackdownon the outlawed militantgroup. The blast killedAslam, who had fearlesslyhunted members of thebanned group in Karachidespite at least threeattacks on him. Shortlyafter Thursday’s suicidebombing.

The blast killed Aslam, who had fearlessly hunted members of thebanned group in Karachi despite at least three attacks on him.

Saeed warns against‘secret deal’ on KashmirLahore: Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief HafizMohammad SaeedSaturday warned thePakistan governmentagainst striking a “secretdeal” with India on theKashmir issue. “We can-not leave the Kashmiripeople at the mercy ofIndia. Kashmiris have notsacrificed lives to divideKashmir,” he said duringa meeting with support-ers here. Kashmirbelongs to Kashmiris.”The founder of thebanned Lashkar-e-Taibafurther claimed India can“no longer rule Kashmirby force”.

HEARTBREAKING: The dump-truck and a school van are beingremoved from a crash site after an accident near the town ofNawabshah, some 270 km north of Karachi on Wednesday.

13 killed in blast near Pak army HQ

Suicide bomber in Karachi cop attack identified as imam’s son

Two on death row in Pak jailcharged with Sarabjit’s murder21, including 19 children, killed in road accident

FIJISUN 13February-2014www.fijisun-usa.com

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Anushka, who hasturned producerwith the film

NH10, made it a point tosend out a personalnote and a box ofchocolates to all unitmembers of the filmthanking them for beingpart of her new journey.The letter reads, “Thisis a new beginning forus and we are so happyto be sharing this expe-

rience with a fantasticteam.” It may berecalled that Anushkawas bowled over by thefilm’s script and thenoffered to come onboard as a producer.The film is being co-pro-duced by PhantomFilms and will be direct-ed by Navdeep Singh,whose last outing wasthe film, Manorama SixFeet Under. -

FIJISUN 21bollywood February-2014www.fijisun-usa.com

Anushka Sharma personally thanks 'NH10' crew

This is a newbeginningfor us and we are sohappy to besharing thisexperiencewith a fantasticteam

‘Aditya to throw a grand bashI

n what is being called a first of sorts, AdityaChopra will throw a grand bash tonight tomark the success of the latest YRF film,

Dhoom 3. A source close to the productionhouse confirms this news, “Dhoom 3 has bro-ken all records in Indian cinema and has setnew benchmarks. Aditya Chopra plans to cele-brate this milestone by hosting a party at theYRF terrace lounge,” says the source, addingthat this is the first time the production house ishosting a ‘success party’ for its film. Apart fromthe film’s cast and crew toplined by Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchanand Katrina Kaif, the party will be attended by Aditya’s family andclose friends. “Aditya has personally invited all the guests and Aamirhas reached out to his friends as well,” says another source.

FIJISUN22 HINDUISUMFebruary-2014 www.fijisun-usa.com

Mahashivratri is anauspicious andimportant festival of

Hindus, especially for thedevotees of Lord Shiva whocelebrate the religious festi-val with great enthusiasm.The Mahashivratri festival,also much popular as'Shivratri' or 'Great Night ofLord Shiva', is observed onthe 13th night/14th day in theKrishna Paksha every yearon the month of Phalguna orMaagh according to theHindu calendar. Devotees onMahashivratri throng to tem-ples and holy shrines to offerprayers and please LordShiva. Like each year,Mahashivratri 2014 will becelebrated on Thursday,February 27 by decoratingthe Shiv temples in colourfulways. According to Hindumythology, Mahashivratri isLord Shiva's favourite day.Devotees on this day remainon fast or perform hour longspiritual meditation by follow-ing rituals to commemorateMahashivratri and beblessed with grace. In theearly morning, they visit tem-ples to offer cold water, milkand bael leaves on theLingam, a symbol for theworship of Lord Shiva, afterproperly cleaning it. Manysadhus on Maha Shivratrivisit shrines and offer mari-juana to worshipers tospread the significance of thefestival. Wearing a garlandmade from rudraksha andapplying turmeric vermilionor holy ash on forehead sym-bolizes a holy ritual on thisreligious festival. Holymantras are also recited andspecial puja ceremonies areheld throughout the night tocelebrate Shivratri.

Numerous interesting andintriguing mythological sto-ries are believed pertainingto the celebration toMahashivratri. In a version,devotees believe thatShivratri is auspiciousbecause it marks the mar-riage ceremony of Lord Shiva

and Parvati. However, manybelieve that Mahashivratrisignifies the auspicious nightwhen Lord Shiva performedthe dance 'Tandava' that ledto the creation, conservationand devastation of the uni-verse. Mahashivratri is notonly one of the magnificentfestivals in India but also inNepal and other regionswhere Lord Shiva is wor-shipped. Among the variouspopular shrines, Amarnathtemple pilgrimage or MountAmarnath (about 140 kmfrom Srinagar, Jammu andKashmir) is believed to bethe holiest in Hinduism.Surrounded by fascinatingmountainous terrains andpicturesque snowy moun-tains this shrine remainscrowded by pilgrims through-out the year especially onMahashivratri. For women,

Mahashivratri is an auspi-cious festival. They observefast and offer prayers both toLord Shiva and Parvati toshower their grace with apeaceful and blissful marriedlife. Amid celebrations, toshare the excitement andspread the essence of theMahashivratri festival peoplesend inspirationalMahashivratri SMS and love-ly Mahashivratri messages totheir dear ones. The collec-tion of MahashivratriSMS gives individualsthe privilege just tosay 'Happy Shivratri'or to mark Shivratri2013 as a specialoccasion.

Night Of LORd

ShivRAtRiMAhA

For women, Mahashivratri is an auspicious festival. They observe fast and offer prayers both to Lord Shiva and Parvati to shower their grace with a peaceful and blissful married life.

ShivA

Om Namah

Shivaya!

A ll through the day thedevotees keep severefast, chant the sacred

Panchakshara mantra"Om Namah Shivaya",make offerings of flowersand incense to the Lordamidst ringing of templebells. They maintain longvigils during the night,keeping awake to listento stories, hymns andsongs. The fast is brokenonly the next morning,after the nightlong wor-ship. In Kashmir, the festi-val is held for 15 days.The 13th day is observedas a day of fast followedby a family feast.

Shiva Rituals

On the day of Shivratri, a three-tiered platform is built around a fire. The top-most plank represents 'swargaloka'

(heaven), the middle one 'antarikshaloka'(space) and the bottom one 'bhuloka'(earth). Eleven 'kalash' or urns, are kept onthe 'swargaloka' plank symbolizing the 11manifestations of the 'Rudra' or destructiveShiva. These are decorated with the leavesof 'bilva' or 'bael' (Aegle marmelos) andmango atop a coconut representing thehead of Shiva. The uncut shank of thecoconut symbolizes his tangled hair and thethree spots on the fruit Shiva's three eyes.

Bathing Phallus

The phallus symbol representing Shiva iscalled the lingam. It is usually made ofgranite, soapstone, quartz, marble or

metal, and has a 'yoni' or vagina as its baserepresenting the union of organs. Devoteescircumambulate the lingam and worship itthroughout the night. It is bathed everythree hours with the 5 sacred offerings of acow, called the 'panchagavya' - milk, sourmilk, urine, butter and dung. Then the 5foods of immortality - milk, clarified butter,curd, honey and sugar are placed before thelingam. Datura fruit and flower, though poi-sonous, are believed to be sacred to Shivaand thus offered to him.

FIJISUN 23bANGlADeSH NewS February-2014www.fijisun-usa.com

Three seniorBangladeshi journalistsof a pro-oppositionnewspaper have beenarrested for publishing a“false” report that Indianforces had helped thegovernment contain vio-lence during the recentcontroversial polls.Detectives raided theoffice of Inqilab, aDhaka-based Bangla-language daily werearrested on Thursdayand picked up the threejournalists. They alsosealed the press, plate-making and serverrooms and seized threecomputers. The raid wasconducted hours afterpolice filed a caseagainst the newspaperfor publishing “baseless”

news that theBangladesh governmenttook assistance from theIndian Army and BorderSecurity Force to containviolence in southwesternSatkhira district, whichborders India. Newseditor Rabiulla Ulla Robi,deputy chief reporterRafiq Mohammad anddiplomatic correspon-dent Ahmmed Atiq weretoday produced in amagistrate’s court, whichsent them to jail. Thecourt fixed Monday forhearing the remand andbail petitions of thearrested, Dhaka Tribunereported. “It (the report)was a blatant lie and itwas published with aclear aim to jeopardiseBangladesh’s relations

with India…it coud havetriggered a riot,”Information MinisterHasanul Haq Inu toldreporters. He said thereport also insultedsecurity forces like theBorder Guard

Bangladesh and RapidAction Battalion, whichwere deployed to con-tain violence in Satkhiraahead of the January 5polls. A senior HomeMinistry official, speak-ing on condition ofanonymity, told PTI thatelements close to the

Bangladesh NationalistParty (BNP) or its ally,the fundamentalistJamaat-e-Islami, couldhave masterminded thepropaganda to defamethe Awami League,which won the recentpolls. Police officials saidthe journalists werearrested for publishing a“highly sensational”report that was “totallyuntrue”. “They werearrested under a specificlaw and will be exposedto justice,” a policespokesman said. Thefront-page report in therightwing newspaperpurportedly quoted mat-ter from social mediasites and incorporatedalleged reactions fromgovernment officials and

analysts. The ForeignMinistry rubbished thereport, saying a purport-ed Dhaka-Delhi commu-nication it cited was a“production of photo-shop technique”.Several other websitescarried the Inqilabs’report while unidentifiedpersons sent a “forgedofficial communication”to the National PressClub for circulationamong journalists.Authorities last yearsealed the press of pro-opposition Amar Deshnewspaper for carryingforged photos of policerepressions of “piousMuslims”. The govern-ment also ordered thesuspension of a pro-opposition TV channel. A

Sheikh Hasina was onSunday sworn in for hersecond straight term asprime minister, a weekafter her Awami Leaguesecured a landslide win inthe violence-hit generalelection boycotted by theopposition as a farce.President Abdul Hamidadministered oath of theoffice to the 48-memberstrong council of minis-ters at ‘Bangabhaban’ –the presidential house –here in a ceremony thatwas broadcast live. Atotal of 29 lawmakerstook oath as Cabinet min-isters.

17 MPs were appoint-ed as state ministerswhile two as deputy min-

isters. Prominent amongthose who were droppedfrom the previous govern-ment were ForeignMinister Dipu Moni,Home Minister MohiuddinKhan Alamgir and minis-ter without a portfolio andminority leader SuranjitSengupta. Attired in anoff-white sari, 66-year-oldHasina looked confidentat the jam-packed DarbarHall of Bangabhaban.She took oath pledging topreserve, protect anddefend the national con-stitution and state sover-eignty. “I am, SheikhHasina, taking oath…thatI will discharge my dutiesfaithfully as the primeminister of the govern-

ment as per the law,”Hasina said amid clapsfrom the audience. This isthe third term for Hasinaas prime minister. Shehad also served as prime

minister during 1996-2001. Awami League wonover two-thirds of parlia-ment’s 300 seats in theJanuary 5 polls whichwere described as a farceby the BangladeshNationalist Party (BNP)led 18-party oppositionalliance. The oppositionboycotted the pollsdemanding a neutralcaretaker regime to over-see the polls.

The opposition led byformer Prime MinisterKhaleda Zia tried to derailthe polls by calling strikesand blockades. Over 160people were killed in pollrelated violence sinceNovember. Jatiya Party,headed by former military

ruler H M Ershad, won 32seats and likely to playthe role of the main oppo-sition in the parliament.BNP leaders were absentfrom the swearing-in cer-emony.

Many diplomats,including Indian HighCommissioner PankajSaran, US AmbassadorDan Mozena and Britishenvoy Robert Gibson,attended the ceremony.Indian Prime MinisterManmohan Singh con-gratulated Awami Leagueleader after she wassworn-in and said hehoped bilateral relationsbetween the neighbour-ing countries would flourish.

Bangladesh’s ex-militaryruler H M Ershad waswhisked away from hishome by security forcesearly today and admitted toa military hospitalhere,days after the 83-year-old former dictator’sdramatic decision to boy-cott next month’s generalelections. The former pres-ident was only being takenfor a check-up,said a topofficial of the Rapid ActionBattalion (RAB).Speculation was rife thatErshad,whose Jatiya Partyis a key ally of the AwamiLeague-led grandalliance,was “detained” aspart of the government’sefforts to force him to par-ticipate in the January 5polls. However,RAB mediawing Director HabiburRahman told Bdnews24that Ershad was at homewhen he fell sick. “The per-sonnel guarding his resi-dence took him to the hos-pital after they were told ofhis feeling sick.”Witnessessaid a joint team of policeand RAB entered the pri-

vate “President’s Park”residence and virtuallywhisked him to anSUV,fuelling speculationthat Ershad was arrested.

Activists of Jatiya Partyscuffled with security per-sonnel who took Ershad tothe Combined MilitaryHospital where he wasadmitted.TV footagesshowed a grim-facedErshad was sitting on thebackseat of the SUV wear-ing a red sweater as theconvoy of police and RABvans drove off.“It is myste-rious,I was with him(Ershad) until theevening…he was in goodhealth and also took part inhis routine physical exer-cise,” Ershad’s press sec-retary Sunil Subho Roytold reporters.The formermilitary ruler,who wasousted in a mass upsurgein 1990 after nine years ofrule,returned to limelightearlier this month when heannounced his party wouldstay way from the polls dueto lack of a proper atmos-phere.

Jamaat leader Abdul QuaderMollah executed in Bangladesh

for 1971 war crimesAbdul Quader Mollah,a sen-ior leader of the fundamen-talist Jamaat-e-Islamiparty,was executed onThursday for genocide dur-ing Bangladesh’s 1971 lib-eration war,hours after theSupreme Court rejected hisreview petition.The 65-year-old Mollah,infamous as the“Butcher of Mirpur”,was thefirst politician to be execut-ed for massacre and rapeduring the war of independ-ence from Pakistan.Mollahwas hanged at 10.01 pm(local time) in DhakaCentral Jail,a prison officialsaid.The apex court onThursday upheld the deathsentence for the assistantsecretary-general of theright wing party,rejecting hisreview plea two days afterhis hanging was dramatical-ly put on hold in a last-minute reprieve.Mollahsided with Pakistani troopsduring the war and gainednotoriety for leading theinfamous Al-Badr militia inthe Dhaka suburb ofMirpur,where he had a rolein slaughtering a large num-ber of people.

A Yemeni citizen died of car-diac arrest at the grounds ofBiswa Ijtema in Tongi onSaturday morning. Thedeceased was one AhmedAbdullah, 70, son of AhmedAbdullahu Abdullah. GazipurCivil Surgeon Shah Alam Sharifconfirmed of his death. TheYemeni died sometime around8am at the foreign guests sec-tion of the Ijtema, Alam said.

Three more devotees diedon Ijtema ground because of

cardiac arrest in the early hoursof Saturday. Two of thedeceased were Shamsuddin,60, from Mymensingh, andZihad Ali, 55, of Kustia. Tongipolice station OC IsmailHossain confirmed of thedeaths. Police arrested 14 peo-ple accused of various crimesincluding pick-pocketing andpurse-snatching, earlier onFriday, added Hossain. Thesecond day began with thedelivery of sermons, prayer for

exaltation and welfare of theMuslim Ummah amid recitationfrom the holy Quran andHadith. Maulana Abdul Wahabof Pakistan, Maulana MdJamshed, of Delhi, MaulanaAhmad are scheduled to deliv-er the day's sermon onSaturday.Maulana JobayerulHassan of Delhi will conduct adowry-free mass wedding afterAsar prayers. The first phase ofIjtema will conclude with AkheriMonajat on Sunday.

The body of a person wasfound inside the shop of hisbrother-in-law fromKalurghat area of the portcity of Chittagong onSaturday morning. The vic-tim, Manzil, 18, from Barisal,an employee, was strangledto death, law enforcers said.However, police were notclear on the motive of themurder. Police recovered thebody around 9:30am uponinformation from locals,Chittagong Metropolitan

Police (north) DeputyCommissioner MohammadShahidullah said. The shopwas broken into on Fridaynight, he said. The murdercould have been committedby robbers or motivated fromprevious enmity.Investigation is underway.The body was sent at themorgue of ChittagongMedical College Hospital forautopsy. Procedures wereon to lodge a case regardingthis matter.

17 houses,fuel shop gut-

ted in CtgCHITTAGONG : At least17 houses and a petroleumoil shop were gutted inthree separate fire inci-dents in Rangunia andBoalkhali upazilas of thedistrict and Bakalia of theport city on Thursday,reports UNB.In Boalkhali,seven houses burnt downin a fire that broke out inKanungopara area around2:00 am.Affected KamalUddin said the fire originat-ed from an electric shortcircuit.The blaze was esti-mated to have causedlosses worth Tk8lakh.Locals managed todouse the fire around 3:00by the time a fire fightingunit from Patiya arrived. Inanother incident, 10 hous-es were gutted inSafarbhata area ofRangunia.

Minor boy killedin Rajhshahiroad crash

RAJSHAHI : A minor boywas killed when a tractorknocked down him inKristaganj area underBoalia thana in the city,reports UNB.Thedeceased was identifiedas Hasan Ali, 10, son ofAbdur Rahsid of KechuaTala in the city.UttamKumar, sub-inspector atRajshahi Medical CollegeHospital (RMCH) policecamp, said the accidenttook place in the area inthe evening when a sugar-cane-laden tractor hitHasan when he tried topick up a sugarcane fromthe vehicl.

Sheikh Hasina sworn in as Bangladesh PM after violent elections

Ex-Bangladesh dictator‘detained’,taken to military hospital

Grand Urs atBishwa Zaker

Manjil begins todayFARIDPUR : The four-day Grand “Bishwa UrsSharif” of BishwawaliKhwajababa Faridpuriwill begin today atBishwa Zaker Manjil atAtrashi underSadarpur upazila of thedistrict, reports BSS. ABishwa Zaker Manjilpress release saidhere on Friday that allpreparations havebeen completed underthe.

Body found inChittagong city

Yemeni national dies at Ijtema

Bangladesh: 3 journalists jailed for ‘false’ report

FIJISUN24 BANGLADESH NEWSFebruary-2014 www.fijisun-usa.com

Prime Minister SheikhHasina today termed poli-tics of BNP and Jamaat-Shibir as militant activitiesand said that it will have tobe stopped otherwisestern action would betaken against them.

“It is not politics, butmilitant activities. It mustbe stopped, otherwisestern action would betaken against thoseinvolved in the terroristand militant acts,” shesaid.

We won’t letBangladesh to become aterrorist and militant coun-try again, Sheikh Hasinaadded.

The Prime Minister saidthis while handing overcheques among the family

members of those killedand injured by the terror-ists of BNP and Jamaat-Shibir in recent times inthe district at local Circuit

House this afternoon.A total of 10 persons

were killed and 62 injuredby the terrorists of BNPand Jamaat-Shibir since

the announcement of ver-dict of war criminal andJamaat leader DelwarHossain Sayedi on Feb 28last year.

Besides, 117 educationinstitutions were torchedand damaged by the ter-rorists during the period.

At the function, SheikhHasina distributedcheques among familymembers of 75 victims.

Among the victims,mother of SM KhalilurRahman, a BCL leader ofRajshahi University, KantiBhushan Barman, a juniorofficer of Sonali Bank andassistant presiding officerof the recently held polls,narrated the attacks theBNP and Jamaat- Shibirmade on them.

India sents 27Bangladeshis back

They were handed over tothe Border GuardBangladesh (BGB) byIndia’s Border SecurityForce on Friday night atthe Benapole Land Port.

Benapole Checkpost’sBGB Camp CommanderMd Abdullah said theBangladeshis had returnedon special passes providedby India. He said theBangladeshis were arrest-ed from Kerala where theyhad been looking for jobs.They were sentenced tothree years in prison.

Amidst tight security andimmense attendance thefirst phase of the BiswaIjtema, the second largestcongregation of Muslimsbegan on Friday. The con-gregation, otherwiseknown as the WorldMuslims Congregationbegan after the Fajrprayers with the sermonsof the Maulana IsmailGodra of Pakistan. It is toend followed by the AkheriMunajat on Sunday.Thesecond phase will begin by31st January and end at2nd of February.

On the occasion ofBiswa Ijtema PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina,President Abdul Hamid

and BNP chairpersonBegum Khaleda Zia issuedseparate messages.

Eight pontoon bridgeshave been built by themembers of BangladeshArmy across the TuragRiver in order to facilitatethe movement of thearrived devotees.According to the organiz-ers around 30 lakh devo-tees including 30,000 from100 countries will beattending the Biswa Ijtemathis year.On the other strictsecurity measures havebeen adapted due to thepast political unrest. PoliceSuper of Gazipur, AbdulBaten said that around10,000 law enforcers along

with 1000 RAB men havebeen posted at the area.

14 observation towershave been erected towatch public movements,60 surveillance camerashas been installed at theentrance of the venue.Aspecial bus service hasbeen arranged by theBangladesh RoadTransportation Corporation(BRTC) for this occasion.

People from 32 districtswill be attending the firstphase of the Ijtema. Theseinclude Dhaka, Gazipur,Sirajganj, Narshingdi,Faridpur, Rajbari,Shariatpur, Kishoreganj,Rangpur, Natore, Sherpur,Rajshahi.

NGO officialkilled in Ctgroad crash

CHITTAGONG : An NGOofficial was crushed todeath by a covered van infront of Faujdarhat CadetCollege in Sitakunda upazi-la on Friday, reportsUNB.The deceased wasidentified as Babul Mollah,40, an officer of Brac andson of Adud Mollah inKusumdia area of Kashianiin Gopalganj district.Officer-in-charge JakirHossain of Baro AuliaHighway Police Station saidthe accident occurred whenmotorcyclist Babul fell ontothe ground and slippedunder the covered vanaround 10 am while over-taking the vehicle, leavinghim dead on the spot.

JAMALPUR : Two per-sons were killed andanother was injured as atrain rammed a pick-upvan on a level crossingin Sharifpur area underJamalpur sadar upazilaof the district on Fridaymorning, reports BSS.The deceased wereidentified as DulalHossain, 38, son ofMuslim Uddin andSames Uddin, 36, son ofBadsha Miah hailed

from College Para ofDhanbari upazila inTangail district. Zahirul Haque, AssistantSub-Inspector (ASI) ofRailway Police, said theaccident occurred whenChittagong-bound mailtrain from Sarishabaristation hit the pick-upvan on the level cross-ing, leaving two veg-etable traders dead on the spot. In the acci-dent.

BNP’s decision to jointhe upazila electionsproves that PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasinawas on the right pathabout the 10th parlia-mentary election, saidthe Industries MinisterAmir Hossain Amu.

He also said, “BNP’sdecision to participate inthe upazila electionsproves that the democra-cy wins in the country.”He was addressing to ainaugural session of two-day representative con-ference of Institution ofDiploma Engineers,Bangladesh (IDEB) atthe IDEB building. Amualso questioned that ifBNP can participate in

upazila elections underthe Sheikh Hasina’s gov-ernment wat was theirproblem in the generalelection? He added,“Why kill innocent peoplein the name of boycott?They will have to answerfor this.” He added,everyone who wants toparticipate in the electionhave to accept the lead-ership of Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina.

State Minister forHome AffairsAsaduzzman KhanKamal and IDEB generalsecretary M ShamsurRahman also spoke atthe programe, chaired byIDEB president AKMAHamid.

DHAKA : Food MinisterAdvocate Quamrul Islamon Friday said that the par-liamentary election infuture would be held underconstitution, reports BSS.

“It is not a matter ofdebate whether theJanuary 5 polls was goodor bad, but the electionwas held as per the consti-tution. If any election takesplace in future, it would beheld under the constitu-tion”, said the Minister.

The Food Minister saidthis at a discussion on“Violence and anarchy

unleashed by the BNP-Jamaat: our responsibility”organized by Amra

Muktijudder Santan at theJatiya Press Club here.State Minister for Finance

MA Mannan, LiberationWar Affairs Secretary ofthe Awami LeagueCaptain (retd) AB TazulIslam, Awami League cen-tral committee memberAmirul Islam Amin, amongothers, spoke on the occa-sion.

President of the organi-zation Huamyun Kabirpresided. Criticizing themovements organized bythe BNP, the Food Ministersaid the movement isbeing organized is not onlyagainst the government,but also the whole state.

The first ever biggestmeasles- rubella vaccina-tion campaign beganacross the country todaywith a target of briningabout 5.20 crore childrenaged between nine monthsand 15 years under theprogramme.Health andFamily Welfare Ministrysources said the pro-gramme will continue tillFebruary 13. “The pro-gramme is being imple-mented at a cost of Taka512.70 crore,” said Healthand Family Welfare

Minister MohammadNasim following inaugura-tion of the programme atthe ministry’s conferenceroom on Wednesday.Thisis the biggest immunisationprogramme for the childrenin the country, said the min-ister.Earlier, only 3.50 croreminor boys and girls havingthe age ranging from ninemonths to 10 years werebrought under the catch-upcampaign programmesince 2006. Around 1.80crore children were vacci-nated in 2010.

Stern action would be taken against attackers: PM

BNP’s involvement in UZ electionsproves democracy wins: Amu

Parliamentary polls in future to be held under constitution

Train accident killstwo in Jamalpur

Measles rubella vaccina-tion campaign begins

Biswa Ijtema kicks off

FIJISUN 25February-2014www.fijisun-usa.com

Fiji Police ReunionIn summer 2014

Buffer dinnerAwards

RecognitionEntertainmentCall or Fax

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FIJISUN26 STAR AGEFebruary-2014 www.fijisun-usa.com

SAGITTARIUSNOV 23-DEC 22

You will soon share with yourfellow fire signs, Leo andAries, a superb, if challeng-

ing, planetary line-up. However,your optimism may be temperedby the knowledge that in somesenses even you may now be out ofyour depth. It’s time to rely on yourpast experience.

CAPRICORNDEC 23-JAN 20

Partners, loved ones and closecolleagues are about to startmoving back to an optimistic

high after a few weeks of uncer-tainty. You may both help themdevelop their good feelings, andshare in their success. You shouldalso help them face up to the truth

CANCERJUNE 22-JULY 23

You may not be sure why youshould feel so confident aboutthe future. Just appreciate the

sense of growing optimism that isdue to lift your spirits over the com-ing few days, under the Sun’s intrigu-ing relationship with Jupiter, planet ofwisdom and wide open spaces.

LEOJULY 24-AUG 23

In many respects you fare betterthan most at the momentbecause you have the wit to see

a personal situation for what it real-ly is. I doubt if anyone will be ableto pull the wool over your eyes. Youmay even realise that cast-ironpractical arrangements might notwork out after all.

VIRGOAUG 24-SEPT 23

You are now going through arather peculiar phase, per-haps because you’re not really

sure what you want. Try to be a bitmore at ease and relaxed with theworld in general, without swingingto the other extreme and becomingdisorganised and chaotic

TAURUSAPR 21-MAY 21

In your own sweet, quiet wayyou have built up a consider-able fund of wisdom and

experience over the years. Nowyou may come to the aid of vari-ous people whose collective ven-tures are floundering for want of avoice like yours. Speak.

AQUARIUSJAN 21-FEB 19

You’re an Aquarian, so nobodycan really put you on the spotor undermine your confi-

dence unless you allow them to.However, judicious concessionsmade now will prevent them evenmaking the attempt. Your judge-ment and timing are crucial, and Isuspect that you’ll be walking.

PISCESFEB 20-MAR 20

As long as you keep your eye onthe ball, you’ll have a good startto the week, so no fears on that

score. As the days pass, just keep aneye on those secret worries and frus-trated hopes that tend to erupt atmoments of irritation or pressure. Talkto friends and those who know.

ARIESMAR 21-APR 20

You may not be sure why youshould feel so confident aboutthe future. Just appreciate the

sense of growing optimism that isdue to lift your spirits over the com-ing few days, under the Sun’s intrigu-ing relationship with Jupiter, planetof wisdom and wide open spaces.

SCORPIOOCT 24-NOV 22

You may imagine that every-thing at home is just fine andhunky-dory. However, it’s just

at times like these that you musttake extra precautions. Do your verybest to see that family members arehappy and contented – even ifthey’re not! I have a feeling you’llsoon have some making up to do!

LIBRASEPT 24-OCT 23

It’s time to say another word toall Librans who are in the throesof domestic change – that there

is only another fortnight of confu-sion. In fact, all of you will find iteasier to straighten out family com-plications next month, which has tobe good news.

GEMINIMAY 22-JUNE 21

The week’s stars begin on a highnote, but as the days pass, argu-mentative influences will creep in.

You must therefore be aware that whatseems like a golden opportunity nowcould turn into quite the opposite bynext weekend. Also, harsh words todaycould rebound on you later.

We have not yet cometo the point wheregovernments can be

dissolved. Prince Kropotkin wasagainst the government, thelaw. He wished to dissolvethem. I am also an anarchist,but in a totally opposite way. Iwant to raise our consciousnessto the point where governmentbecomes futile, courts remainempty, and nobody is murderedraped, tortured or harassed. Doyou see the difference?

Prince Kropotkin’s emphasisis: dissolve governments. Myemphasis is: raise our con-sciousness to the point wheregovernments become, of theirown accord, useless; to thepoint that courts start closing,that police start disappearingbecause there is no work,judges are told, "Find someother job." I am an anarchistfrom a very different dimension.

First let people be ready --and governments will disappearon their own account. I am notin favour of destroying govern-ments; they are fulfilling a cer-tain need. Man is so barbarous,so ugly, that if he is not prevent-ed by force, society will be inchaos. Prince Kropotkin is notan anarchist; he is in favour ofchaos.

I want human society tobecome a harmonious whole, avast commune all around theworld: People meditating, with-out guilt, with great serenity,silence; people rejoicing, danc-ing, singing; people who haveno desire to compete with any-body; who have dropped thevery idea that they are specialand have to prove it by becom-ing the president of America;people who are no longer suf-fering from any inferiority com-plex, so nobody wants to besuperior, nobody brags abouthis greatness. Governments willevaporate like dewdrops in theearly morning sun. But till thatmoment comes, governments

are needed. It’s simple, if youare sick, medicines are needed.Prince Kropotkin wants todestroy medicines. I want you tobe healthy so you don't needmedicines. Automatically youwill throw them -- what will youdo with all those medicines?

I am not against medicines; Iam against sickness whichmakes medicines necessary. Iwould like a healthier humanity– and therefore there will be noneed for medicines.

Yes, I am an anarchist, my

anarchism is totally different.The words remain the same,they just acquire new meanings.I want one world, one language,one religiousness, one humani-ty, and when humanity is reallygrown-up in consciousness, onegovernment.Government is notsomething to brag about. It is aninsult. Its existence says to youthat you are still barbarous, civil-isation has not happened; oth-erwise what is the need of agovernment to rule you?

If all crimes disappear, if all

fears that others can exploityou, murder you, disappear,what will you do with this wholebureaucracy of government?You cannot continue it, becauseit is a burden on the economy, abig burden, and it goes onbecoming bigger and bigger.Hierarchies have a tendency tobecome bigger and bigger, forthe simple reason that every-body wants not to work, every-body hates work. So everybodyneeds more assistance; thework is growing.

I am a category in myself,because my approach is totallydifferent. I am not against gov-ernment; I am against the needfor government. I am notagainst courts; I am against theneed for the courts. Someday,some time, I see the possibilitythat we will be able to live with-out any control -- religious orpolitical -- because we will be adiscipline unto ourselves.

With Thanks fromHindustantimes

I’m A Different Kind Of Anarchist

Yes, I am ananarchist, myanarchism istotally different.The wordsremain the same,they just acquirenew meanings. Iwant one world,one language,one religious-ness, one humanity, andwhen humanityis really grown-up in consciousness,one government.

FIJISUN 27aFghan news February-2014www.fijisun-usa.com

Unknown gunmen onTuesday seized more than60 Afghan workers clearingSoviet-era anti-tank minesin western Herat province,the largest mass kidnap-ping undertaken in an eco-nomically important areanow beset by securityproblems.Herat, which bor-ders Iran, has long beenplagued by kidnappings.But a sharp downturn insecurity in the traditionallysafe province is a worryingsign ahead of the depar-ture of most foreign forcesby the end of thisyear.More than 60 Afghansworking for the British dem-ining group The Halo Trusthad arrived at a village inPashtun Zarghun districtbefore 8 AM to begin clear-ing anti-tank mines let overfrom the 10-year Sovietoccupation of the1980s.“When they arrived,

armed people on motor-bikes came and forcedthem to get into their vehi-cles and made them driveto a nearby village,” TheHalo Trust’s country direc-tor, Farid Homayoun, told

Reuters.The kidnappers forced

the deminers out of thecars and marched themtowards nearby mountains.They have not been seensince. “Some deminers

were able to escape butover 60 staff are still withthose people and at themoment the local shura arein negotiation for theirrelease,” Homayoun said,using the Afghan word for

council.Provincial police have

been sent to the village. Noone has claimed responsi-bility for the kidnappings. Asmall group of deminerswas held for a week byTaliban fighters in morevolatile southern Kandahardistrict in April last yearbefore being released.InHerat, a commercial hub,kidnappers have generallytargeted rich business peo-ple or their families, withresidents staging strikesand protests to draw atten-tion to the issue. Bombingsand insurgent attacks hadbeen infrequent in Heratuntil recently, but securityhas deteriorated sharply inrecent months. Residentstold Reuters it had becomedangerous to travelthrough districts borderingthe provinces of Farah andBaghdis.

The emerging situation resulting from the downgrading of security is a worrying sign for the tradi-tionally rich and stable province of Herat.

Indian-origin UK leaderamong foreigners killed

in Kabul cafe blastA British politician of Indian ori-gin was among 21 people killedin a Taliban suicide attack on apopular restaurant in theAfghan capital.Britain’s ForeignOffice Saturday confirmed thedeath of Dharmender SinghPhangurha, also known as DelSingh. He was a Labour Partycandidate from the South Eastfor the European Parliament,BBC reported.

The attack occurred Fridayevening when a bomber blewhimself up outside Taverna duLiban restaurant in the upmar-ket neighbourhood of WazirAkbar Khan. Two gunmen thenentered the restaurant andstarted “indiscriminately killing”people inside.

Two Americans, twoBritons, two Canadians, a sen-ior International Monetary Fundrepresentative from Lebanonand four UN staff were alsokilled in the attack.

Afghanistan should acceptthe West's help after thewithdrawl of troops inorder to avoid a return toits civil war days, theAmerican general who ledNato troops there hassaid.Gen StanleyMcChrystal said the USand the Britian should con-tinue to have some role inthe country beyond theend of the year."They mustknow we are reliable long-term partners," he said."They must now they won'tbe on their own".Theretired general told theBBC that while he did notthink that the Taliban hadthe strength to take overall of country, however acivil war could erupt as dif-ferent groups vying forpower.When asked aboutwhether the country'ssecurity situation hadimproved over the lastdecade he said: "The abil-ity of a nation to defend

itself is partly in the num-ber of the security forces ithas but it is also in the fab-ric and sinew of its societyand the confidence of itspeople," he said.

"I think that would bethe part that I would worrymost about - that erodingconfidence would causepeople not to join the army,not to join the police, not tosupport local government -that would be the mostdangerous scenario."

He also said of that theUS should continue itsdrone programme andincrease the number ofstrikes.

However, while thegeneral said that whilethey were "effective tools",they can also "create atremendous amount ofresentment" - with a per-ception of helpless peoplebeing shot at by thunder-bolts from an omniscientand omnipotent entity.

Kabul restaurant attack'was warning from Talibanfor the West to leaveAfghanistan'The Kabulrestaurant attack that killedtwo Britons including aLabour MEP candidate wasa Taliban warning that it willnot allow foreign forces toremain in Afghanistan after2014, one of the US gov-ernment's leading adviserssaid onSunday.A fghan i s t an ' sNational Security Council,which is chaired byPresident Hamid Karzai,accused "foreign intelli-gence services" of beingbehind the suicide bomband gun attack that killed22 people on Friday night.

Del Singh, a Labourcandidate for May's

European elections, wasamong 13 foreigners killedin the attack on theLebanese restaurantTaverna du Liban, a popu-lar drinking and diningoasis for Kabul's interna-tional community.The vic-tims also included a repre-sentative of theInternational MonetaryFund and two UnitedNations advisers, includingone working on reconcilia-tion with the Taliban.

According to BarnettRubin, who until twomonths ago was senioradviser to the US SpecialRepresentative forAfghanistan and Pakistan,the attack was a warning tothe international communityand the Afghan government

that it would not allowWestern forces to remain inthe country beyond2014.The United Statesand the Afghan government

were discussing a BilateralSecurity Agreement tosecure the country after thewithdrawal and the "mes-sage of this attack is that

there won't be an interna-tional presence becausewe won't allow it," he said.Washington hopes theAfghan government willsign a Bi-lateral SecurityAgreement to allow 15,000troops to remain at nine mil-itary bases throughout thecountry to ensure the coun-try does not descend intoanarchy when combattroops withdraw at the endof the this year. Mr Karzaihowever has said he willnot sign the deal until theUnited States stops contro-versial night raids andreduces the number of civil-ian casualties. Supportersof the deal believe it willsecure the main cities andhighways and maintain lev-els of international aid

essential to fund govern-ment services and payarmy salaries. Without anagreement there could be a"catastrophe" in the coun-try, Mr Rubin warned at theJaipur LiteratureFestival.Mr Rubin rejectedTaliban claims that theattack had been in retalia-tion for an American airstrike last week in whicheight civilians were killed.

A statement for the pres-idential palace released onSunday said: "The NSCsaid such sophisticated andcomplex attacks are not thework of the ordinaryTaliban, and said withoutdoubt foreign intelligenceservices beyond the borderare behind such bloodyattacks."

The Afghan governmenthas launched an investiga-tion into television advertspromoting a contentioussecurity agreement withthe US.President HamidKarzai has come underintense pressure to signthe deal, which wouldallow several thousandAmerican forces to remainin the country after Nato-led troops end combat mis-sions at the end of thisyear. He has so farrefused.His office orderedthe attorney general toprobe a series of ads thaturged him to accept theBilateral SecurityAfgeements after theyappeared on Afghan tele-vision earlier thismonth.The order accusesbroadcasters of misinter-preting the outcome of aloya jirga – or grand coun-cil of elders - and demandsan inquiry to find out whois paying for the

adverts.“These messages

rely on quotes and viewsfrom a number of unidenti-fied individuals mentioningthat BSA be signed byPresident of the IslamicRepublic of Afghanistan,” itsaid. “These views cannever represent the legiti-mate demands of the peo-ple of Afghanistan and canbe described as propagan-da aiming to reach unilat-eral goals.” A loya jirgaheld in November urgedthe president to sign thedocument by the end ofthe year.

UN 'strongly con-demns' Kabul

restaurant attackAfghan police said on Saturdaythe death toll in a Taliban attack ona Kabul restaurant popular withforeigners and affluent Afghanshad risen to 21 - the deadliest vio-lence against foreign civilians inthe country since the start of thewar nearly 13 years ago. A suicidebomber blew himself up outsidethe Lebanese restaurant, whiletwo gunmen snuck in through theback door and opened fire onFriday in a brazen dinnertimeattack. Kabul police chiefspokesman, Hashmat Stanikzai,said 13 foreigners and eightAfghans were killed in the attack.A United Nations spokesman con-firmed the dead included the headof the International Monetary Fundin Afghanistan and three UN staff."In terms of nationalities, therewas one Russian, the IMF hasconfirmed there was a Lebanesenational of theirs who was killedand for the remaining two I have toconfirm at this stage, but I believeone Pakistani and one SomaliAmerican," the UN's Ari Gaitanissaid.

More than 60 workers clearing mines kidnapped in Afghanistan’s Herat province

West must remain a partner toAfghanistan, says Gen McChrystal

Afghan government probes TV advertsbacking American security deal

Afghan government probes TV adverts backing American security deal

Afghanistan has its firstfemale police chief afterappointing an officerwith 25 years experi-ence to head a district ofthe capitalKabul.Officials saidColonel Jamila Bayazwould run one of thecity’s most importantpolice stations in a movethat they hope will pavethe way for more womento rise through theranks. The role ofwomen in society is fre-quently cited as anexample of progressmade in Afghanistansince the Taliban weredriven from Kabul in2001, but human rightscampaigners fear thegains are being erodedas Nato forces withdraw.

Colonel Jamila previ-ously served at theMinistry of Interior’soffices in Kabul but willnow take over the capi-tal’s 1st police district,making her the mostsenior female police offi-cer in the country. “I thinkmy assignment to thispost will persuade othersto join the police force,”she told Tolo News.The

appointment puts her inthe firing line. High pro-file women have becometargets for militants –and even conservativerelatives.Last year themost senior femalepolice in Helmand wasshot dead as she left herhome to go to work.Lieutenant Islam Bibihad ignored deaththreats from her ownbrother over pursuing acareer in the policeforce.One of the coun-try’s best known femalepoliticians has also beenforced to flee the countryafter suffering abuse atthe hands of her hus-band. Noor Zia Atmarhad once been a symbolof a new country, push-ing through reforms afterthe 2005 elections,before losing her seatand going into hiding.Inthe meantime, interna-tional donors are fundingprogrammes to recruitfemale police officers. AUN project hopes torecruit 5,000 women byJune this year, pushingup the proportion ofwomen in the forcebeyond one per cent.

FIJISUN28 AFGHAN NEWSFebruary-2014 www.fijisun-usa.com

The expanding cultivationof opium poppies inAfghanistan threatens todestroy all of the progressmade in rebuilding thecountry during the past 12years and instead turn itinto a “narco-state”,according to an Americanfederal watchdog.Nato-ledforces will end combatoperations this year leav-ing a fragile government inKabul and its securityforces with the task ofkeeping Taliban insurgentsat bay.In a soberingassessment, the USSpecial Inspector Generalfor AfghanistanReconstruction haswarned senators that thenarcotics trade is stokingcorruption and providingsupport to militant groups,threatening the entire mis-sion to leave behind a sta-ble country.Britain has ledcostly international effortsto stamp out the trade formuch of the past decade,but the inspector warnedAfghanistan was now atrisk of becoming a “narco-state”.“In sum, the expand-ing cultivation and traffick-ing of drugs is one of the

most significant factorsputting the entire US andinternational donor invest-ment in the reconstructionof Afghanistan at risk,” saidJohn Sopko, in evidencepresented to the SenateCaucus on InternationalNarcotics Control onWednesday.“All of the frag-ile gains we have madeover the last twelve years

on women’s issues, health,education, rule of law, andgovernance are now, morethan ever, in jeopardy ofbeing wiped out by the nar-cotics trade which not onlysupports the insurgency,but also feeds organisedcrime and corruption.”Thewarning makes uncomfort-able reading for the BritishGovernment as troops

withdraw after a bloodyand increasingly unpopular12 year military cam-paign.According to anassessment last year by aformer Government advis-er, the Afghan war has costBritain at least £37 billion,or the equivalent of morethan £2,000 per house-hold. Nearly 450 Britishtroops have died in the

campaign against theTaliban.

The Government iskeen to highlight improve-ments in the strength of theAfghan forces and gains ineducation and freedomsfor the people, but theinspector said all thesewere now at risk from theopium trade.Poppy cultiva-tion has long been animportant cash crop forAfghanistan’s rural areas.Today, it remains a keyindicator of insecurity.TheUnited Nations’ mostrecent survey recorded a36 per cent rise in opiumpoppy cultivation, reachinga record 209,000 hectares– higher than the previouspeak of 193,000 hectaresin 2007. As a result,Afghanistan remainsresponsible for producingas much as 90 per cent ofthe world’s heroin despitemillions of dollars spent oneradicating the crop.Theindustry is centred onHelmand province, whichaccounts for more than halfthe country’s opium andwhere the area under culti-vation grew by a third last year.

Afghanistan has enoughevidence to try only 16 of88 prisoners that theUnited States considers athreat to security and plansto free the remainingdetainees, the president'sspokesman said onThursday.The move willfurther strain relationsbetween the two countriesthat are already nearbreaking point overPresident Hamid Karzai'srefusal to sign a securitydeal to shape the U.S. mil-itary presence after mostforeign troops leave thisyear.Without a deal,Washington could pullmost of its troops out after2014.The United States isstrongly opposed to theirrelease because it saysthe prisoners, being held inAfghanistan, have beeninvolved in the woundingor killing of U.S. and coali-

tion troops. StateDepartment spokeswomanJen Psaki said onThursday the UnitedStates considers 72 ofthose detainees danger-ous. "These 72 detaineesare dangerous criminalsagainst whom there isstrong evidence linkingthem to terror-relatedcrimes, including the useof improvised explosivedevices, the largest killer ofAfghan civilians," Psaki

said at a news briefing.She said "time will tell"

whether the release of thedetainees will affect thesigning of the agreement.Psaki said it was in theinterest of the Afghan peo-ple and its government tosign it.The Afghan govern-ment says, however, thereis no evidence against 45of the 88 prisoners, whilethe evidence against a fur-ther 27 detainees is notsufficient to put them ontrial."We cannot allowinnocent Afghan citizens tobe kept in detention formonths and years withouta trial for no reason at all,"Karzai's spokesman, AimalFaizi, told Reuters."Weknow that unfortunatelythis has been happening atBagram, but it is illegal anda violation of Afghan sover-eignty and we cannot allowthis anymore.

US forces in Afghanistanhave accidentally shotdead a four-year-old boy,Afghan officials said onFriday, the latest violenceto strain ties between theuneasy allies.The Afghan-US relationship has beendamaged by PresidentHamid Karzai's refusal tosign a bilateral securitydeal that would pave theway for a US military pres-ence after the withdrawalof most foreign troops thisyear.The United Stateshas said its troops cannotremain without a deal. Thecomplete departure of UStroops would leave Afghansecurity forces on theirown to battle the Taliban.

Mr Karzai is demanding

that the United States endall unilateral military opera-tions on Afghan territory -among other things -before the pact is signed,because they cause avoid-able civilian deaths."Wehave called ... for anabsolute end toISAF/NATO military opera-tions on homes and vil-lages in order to avoidsuch killings where inno-cent children or civiliansare the victims," the presi-dent's spokesman, AimalFaizi, said when comment-ing on the death of theboy. The InternationalSecurity Assistance force(ISAF) is Afghanistan'sNATO-led force. It is domi-nated by US troops. A

spokesman for the gover-nor of the southernprovince of Helmand toldReuters that US Marinesbased in the violence-plagued province mistak-enly shot the boy onWednesday because visi-bility was poor."As the

weather was dusty, theMarine forces based therethought he was an enemyand opened fire. As resultof mistaken fire, he waskilled," the spokesman,Omar Zwak, said by tele-phone.A spokesman forthe NATO-led force saidthe matter would be inves-tigated and all possiblemeasures were taken toavoid civiliancasualties.Separately, twoUS service members anda civilian were killed in anaircraft crash in easternAfghanistan on Friday, theNATO-led force said."Atthis time, there are no indi-cations of enemy involve-ment in the cause of theaircraft mishap,

Afghan suicide bombgirl 'must be reunited

with family' says KarzaiA 10-year-old girlallegedly given a bombvest and ordered tocarry out a suicideattack by an older broth-er should be returned tolive with her family,Hamid Karzai said.TheAfghan president toldhis officials to get assur-ances from local lead-ers that the girl, calledSpogmai, would not beharmed by her rela-tives.Police officialssaid the girl was arrest-ed when she turnedherself in on the way todetonating at a borderpolice checkpoint insouthern Helmandprovince.She had beenordered to attack policein Khan Neshin districtby her brother, a localTaliban commandercalled Zahir, theysaid.Mr Karzai told inte-rior ministry officials toreunite Spogmai withher family after gettingassurances in front oflocal leaders about hersafety, according to thePajhwok newsagency.Mr Karzai, whois approaching the endof his second and finalterm as president, con-demned the use of chil-dren in suicideattacks.“Coercing chil-dren into suicide attacksis against the instruc-tions of holy Islam andthe values of Afghanculture,” he said.Talibanmilitants have long beenaccused of using youngboys for suicide attacks,but reports of using girlsare much rarer. Theinsurgent movementhas previously claimedits bombers are alwaysadult volunteers.

American watchdog says Afghanistan risks becoming 'narco-state'

Afghanistan to free prisoners viewed by US as a threat Afghanistan picks womanfor senior police role

Four-year-old boy 'accidentally shot dead' by US forces in Afghanistan

FIJISUN 29islAM todAy February-2014www.fijisun-usa.com

MILPITAS, CA – An inter-active session was cond-cuted by visitng MaulanaHammad Ahmad who grad-uated in 2008 fromAhmadiyya islamicMissionary College ofCanada. More than 60members of the Jamaatparticipated in a two hourinteractive session thatfocused on how they canput this slogon into prac-tice. “The slogon inessence is a summary ofthe teachings of Islam,”submitted the Fiji Sun edi-tor who also took part. Theslogan was also added atthe end of a letter to editorto San Francisco Chronicallast year that Fiji Sun editorwrote appealing toMuslims around world notto create disorder on earth.

ALLAh LoveS ThePeACefuL

Based what Quransays, “ Allah loves not

those who create disorderon earth,” the editorderive the message that

its second reading is ALLAh LoveS oNLYPeAefuL.

Love for all Hatred for None : seminar atBaitul Basir Mosque hosted by the Ahmadiyya

Muslim Community, Silino Valley Chapter.

Jamaat Ahmadiyya Lahore of Bay Area observes Holy Prophet Day

It is a notorious anddespicable viewthat Ahmadi

Muslims do not believein the Holy Prophet ofIslam or somehowgive less respect tothe best of mankind –the Mercy unto theWorld. Every Ahmadihas a most profound

belief in the Holy ofIslam who brought thefinal divine law theHoly Quran for theguidance of the entireworld. Pakistan – inthe creation of whichthousands of AhmadiMuslims dedicatedtheir lives and servedthe nation like any

real Muslims on manyoccasions excelledmany others in theirservices and sacrifice.But Pakistan has beenmost unkind and justto them declaring themas non-Muslimsdespite their uncondi-tional love for the HolyProphet.

Notorious and nefarious view

As I anticipated,the immenselove for the Holy

Prophet and admirationcame out manifestly inthe recital of the poemsof the founder read byDr. Hamid Jahangiri:“Us Noor ParFidaHoonUska He Main

HuwaHoon.” His proseand poems are match-less and in particularthere is no in the Arabworld who come closeto Mirza Sahib such agrandeur exposé of loveand dedication for theHoly Prophet. Anyonewho takes a few min-

utes to read HazratMirza sahib on theProphet of Islam willhave an mistakableimpression that MirzaSahib was a most loyalservant of his master,the Holy ProphetMuhammad. (Editor).

Admiration and love for the HolyProphet by founder of Jamaat-Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

MUZAFFARNAGAR: A four-month-old girl, whose familywas displaced during theMuzaffarnagar riots, hasdied due to cold at Kandhlatown in Shamli district, policesaid on Saturday. Ahsan, theinfant's mother had been dis-placed from her nativeBahawdi village duringMuzaffarnagar riots and wasliving in a relief camp till lastmonth when she along withher family vacated the reliefcamp, police said. Aftervacating the relief camprecently, Ahsan was livingwith her family in a cottagein Kandhal, where her infantdaughter, Surrya died ofcold on Friday, said police.An enquiry has beenordered into the death of thechild, superintendent of gov-

ernment health centre,Kandhla, Ramesh Chandrasaid. A five-month-old babygirl had yesterday suc-cumbed to pneumonia in arelief camp at Malakpur vil-lage in Shamli district here.So far, 34 children living inrelief camps have died inriot-hit areas ofMuzaffarnagar and Shamlidistricts between September7 and December 20 whenthe winter chill increased.While 12 children had diedin the camps, the remaining22 had died in hospitals ornursing homes where theywere taken for medical care.Over 60 persons were killedand more than 40,000 dis-placed in communal violencein Muzaffarnagar and adjoin-ing areas in September last.

Muzaffarnagar riots: Another baby dies due to cold

FIJISUN30 February-2014 www.fijisun-usa.com

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FIJISUN 31GALLERY February-2014www.fijisun-usa.com

Azam and Zubi celebrating their40th wedding anniversary!

The business community and own-ers of commercial real estate locat-ed in San Francisco Bay Area fac-

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FIJISUN32 February-2014 www.fijisun-usa.com

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admittEd to thE statE bar of CaLifornia;n u.s. district Court, northern district of California;

n u.s. Court of appeals, ninth Circuit (2001)

EduCation:

n golden gate university, school of Law; J.d. (2001)

n J. Lani bader award for academic Excellence (Valedictorian award)

n santa Clara university; m.a. Counseling Psychology (1991)

n member California bar, since december 2001

n member Contra Costa County bar association

n board member Legal assistance for seniors (2003-2005)

n member race and Ethnic fairness Committee

alameda County bar association (2002-2004)

n member Legislative Committee, Conference of delegates

alameda County bar association (2002-2004)

n member urdu academy north america

Email : lubna@lkjlaw.comWebsite : www.lkjlaw.com

The Law Offices of Lubna KJahangiri provides consultationand representation in a variety

of transactional business and realproperty matters including formationof corporations, LLCs, partnerships,purchase or sale of businesses, transferof liquor licenses, trade marks, tradenames, licensing agreements, employ-ment issues for the business owners,commercial leases, franchise agree-ments, buy-sell agreements, laborboard hearings, partnership agree-ments, and other business contracts.