Rouhani’s very positive &categorical assurances................................................Obama could do more to deterMuslim stigmatisation................................................Periodic resignations in PTI

See Page 04

LAHORE: Women comforting each other after the death of family members in the deadly suicide bomb blast on Sunday.

THE essence of President HassanRohani’s visit to Islamabad wasbilateral relations between Paki-

stan and Iran; butthe strategic over-hang of the visitwas no less impor-tant.

Post-nucleardeal with six West-ern countries, sanc-tions on Iran havebeen lifted. This hasopened new opportunities for complet-ing the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, in-creasing bilateral trade, and exploreeconomic partnerships. A lot was ac-

Pakistan’s ME Policy: Maintain balance and cut costs

Continued on Page 7

UAE finds 38guilty interror case,issues 11 lifesentencesDUBAI—The top securitycourt in the United ArabEmirates has sentenced 38people to prison in connec-tion to a cell accused ofplotting terrorist attacks andseeking to overthrow thegovernment to create anIslamic state.

Prosecutors say the“Minaret Youth” cellincluded Emirati as well asnon-Emirati members,though the nationalities ofall the accused have notbeen made public.

The state-run WAMnews agency reportedSunday that the FederalSupreme Court’s statesecurity chambers sentenced11 of the defendants to lifein prison, though two weretried in absentia. Anothertwo were sentenced to 15years, 13 to 10 years, six tothree years, two to fiveyears, and four to sixmonths in prison. —AP

India releases33 detainedPakistanis

JAISALMER—India on Sun-day released at least 33 Paki-stani nationals from their cus-tody, claimed the relatives.However; two people are stillsaid to be in detention.

At least 35 Pakistani na-tionals were held by Indianpolice in the desert state ofRajasthan for having incom-plete documents, the Indianmedia reported.

The Pakistani nationals,who entered India through theThar Desert via Munabav,were detained in RamdevraDistrict of Rajasthan.

The Indian authoritiesclaimed that they have visafor Mathura and Haridwar butnot for Ramdevra.

The detained men wereplanning to visit the BabaRamdev Temple where theSamadhi of Baba Ramdevstands.

It is reported that thesepeople belong to Amarkot,Mirpur Khas and Tharparkarof Sindh province in Pakistan.

The arrests took place aday after Pakistan protestedto India after capturing a mansuspected of being an Indianspy, sparking a new diplo-matic tiff between theneighbours.—NNI

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The spokes-man of Finance Ministry hasstated that there is no truth inthe reports that the PrimeMinister has directed theMinistry of Finance to ar-range payment of Rs300b toMNAs for developmentschemes in their constituen-cies.

He said that the contentsof the news, reported in a sec-tion of the press are un-founded and not based onfacts. He said that neither hasthe Prime Minister taken any

No decision for paymentof Rs300b to MNAs

such decision nor has hegiven any direction to theMinistry of Finance in this re-gard.

He added that all develop-ment expenditure goes throughthe standard process of PublicSector DevelopmentProgramme (PSDP) and ishandled by the Planning Devel-opment and Reforms Divisionin accordance with the approv-als of CDWP and ECNEC.Similarly the expenditure onMDG-related schemes are alsohandled exclusively by thePD&R Division as per the ap-plicable procedures.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Triple One Brigade of Paki-stan Army reached and took control of securityof the Red Zone area in Islamabad to control thelaw and order situation in the federal capital.

As the charged crowd comprising thousandsof demonstrators from Mumtaz Qadri’s chehlumhad stormed and torched various places inIslamabad before finally breaching the Red Zonearea, the Army was called in after the situationgot out of control of the police and Rangers.

Police fired tear gas at thousands of stone-throwing supporters of Mumtaz Qadri, a monthafter he was hanged for killing a provincial gov-ernor for alleged blasphemy.

The supporters of Qadri gathered inRawalpindi in the afternoon to mark hisChehlum, before turning toward the heavily-barricaded capital which was patrolled by hun-dreds of police and paramilitary soldiers.

Riot police carrying batons and shields firedtear gas to try to prevent them pushing closer tothe city centre, leading to a clash.

Rangers officer Colonel Amanullah andother security personnel were injured in stonepelting from protesters. Demonstrators torchedmany CDA vehicles and private cars and con-tainers on their towards Parliament House.

A metro bus station at China Chowk wasset on fire by the demonstrators. They also setablaze three motorcycles parked at the metrostation.

The charged mob torched various areas inBlue Area and staged sit-in at D-Chowk wherethe administration negotiated with the demon-

Army calledin to secureRed Zone

Qadri supporters clash with police; Reconciliationtalks deadlock; Refuse to leave until demands met

strators. The demonstrators stated they won’tleave until their demands are met.

According to a news channel the talks be-tween Islamabad Administration and the pro-testors were deadlocked, when the last reportscame in. The protesters had assured that theywould remain calm and wait for their leaders whoare on their way and later present their demandsto the government.

Earlier, marking the Chehlum of MumtazQadri, the stick-wielding protestors began theirmarch from Rawalpindi and reached outside theParliament House.

The angry demonstrators set containersblocking the roads on fire outside the Parlia-ment House where no presence of law enforce-ment agencies was witnessed.

Police and Rangers did try to disperse thedemonstrators by firing teargas shells but theyleft the area after their efforts to block the pro-testers from marching forward bore no fruit.

Around 10,000 people protesting the execu-tion of Mumtaz Qadri – a former Punjab policecommando hanged last month for assassinatingPunjab governor Salman Taseer – breachedIslamabad’s Red Zone Sunday evening.

More than 25,000 people had gathered inRawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh early Sunday to par-ticipate in the chehlum of Qadri. Several majorarteries leading to Islamabad were closed by au-thorities to block the crowd’s route.

Qadri was working as a bodyguard for Punjabgovernor Salmaan Taseer when he shot him 29times in 2011 over the governor’s call to reformthe blasphemy law, which critics say is frequentlymisused to oppress religious minorities.

CommentMasood Khan

complished during President Rohani’svisit.

Central banks of the two countrieshave established mechanisms forsmooth transactions between tradersand entrepreneurs. Traders can use for-mal banking channels for exports andimports in Euro. A Five-Year Strate-gic Trade Cooperation Plan shouldenable the two to increase their tradeto $ 5 billion from currently dismallylow levels. We need Iranian oil, gas,steel, iron, and petroleum products.Our textiles, surgical instruments,sports goods and agricultural productshave demand in Iranian markets. Afree trade agreement would be pushed.Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif an-nounced that Pakistan would open twonew border crossings on Pakistan-Iran

border. Many new avenues of coopera-tion have opened up: import of Iranianelectricity up to 3,000 MW, seabornetrade between Chahbahar andGwardar ports, industrial zones andpetrochemical storage along the bor-ders.

These budding economic partner-ships must take off because Pakistanand Iran, with large economies andmarkets, are next door neighbours andare bound by strong cultural, religiousand ethnic ties. There is a naturalcomplementarity that should be al-lowed to grow to its full potential.

We know that the Pakistan-Iranrelationship will not grow at the ex-pense of Pakistan-Saudi Arabia ties.Saudi Arabia is a longstanding ally ofPakistan and has steadfastly stood by

Pakistan. In fact, Pakistan does notwant strategic competition or confron-tation between these two major MiddleEastern countries because that is notgood for them and that hurts Pakistan.Is it possible for Pakistan to strike abalance between these two relation-ships? Yes, it is. We demonstrated itlast year by recusing ourselves fromsending our troops for the Saudi-ledoperations in Yemen. This decision hadcosts; but the costs would have beenheavier if we had sent the troops.

Some efforts are afoot to stabilizethe Middle East. The forecast for thefuture scenario is not encouraging. Theold order is disintegrating; the neworder has not emerged yet. The regionis in flux. Instead of embracing mo-

RAW officer makesshocking revelations

Kulbhushan trained separatiststo target Pakistani ports;13 more cohorts arrested

STAFF REPORTER

QUETTA—Interrogation of thearrested Indian intelligence op-erative Kulbhushan Yadav hasrevealed he had been impart-ing Naval fighting training toBaloch separatists in an attemptto target Pakistani ports, a se-curity official who declined tobe named said on Sunday.

The Indian Foreign Minis-try earlier confirmed the ar-rested man was a former IndianNavy officer, but the Pakistanigovernment claimed to haverecovered travel documentsand multiple fake identities ofYadav, establishing him as anIndian spy who entered intoBalochistan through Iran —holding a valid Iranian visa.

Yadav who was shifted toIslamabad for interrogation,has revealed that he had pur-chased boats at the Iranian portin Chabahar in order to targetKarachi and Gwadar ports in aterrorist plot, the official said,adding that the ‘RAW agent’ isbelieved to be expert at Naval Continued on Page 7

fighting techniques.Yadav was also transport-

ing ‘anti-state elements’ fromPakistan to New Delhi fortraining by RAW, he said.

Following recent revela-tions by the ‘Indian spy’, secu-rity has been tightened acrossBalochistan, especially at theshared borders with Iran andAfghanistan, and more arrestsare expected, he said.

The arrest of the ‘RAWagent’ comes just days beforea possible meeting betweenPrime Minister Nawaz Sharifand Indian counterpartNarendra Modi at the NuclearSecurity Summit in Washing-ton.

Meanwhile, the intelli-gence agencies have geared upthe operation against the Re-search and Analysis Wings cul-prits across the country and ar-rested 13 more accomplices ofKulbhushan Yadav, Indian in-telligence agency agent.

Sources said that thenabbed suspects are involved in

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—A suicide bomber blew him-self up inside a park of the metropolishere, killing 69 people and injuring morethan 300 others, police and rescue offi-cial said on Sunday.

The blast took place just outside theexit gate No 1 and a few feet away fromchildren’s swings at the Allama IqbalPark in Iqbal Town.

The Taliban faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrarhas claimed responsibility for the suicidebomb attack, saying the target of its at-tack was Muslim Pakistan’s small Chris-tian minority.

“The target were Christians,” said aspokesman for the faction, EhsanullahEhsan.

“We want to send this message toPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif that wehave entered Lahore. He can do what hewants but he won´t be able to stop us.Our suicide bombers will continue theseattacks.”

The dead and injured, most of themwomen and children, were shifted to vari-ous hospitals where an emergency was

Lahore blast claims69 lives, 300 injured

Jamaatul Ahrar claims responsibility; 3-day mourningannounced; President, PM, Imran, Bilawal condemn suicide blast

declared after the blast.Police, Army personnel, Bomb Dis-

posal Squad and forensic experts reachedthe park and placed a cordon to gatherevidence. DIG Operations Haider Ashrafsaid evidence suggest the blast was car-ried out by a suicide bomber but furtherinvestigation would determine the exactnature of the blast.

The injured were shifted to JinnahHospital, Ganga Ram Hospital, FarooqHospital, General Hospital and SheikhZayed Hospital. Park employees said thepark was packed with people since it wasSunday and Easter Day. Hospital sourcessaid more casualties were feared as someof the injured were in critical condition.

The suicide bomber is said to havebeen identified as Yousuf, son of GhulamFarid, a resident of Muzaffargarh district,born on January 1, 1988. DCO Captain(Retd) Muhammad Usman said the headof the suicide bomber was recovered. Ballbearings were also found at the site.

Captain Usman said the attack mighthave taken place on the day of Easter butChristian community doesn’t seem to bethe target of the brutal attack.

The blast occurred at around 6:40pm.As a result of the blast, windows ofnearby buildings were shattered and dam-age was done to various structures.

Those who died in the blast includedeight people belonging to a same family.The aggrieved family member Zubairtalking to media said his eight familymembers died in the blast while two ofhis family members are still missing. Hesaid the four family members came fromoutside the city to visit Lahore while thefour were residents of New Mozang andat the time of explosion he was justtwenty feet away from the spot of theexplosion.

Iqbal Town Superintendent of PoliceDr Muhammad Iqbal said the explosionwas a suicide attack and took place in achildren’s park, where a large number offamilies, especially women and children,were present on a Sunday evening. Eyewitnesses said there were pools of bloodand scattered body parts in the park.

An eyewitness said dead bodies andinjured were on the ground everywhere.“We took the injured to hospitals on rick-

JIT in NewDelhi to probePathankotattackOBSERVER REPORT

NEW DELHI—A Pakistan-based five-member JointInvestigation Team (JIT) onSunday arrived in New Delhito probe a terror attack onIndian Air Force base inPathankot earlier this year.

New Delhi had blamedPakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militants for theattack and shared ‘leads’ withIslamabad. Acting on theinformation provided byIndia, Islamabad had formeda JIT comprising officialsfrom intelligence agencies aswell as police to probe theattack.

Continued on Page 7

COAS ordersoperation

OBSERVER REPORT

RAWALPINDI—Chief of Army StaffGeneral Raheel Sharif on Sunday ex-pressed resolve to bring the perpetra-tors of suicide attack in a Lahore parkto justice.

DG Inter Services Public Rela-tions, Lt-Gen Asim Bajwa, tweeted thatthe Army Chief chaired a high level se-curity meeting following the deadlysuicide attack that killed 69 people,mostly women and children, and in-jured over 300 others.

The was also attended by heads ofthe Inter-Services Intelligence andMilitary Intelligence among other mili-tary officials

Continued on Page 7

PM reviewsnational security

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Prime Minister NawazSharif on Sunday chaired a meeting toreview the security situation followingthe terrorist attack in Lahore.

A statement from the PM Housesaid the meeting continued for fourhours and the security situation afterLahore terror attack was reviewed.

The Prime Minister was briefed byhis security advisors regarding thiscowardly incident. “Many importantdecisions were taken,” the PM Housesaid.

The meeting was attended by Min-ister for Interior Ch Nisar Ali Khan,

Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

Internationalcondemnation

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A large number of headsof State and government have condemnedthe suicide blast in Lahore and expressedtheir sympathies with the people and gov-ernment of Pakistan on Sunday.

The United States has condemnedas “cowardly” the suicide attack, vow-ing to work with Pakistan to defeatthose sowing terror in the country.

“The United States condemns in thestrongest terms today’s appalling terror-ist attack in Lahore, Pakistan,” NationalSecurity Council spokesman Ned Pricesaid in a White House statement.

Meanwhile, the Indian Prime Min-

Continued on Page 7

Today’s issue of PakistanObserver carries a 2-PageSupplement on Kazakhstan onPages 14 & 15.

KohlicarriesIndia to semisOBSERVER REPORT

MOHALI—Virat Kohlismashed a masterful 82 toguide India to a six-wicketwin against Australia in theirfinal World Twenty20 Super10 game on Sunday and setup a semi-final against West

Indies in Mumbai.Kohli resurrected India

with his unbeaten 51-ballknock from a seeminglytricky position as the hostssprinted home in the end withfive balls to spare.

Rs30m roadproject opensNASIB SHAH SHINWARI

KHYBER AGENCY—The rep-resentatives of MNA-Shaji GulAFridi inaugurated the construc-tion of 3.5km road in KhugaKhel and Sheikhmal areas ofLandikotal here on Sunday. Thisroad would be constructedthrough MNA discretionaryfund provided by FATA secre-tariat.

The inauguration ceremonyof Zakria Masjid to HaidryKando road construction washeld where parliamentary leaderShaji Gul Afridi and senator TajMuhammad Afridi representa-tives Malak Nadeem Afridi,Wali Muhammad Afridi,Faridullah Shinwari andManzoor Ali Shinwari partici-pated and cut the ribbon tolaunch the construction work onroad.

According to Faridullah thetotal length of Zakria Masjid toHaidary Kando road is some 3.5Km which would be completedin approximately one month.

LOWER DIR: MPA Saeed Gul offering dua during ground breaking of 7.5km long bypassroad from Odigram to Haya Serai.

ZIA QURESHI

NAWABSHAH—Leader of Paki-stan Tehrik Insaf (PTI), HaleemAdil Shaikh said that PPP hasgifted hunger, corruption anddirty situation to the people ofSindh and added that PTI wouldrelieve people of Sindh from theclutches of feudal and corruptpoliticians. He was addressinga huge crowed at NawabshahRailway Station during ‘TrainAman March’ that commencedfrom Karachi and would con-clude at Rahimyar Khan. Thecrowed was also addressed byMakhdoom Zain MehmoodShah.

Haleem Adil Shaikh saidthat people of Sindh includingKarachi pay 70 percent revenueof the budget but despite thatdeprivation from education,treatment and unemploymentare written in their fate. Billionsof budget of hospital has de-prived poor people from a singletablet of headache. He said that

schools are converted into vil-lage guest houses of influentialfeudal and rulers while teach-ers are getting salaries while sit-ting at home. He said that peopleinvolved in corruption of billionsitting in assemblies are criticiz-ing each other and making foolof common man.

Haleem Adil said that thepeople of Sindh are with PTIand the party would give a sur-prise to people of Sindh in com-ing elections.

Makhdoom Zain Mehmoodson of PTI top leader ShahMehmood Qureshi addressingthe crowed said that PTI andworkers of Ghousia Jamaatwould conduct accountability ofcorrupt rulers.

He appealed his followersto cooperate with PTI. On theoccasion flowers were show-ered at the participants of TrainMarch. The Train March wasalso given warm welcome atHyderabad, Nawabshah,Khairpur and Rohri.

PTI to relieve Sindhis fromclutches of PPP feudals

BasicfacilitiesMULTAN—Punjab GovernorMalik RafiqueRajwana onSunday said the incumbentgovernment was payingimmense focus on health,education, safe drinking waterand cleanliness. He wasaddressing to chairmen ofdifferent union councils hereon Sunday. The governor saidthe PML-N came to powerduring tough circumstanceswhen the country was facingdifferent challenges. Now, theincumbent government had putthe country on way to progressand prosperity and themaximum relief was beingprovided to the masses, headded. He urged chairmen toplay their effective role inkeeping the city neat andclean. The Solid WasteManagement Company shouldmake more effective, he said.He directed MWMC to ensurepresence of staffers andcontainers at every unioncouncil. He directed officers ofthe MWMC to keep in touchwith local elected representa-tives. On this occasion, PMLN leaders Chaudhary AbdulWaheed Aaraen, DCO ZahidSaleem and others were alsopresent. —APP

RememberedISLAMABAD—Sunday was thedeath anniversaryof great Muslimleader, philoso-pher andeducationist SirSyed Ahmed Khan. He diedon March 27, 1898. Sir Syedwas hailed as the father of theTwo Nation Theory and oneof the founding fathers ofPakistan, along with AllamaIqbal and Quaid-e-AzamMuhammad Ali Jinnah. Hewas the founder of AligarhMovement, which was thebase of Pakistan movement.Sir Syed Ahmed Khan wasborn on October 17, 1817 inDelhi. His family wasrenowned for the positionsthey held during the Mughalregime. He was presentedwith the title of Jawa’d-Ul-Daula and Arif-e-Jang byBahadur Shah Zafar II. As thetime passed, he realized thedisintegrated position ofMughals getting distant fromreligion. During the IndianRebellion of 1857, he wrote abook “The Causes of IndianMutiny” - a daring step at thattime. He daringly criticizedthe British policies thatbecame the cause of Rebel-lion. Sir Syed was the onewho promoted the westerneducation system, so theMuslims of India could go toeto toe with the British. Withthe continuation of theseevents, Sir Syed founded thefamous Aligarh MuslimUniversity (earlier known asAnglo-Muhammadan OrientalCollege) in 1875 so he couldilluminate the Muslims withnew world.—APP

Religious freedomBashir A RehmaniHAFIZABAD—State Ministerfor NationalHealth ServicesRegulation andCoordination,Saira AfzalTarar has said that presentgovernment is protectingminority’s rights andtaking different steps forthe welfare of minorities.She was talking toChristians at Hafizabadand congratulated onEaster day. Former MNAand father of Saira AfzalTarar and other workers ofPML-N were also presenton this occasion. She saidthat minorities havecomplete religious freedomand they are celebratingtheir all religious eventswithout any fear and freelyin the Pakistan. She saidthat government isspending a big amount toexecute various develop-ment projects in Christiansand localities of othermonitories for improvingliving standard of them. AKabaddi mach was playedin village Sooianwalaunder auspices of districtgovernment Hafizabad inconnection with celebrat-ing Pakistan Day betweenPunjab Police and PakistanWapda.

LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif pay a surprise visits to brick kilns atKumharanwali on Sunday.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Chief Minister MuhammadShehbaz Sharif paid surprise visits to brick kilns atvillages adjacent to Kasur without any prior infor-mation today and reviewed the steps taken for elimi-nation of child labour at kilns. The Chief Ministerlanded his helicopter at a village adjacent to RajaJang, Kasur and visited brick kiln in this villageand talked to the labourers. He also surprisinglylanded his helicopter in the fields of Kumharanwali,another adjacent village to Kasur and visited near-est brick kiln. Seeing a minor boy Tariq workingon the brick kiln, Shehbaz Sharif expressed strongindignation and ordered to provide admission toTariq in the school and arrest the owner of brickkiln Babar Bhatti and take action against him asper law.

On the order of the Chief Minister, concernedpolice immediately arrested the owner of the kilnon violation of law of ban on child labour. Ad-dressing the gathering of people and labourersworking on brick kilns, the Chief Minister said thatno one will be allowed to mortgage future of thenation against a few pennies. He vowed that penand book instead of brick and mud will be given inthe hands of innocent children. He said that re-sources will be provided for equipping the chil-dren working on brick kilns with education.

Shehbaz Sharif said that he will not rest con-tent till the last child working on brick kiln is ad-mitted to school. The Chief Minister said that hissurprise visits to brick kilns have yielded substan-tial results with regard to elimination of child labourfrom brick kilns and he will continue to pay sur-

prise visits to brick kilns in future as well. ShehbazSharif said that complete elimination of child labourfrom brick kilns is his mission and no effort willbe spared for the accomplishment of this mission.He vowed that strict action will be taken on thecomplaint of taking labour from children at brickkilns.

Shehbaz Sharif said that Punjab governmenthas given best package for elimination of childlabour from brick kilns. He said that a monthlystipend of one thousand rupees is being given tothe children working on brick kilns whereas twothousand rupees will be given to the parents send-ing their children to school. He said that provisionof education to the children working on brick kilnsis a national obligation and we all including par-ents of the children will have to play their role forfulfilling it.

The Chief Minister said that all out resourceswill be provided for education of the children work-ing on brick kilns. He said that Punjab governmentwill bear all educational expenses of the children.He said that free uniform, books, shoes and statio-nery will be given to the children going to the schoolwhereas transport facility will also be provided tothe children of far-flung areas. He reiterated thatthe cruel system of taking labour from children atbrick kilns will be eliminated at every cost.

Addressing to the labourers and parents ofthe children, Shehbaz Sharif said that Punjab gov-ernment has given an excellent package for equip-ping their children with education, therefore, theyshould benefit from it and send their children toschool for education as this is also their obliga-tion and responsibility.

Govt to ‘purge’ brickkilns of child labour

SALAHUDDIN HAIDER

YOUNG and still learning,BilawalB h u t t o

trying to pullback the PeoplesParty from pit’sedge and al-though he canlook back withc o n s i d e r a b l epride of his Holiyatra with the Hindu community, andthe southern Punjab campaign inRahimyarkhan, yet the need for fo-cusing on his power base of Sindh isfar more important for party’s and hison future.

The southern province, underPPP rule for almost eight years now,has to be rid of corruption, nepotism,mal-administration in order to be onthe right track. The last of the Bhuttos,in arena for a little less than two years,radiates confidence and seems deter-mined to turn tables on opponents, buttill he succeeds in bringing about themuch-needed top-level changes, re-sults he has been trying to achieve willremain elusive. Secondly, he is stillto learn about politics.

To expect something dramaticfrom the lad, would be like asking formoon. Minus some minor points, PPPenergy has so far been sapped bynegativity like lethargy in develop-ment, mismanagement, kickbacks

Abysmal Sindh govt performance; is MQM to be blamed also?and commissions which has alreadyearned it a bad name. It has a rubber-stamp chief minister ( the real powerfor decision making and major expen-ditures) lies somewhere else. No needto name who is the de facto chief min-ister, for it’s a now common knowl-edge.

But while the major blame is ap-portioned by the People Party, an in-different attitude of MQM, reflectedin mere lip-service to deterioratingconditions in Karachi and the rest ofthe province, too, has to be held re-sponsible.

True, Muttehada Qoumi Move-ment remained deprived of its right tocontribute its bit through legislators inprovincial and national assemblies andin the upper house of the parliament,but the question whether it really triedto assert itself and play the kind of roleit was mandated to play, is yet to beanswered.In its entire history of over 28 years ofelectoral politics, it just got two goldeneras of proving its worth. First time itreceived such a chance between 1990and 1992 under the then chief ministerJam Sadiq Ali, and secondly, duringthe days of former president, General(now retired) Pervez Musharraf be-tween 2001 and 2007 when it enjoyeda free hand, and did deliver.`The development work done duringits second tenure in authority inKarachi, and Hyderabad, and othermajor Sindh cities is a matter of his-

toric testimony.The two cities of Karachi and

Hyderabad had a tremendous face up-lift with Mustafa Kamal and KunwarNaveed Jamil as nazims or mayors ofthe two over-populated places, but thekind of development done in Karachiunder Mustafa Kamal, mayor or citynazim between 2005 and 2010, mayperhaps would never be done again.Credit can be given to the party, togovernor Sindh, and to the then Presi-dent, but Mustafa Kamal’s role in dis-charging the responsibility he was en-trusted with, can never be underminedor under-played. He was never foundwanting and spent sleepless nights toturn Karachi into a modern city of Pa-kistan. Full marks to him.Except for these two important peri-ods, MQM was found wanting, suffer-ing from indecision, lack of foresight,and committing blunders one after an-other to draw criticism from intellec-tuals, and educated classes about itsreal role to do something concrete forits followers and supporters—the Urduspeaking people, forming more than 45percent of the province’s populations.The party should never lose sight ofdecency and decorum in critising itsopponents, but this has to be couchedin a language acceptable to all. Thatthis elementary lesson has been over-looked, is indeed unfortunate.

Un-parliamentary language for itsone-time hero, Mustafa Kamal, forrabita committee head in Pakistan,

Anees QaimKhani, for rabita commit-tee member, Waseem Aftab, or forformer MPA and minister RazaHaroon, has an adverse effect onparty’s popularity and appeal amongenlightened classes. Mohajirs or Urduspeaking population in the bilingualprovince, are all educated, learned,enlightened segments of the society.They detest indecent remarks. Thatwas one reason why the intellectualsrefrained or appeared reluctant fromstepping forward in backing theMQM.

Reference to history is importantfor drawing correct conclusions or fordrawing future strategies. MQM wasfounded on ethnic lines—Muhajir—being its focal point for support mo-bilization, and hate speeches againstnon-Urdu communities, stuck to itsas stigma forever, and although it didtry to change itself from emphasis onmuhajir to be a mainstream party un-der the banner of Muttahida QoumiMovement, but was either blocked inits march forward for pursuing a na-tional agenda, or often fell victim toits own misguided policies.

The party made the fundamentalmistake in 2008 to announce uncondi-tional support to PPP. It relied heavilyon industrialists and moneyed class forsupport under the influence or advicefrom one of its current senators, whoalso was a member of the national as-sembly . That was its grievous mistake.MQM’s inherent strength lay in its

under- privileged and lower middleclass segments of the society. Allthose big guns, who begged AltafHussain at one time, or kept chasinggovernor Ishratul Ebad round theclock for their selfish motives, sud-denly deserted Altaf Hussain oncethe rangers launched the operationin Karachi.

By its own folly, MQM haderoded into its strong power base,and even now has been sufferingfrom confusion—supporting army atone time, then speaking against rang-ers or corps commander, and thensurrendering meekly to assure thearmy chief of its support. Neither ofthese tricks worked, and perhapswould never work. MQM is out ofthe government—in and out—hasbeen its favourite hobby, a folly forwhich it paid a very heavy price. Itis now searching for moorings.Whether it is too late, time alone willdecide.

Out of the government—noproblem, but the party must demon-strate its street power. Threat fromrangers holds its back. The funda-mental lesson was forgotten thatnothing comes in way of streetpower, no power, howsoeverstropmg, can ever stem the flow ortide of time. Mere statements andhollow claims is not going to help it.That has been the lesson of history.Political movements survive on thebasis of their inherent strength.

ISLAMABAD—Mainly dryweather is expected in mostparts of the country in next 24hours.

Continental air would pre-vail our most parts of countryduring next 2 to 3 days while awesterly wave is still affectingextreme northern parts of thecountry and likely to movenortheast-ward during next 12

hours, an official of Met officetold APP. In last 24 hours rain-thundershower occurred at scat-tered places in Malakand,Hazara divisions and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Rainfall recorded duringthis time span remained Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pattan 17 mm,Kalam 06 mm, Balakot 04 mm,Malamjabba 01 mm while in

Dry weather likelyGilgit Baltistan, Astore 07 mm,Gupis, Bagrote 05 mm, Bunji 03mm, Skardu 02 mm and Gilgit01 mm. Highest temperaturesrecorded on Sunday were Turbat38øC, Chhor 37øC, Karachi 36øC, Hyderabad 33 øC andLahore 30 øC. Pollen count was11061 per m3 of air during thistime period.

Meanwhile, the KarachiMet Office on Sunday forecastfair/partly cloudy weather forKarachi during the next 24hours.

An official of the Met Of-fice said here that the maximumtemperature is expected to re-main between 33 to 35 degreesCentigrade and minimum be-tween 22 to 24 degrees centi-grade during the period. Theminimum temperature recordedon Sunday was 21.5 degreescentigrade and maximum was35.6 degrees centigrade.

Humidity was 70 per centin the morning and 21 per centin the evening.—APP

CHAMAN: People chanting slogans to protest against India’s RAW involvement in Balochistan unrest.

STAFF REPORTERS

SHIKARPUR—Khursheed Ahmed Shahthe Opposition Leader in National As-sembly talking to media men in Sukkurdemanded the government to take thematter of Research and Analysis Wing(RAW) agent arrest to United Nations.He said government should expose hei-nous face India in front of entire world.

To another question he replied thatBilawal Bhutto Zardari would join par-liament after 2018 general elections.Shah further said that PPP rally inRahim Yar Khan was successful while

people were not given transport to ar-rive in the rally instead they arrived bythemselves.

Furthermore, that everybody wasprosperous during PPP five-year regimewhile poverty can be eliminated throughpractical measures rather than talks.

Meanwhile, Chairperson Peace &Culture Organization Mushaal HusseinMullick has appreciated security forcesfor arresting Indian spy fromBalochistan, termed it a great successto reveal India’s actual face to theWorld. She demanded to raise issue ateach and every international platform

including United Nation. World shouldalso take notice of Indian curse activi-ties against Pakistan.

Expressing her views in a speechdelivered at eve of ceremony held inPeace & Culture Organization officehere in regard of Pakistan day; person-alities from different walks of life andmedia representatives attended the cer-emony.

Kashmiri people also facing samehard conditions faced by Indian Mus-lims during freedom movement. Theyfaced atrocities with brave heart, pre-sented sacrifices, revealed phanatic

Hindu’s bigot behavior to the World andat last succeeded to get free and sepa-rate homeland. She also paid rich trib-ute to Kashmiris for their patienceagainst constant series of cruelty fromIndian forces.

Mushaal Hussein Mullick also ap-pealed to the global community to comeforward for settle down Kashmiri prob-lem. It must put pressure on India tocome towards United Nations resolu-tions regarding Kashmir issue settle-ment. Cry of the day nothing else butKashmir must be liberated according tothe aspirations of natives.

Govt must raise RAW issue at UN: ShahWorld should take notice of Indian inimical activities against Pakistan: Mushaal

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Pakistan Muslim League (PML)senior central leader and former Deputy PrimeMinister Ch Parvaiz Elahi has said that NawazSharif has been sending “sarees” to Indian PMand in return Narendra Modi is sending RAWagents to Pakistan but silence of Nawaz Sharifin this regard is quite meaningful, pay tributesto the army and all secret agencies on arrest ofRAW commander in Balochistan.

He said “I started Bab-e-Pakistan after 19years and construction work was entrusted tothe army due to its importance, instead of level-ing concocted allegations over Bab-e-PakistanShehbaz Sharif should set up judicial commis-sion on it and everything will become crystalclear”.

Addressing a press conference at his resi-dence here today, Ch Parvaiz Elahi said that onMarch 23 Shehbaz Sharif has said baselessthings about him, if he realized that this wasour national heritage and all nations protect andpreserve their heritages but he (Shehbaz Sharif)has not completed it even till today, he is run-ning after shine of the dollars, not aware aboutimportance of national heritage otherwise heshould not have resorted to delaying tactics.

He said this was started by Ziaul Haq in 1985,Governor General Ghulam Jilani Khan had is-sued the notification in this regard and after 19years we had got work restarted on it, during thisintervening period Nawaz Sharif also served asthe Chief Minister as well as the Prime Minister,Shehbaz Sharif also became the Chief Ministerbut they did not bother about this national heri-tage, its foundation stone was laid by PervezMusharraf and him (Ch Parvaiz Elahi) on Au-gust 14, 2005 and because of its importance itsconstruction work was entrusted to the PakistanArmy Engineering Corps, according to the de-sign of the project it included establishment oflibrary, museum, two schools, restaurants and

widening of the attached roads, then it was beingsupervised by Lahore Corps Commander Gen-eral Rasheed Mahmud and Punjab Govt Minis-ter Col (R) Shuja Khanzada (Shaheed), like ourother projects this project too was also scrapped

by Shehbaz Sharif in 2008, a meeting was calledregarding this project in 2012, giving the brief-ing Project Director Col Shabbir said that workhad rightly been started on this project, 27 percent work had been completed, initially Rs 991million were given to the army out of which Rs840 million had been spent and remaining Rs 150million will be returned to the Punjab Govt.

Ch Parvaiz Elahi further said that after thismeeting the project was again put in the coldstorage, it seems fund of this project has alsobeen utilized on orange train. He said thatShehbaz Sharif should set up a commissionheaded by a judge of the High Court and get thematter probed by it.

Elahi questions PM silenceover arrest of RAW agent

PML-Q Leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Ellahi ad-dressing a press conference at his residence.

Pharmacies sealedto regularisemedicines’

receipts, suppliesRAZA NAQVI

ATTOCK—On the directives ofthe Chief Minister Punjab, allrecord of medicine stores of sixgovt hospitals has been sealedto have one time check of theissue and receipt of the medi-cines supplied to hospitals by thegovt. As per health departmentsources, Chief Minister Punjabduring hurriedly called videoconference directed the districtgovt authorities to immediatelyconstitute teams and seal all therecord of govt hospitals’ medi-cine stores.

Complying with instructions,the authorities constituted sixteams headed by District Moni-toring Officer Muhammad FarooqAkmal and Assistant Commis-sioners last night sealed record ofmedicine stores of DHQ HospitalAttock and Tehsil HeadquartersHospitals Jand, Pindigheb,Fatehjang, Hasanabdal and Hazro.The purpose is to check the recordof the medicines provided to hos-pitals by the govt. This recordchecking will be done throughthird party validation. As per thesources those health officias di-rectly dealing with issue and re-ceipt of medicines are feeling theheat of this directive of the ChiefMinister.

PESHAWAR—Leaders of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) said that the provin-cial government was failed in implement-ing its agenda of bringing change and toend the menace of corruption.

They said at a function held in con-nection with centennial celebration of JUIhere at party secretariat on Sunday.

Central leader of JUI-F SenatorMaulana Ataur Rehman, Provincial Gen-eral Secretary Shujaul Mulk, ProvincialPress Secretary Jalil Jan, Ex SenatorGhulam Ali, former Provincial Minister

Amanullah Haqani and other leaders ad-dressed the gathering comprising partymembers belonging to different parts ofthe province.

They said that the provincial govern-ment was given mandate with the name ofchange but during their three years tenurethey wasted time and more vitiated thesystem. They said that the provincial gov-ernment has disappointed people of theprovince and they would not be given an-other chance in next general elections.

JUI-F leaders said that corruption was

still on peak in the province and KPs min-isters were blaming one another in thisregard.

They further said that people come toknow that JUI-F can only bring change inlight of injunctions of Islam and theywould secure more seats in the provinceduring next general elections.

JUI-F is still part of tri-Party allianceand they will contest PK-8 seat, fell va-cant due to death of MPA Arbab AkbarHayat, election according to coalition’spolicy.—APP

PTI fails to bring change: JUI-F

I S L A M A B A D —GovernorKhyber Pakhtunkhwa IqbalZafar Jhagra has said thatChina-Pakistan Economic Cor-ridor (CPEC) will change des-tiny of the nation.

Talking to media, he saidthat CPEC is a game changerfor the whole region.

The Governor said thePrime Minister has assuredthat work on western route ofCPEC will be completed on apriority basis. He said that Pa-kistan and China were boundtogether in strong ties and thepeople of both countries hadstood by each other in the mo-ments of successes and trials.

He said Pakistan and China

are ‘Iron Brothers’ cooperatingclosely in all fields with the aimto promote regional peace, bi-lateral relations and for thewell-being of the people of theboth friendly countries.

He said CPEC is a truemanifestation of friendship ofPakistan and China adding thatthis project (CPEC) was a gate-way to new horizons ofprogress and prosperity for Pa-kistan and will also bring eco-nomic revolution in the entireregion. Governor said that thestrong relationship of the Paki-stan and China is rooted in his-tory and hoped that this lastingrelationship would remain eter-nal..—APP

CPEC a game changer

Bodies of 2students entrapped

in avalancherecovered

CHITRAL—Bodies of twomore students buried under ava-lanche in Chitral were recov-ered on Sunday while thesearch five other was still inprogress.

A massive avalanche fell ona group of school children re-turning home after exams onMarch19 afternoon near the vil-lage of Susom, some 40kilometres north of the town ofChitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhwaprovince. After operationwhich continued on ninth con-secutive day, the rescuers havebeen able to pull out four bod-ies including three studentswhich five were still missing.

The rescuers said that therewere no chances of survival ofthose entrapped under the ava-lanche. It should be mentionedthat National Disaster Manage-ment Authority (NDMA)personnel’s special team,Chitral Scouts, police, Leviesand residents are participatingin rescue process. —INP

LAHORE—Federal Minister for DefenceProduction and Science & Technology,Rana Tanveer Hussain on Sunday urgedthe youth to play their role in the progressand prosperity of the country by excel-ling in the fields of science and technol-ogy.

Addressing a meeting of Narowal-Narang community held here at Cosmo-politan Club, Bagh-e-Jinnah, he said thegovernment was supporting the youththrough various educational, skill, scienceand technology scholarship programmes.

He revealed that soon a COMSATuniversity would be established nearNarang Manadi which would facilitate

youth of the area in getting education inscience and technology.

The minister said that several devel-opment projects for the area were underprocess including a link road from KalaShah Kaku motorway to Lahore RingRoad, flyover at Kala Khatai Morh overRailway level crossing , Shahdara at newKala Khatai Road, dualization of Muridke-Narowal Road, and state of the art hospi-tal in Narang Mandi.

He assured the community membersthat the area would get a positive impactfrom China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) projects in future.

Rana Tanveer said that transportation

and communication system played a sig-nificant role for the development of anyarea. He urged the Pakistan Railways torestore all closed trains at Lahore-Narowal-Sialkot section as it was highlyneeded for the area.

He also said that extension of trainroutes of long distance trains from Lahoreto Narowal and Sialkot were need of timeto link the deprived area with the other cit-ies of the country.

He thanked Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif for approvalof Shahdara Flyover and said this multi-purpose flyover project would be helpfulin ending traffic mess at Shahdara.—APP

Youth role sought for country’s progress

Rouhani’s very positive& categorical assurancesTHOUGH the lexeme of ‘historic’ is often used at the conclusion of

every high level foreign dignitary trip to Pakistan or whenever ourhead of state or government returns from any country yet the 2-day

official visit paid by the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Islamabadcould in all aspects be termed as historic and significant given the veryemphatic and positive sentiments conveyed by the top Iranian leader aboutPakistan. These would surely augur well for further bringing the two broth-erly nations closer and provide impetus to enhance bilateral relations es-pecially in the field of economy, trade.

Addressing the joint business forum on Saturday, the way IranianPresident gave categorical assurance to meet energy requirements of Pa-kistan is commendable which was also received amongst the audience ofthe business forum with applause. The statement of Iranian leader trulyreflected deep feelings and concerns of a Muslim country towards ad-dressing problems of the other brotherly country. Such should be the courseof action in Muslim countries to stand with each other in difficult times.Also highlighting the significance Iran attaches to Pakistani nation,Rouhani during talks with Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharifappreciated the successes achieved by Pakistan Army in the war on terror.He also gave the message of unity and brotherhood when he said that hiscountry considers the power and influence of Pak Army as its own powerand influence. These heartening remarks of the Iranian president indeedwould help further solidify the bilateral relations and harness the truepotential existing between the two countries in different fields. Both thecountries have set the target to enhance their bilateral trade to $ 5b inthe next five years, which, we believe is far below the actual potentialthat exists between the two countries because of close proximity andother factors. Anyway, we believe that the five year strategic trade co-operation plan signed by the two countries would unleash new opportu-nities for the two peoples to take their economic cooperation to newheights. We would urge both the sides to fully implement the plan toachieve the set trade targets within stipulated period besides continuingclose engagements to take relations to new heights in different areas.

Obama could do more todeter Muslim stigmatisationEVERY time there is a terror attack in any part of the world, Muslims

closely watch the developments with extreme trepidation. This is notbecause the perpetrators are likely to be Muslims but rather due to in-stances of biased media coverage and unjustified hate campaign againstMuslims.

Following the Brussels attack that took lives of at least 31 people, thetwo top Republicans vying for US Presidency regrettably again came upwith controversial statements against Muslims with one repeating hisdemand to temporarily bar all Muslims entering the US while the otherdemanded to suspend the relocation of Syrian refugees to the country. Itis, however, good of President Obama that he once again stood up insupport of the American Muslims. In his weekly media address, he urgedAmericans not to stigmatise Muslims saying doing so would be counterproductive in the fight against terrorism. We hope this unambiguous state-ment on part of the US president would deter and discourage extremistelements like Donald Trump from character assassination of Muslimswho have greatly been contributing to the development of the US. In ourview, however, the incumbent US President could have done more tosave the Muslims from hatred and character assassination campaigns un-leashed against them every now and then and particularly in wake of anyact of terror, whether or not any Muslim is involved in it. In a highlyanticipated speech in Cairo in 2009, Obama had called for a new begin-ning to the relationship between the US and the Muslim world whileacknowledging historical mistakes made over centuries in the name ofreligion and culture. This speech had also earned him applause and appre-ciation in the Muslim world but the fact is that six years down the road,the US president did nothing practical to deter hate campaigns againstMuslims. Had Obama acted on his words of mutual respect, the Muslimstoday would not have been made subject to suspicion and abhorrence.

Periodicresignations in PTI

THIS time it is Tasneem Noorani who has resigned from the seat ofChief Election Commissioner of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf while Sena-

tor Noman Wazir has been made the party’s interim CEC. While accept-ing resignation of Mr Tasneem, PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that hehas always respected the jurisdiction of party’s EC adding that any inter-face with the EC is done with the intention to strengthen the institution.

It is understood that Tasneem Noorani, who is a reputed and uprightformer bureaucrat, would have tendered his resignation after develop-ing differences with the top leadership on the matter of modus operandifor intra party polls. There are certain pressure groups within the PTIand the retired secretary would have been left with no option but toresign instead of accepting the dictates of these groups. These incidentsof resignations, party workers and leaders parting ways with the PTIhave become quite periodic now which indicate that all is not wellwithin the party system to maintain cohesion and avoid divisions. Mostof the watchers blame Imran Khan for the whole scenario as accord-ing to them Imran is dealing the affairs of the party like that of a cricketcaptain. There is no doubt that the party has put in place a comprehen-sive mechanism to hold intra party polls at grass roots level yet Imranalso needs to be cautious of some groups within the party who want tomaintain firm grip on the party’s affairs even at the cost of the reputeand strength the PTI has gained over the past few years. Given the voteappeal and massive following, the PTI has the capacity to emerge as oneof the three mainstream parties and could contribute to the strengtheningof democratic norms and traditions in the country. However, groupingand divisions within the party would not augur well for the PTI and thedemocratic set-up. PTI leadership should take remedial measures for thesake of healthy democratic traditions in the country.

Twocoups

PRESIDENT Obama devoted a slice of his visit toArgentina on Thursday to

memoralising the victims of thecountry’s 1976 military coup andsubsequent “dirty war,” and re-gretting the US role in it. “De-mocracies have to have the cour-age to acknowledge when wedon’t live up to the ideals that westand for; when we’ve been slowto speak out for human rights,”he said. “And that was the casehere.” The president’s statementmay be appreciated by Argen-tines who still blame Washing-ton for its initial backing of ajunta that responded to leftist ter-rorist groups with a bloody cam-paign of abduction, torture andmurder. But we wonder how itwill be taken by advocates forhuman rights in present-dayEgypt — where a military-backed regime is engaging inmuch the same crimes, while Mr.Obama and his administrationremain mostly silent.

Like Argentine Gen. JorgeVidela, former Egyptian Gen.Abdel Fattah al-Sissi claims hiscoup against a democraticallyelected government was neces-sary to arrest political chaos andfight terrorists — in this case, ofthe Islamic variety. But as in Ar-gentina, Egypt’s repressionquickly spread to peaceful oppo-nents, the media and humanrights activists. The methods aremuch the same: Last year Cairo’sEl Nadeem Center documented464 cases of abductions — the“disappearances” that Argentinamade notorious — as well as 676cases of torture and almost 500deaths in custody.

As Mr. Obama was visitingBuenos Aires, the Sissi regimewas stepping up criminal pro-ceedings against the country’shuman rights groups. Accordingto the Cairo Institute for HumanRights Studies, as many as 37organisations may be put on trialas part of “a systematic plan toprosecute the entire human rightsmovement.” Even the Argentinejunta never dared to go so far;groups documenting prisonersand abuses survived throughoutthe seven years of military rule.

That may have been becausethe US response to Argentina’srepression was, in the end, farmore robust than that of theObama administration towardEgypt. While former secretaryof state Henry Kissinger ap-peared to condone the March1976 coup, US policy abruptlychanged when President Cartertook office 10 months later. InFebruary 1977, US military aidto Argentina was sharply re-duced; it ended entirely whenthe regime refused to accepthuman rights conditions. As Mr.Obama slightly acknowledged,the State Department’s humanrights chief, Patricia Derian,boldly challenged the junta’sbehaviour, while embassy per-sonnel in Buenos Aires riskedtheir lives to document and de-fend the disappeared.

No Obama administrationofficial, high or low, has con-fronted Mr. Sissi with such pas-sion. On the contrary, Secretaryof State John F. Kerry spent thefirst two years after the coup pub-licly defending the regime, whileMr. Obama has cited Egypt as anexample of how the UnitedStates must sometimes “workwith governments that do notmeet . . . the highest internationalexpectations.” After briefly sus-pending some weapons deliver-ies, the administration waivedhuman rights conditions to grantEgypt its full $1.3 billion in mili-tary aid last year. Now it is ask-ing Congress to remove the con-ditioning altogether.

After an internal debate, Mr.Kerry issued a mild statementabout the assault on human rightsgroups — at 8:15 p.m. on a Fri-day. It said he was “deeply con-cerned” but suggested no conse-quences. Mr. Obama himself hasbeen entirely silent. He shouldn’tbe surprised if, a few years fromnow, a future president feelsobliged to apologise for him.— The Washington Post

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Weekly Magazine

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Ph: 2852027-8, Ext: 116Email: magazinesocialdiary@hotmail.com

Gift of the gab!

THIS blessed planet of ourscontinues to be in a state ofsixes and sevens. As one

looks at images of the devastatedlandscape of the once hustling,bustling lands that are flashedacross the TV screens, the onethought that comes readily to mindis that the United Nations has notexactly covered itself with glory,Nobel Peace Prize notwithstand-ing. Given the mayhem let looseby the War on Terror, one hardlyever hears mention of the WorldBody in the discussions of thesages. Lest the aforesaid lead thereader to the conclusion that thisis another one of those self-righ-teous pieces, one would hasten toclarify that this is not so and thatone’s intentions are strictlyhonourable.

To be fair - with all its faults -the United Nations is not entirelydevoid of good points. Let us takeone aspect. Those of us who havehad the privilege of sitting throughone of those tense confrontations,that erupt every now and then inthe United Nation’s ancillary bod-ies, cannot but have come awaywith anything but praise for thededicated band of interpreters thatservice the World Body. The bestof these interpreters will not onlytranslate the text of the speech butalso faithfully convey the moodand intonation of the delegate tak-

ing the floor. This ensuresthat the atmospherics arenot lost in translation.The year was 1977 and theoccasion the annual sessionof the United Nations Hu-man Rights Commission.(As Pakistan’s alternate del-egate, I had been elected theRapporteur of that session).

The United States’ representativehad managed to ruffle the feathersof the Soviet delegate by playingup the sensitive issue of the deten-tion of some dissidents in theUSSR. The Soviet Union’s repre-sentative happened to be one of thelast of the great breed of diplomatsof the era, Valerian Zorin. Mr. Zorintook the floor and in a classical dis-play of fiery oratory carried all be-fore him. He spoke in Russian, ofcourse, but the interpreter matchedhis oratory - not just the languagebut also the flair, the flow of rheto-ric and the atmospherics. One wasleft with the eerie feeling that onewas listening to his intervention inoriginal. Such is the power of agood interpreter.

But to revert to the theme athand, it is an accepted fact thatsome individuals like to talk morethan others. The same is true ofcommunities; some are talkative bynature, others are not. Even amongthe talkative ones, there exist dis-tinct sub-categories. Some talksparingly; others talk at leisure; stillothers talk only with a purpose. Callit what you will, it is the urge totalk - or the absence thereof - thatsets communities apart.

A former Japanese Ambassadorto Pakistan (a close friend) dis-closed once that two or more Japa-nese could spend hours togetherwithout uttering a word, unless

there was something worthwhile totalk about. Idle gossip, it wouldappear, is not the forte of the Japa-nese. It is also a fact that some ofJapan’s neighboring nations haveno such qualms about small talk.So, one can hardly pin it down onregional or climatic culture.

In the good old days, to takeanother instance, the English racehad a reputation for aloofness. Somuch so that it was reputed thattwo Englishmen (or women)would not exchange a word unlessand until they had first been prop-erly introduced. In other words,presence of a Third Party was aprerequisite to getting a conversa-tion going. Not any third party,mind you, but one well acquaintedwith both the parties of the firstorder. Across the channel, though,there were no such inhibitions!

There are several countries inSouth and West Asia, the inhabit-ants of which enjoy long sessionsof small talk. Such occasions arerelished not for any serious purposebut merely because they afford op-portunities to get things off one’schest. The ‘qat’ sessions in Yemenare a case in point. People in theseregions would be horrified if it wereexpected of them to spend extendedperiods without exchanging a wordsimply because there was nothing‘worthwhile’ to talk about!

A cursory glance at the idio-syncrasies peculiar to different na-tions may be relevant at this stage.Some peoples are mild and soft-spoken; others are rough and gruff.Still others (like the French) con-vey as much through their handgestures as their tongues. Differ-ent peoples express the samethings in entirely different fash-ions. Then there are those - par-

ticularly in the Far East for in-stance - who would go to ridicu-lous lengths to avoid having tosaying ‘no’; even when they meanit. This leads to embarrassing and,at times, to amusing situations.

Here follows the true story re-lating to a Pakistani officials’delegation’s visit to Japan in the1950s to negotiate an economicaccord. The delegation would callat the concerned Japanese officeday after day, each time returningwith the impression that the mat-ter was under sympathetic consid-eration. After five days of this cha-rade, Pakistan’s Ambassador inTokyo was urgently summoned tothe Japanese Foreign Office. TheJapanese wished to be informed asto why the Pakistani delegation in-sisted on calling again and againwhen the Japanese side had madeit clear in the second session thatno progress was possible.

It turned out that the Japaneseside (true to their national charac-teristic) had not found it expedientto say ‘no’ directly, since ‘they didnot wish to hurt the sensitivities oftheir guests’. What they did insteadwas to drop broad polite hints tothis effect. The guest delegates sim-ply failed to decipher the message.The rest is history. The aforemen-tioned all goes to prove that inter-national communication is not assimple as one would be led to be-lieve. The mere services of an in-terpreter, however efficient, stillmay not suffice. Several other vari-ables enter the fray before one in aposition to form a definitive opin-ion, if at all. Gives one food forthought that; does it not?— The writer is a formerambassador and former assistantsecretary general of OIC.

Rouhani’s visit in perspective

DURING his two-day visit ofPakistan, the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani guar-

anteed that, “The Pakistani nationshould rest assured that Iran as a stra-tegic partner for them will alwaysexplore its potential in the field ofoil and gas to satisfy the needs ofthe Pakistanis.” This Iranian assur-ance is significant in the context that,Pakistan is a energy deficient coun-try and need fossil fuels in largequantity to make up its current andfuture needs. The Iran-Pakistan (IP)gas pipeline, a major energy project,started over a decade ago, could notbe implemented, owing to unknownreasons. The Iranian side howeverhas completed its part of pipeline.Both heads of governments reiter-ated during the visit that, effortswould be made to enhance the bi-lateral trade to at least $5 billion innext few years. Many agreementsand MoUs were signed betweenPakistan and Iran during the visit ofIranian President.

Historically, Pak-Iran relation-ship has enjoyed an excellent periodof neighbourhood and brotherhood.It is a relationship between thepeople and societies, more than be-tween the governments, thus, hasintimacy, friendliness, all weather,spiritual, voluntary and indeed, freefrom cosmetic. Unfortunately, de-spite having a cherished strength,both neighbours could not exploitthis relationship to their best bilat-eral and national interests. The rea-sons were very petty and narrow inscope, indeed; however, lack of fore-sight among the leadership was themain cause. Then, the external fac-tors and regional security environ-ment over-shadowed the bilateral

relationship of both brotherlyneighbours.In the contemporary en-vironment, the regional and globalsecurity situation has direct bearingon the Pak-Iran strategic relation-ship. Iran is slowly and graduallycoming out from the internationalsanctions, imposed on it during ini-tial years of 21st century. Whereas,Iran has lot of opportunities for ex-tending its future relationship bothwith east and west, there is an utmostneed for exercising care, owing tofluid nature of security situation.

Viewing from the strategic per-spective, the Pakistan-Iran relation-ships are more than bilateral tradeand commerce. Both have enormouspotentials and opportunities too forbringing a new turn in the bilateralrelationship, regionally as well asglobally. In the regional South Asiancontext, India has acted as a spoilerof the Pak-Iran bilateral relationshipafter both developed some differ-ences over Afghanistan, followingthe Geneva Accord-1988. Whereas,Indian diplomacy gets credit for cre-ating this fissure, discredit goes inthe favour of Pakistani and Iraniandiplomats and political leadership,who were overplayed by India forits strategic gains. Had there beenvision and foresight among the Pak-Iran leadership, the situation couldhave been used in the best bilateralinterests of both countries.

The stabilisation of Afghanistanthrough cooperation of Pakistan andIran could have been made a strongregional bloc of three brotherlyMuslim countries. This regional in-tegration could have opened newavenues for strategic and politicalstability, economic prosperity andsocial cohesion among three coun-tries. Instead, India made inroadsinto, transformed its relationshipwith Kabul and Tehran separately,and used the given strategic spaceagainst Pakistan. Indian collabora-

tion with Northern Alliance in Af-ghanistan during the Taliban era andpost Taliban Indian complete ingressin that country allowed it to use Af-ghan soil for promoting extremismand terrorism in Pakistan. India isstill using the Afghan soil for fund-ing, harbouring and arming the ter-rorist groups like TTP. Rather, RAWhas total control over the NDS, theAfghan spying network and vigor-ously undertaking terrorist activitiesin Pakistan through porous Pak-Af-ghan border.

India greatly blighted the Pak-Iran bilateral relationship in theyears, following the 1988. In thegarb of its economic and strategiccooperation and friendship withIran, the hidden Indian agenda wasto use the Iranian soil against Paki-stan. For quite some time, India usedits Consulate in Zahedan (capital ofIranian Balochistan) for spying andsupporting the sub-nationalists inBalochistan. Whereas Iran musthave allowed this Indian Consulateunder the diplomatic norms, Indiaused it against Pakistan, in total dis-regards to the spirit of diplomacy.

The recent arrest of a servingIndian officer of the RAW fromBalochitsan province. The arrestedIndian Naval Commander,Kulbhushan Yadav was on deputa-tion to RAW and was posted inChabahar Port for years now. He hasbeen regularly visiting various partsof Balochistan to fund and plan theterrorist activities on the directivesof RAW and Indian Government. Heeven has the valid Iranian visa, abreach of trust, India is undertakingwith Iranian Government. As perinitial investigation, CommanderYadav had “contact with Balochseparatists and terrorists fuellingsectarian violence in Pakistan”;Balochistan and Karachi. Surely,neither Iranian would be. The emerg-ing regional and global security en-

vironment warrants a close coop-eration and regional integration of;Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan.Seeing the ground realities, this isa challenge, which needs to be con-verted into opportunity. The firstand foremost step needed to pro-ceed is the trust building amongthese states; indeed a functional co-operative mechanism to beginwith. To break the impasse, theleadership of three nations mustprepare a roadmap and take CMBsaccordingly with tangible results.Since India has been promotingand fueling differences of Iran andAfghanistan with Pakistan, there-fore, this influence has be reducedby both, through a policy ofgradual disengagement.

Both should understand that,India has played an unconstructiverole in the bilateral relationship ofthese two countries with Pakistan.Except promoting its own nationaland strategic interests, India hasnot done anything worthwhile foreither of these countries. Let usharness the human capital and ex-plore the enormous regional eco-nomic potentials for better and ju-dicious utilization by these coun-tries. This process would raise thestakes of all three states and theexisting security concern would beaddressed systemically. The pro-cess would bring stability, eco-nomic prosperity and social inte-gration among all three countries,the need of the hour and indeed theneed of the masses. There is a needthat, political leadership shouldpave the way, rather playing in thehands of countries like India andeven major powers. The visit ofPresident Hassan Rouhani is agood step to end the mistrust, pre-vailed for years.— The writer is InternationalRelations analyst based inIslamabad.

Every great andcommandingmoment in theannals of theworld is thetriumph of someenthusiasm.

R W Emerson — US poet

Khalid SaleemEmail: binwakeel@yahoo.com

Friendly FireFriendly FireFriendly FireFriendly FireFriendly Fire

Dr Muhammad Khan Email: drmk_edu@yahoo.com

Voice of the PeopleOnce there was a library

ABDUL SALAM RUSTAMANI

Libraries are backbone of education. A library that is place wherestudents and other seekers of knowledge can study easily; but

strangely these libraries and readers’ clubs do not fit in ourgovernment’s priorities. Although Hyderabad is the second largestcity of Sindh, there is only one public “Allama Daudpota Library”in this city. Condition of this library is deplorable, this library ismoving fast towards complete collapse with every passing day.Thousands of students come to this Library on regular basis butbecause of the limited number of chairs and reading facilities /infrastructure, the students have no choice but to sit in the park.The falling structure of the library lacks every kind of genuinefacility, including arrangement for providing clean water fordrinking. The role of libraries is very important for promotion ofhealthy educational environment for the students and advance-ment of knowledge. I urge to government to patronize “AllamaDaudpota Library” and facilitate to students in seeking knowledgefor better future of the country.—Hyderabad, Sindh

DISCLAIMER

Email:editorial@pakobserver.net

THE articles, columns andletters are published on thesepages in good faith. However,the contents of these writingsmay not necessarily match theviews of the newspaper.

—Editor

View From Abroad

THE International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia on Thursday issued its judg-

ment against Radovan Karadzic, thepresident of the Serb Republic duringthe 1992-95 Bosnian War. Karadzicwas convicted of various crimes, in-cluding genocide. But only a little.After a trial lasting seven years, thetribunal at The Hague found Karadzicguilty of genocide for his role in themurder of 8,000 unarmed Muslims atSrebrenica in the war’s final monthsin 1995 — but not for the systematicslaughter in seven other municipali-ties. So he committed genocide in oneplace over one week, and nowhere elsein the 3½-year war he helped master-mind: a little genocide.

Although that result might soundshocking, it was no surprise. In 2012,the court threw the broader genocidecharge out, only to be ordered to rein-state it on appeal. But with the samethree judges evaluating the evidence,acquittal was a foregone conclusion.More fundamentally, this little geno-

Karadzic conviction will satisfy no oneTimothy W Waters

cide is consistent with the tribunal’sjurisprudence. In case after case, pros-ecutors have charged Bosnian Serbswith genocide. And in case after case,the court has acquitted indictees ev-erywhere except Srebrenica, evenwhen they have been convicted ofother horrible crimes. Goran Jelisic,the self-described Serbian Adolf,pleaded guilty to 31 counts of crimesagainst humanity and war crimes innorthern Bosnia, but refused to pleadto genocide, and was acquitted.

Why has a broader genocide con-viction proved so elusive? Prosecutorsmust prove that a defendant not onlyintended to kill or rape, usually on amass scale, but to destroy the group towhich the victims belonged as such— as a group. Yet more than eviden-tiary standards, it is the grotesque pres-tige attached to genocide that makesit such a useless tool in law:Genocide’s status as the supremecrime means judges instinctively ra-tion its moral and legal sanction. Ob-servers have criticised and defendedthe court’s narrow, cautious approach.But right or not, narrowness has pro-duced an outcome that satisfies no one,letting one site of horror and one week

of slaughter stand in for a lengthy warand its countless killing fields.

Bosnian Muslims view it as anarticle of faith that genocide occurredthroughout Bosnia. So while theywelcome official confirmation ofSrebrenica, they are disappointed thatthe tribunal has failed to recognise thefull scale of their suffering. There is apolitical aspect too: Some BosnianMuslims want to use a broader geno-cide ruling to argue that the entire SerbRepublic is the product of genocide— that it could not exist without geno-cide — and push for its dissolution onthose grounds.

For Bosnian Serbs, it’s the otherway around: There was no genocide,so even the finding for Srebrenica istoo much. Denialism remains rife. Farfrom condemning Karadzic, Serbs arehonouring him; just this week, the cur-rent president of the Serb Republicnamed a student dormitory after him.There are still a few chances for abroader genocide conviction. Theprosecution will probably appeal theacquittal, and Gen. Ratko Mladic isstill on trial, charged with genocide forSrebrenica and 15 other municipali-ties. If the prosecution ever finally suc-

ceeded, however, a different problemwould arise. How much inconsis-tency across its cases can the courtsustain? How can the commandersbe guilty, and not the midlevel offi-cials and the foot soldiers?

Not that one consistent narrativewould necessarily prove more effec-tive, because who would listen?There is no prospect that a sweepingconviction would change hearts andminds in Bosnia’s deeply dividedsociety, where polls repeatedly showthat opinions about the internationalcourt’s judgments are strongly cor-related with ethnicity.

Justice has scales, but it has asword too. Without the latter, justicewill be a long time coming, and won’thave much to show, or to save, whenfinally it arrives. That’s the real les-son of Srebrenica, and whatever hap-pened in the rest of Bosnia: Even littlegenocides are too much to leave tothe law. The writer is professor of in-ternational law at Indiana Univer-sity Maurer School of Law and ex-researcher for the prosecution at theInternational Criminal Tribunal forformer Yugoslavia. — Courtesy: Los Angeles Times

Festivals ofminorities

AREEBA A SIDDIQUI

Government has taken a com-mendable initiative by introducingpublic holidays on the annual fes-tivals of minority communities.This will establish peace and har-mony in the country; as it alsogives a message that Pakistan is acountry where minorities are givenequal opportunities and civil rightsand opportunities with attentionand respect. It promotes pluralismand an urge towards nation build-ing disciplines.

It is a small step in the rightdirection so that now other non-Muslim countries will respectMuslim festivals in their countryjust like this year, the UnitedStates of America is deciding todeclare Eid holiday for Muslimsin US. If we expect respect fromother nations of the world then itis the only proper way to respecttheir culture, traditions and riteand rituals.

This is what our Quaid eAzam had said after the creationof Pakistan that “You may belongto any religion or cast or creed —that has nothing to do with thebusiness of the State”—Karachi

Dark and lovelySUJIT DE

It is horrific to visualise a mono-chromatic world. There is nochance of enjoying the beauty ofhappy-go-lucky clouds floating inan azure sky or colourful flowersin various shades of green leavesin a garden in such a world. Nochance of seeing a school-boy withhis jet-black-hair, wearing alemon-colour-shirt and purple-trousers.

One colour means our not be-ing able to see flying birds in thesky. Have we ever imagined howmany accidents a one-colour-world may cause? One-colour-carson one-colour-roads are beingmanaged by one-colour-traffic-signals! That would have made ussee red. We will definitely feelblue if we are to live in a monoto-nous, monochromatic world.

Therefore, apartheid to a cer-tain colour or colours is just show-ing disrespect to divine design.There is a beautiful song inBengali which goes like this, “Ifblack is bad then why do you crywhen your hairs start greying?”(“kalo jadi mondo habe tabe keshpakile kando kane?”).

Let all the people of the world,dark and lovely; brown and lovely(it’s me!); fair and lovely and yel-low and lovely join hands togetherand sing, “Counting colours in therainbow/ when the sun has madethe rain go/ in all those colours Isee above me/ I count the bless-ings of someone who loves me”and recite, “The woods are lovely,dark and deep,/ But I have prom-ises to keep,/ And miles to go be-fore I sleep,/ And miles to go be-fore I sleep”.—Kolkata, India

Promotingsafety

SYED ALI QASIM

To accomplish great things, wemust not only act, but also dream;not only plan, but also believe. Theestablishment of the DivisionalUrban Search and Rescue teams byChief Minister Punjab MuhammadShahbaz Sharif on the historicalPakistan Day is an ample proofthat the incumbent government isserious not only to provide timelyemergency response and care with-out discrimination but also to miti-gate the sufferings of people whoface such untoward situations.

Since it is the responsibility ofgovernment to establish sociallyresponsible community emergencyresponse system, therefore the es-tablishment of Divisional UrbanSearch and Rescue teams is a wel-come step. Such initiatives throwlight on the government’s firm re-solve to play an effective role fordeveloping safer communities inPakistan.—Lahore

Introduce mediascience in KU

TOOBA KHAN

When I was in my high school, Idecided and made a strong deci-sion for my future. I wanted to bea successful television and filmproducer. For this it was importantfor me to choose a field related tomedia after college.

After completing my interme-diate I started preparing myself for

Marketplace chatter..!

ON one hand I see businessmen and entrepreneursworking hard to build a great

country, on the other, politicians do-ing their utmost to destroy the land;it’s depressing to watch such happen.“So you’re depressed about it huhBob?” “Aristotle!” I cried in disbe-lief. “No Socrates! I told Aristotle ahundred times not to dress like me,that the world would mistake us foreach other but he never listened!”

“Sorry!” I said touching the feetof the great philosopher. “You’re de-

pressed about those rascal politicians?”“Who wouldn’t be,” I said morosely.“It could have been worse!” saidSocrates with a twinkle in his eye.“How?” I asked. “Bob, why do youthink we made the Senate Houses,Parliament, the legislative houses, theassembly’s?” “So that they could dis-pute, debate and discuss over there!”

“Oh no, so that at any given timethe biggest trouble makers on earthcould be found in the same place atthe same time. They’re caged in.They’re in a zoo! And you’re watch-ing them scamper and caper aroundthrough TV, reading ‘bout their anticsthrough newspapers, and hearing theirgrunts and growls through radio!”“How is it we can’t stop them frominfluencing society?” “Aha!” said

Socrates, “just change the label!”“What label?” “Just call their mar-

ket places! Think of sound and noisethere!” “And it’ll work?” “Doesn’t itwork over there? Isn’t business trans-acted?” Socrates disappeared and Ipondered over what he’d said. “Wantto hear a joke Bob?” “Socrates!” I said.“No I’m Aristotle! I told Socrates ahundred times not to dress like me, thatthe world would mistake us for eachother but did he listen?”

“Yes,” I said happily, “a joke!”“Five eminent Greek surgeons werediscussing who made the best patienton the operating table. The first sur-geon says, “I like to see accountantson my operating table, because whenyou open them up, everything insideis numbered.”

The second responds, “Yeah, butyou should try electricians! Every-thing inside them is colour coded.The third surgeon says, “No, I reallythink librarians are the best, every-thing inside them is in alphabeticalorder.” But the fourth surgeon shutthem all up when he observed,“You’re all wrong. Politicians are theeasiest to operate on. There’s no guts,no heart, no spine, and their head andbacksides are interchangeable..!”

“Ha, ha, ha!” laughed the twogreat philosophers and I laughedwith them, “Don’t take them seri-ously Bob!” they both said together,“its when you take them seriouslythat they get away with their mon-key tricks..!”—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

Article-370 & ambitions of BJP govt

THE Article 370 of the Indianconstitution holds great significance in the context of

Kashmir issue. This article relatingto the state of Jammu and Kashmircame into force on January 26, 1950.According to Article 370, the stateof Jammu and Kashmir would haveits own constitution. The Indian par-liament would have power restrictedto only three subjects, i.e. defence,foreign affairs and communication.The Article 352 and Article 360 forthe declaration of national emergencycannot be applied in Kashmir. TheIndian citizens can neither becomethe citizens of Indian held Kashmirnor can they buy any property inKashmir. Even the Indian Presidentcannot impose his rule in the state ofIHK, without the consent of the con-stituent assembly of Kashmir. TheIndian Supreme Court has no juris-diction in IHK.

Despite all this, amendments canbe made in Article 370 by the Presi-dential order under Article 368 of theIndian constitution. This power had

made Article 370 controversialin nature. The legal and techni-cal aspects of Article 370 arealso questionable. According tomany analysts, the Article 370is illegal and unconstitutional innature. The Article 370 was ac-

tually drafted by a Hindu advisor ofRaja Hari Singh, the Ruler of the Stateof Jammu and Kashmir and hence con-tains many gaps and limitations. TheArticle 370 was formulated to giveimpression that Kashmir is an integralpart of India.

Since coming into power, the BJPgovernment following its extremistHindu agenda has been trying hard toabrogate this Article 370, which is giv-ing separate identity to Kashmiris inthe Indian constitution. The RSS isagainst the right of self-determinationof Kashmiris. Modi’s policies in Kash-mir are aggressive. The BJP govern-ment is fuelling Hindu-Muslim riotsin Kashmir. The BJP government haveattempted to change the demographyof Kashmir region by converting Mus-lim majority in the region into Hindumajority. India had changed the de-mography of Kashmir by giving per-manent residence status to the WestPakistan refugees of 1947. The Indiansoldiers are also being settled in Kash-mir to tackle terrorism but India’s ba-sic aim is to change demography of

Kashmir to achieve its own objectivesand political interests in Kashmir.

The status of Kashmir must be de-termined by the UN resolutions of1948 and in accordance with the aspi-rations of Kashmiris. The Indian gov-ernment should review its draconianlaws such as Armed Forces SpecialPowers Act (AFSPA) and PublicSafety Act (PSA) to protect civiliansin Kashmir. The Indian governmentmust withdraw its more than 600,000Indian Security Forces deployed inKashmir who are involved in commit-ting atrocities and human rights viola-tions in Kashmir. The Kashmir issuecould win international support onlyif Kashmiri people pressurize the con-cerned government. Unfortunately, theKashmir issue could not gather muchinternational support because India haslarge influence at international level.There are large number of overseasIndian community who mobilize oth-ers and gather large party sympathiz-ers for their propaganda about Kash-mir and representing a positive imageof India abroad irrespective of the bru-tality of Indian Security Forces inKashmir.

The Kashmiris national strugglefor their self-determination is their ba-sic human right. Kashmir issue hasmore credence as a humanitarian is-sue rather than a mere human rights

issue. The concern of the UN forKashmir would come through sup-port from the international civil soci-ety and public. There is an urgentneed to amplify Kashmiri voices andtheir vision at international forumssuch as UN, OIC, and SAARC etc.The Kashmiri diaspora must be moreactive in their struggle. The politicaldivision and lack of unity within po-litical parties in Kashmir have weak-ened their political efforts to achievetheir goals.

The Kashmiris must adopt moreinclusive and tolerant approach to-wards each other. Similarly, Pakistanhas a credible standing in interna-tional society and its voice for theKashmir cause is important. Hence,Pakistan should continue to work forthe Kashmir cause. At the same time,the world community has to recog-nize the rights of Kashmiris as it isnot a question of choosing Pakistanor India but it is about the right ofself-determination of Kashmiris. Pa-kistan and India must find peacefuland diplomatic means to settle theirlongstanding disputes and work to-gether to find a practical solution toresolve the Kashmir issue.— The writer is Assistant ResearchOfficer at Islamabad PolicyResearch Institute, a think -tankbased in Islamabad.

Unequal officials

ALL animals are equal, butsome animals are more equalthan others, — a proclama-

tion made by the pigs who controlthe government in the novel, ‘Ani-mal Farm’, by ‘George Orwell’.However, the quote here refers to thehypocrisy of governments that pro-claim the absolute equality of theircitizens but in reality it gives powerand privileges to a small number ofelites and ignores many others. It issomething common to come acrosschanging laws and rules from onecountry to another but within a statesuch phenomenon seems awkwardand irrational. In the land of the purewhere one fails to rationalize manythings, among one of them, is un-equal distribution of official allow-ances, salary packages and otherbenefits given to government em-ployees in different state-run-depart-ments over the years.

The most powerful governmentdepartments are availing almost all

official perk and privilegesincluding the special, risk,study etc. allowances, incre-ments, in time promotion,honorarium, remunerationfor overtime, house rent,medical bills, fuel and car

maintenance, and other benefits fortheir employees due its influence andoverall function in the so-calleddemocratic system while the weakones or smaller departments oftenremained totally ignored even to gettheir salaries in time.

The driver is driver and the clerkis clerk whether he or she is in theSupreme Court of Pakistan or in thePost Office or education departmentof the country. However, if bothserve the same country with thesame patriotic spirit, same level ofqualification, same working experi-ence, same nature and title of job andequal duty of hours, then why dothey have such a huge difference intheir salaries and allowances? In-deed a big injustice is made usuallywith those working in small and fi-nancially weak departments. Thechances of corruption and risk fac-tors exist in almost all departmentswith varying degrees and for eachand every official then why some are

obliged and others ignored? More-over, if the level of qualification isnot considered or given status, itwould not only be discouraging forthe few highly qualified officials butalso for others working within andoutside of the department. Same isthe case with MPhil and PhD allow-ances in different government de-partments.

Despite the government an-nouncement, some of the state-run-departments are still showing reluc-tance for PhD degree allowance.Only the Punjab government hadannounced MS/MPhil allowances asRs 5000 in March 2013 through anofficial notification for all govern-ment employees working in differ-ent government departments acrossthe board at the rate of 50% of thePhD degree which of course is partof the doctorate programme. How-ever, the same allowance is missingin other provinces and even in fed-eral government departments.

Justice in utilizing the moneycollected through public taxes andunification of allowances and salarypackages is an important task to begiven due care especially for ad-dressing the reservation of the gov-ernment employees working in

small departments. The allowancefor higher education is a token ofencouragement which should begiven to all those who qualify andworking as government servants sothat others also acquire degrees ofhigher education and enhance theirknowledge and skills and excel intheir areas of specialization.

Despite in the strong grip oftaxation system, the government onone hand rarely shows benevolencetowards the government officialsespecially in their pay raise and al-lowances. On the other, in the age ofprice hike, uncontrolled raise inhousing rents in urban areas, costlyeducation, skyrocketing gas andelectricity bills and medical expenseshave made the life of the lower scaleemployees in general and the em-ployees of some of the ignored gov-ernment departments in particularvery difficult to meet both ends.Uniformity in allowances espe-cially in MPhil/PhD should be en-sured across the board in all prov-inces including the federal capitalfor avoiding discrimination and ad-dressing the genuine reservations ofhighly educated govt servants.— The writer is freelancecolumnist.

NTS as I wanted to study in Uni-versity of Karachi. There I hadmass communication as an option,the only media field. It would bemore appropriate to say that it isthe only journalism field.

We can obviously not compareMass Communication with MediaScience; they are two completelydifferent fields. Mass Communi-cation, particularly focusing onjournalism and Media Sciencecovering each and every aspectinvolved in media whether it’s di-rection, production, film makingetc. Students willing to study me-dia science in University ofKarachi are likely to be forced totake admission in mass communi-cation because then they have noother option left. Media is not onlyabout journalism. And here, fromday one we are taught to shapeourselves to be a ‘successful jour-nalist’ in future.

The management of Universityof Karachi should take this pointin account. At least give it athought to introduce media sciencein university. An addition of onemore department in the list of 52will surely make a positive changeas it is noticed that demand formedia studies is high. So, let’s notdestroy someone’s future andmake them study whatever theywant to.

By now the managementshould know that there is a vastdifference in both the fields andthat the other should also be intro-duced. We have somehow adjustedourselves with whatever we gotbut not others. Someone has toraise voice.—Karachi

Unsatisfactoryworking of KMC

WARDA AGHA

I am sorry to say that the workingof KMC (Karachi Municipal Cor-poration) has been immensely poorfor the last 3 years in my locality.Heaps of filth and garbage are ly-ing over in the area for weeks,which is affecting the health of theresidents of the area. I request theauthorities concerned to look intothe matter and give us relief fromthis problems.—Karachi

Horrors ofstreet cricket

HASHIM ABRO

Despite several playgroundsStreet Cricket in Islamabad, likemany other cities where there areno proper playgrounds, has be-come a nuisance for many peace-ful citizens. Parents and educa-tional institution must come for-ward to eliminate this bad habitof playing in the streets insteadof well-developed and maintainedCDA grounds.

If parents and educational in-stitutions never advise them toplay in the playgrounds then therelevant CDA and ICT administra-tion should take strict actionagainst such street players who donot only put their lives at risk dur-ing the peak rush hours but alsoshatter the peace of elderly menand women, especially those whoare confined to their beds.

Moreover, these Street Crick-eters also cause a tremendous lossto the parked vehicles and otherimmovable property in the street.—Via email

Terrorismin Pakistan

MARYAM SAEED

At present the gravest problem fac-ing Pakistan is terrorism. Thiscritical situation has been causedby several factors.

These include social, political,economic, religious and also ex-ternal conspiracies. Terrorists havespread everywhere and no place issafe anymore. Illiteracy rate is the

root causes of extremism and ter-rorism. How is that these terror-ists are using Pakistani territory atwill, and why did we allow them?Without a serious re-examinationof our national values, there willnot be any progress.

We need to stop apologisingand should instead take responsi-bility for our own country and en-sure its safety and prosperity. Andlet us state out loud: these terror-ists are not of our country or ourfaith. Most Pakistanis are peace-loving people that abhor terroristsand their tactics, but that will neverbe the loudest voice if we do notstand up and unite!

Being a Muslim country ourreligion defines relations betweenpeople based on peace, mutual re-spect and trust. The essence of ourreligion, the teachings of the HolyProphet (PBUH) and Quran is‘peace’.— Rawalpindi

Sabotage ofcultural heritage

MAHAM ANEES

It was just yesterday when my sis-ter, back from Makli graveyard,told me how people have foolishlyengraved their names on its walls.I was deeply disappointed. This isnot the case with Makli only butthere are several other monuments,which are suffering from the sameproblem.

Betel nut stains, paint peelingand what not. Pakistan is endowedwith a large number of ancientsites and historic monuments.These historic assets are link to ourpast and, as their custodians, itfalls upon all Pakistanis to con-serve them in the best way pos-sible. On the contrary, there arealready little efforts from our gov-ernment to preserve these beauti-ful structures and now we inflictdamage to them too.

Moreover, these structures areessential for understanding ourcultural diversity. And not solelythis, if maintained properly, we canearn revenue from them by pro-moting tourism.

It’s my humble request to rel-evant authorities to take strict ac-tion against this irresponsibletrend, so that our cultural heritagecould be saved. Hefty fines shouldbe charged from anyone who iscaught performing the misdeed.—Karachi

Give respectto Afridi

AREESHA SALEEM

It was very depressing to see me-dia bashing of our cricket heroes.No doubt he made mistakes yet itshould not be forgotten that he isour identity. He did present usvery strongly in front of the wholeworld.

At this stage, he himself mustbe too guilty, humiliating himmore is not fair. It should also notbe forgotten that Afridi was in-strumental in Pakistan’s T20world cup triumph in 2009 whenhe made half centuries in semi fi-nal and final.

He had played in all five edi-tions of the world T20 and has themost international caps and wick-ets. Afridi’s economy rate 6.66 isthe best in all T20s for bowlerswith 200 wickets. His captaincyrecord even possesses 18 wins.—Karachi

Aymen IjazEmail:research.pak@gmail.com

Taj Nabi KhanEmail:tnkhan672@gmail.com

Trump details‘America first’foreign policy

viewsW A S H I N G T O N —DonaldTrump described his foreignpolicy as an “America first”approach that will stop the USfrom being systematically“ripped off.” The Republicanfrontrunner, who has spent hisentire career in business, gavethe most in-depth discussion sofar on foreign policy in a phoneinterview with the New York

Times. During the conversa-tion, he detailed his views onissues ranging from East Asiansecurity to Syria, ISIS and re-lations with allies such as SaudiArabia. Trump said he was notan isolationist, but describedthe United States as a poordebtor nation that dispropor-tionately funds internationalalliances such as NATO and theUnited Nations.

“We have been disre-spected, mocked and ripped offfor many many years by peoplethat were smarter, shrewder,tougher,” he told the Times. “SoAmerica first, yes, we will notbe ripped off anymore. We’regoing to be friendly with every-body, but we’re not going to betaken advantage of by any-body,” he said.—AFP

KHALAF AHMAD AL HABTOOR

AT last the Arab League and the GCC haveofficially branded Hezbollah a terrorist organization, a designation long overdue.

Hezbollah is recognized as a mere tool in the Ira-nian expansionism box with no legitimate footingwithin the Arab world. Setting aside its bombings,killings and assassinations, it has suffocatedLebanon’s free spirit and fought for the survival

of the Syriangangsters whosehands drip withthe blood of theirown people.

This is rareArab unity in ac-tion, although ad-mittedly coun-tries under thesway of Tehran,Lebanon and Iraqexpressed “reser-vations” while

Algeria and Tunisia registered their objections.Arab-Israeli parties in the Knesset have loudlycondemned the designation as one that servesIsrael’s interests.

Hamas has taken the line “silence is golden”on the issue but its political chief Khaled Meshaaltold France 24 that Iran is no longer a main backerof Hamas due to differing stances on the Syrianconflict. I believe, Meshaal’s main priority ismending strained ties with Egypt, that’s accusedHamas of being involved in the assassination ofits Prosecutor-General, so as to get the RafahCrossing re-opened. Other Palestinian groupshave been more forthright in slammingHezbollah’s branding. But where does the Pales-tinian President Mahmoud Abbas stand?

His position on Hezbollah is not at all clear.

Time for Palestinians to choose sidesHe is, however, more transparent on Iran. He re-cently revealed to Kuwait’s Scoop TV that “thereare no official relations between us and Iran”, add-ing, there is an embassy and an ambassador “butthey don’t have direct contacts with us.”

He told the interviewer that the PalestinianAuthority has “released astatement saying that wedo not know anythingabout Iranian funds and weare not responsible forthem.”

“I say to Iranians, ‘youwant to engage in Pales-tine? Then you must do soin collaboration with thePalestinian Authority. If wehave an embassy in Iran,why does it operate indi-rectly, through the backdoor?” he said.

He recalled his visit toIran to meet with formerPresident MahmoudAhmadinejad who toldhim, “I love the Palestin-ian people” and said he re-sponded saying, “No, youdon’t love them. If youlove them, love all Pales-tinians, not half or a quar-ter of them. Iran only loves Hamas and IslamicJihad.”

Ambiguous message: That message is am-biguous from a Palestinian leader who referredto Iran as “a sister country” just last year whileannouncing his plans to visit. Is he critical of Iranoverall or is he angling for Iranian funding forthe Palestinian Authority? In any event, he didnot tell Tehran to stay out of Palestinian affairs.

It seems to me that President Abbas must ac-

knowledge the new regional reality and that Iranand its Lebanese satellite are inextricably linkedand share the same hostility to Arabs, in particu-lar toward Saudi Arabia and Gulf states.

In the current climate, fence-sitting is not anoption as the Lebanese government discovered

to its cost. We cannot be expected to continuegiving our diplomatic and financial support tostates or entities sympathetic to Hezbollah andIran or hand in glove with either behind the cur-tain.

We cannot be expected to continue giving ourdiplomatic and financial support to states or en-tities sympathetic to Hezbollah and Iran or handin glove with either behind the curtain

Throughout my adult life the Palestinian

cause has been dear to my heart and in my youthI considered the Egyptian President Jamal Abdel-Nasser a champion for his efforts to free the Pal-estinian people from occupation. Our pocketswere always open to Palestinian President YasserArafat who despite his faults was a Palestinian

patriot who devoted hislife to liberating Palestin-ian lands.

Unfortunately, hebacked the wrong horseduring the 1991 war withIraq to oust SaddamHussein’s forces fromKuwait when the Pales-tinians paid a price interms of reduced fund-ing.

Over time that hurtreceded, but I reckonGCC states, threatenedby Iran’s push for re-gional hegemony, maynot be so forgiving if thePalestinian leadershipplays both sides of thefence willing to shakehands with the devil inthe hope of receivinghandouts from our foes.

Moreover, Abbaswas wrong when he told Ahmadinejad that Iran“only loves Hamas and Islamic Jihad”. Love doesnot come into it. Despite their flowery rhetoricand threats targeting Israel which never amountto anything, neither Iran nor Hezbollah care aboutthe Palestinians and have done nothing tangibleto help them all these years. They cynically usetheir affiliations with Palestinian resistancegroups to bolster their credibility with Arabs. Inits early days Hezbollah wrote an open letter said

to be pledging allegiance to the AyatollahKhomeini and vowed to turn Lebanon into aShiite state. It has since re-jigged its manifestoto appear more benign.

Its goals are Iran’s goals. If it is so concernedabout the welfare of Palestinians why did it refuseto allow Palestinian refugees in Lebanon the rightto work and own their own homes? And if Iranwas serious about promoting Arab causes whydoes it oppress its Sunni minorities, including theArabs of Ahwaz deprived of decent jobs, homesand basic utilities? Author Trita Parsi, the founderand president of the National Iranian AmericanCouncil rightly asserts in his book “TreacherousAlliance” that Iran pays mere lip service to thePalestinian struggle whereas its real motivationis the export of Shiite ideology.

With all my respect to President Abbas, whois obliged to walk a tightrope between the de-mands of his people, the Israeli occupier and mili-tant groups, he cannot continue burying his headin the sand when it comes to the terroristHezbollah. He should publish a declaration dis-associating Palestinians from Hezbollah and Iranand ideally close the Palestinian mission inTehran. My message to Abu Mazen is to standwith us and we will stand with you!

—Courtesy: AA.[Khalaf Ahmad al-Habtoor is a prominent UAEbusinessman and public figure. He is Chairmanof the Al Habtoor Group - one of the most suc-cessful conglomerates in the Gulf. Al Habtoor isrenowned for his knowledge and views on inter-national political affairs; his philanthropic ac-tivity; his efforts to promote peace; and he haslong acted as an unofficial ambassador for hiscountry abroad. Writing extensively on both lo-cal and international politics, he publishes regu-lar articles in the media and has released a num-ber of books]

INDOMENI, GREECE—Hopeful refugeesflooded back Sunday to Greece’s over-whelmed Idomeni migrant camp on the bor-der with Macedonia, creating confusion, af-ter rumours that the closed fron-tier would be forced open.

The influx came as Greek au-thorities were trying to evacuatethe estimated 11,600 peoplestranded in the squalid camp afterBalkan states slammed shut themigrants’ route into the EuropeanUnion.

Dozens of hopeful refugeesgathered on railway tracks atIdomeni and at the fence on thefrontier, singing and waiting forothers like them to arrive, as Greekpolice in riot gear stood guard.

A young Syrian refugee toldthe Athens News Agency that therumour doing the rounds was thatinternational journalists and RedCross officials would help themforce their way across the fenceinto Macedonia.

“We heard today that the border willopen and we came here to cross the bor-der,” he said. “They told us that Red Crossand 500 journalists from all over the worldwill be with us,” he said, without specify-ing the source.

Another young Syrian refugee said hissister, who is living in Germany, read the same

Migrants flood to Greek camp atrumours, border will be forced open

claim on the Internet and alerted him.“People have been here for a long time. I

think it’s very dangerous to cross, especiallyfor the children but what should we do?” 24-

year-old Qasim Mosawy from Afghanistantold AFP.

Dozens of other migrants were travellingback to the Idomeni border through the fields,an AFP reporter said. Creating false hopes:“We are trying to step up our information cam-paign to the refugees. Some people for rea-sons we don’t know are creating false hopes”,

Giorgos Kyritsis, spokesman of the SOMPagency which is coordinating Athens’ responseto the refugee crisis, said.

Two weeks ago, hundreds of desperate

migrants were stopped by Macedonian troopsafter wading thigh-deep through a surgingriver to cross the border from Greece.

The migrants, who had set off fromIdomeni, clung perilously to a rope strungbetween the banks to cross north intoMacedonia, bypassing the closed regular bor-der crossing.—AFP

Tributes paid toMuslim

shopkeeper killedin UK

LONDON—Tributes were paidSunday to a Muslim shopkeeperkilled in what police describedas a “religiously prejudiced”attack, as a Muslim suspect re-mained in custody.

Asad Shah, 40, died afterbeing found with serious inju-ries outside his shop inGlasgow on Thursday evening.

He was believed to be amember of the minority

Ahmadi Muslim community,and media reports said he wasoriginally from Pakistan.

Police arrested a 32-year-oldMuslim man on Friday, and aspokeswoman said: “A full inves-tigation is underway to establishthe full circumstances surround-ing the death which is being treatedas religiously prejudiced.—AFP

ROME—An Algerian na-tional wanted by Belgiumover a probe into fake IDdocuments used by the Parisand Brussels attackers wasarrested in Italy on Saturday,

local media reported, citingpolice sources.

The suspect, named asDjamal Eddine Ouali, 40, wasdetained under a Europeanarrest warrant in the southernregion of Salerno, the reportssaid.

Ouali was arrested in thesouthwestern town of Bellizzias part of a joint operationbetween anti-terrorist forcesand Rome’s special opera-tions police, they said.

He was suspected of be-ing part of a criminal net-work that produced fakedocuments for illegal immi-gration, the AGI newsagency reported.

The alleged accomplice

Italy arrestsAlgerian suspect

in Brussels attacksBRUSSELS—Belgium’s inte-rior minister says the Belgiangovernment has invested $670million into police and securityservices over the past two yearsbut acknowledged that neglectover decades had caused defi-ciencies that have hampered aneffective response to violentextremism.

Minister Jan Jambon saiderrors were made in the run-upto the March 22 Brussels at-tacks that killed at least 31people and wounded 270 oth-ers, but says fresh investmentsneed time before they becomevisible. He said Sunday thathiring anti-terror specialistsand specialized equipmentcould not happen in weeks ormonths. Jambon says “it is alsonot because you put the moneyin now, that tomorrow all thisis visible on the ground.”Meanwhile on Sunday, Brus-sels prosecutors have chargedanother man with participationin a terrorist group, the Belgianpress agency Belga said. Belganamed the man arrested as A.Abderrahmane who prosecu-tors had said on Saturday wasbeing detained for a further 24hours after being shot during araid in the Brussels district of

Neglect halted anti-terrormoves: Belgian minister

China-Czechcoop to set

example forBaR initiativeBEIJING—China’s “Belt andRoad Initiative” will see new de-velopments when President XiJinping embarks on his maidenvisit to the Czech Republic onMonday. The two countries,though geographically distant,enjoy a traditional friendship thatkeeps strengthening over time.For Chinese born in the 1970s and1980s, the little mole in Krtek, thefirst foreign cartoon series intro-duced to China, is a most pleas-ant childhood memory. BedrichSmetana’s symphonic cycle MaVlast and Jaroslav Hasek’s TheGood Soldier Svejk are also fa-miliar masterpieces in China.

However, the country re-mains mysterious for many inChina. The upcoming visit, thefirst state visit by a Chinese presi-dent since the two countries es-tablished diplomatic ties 67 yearsago, indicates that the Central andEastern European nation will playa role in China’s global strategyand the bilateral ties will develop.

For China, the Czech Repub-lic, with gross domestic product(GDP) per capita of nearly 20,000U.S. dollars, is a partner withgreat potential. China is lookingto cooperate with the Czech Re-public in technology, in major in-dustrial sectors such as sustain-able energy, chemical, and ma-chinery, while the Czech Repub-lic is interested in China’s high-speed rail, nuclear power andother infrastructure experience aswell as capital flow. Currently,the Czech Republic is the secondbiggest trading partner of Chinain the Central and Eastern Euro-pean region, and China has beenthe Czech Republic’s largest trad-ing partner outside the EuropeanUnion.—Xinhua

China, Kenya to pushforward bilateral

cooperation

of the Brussels attackerswould be extradited to Bel-gium in the coming days, itadded. Suspicions were raisedafter local immigration offi-cials checked Ouali’s resi-

dency permit. Police had beensearching for a man with thesame name and belonging tothe same organization sinceJanuary 6.

Hundreds of digital pho-tographs were then seizedfrom a counterfeiter’s work-shop, including three of thosewho planned the deadly at-tacks in Paris in November.

One of those photo-graphed was NajimLaachraoui, a suicidebomber at Brussels airport,reports quoted police as say-ing. Investigations are ongo-ing as to how Ouali came tobe in Italy and into the net-works of which he may havebeen a part.—AFP

Schaerbeek.It said he was charged in connection with a related raid in France this week that authorities say foiled an apparent attack plot.

The prosecutor’s office could not immediately be reached for comment. —Reuters

NAIROBI—China and Kenya agreed to push forward bilat-eral pragmatic cooperation, as top Chinese legislator visitedthe East African country from Wednesday to Saturday.

During the official goodwill visit, Zhang Dejiang, Chair-man of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’sCongress (NPC), held meetings with Kenyan President UhuruKenyatta and parliament speakers in the capital city ofNairobi, and inspected China-Kenya cooperation projects inthe coastal city of Mombasa.

China and Kenya should seize the opportunities arisingfrom implementation of the landmark China-Africa summitin December, and push forward cooperation in constructionof projects of rail and port infrastructure as well as in indus-trial development and special economic zone building, Zhangtold Kenyatta on Thursday.

During the summit of the Forum on China-Africa Coop-eration (FOCAC) in South Africa’s Johannesburg in Decem-ber, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a raft of majorplans to boost China-Africa win-win cooperation.

Zhang’s current three-nation Africa visit, which also tookhim to Zambia and Rwanda, is aimed at pushing forwardimplementation of the outcomes of the FOCAC summit andpushing forward cooperation projects with relevant countries.

Kenya is a role model of China-Africa cooperation, Zhangsaid, noting bilateral cooperation has witnessed fruitful resultssince both sides have always respected and trusted each other.

The major plans announced by Xi highly accords withKenya’s development strategy, Kenyatta said, expressing will-ingness to enhance pragmatic cooperation with China andlearn from China’s experience in development and gover-nance.

On Saturday afternoon, the top Chinese legislator visitedthe site of construction of Mombasa West Station of theMombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, which is beingbuilt by a Chinese company.—Xinhua

Christians around world celebrate EasterVATICAN—Christians in the Holy Land and across the world arecelebrating Easter, commemorating the day followers believe Jesuswas resurrected in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.

The cavernous Holy Sepulcher church in Jerusalem was packedwith worshipers on Sunday. The site is where Christians believe Jesuswas crucified, buried and resurrected. Pope Francis was wrapping upa bleak week in Europe by presiding Saturday night over a solemnvigil service and ushering in Easter celebrations with a message ofhope. Francis entered the silent and darkened St. Peter’s Basilica withjust a single candle guiding him at the start of the Easter Vigil service.As he reached the altar, the basilica’s flood lights turned on in a sym-bolic show of light after the darkness of Jesus’ crucifixion. During the

lengthy service, which ended just before midnight, Francis baptized12 adults hailing from around the world. Later, the pope will presideover Easter Sunday Mass and offer his annual Easter blessing. Francisis expected to offer a message of hope following his bleak condemna-tions on Good Friday and earlier of the attacks by Islamic extremistsin Brussels and elsewhere. Pope Francis holds a candle as he leads theEaster vigil mass in Saint Peter’s basilica at the Vatican March 26,2016. (Reuters) During remarks Friday at the Colosseum capping the“Way of the Cross” procession re-enacting Jesus’ crucifixion, Francisdenounced the “terrorist acts committed by followers of some reli-gions which profane the name of God and which use the holy name tojustify their unprecedented violence.—AP

dernity and technological revolution, theregion is hurtling back to primitive beliefsand conflicts, as their proponents pursuetheir murderous campaigns. The falloutis not contained in the region. It is abso-lutely imperative for us that we steer clearof these internecine conflicts and sectar-ian schism. The not too dormant fault linescan erupt any time if we take a partisanstance.

President Rohani, talking to intellec-tuals and scholars last Saturday inIslamabad, lamented that Israel was securein the region while Muslims were killingone another in the name of sects and ide-ologies. He reminded his audience thatMuslims are one Ummah as they wereduring the period of Prophet (PBUH) andsaid that nobody asks if Saadi or Iqbal were

Sunni or Shia. Their message was inspir-ing and moving. Yet we know that the strifein the Middle East would continue and,therefore, Pakistan should continue to con-sistently pursue its equidistant and impar-tial policy.

The arrest of the Indian agentKulbhushan Yadav, on the eve of Presi-dent Rohani’s visit, may well be a sheercoincidence. Iran should heed Pakistan’srequest for cracking down on the Indiaespionage network abusing the Iranian soilto destabilize Pakistan. Iran has a tightcontrol over its territory and, therefore, itwould not be difficult for its authorities totrack down and dismantle this network.This would also help the two countries tofight the menace of terrorism together. Itis far more difficult in Afghanistan where

India is using ungoverned spaces to plotand execute subversive operations againstPakistan.

Finally, Iran is very much part ofChina’s grand One Belt One Road initia-tive. The Belt’s westward meandering cor-ridor would pass through Iran before head-ing towards Turkey and Europe. It is inour interest to lock in Iran’s participationin the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor,because this project, by its very definition,is transnational and cross-regional in or-der to maximum impact. During the Ira-nian President’s visit, the two sides ex-plored the possibility of collaboration ininfrastructure development and energyprojects. A CPEC-based partnership be-tween the two countries will further ce-ment their ties.

Pakistan’s ME Policy ...From Page 1

terrorism, sectarian clashes and target killings, therefore, theirarrest is being kept confidential.

During investigation from the suspects it has been revealedthat as many as 500 Indian trained terrorists posing as Muslimshave entered Pakistan and are indulged in promoting terrorism,religious conflicts, arousing anti-army sentiments and other anti-national activities. Sources report that in coming days moresignificant arrests are likely to be made. On the other hand, theteam investigating Kulbhushan Yadav has presented its report.

According to the report, the RAW agent has confessed ofgovernment deployment in the country. Moreover, the report alsostates that Yadav was also involved in funding for terrorism, sepa-ratism and sectarianism. Besides this his accomplices are stillpresent in Karachi and Balochistan.

RAW officer ...From Page 1

Sources said that the JIT team, whichreached New Delhi through a special air-craft, will be allowed to question witnessesof the attack.

The five-member team comprisesChief of Punjab’s Counter Terrorism De-partment, Additional Inspector General ofPolice Muhammad Tahir Rai, Lahore’sDeputy Director General Intelligence Bu-reau Mohammad Azim Arshad, Inter-Ser-vices Intelligence Lt Col Tanvir Ahmed,Military Intelligence Lt Col Irfan Mirzaand Gujaranwala CTD Investigating Of-ficer Shahid Tanveer.

Earlier on Friday, the Indian govern-ment had granted visas to all the five mem-bers of the JIT which has reportedly pre-pared a 50-point questionnaire for inves-

JIT in New Delhi ...From Page 1

ISLAMABAD—Minister for States andFrontier Region Lt. General (Retd)Abdul Qadir Baloch has said Pakistanwill ensure security of the borderingareas between Iran and Pakistan.

Talking to Islami Republic NewsAgency (IRNA), he said Pakistan couldensure desirable security for anythingwhich had to travel on ground betweenIran and Pakistan.

“Iran is capable of taking care ofproblems at its end and we are capableof handling the problems on our side,”he added.

The minister said that the visit of Ira-nian President would boost the economyof the both countries.

Abdul Qadir Baloch said that one

Most desirable securityto be ensured on border

with Iran: Balochmajor issue of Afghan refugees had alsodiscussed between Pakistan and Iranduring President Hassan Rouhani’s visit.

“We need to have a combined strat-egy to handle the situation of Afghanrefugees and this might get discussed be-tween the two sides,” he added.

To a question, he said,”There is lotof improvement on bordering areas ofPakistan and good cooperation is goingon between Pakistan and Afghanistanand also between Iran and Pakistan.”

He said that if peace was to bebrought back to Afghanistan, Pakistanand Iran both had to put their hands to-gether and help Afghanistan to come outof this turmoil.

To a question, he said Pakistan had

no territorial disputes with Iran and therewere no ideological differences betweenthe two. They were bound by culturalas well as historical relationship, headded.

He said Pakistan and Iran were closeneighbours and both could benefit fromeach other’s resources.

“We have the manpower and verygood areas where investments couldtake place, whereas, we can benefit alot from Iran in energy sector,” he said.

He stated that Pakistani agriculturesector was quite strong and could ex-port rice and fruit like oranges to Iran.“Other than agriculture we can exportlivestock, as it offers a big scope for eco-nomic cooperation,” he added.—APP

KARACHI: Sindh National Party held a Peace Walk rally on Sunday.—PO photo

shaws and taxis.” He said the crowd was “unusually large”because of Easter. “The roads were also jammed and queues ofvehicles could be seen till Moon Market.”

Many eyewitnesses said there was no security present inand around the park. A man, talking to media, said: “The parkis huge and has many entrance gates. There were almost negli-gible security personnel present there.”

A Rescue 1122 spokesman confirmed that an emergencycall was received at around 6:44pm and that over 20 ambu-lances reached the site.

Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique ap-pealed to the citizens to donate blood in the hospitals.

Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced three-day mourning after the suicide attack. He also sought a reportfrom IG Punjab about the incident.

Dozens of ambulances were seen racing to the park, situ-ated near the centre of the city with many women and childrenamong the dead and wounded.

The army was called in and soldiers were at the scene help-ing with rescue operations and security.

A medical superintendent at Jinnah Hospital, who gave hisname only as Dr Ashraf, told media more than 40 dead bodieshad arrived at the hospital.

He described a nightmarish scene at the hospital, with stafftreating casualties on floors and in corridors.

One man said, “It (park) was overcrowded because of Eas-ter, there were a lot of Christians there. It was so crowded Itold my family not to go.”

Meanwhile, President Mamnoon Hussain, and Prime Min-ister Nawaz Sharif have expressed thier grief and shock overthe loss of precious lives in the deadly blast in the heart ofLahore.

The President said that such cowardice acts could not shakethe nation’s resolve against the menace of extremism and ter-rorism. He said security and safety to the life and property ofeach citizen would be ensured and the operation Zarb-e-Azbwould continue till elimination of the terrorism. The gov-ernment would fully protect its citizens, he added.

The Prime Minister strongly condemned the blast incidentand expressed his grief and sorrow over the

loss of innocent lives. He also directed the authorities toensure special medical care to the injured.

Reacting over the incident Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chair-man Imran Khan said: “I strongly condemn the terror attack inLahore in which innocent citizens including women and chil-dren have lost their lives”. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, ChairmanPakistan People’s Party strongly condemning the suicide at-tack said that terrorists were choosing innocent targets to scarethe people of Pakistan, hold them hostage and drift the historyagainst the imaginations and vision of the founding fathers ofthe country.

Bilawal Bhutto said such coward attacks won’t be able toquell the commitment and valour of the nation to fight the mon-ster of terrorism. “Narrative built against the terrorism by PPPand other democratic parties through huge sacrifices won’t re-verse,” he added.

He pointed out that such attacks by terrorists in Punjab re-quire stern action and operation against the so far untouchedquarters of terror nurseries. He expressed sympathies with thosewho lost their loved ones in the attack and asked the govern-ment for best possible medical facilities to the injured.

Lahore blast ...From Page 1

ister, Narendra Modi, gave atelephone call to Prime Minis-ter Nawaz Sharif on Sundayand condemned the blast thattook place in Gulshan IqbalPark.

Premier Modi expressedsolidarity with the victims ofthe families of the horrific in-cident and stated that attack-ing women and children is ancowardly attack that must becondemned. Afghanistan andCanada are also among thecountries that condemneddeadly attack in Lahore thatleft at least 69 people dead andinjured over 300 persons in-jured.

“The Government of Af-ghanistan condemns today’sterrorist attack in Lahore inwhich many innocent civilianslost their lives,” Afghan Presi-dent Ashraf Ghani wrote on hisTwitter account. Ghani stressedupon a need to increase re-gional cooperation to confrontthe scourge of terrorism. TheCanadian Prime Minister, Jus-tin Trudeau, has also de-nounced the bombing inLahore.

Condemnation...From Page 1

Minister for Finance Ishaq Darand senior officials. Accordingto sources, Prime MinisterSharif has postponed his sched-uled visit to United Kingdomdue to the attack.

The prime minister, how-ever, will embark on his US visiton March 29 as per schedule.Sources add that Prime Minis-ter will fly to Lahore today andsee the injured persons.

PMreviews...

From Page 1

tigating the Pathankot incident.“The JIT’s modus operandi and mo-

dalities have been agreed between the Pa-kistani and Indian authorities,” said a se-nior member of the JIT adding the bodywants to stay there for a week to completethe probe.

Pakistani officials have already con-veyed to their Indian counterparts that theJIT requires a minimum 7-day stay acrossthe border to carry forward the investiga-tion. “Concerned authorities of both thecountries had agreed on the mandate andworking of the JIT and hoped that the is-sue of stay would be solved amicably,”claimed the JIT member.

The JIT member further claimed thatit would enjoy the same power, mandate

and authority in India as in Pakistan. “TheJIT would work under its own CrPC inIndia and would visit the crime scene andcollect evidences.”

Further, the JIT will meet witnessesto record their statements and will call onIndian investigation officers who alreadycarried out the investigation for sharinginformation.

This is be the first time that Pakistaniintelligence and police officials have trav-elled to India to investigate a terror attack.The team, which includes officers fromCTD, IB, MI and ISI, will examine thearms used by the terrorists carrying outthe assault on IAF base in Pathankot be-sides recording the statements of the vic-tims.

COASorders....

From Page 1

“The COAS directed In-tell igence Agencies con-cerned to commence opera-tions as soon as possible tofind linkages and perpetra-tors of Lahore suicide at-tack,” tweeted the DG ISPR.

The Army Chief directedthat ‘we must bring the kill-ers of our innocent brothers,sisters and children to justice’.“Will never allow these sav-age inhumans to over run ourlife and liberty,” he added.

Taliban gundown provincial

top judgeKABUL—An Afghan officialsays insurgents have killedthe top judge on a provincialappeals court . JawedSalangi, spokesman for thegovernor of the easternGhazni province, said Sun-day that Mohammad Anwarwas ambushed and shotwhile in neighbouringWardak province the day be-fore.—AP

RIYADH—Military chiefs from Muslim na-tions have pledged to dry up terrorists’ re-sources, a Saudi military spokesman said onSunday.

Brig. Gen. Ahmad Al-Assiri said the rep-resentatives of the newly-formed IslamicMilitary Counter Terrorism Coalition —made up of 34 Muslim countries — dis-cussed “ideological, media, financial andmilitary” aspects to combat terrorism dur-ing their first meeting in Riyadh on Sunday.

He also said the attendance of 39 Mus-lim nations, not all of which were membersof the coalition, “sends a strong message onthe importance and nature of the alliance,”adding that such force is needed in the faceof “Daesh recreating Muslims and Arabs toput them in confrontation with the world.”

Al-Assiri said the officials met to dis-cuss a “unified” strategy to degrade terror-ism, and it is based on “proposed initiatives.”

“Today’s meeting is to lay the founda-tion stone for the coalition,” he said, addingthat the meeting “is about proposed initia-tives. Today we did not discuss any indi-vidual cases.”

He, however, said: “Saudi Arabia haspresented a paper to follow the resources ofterrorism funding.”

The spokesman emphasized that the coa-lition will work according to “international

Coordination vitalto crush terrorism

law and standards,” dismissing that anycountry “would take a unilateral decision.”

“Sovereignty is respected,” he reiterated,reports Arab News.

“States that want a military interventionin their countries would lead the mission.”

While many of the Muslim states in themeeting — including Saudi Arabia, Turkeyand the UAE — are also part of the US-ledcoalition against Daesh, the Islamic Alli-ance would not only target the extremistgroup but “other terrorist groups in a widersense.”

The meeting, considered the first of itskind, aims to coordinate efforts among the34 Muslim countries involved in the alliance.

The coalition was announced in Decem-ber by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed binSalman in a bid to establish a unified Mus-lim body to fight terrorism.

The deputy crown prince met separatelyon Sunday with the chiefs of staff of thecountries participating in the military alli-ance.

During the talks, he emphasized the im-portance of coordinating the strategic effortsamong the Islamic countries in confrontingand countering terrorism.

The coalition started through the estab-lishment of a joint operations center inRiyadh.

Six teamsconstituted

for pre-floodinspections

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—On the instruc-tions of Provincial IrrigationMinister, Mian Yawar Zaman,six high level teams have beenconstituted by the IrrigationDepartment to inspect theFlood Bunds, Flood ProtectionWorks and Breaching Sectionsto check their status of mainte-nance and readiness to meet thechallenges of flood emergen-cies during the year 2016.

According to details, theteam constituted under super-vision of Afzal Anjum Toor,Deputy General Manager(PIDA), Lahore will conductinspection of DG Khan Zone.

The team headed by TahirAnjum Iqbal Qureshi, Superin-tending Engineer, MachineryCircle, Lahore will inspectFaisalabad Zone and submit itsreport to the Department.

The team headed byAsghar Hameed, Superintend-ing Engineer, Drainage Circle,Faisalabad has been entrustedto inspect Multan Zone. Simi-larly, the team of RanaMuhammad Latif, Superin-tending Engineer, Link Circle,Lahore will inspect the LahoreZone.

Meanwhile, the SahiwalZone has been given to theteam headed by Saeed-ul-Hassan Hashmi, Superintend-ing Engineer, Nilibar CanalCircle, Sahiwal.

The team headed by Sh.Muhammad Qasim Saeed,Superintending Engineer,Haveli Canal Circle, Multanwill visit and inspectBahawalpur Zone.

Exam centresKARACHI—The Administra-tor of District Municipal Cor-poration (DMC) Korangi,Ghulam Rasool, on Sundayvisited various areas to inspectthe arrangements for cleanli-ness especially around the cen-tres for the Matric examina-tions commencing from March28.

An official said that the ad-ministrator also directed theconcerned officials to improvethe sewerage system so thatthere is no accumulation of wa-ter around the examinationscentres.

He also instructed that sprayshould also be arranged on thedaily basis. The administratoralso called for steps to resolve thecivic problems in the area besidesmaintenance of cleanliness aswell as beautification.—APP

Published by: Zahid Malik, Printed by Gauhar Zahid Malik,33-Queens Road, Lahore at Barex Printers.

Victims of ‘blind,brutalterrorism’VATICAN

CITY—PopeFrancis temperedhis Easter Sundaymessage of Christian hopewith a denunciation of“blind” terrorism, recallingvictims of attacks in Europe,Africa and elsewhere, as wellas expressing dismay thatpeople fleeing war or povertyare being denied welcome asEuropean countries squabbleover the refugee crisis. Tens ofthousands of people patientlyendured long lines, backpackinspections and metal-detectingchecks Sunday to enter St.Peter’s Square. Under abrilliant sun, they listened toFrancis deliver the traditionalnoon Easter speech from thecentral balcony of St. Peter’sBasilica. To their delight,Francis completed a whirlthrough the square, madecolorful with sprays of tulipsand other spring flowers, in hisopen-topped pope-mobile aftercelebrating Mass on the stepsof the basilica.—AP

Muqtada startssit-inBAGHDAD—Security forcesstepped aside toallow influentialIraqi Shiite clericMuqtada al-Sadr to start hissit-in in Baghdad’s highlyfortified Green Zone Sundayafter weeks of protests in theIraqi capital. Al-Sadr hasrepeatedly threatened tostorm the compound, which isclosed to most Iraqis andhouses the country’s politicalelite as well as most of thecity’s foreign embassies, ifhis demands for govern-ment overhaul were notmet. Al-Sadr told hissupporters he would enterthe compound as their“representative.” InFebruary, Al-Sadr de-manded the governmenttackle corruption byreplacing key politicianswith technocrats. —AP

Netanyahu defendsIsraeli armyJERUSALEM—Prime MinisterBenjaminNetanyahudefended theIsraeli armySunday as controversy grippedthe country over a soldiercaught on video shooting aPalestinian assailant in thehead as he lay on the ground.The issue reportedly sparked abitter argument behind closeddoors at the Israeligovernment’s weekly cabinetmeeting on Sunday.Thursday’s shooting incidentled to the soldier’s arrest andstrong condemnation frommilitary officials, but somerightwing politicians and theirsupporters have reactedangrily to the response.Netanyahu on Thursday joinedcondemnations of the soldier’sbehaviour.—AFP

DAMASCUS—Syrian governmentforces backed by Russian airstrikesdrove Islamic State fighters fromPalmyra on Sunday, ending thegroup’s 10-month reign of terror overa town whose famed 2,000-year-oldruins once drew tens of thousands ofvisitors each year.

Government forces had been onthe offensive for nearly three weeksto try to retake the central town,known among Syrians as the “Brideof the Desert,” which fell to the ex-tremists last May. Their advancemarks the latest in a series of setbacksfor IS, which has come under mount-ing pressure on several fronts in Iraqand Syria in recent months.

Syrian forces retake historic city of Palmyra from ISAssad hails as ‘important achievement’

President Bashar Assad describedthe Palmyra operation as a “signifi-cant achievement” offering “new evi-dence of the effectiveness of the strat-egy espoused by the Syrian army andits allies in the war against terrorism.”

Gen. Ali Mayhoub announced onthe station that that the fall of Palmyra“directs a fatal blow to Daesh, under-mines the morale of its mercenaries,and ushers in the start of its defeatand retreat,” referring to IS by its Ara-bic acronym. He said it lays theground for further advances towardRaqqa, the IS group’s de facto capi-tal, and Deir el-Zour, an eastern cityit largely controls.

Troops in Palmyra are now dis-

mantling explosive booby trapsplanted by IS, the station reported.State TV and a Britain-based moni-toring group later reported that troopscaptured a military airport to the east.

The advance marks a strategicand symbolic victory for the govern-ment, which has sought to portray it-self as a bulwark against terrorism.The town was an important junctureon an IS supply line connecting itsterritory in central and northern Syriato the Anbar province in Iraq, wherethe group also holds territory.

IS drove government forces fromPalmyra in a matter of days last Mayand later demolished some of the best-known monuments in its UNESCO

world heritage site, including twolarge temples dating back more than1,800 years and a Roman triumphalarchway.

State TV showed the rubble leftover from the destruction of theTemple of Bel as well as the damagedarchway, the supports of which werestill standing. It said a statue ofZenobia, the 3rd century queen whoruled an independent state fromPalmyra and figures strongly in Syr-ian lore, was missing. Many of theRoman colonnades, however, werestill standing.

Still, state media reported that alion statue dating back to the 2nd cen-tury, previously thought to have been

destroyed by IS militants, was foundin a damaged but recoverable condi-tion.

The extremists beheaded thearchaeological site’s 81-year-olddirector Riad al-Asaad last Augustafter he reportedly refused to di-vulge where authorities had hiddentreasures before the group swept in.They have destroyed a number ofhistorical sites across their self-de-clared caliphate, viewing such ru-ins as monuments to idolatry.

IS also demolished Palmyra’sinfamous Tadmur prison, wherethousands of government oppo-n e n t s w e r e r e p o r t e d l y t o r -tured.—AP

WASHINGTON—Bernie Sand-ers scored three wins in Westerncaucus contests, giving a pow-erful psychological boost to hissupporters but doing little tomove him closer to securing theDemocratic nomination.

While results in Washington,Alaska and Hawaii barely dentedHillary Clinton’s significant del-egate lead, Sanders’ wins on Sat-urday underscored her persistentvulnerabilities within her ownparty, particularly with youngvoters and activists who havebeen inspired by her rival’sunapologetically liberal mes-sage.

In an interview with TheAssociated Press, Sanders casthis performance as part of aWestern comeback, saying heexpects to close the delegate gapwith Clinton as the contestmoves to the more liberal north-eastern states, including herhome state of New York. He alsosaid his campaign is increasingits outreach to superdelegates,the party insiders who can pickeither candidate and are over-whelmingly with Clinton.

“The Deep South is a veryconservative part of the country,”he said. “Now that we’re head-ing into a progressive part of thecountry, we expect to do muchbetter.”

He added: “There is a pathto victory.” With Clinton far infront, however, it is a difficultpath.

Clinton anticipated thelosses: She barely campaignedin the three states, making just

Sanders wins 3 states;Clinton retains big lead

one day of stops in Washingtonstate, and was spending the Eas-ter weekend with her family.

She is turning her focus tothe April 19 contest in New York,seeking to win a large share ofthe delegates at stake and toavoid the blow of losing to Sand-ers in a state she represented inthe Senate. She is trying to lockup an even larger share of del-egates in five northeastern con-tests a week later, hoping to de-liver a big enough haul to unifythe Democratic Party and rel-egate Sanders to little more thana protest candidate.

Sanders, who’s found somesuccess in the industrial Mid-west, wants to leverage hisworking-class support and fieryarguments against free tradeinto an April 5 victory in del-

egate-rich Wisconsin. He alsoplans to compete fiercely inNew York and is pushing for theparty to schedule a debate in thestate, saying in the interviewthat it would be “really absurd”if one did not take place.

After Sanders’ three winson Saturday, Clinton held a del-egate lead of 1,243 to 975 overSanders, according to an Asso-ciated Press analysis, an advan-tage that expands to 1,712 to1,004 once the superdelegatesare included. It takes 2,383 del-egates to win.

Based on the AP count,Sanders needs to win morethan 57 percent of the remain-ing delegates from primariesand caucuses to have a major-ity of those delegates by June’send..—AP

RAHIM YAR KHAN—In hisfresh outburst, Chairman Paki-stan People’s Party, BilawalBhutto Zardari, on Sundaydubbed country’s parliament,judiciary and media as rubber-stamp.

“In Pakistan, there is a rub-ber stamp parliament, a rubberstamp media, rubber stamp ju-diciary, rubber stamp bureau-cracy, against which PakistanPeople’s Party has to launch itsstruggle,” he said.

The young PPP leader wasaddressing party supporters inin Rahim Yar Khan city dur-ing his visit that is aimed atstrengthening the party andmobilizing workers in PML-N’s stronghold.

Addressing a party publicmeeting in Rahim Yar Khan,Bilawal severely criticised rul-ing PML-N for its ‘anti-people’policies.

Claiming that SouthPunjab cities are ignored by theprovincial government,Bilawal advocated creation ofa new province in SouthPunjab to end ‘sense of depri-vation’ of the masses.

Addressing the newly

STOCKHOLM—Dreams of fame and fortuneturned into a nightmare for a once-renownedItalian surgeon who compared himself to Doc-tor Frankenstein and now stands accused of us-ing patients for experiments.

Sweden’s Karolinska Institute (KI), whichawards the Nobel Prize for Medicine, fired PaoloMacchiarini this week after years of controversy.

A pioneer in regenerative medicine, PaoloMacchiarini was born in Switzerland in 1958and won international renown in 2008 after un-dertaking a grafted windpipe transplant usingstem cells. In medical circles, his star was ris-ing, and he was invited to Stockholm’s KI as avisiting professor in 2010. He attained worldfame for completing the first synthetic tracheatransplant using stem cells in 2011.

Macchiarini used an ingenious artificialwindpipe made of plastic and seeded it with thepatient’s own stem cells, which are immaturecells that grow into specialised cells that ulti-mately make up each of the body’s organs.

His work was initially hailed as a game-changer for transplant medicine, with the sur-geon performing three such operations inStockholm and five others around the world.“We want to create new organs, like Franken-stein,” he said in a documentary broadcast onSwedish public television in January 2016.

Bilawal dubsparliament, judiciary,media ‘rubber-stamp’

Disgraced surgeon’sspoiled dreams of fame

But by that time, his star was fading fast.His troubles began back in 2014 after sev-

eral surgeons at KI filed a complaint allegingthat Macchiarini had downplayed the risks of theprocedure. Six of his eight patients reportedlydied, and allegations ensued that the risky pro-cedure had been carried out on at least one indi-vidual who had not, at the time, been criticallyill.

Karolinska suspended all synthetic tracheatransplants shortly after.Macchiarini also carried out clinical work inKrasnodar, Russia where patients undergo sur-gery for research purposes.

But his time there was overshadowed by aninternal investigation at KI, as well as the grow-ing number of news stories in the Italian andSwedish media about the doctor’s troubled past.Prosecutors in Florence, Italy have begun a pre-liminary investigation into Macchiarini after pa-tients accused him of violating the HippocraticOath by charging excessive sums of money,sometimes as much as 150,000 euros ($170,000).

Swedish police are investigating Macchiarinion suspicion of gross negligent manslaughter andbodily harm, which could entail up to six yearsin prison. On Wednesday, the Karolinska Insti-tute decided to dismiss him, permanently cut-ting ties with the surgeon.—AFP

Junaid Jamshedassaulted by

charged crowdat airport

ISLAMABAD—A charged crowdat the Benazir Bhutto Interna-tional Airport assaulted singer-turned-evangelist JunaidJamshed, it emerged late Satur-day night. A disturbing video ofthe attack made the rounds onsocial media.

A handful of people chantedslogans against the preacher,claiming he had committed blas-phemy, and lunged at him. Theystruck several blows and thenmomentarily released Jamshed,only to attack him again.

“We have been looking foryou,” one male voice is heard say-ing in the footage.

“Hit him, him him,” theyshouted.

Visibly shaken, Jamshedmaintained silence for the mostpart and offered the crowd to“talk” as the men confronted him.Jamshed then retreated into theairport’s arrival lounge.

The episode comes over ayear after a controversy thatpushed Jamshed into hiding, as hebecame the target of the wrath ofright-wing groups over blas-phemy allegations. He later of-fered a public apology in whichhe said he was “accepting his mis-take” and asked for forgiveness.The blasphemy case against himwas registered in December 2014on the directives of a district andsessions court. Jamshed wasbooked over one of his televisedsermons that was thought to con-tain blasphemous remarks abouta wife of Prophet Muhammad(Peace Be Upon Him).

The case had been registeredon a complaint of Mobin Qadri, aleader of the Sunni Tehreek, at theRisala police station under Sec-tions 295-C (use of derogatoryremarks in respect of the HolyProphet) and 298-A (use of de-rogatory remarks etc. in respectof Holy Personage) of the Paki-stan Penal Code, police said at thetime.—NNI/Sabah

Mob attacksKarachi PressClub, assaults

journalistsSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Dozens of assail-ants stormed the Karachi PressClub on Sunday, beat up jour-nalists and snatched cameras,police said.

A charged mob comprising60 to 70 people forced theirway into the press club and as-saulted journalists. The assail-ants also tried to set the pressclub and Jaag TV’s DSNG onfire as they were carryingpetrol, police said.

“It was an organized attack.The mob was equipped withpetrol bomb and arms,” a wit-ness said.

Law enforcement person-nel reached the press club andlaunched a probe. According toreports, around 60 to 70 peoplecarried out the attack and tookaway at least five cameras.

People took to Twitter todenounce the mob violence andtermed it as an attack on free-dom of expression.

Fazil Jamili, President ofKarachi Press Club, con-demned the incident, sayingthat the outlaws stole televisioncameras and other equipment.

elected Local Government’sChairmen here in Jamal DinWali on Sunday Bilawal saidthat there is no democracy inthe Punjab, adding that the dic-tatorship of ‘Throne of Lahore’isn’t acceptable at any cost.

The PPP Chairman ad-vised the party’s LG represen-tatives to maintain contactwith the people because both‘media and judiciary are noton their side’.

He said the PPP allowedPunjab government a ‘honeymoon period’ by refrainingfrom any opposition in theprovince.

“But, Nawaz Sharif andShahbaz Sharif could not evendigest just one speech,” headded.

He complained that duringhis rally loadshedding wascarried out and even the soundsystem was disrupted.

Later, talking to mediapersons he said the numberof times Nawaz Sharif un-dertook foreign trips out-strips his visits to the parlia-ment. “Isn’t he answerable tothe people,” he ques-tioned.—NNI/Sabah

Chairman PSGPCSham Singhpasses away

ISLAMABAD—Chairman Paki-stan Sikh Gurdwara PrabandhakCommittee (PSGPC) SardarSham Singh died on Sunday. Hislast rites were performed atNankana Sahib on Sunday after-noon.

The rituals were attendedamong others by Evacuee TrustProperty Board ChairmanSiddique-ul-Farooq, senior offi-cials of the Board and leaders ofthe Sikh community in Pakistan.

Siddiq-ul-Farooq expressedcondolence with the bereavedfamily on behalf of the federalgovernment and praised thedeceased’s services for better-ment of Sikh community. PrimeMinister Muhammad NawazSharif has also expressed deepgrief and sorrow over the demiseof Sardar Sham Singh.—INP

MAKHMUR, Iraq—Thousands of desperate civil-ians were fleeing fighting Sunday on the new frontopened by Iraqi forces against the Daesh groupsouth of the city of Mosul.

Families crammed in the back of pickuptrucks, sometimes bringing dead and woundedwith them, emerged from the dust after crossingthe front line and were met by Kurdish forces.Iraqi army troops and allied paramilitary fighterson Thursday launched a major offensive aimedat retaking the northern Nineveh province, thecapital of which, Mosul, is the group’s main hubin Iraq.

The forces have been advancing from theirbase in Makhmur toward the town of Qayyarah,about 60 kilometers south of Mosul.

Growing numbers of civilians have been flee-ing the advance to Makhmur where they are be-ing assisted by Kurdish peshmerga forces.

“So far we have received around 3,000 peopleand the numbers are growing every day,” AliKhodeir Ahmed, a member of Nineveh’s provin-

Thousands of Iraqis fleefighting south of Mosul

cial council, told AFP in Makhmur.“But there are no services offered to them by

the Iraqi government, we have to put them up ina stadium in Makhmur,” he said.

The Iraqi government has described the ad-vance as the first phase of what is expected to bea long and difficult operation to retake Mosul,the country’s second city and the largest urbancenter in Daesh’s cross-border “caliphate.”In the desert west of Makhmur, dust storms werewhipped up by the line of vehicles fleeing Daesh-held territory, including a pickup carrying fourwomen and 10 children in the back.

A bearded man in a yellow dishdasha tradi-tional gown emerged from the dust, holding thebody of a young girl wrapped in a blanket.“She is dead, she is dead,” he cried, his face cakedin dust.

His daughter, whose back was riddled withshrapnel when shells rained down on their es-cape, was covered in blood. “Some entire fami-lies have died,” the father said.—AFP

RAWALPINDI: Sarwat Ejaz Qadri addressing Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah conference on Chehlum of Mumtaz Hussain Qadri.

IT’S NO secret: too much salt is bad forus. It can increase blood pressure, raisingthe risk of heart attack, stroke, heart dis-

ease and more. But two new studies haveidentified another downfall of a high salt in-take - it can lead to over con-sumption of fatty foods, in-creasing the risk of obesity.Researchers say the studies- published in the Journal ofNutrition and ChemicalSenses - support calls for thefood industry to lower thesalt, or sodium, intake offood products.

Both studies were con-ducted by Prof. RussellKeast and colleagues fromDeakin University in Aus-tralia. The Dietary Guide-lines for Americans recom-mend individuals aged 2-50limit sodium intake to lessthan 2,300 mg daily, whilethose aged 51 and older andpeople who have diabetes,high blood pressure or kidney disease shouldconsume no more than 1,500 mg of sodiumdaily. However, it is estimated that the aver-age American consumes sodium at well abovethese guidelines - around 3,300 mg daily.

While you may not be heavy handed withthe salt shaker, it is processed foods and res-taurant meals that are the primary culprit,accounting for more than 75% of our sodiumintake. Previous research from Prof. Keastand colleagues, including a study reported byMedical News Today earlier this year, sug-gested that individuals who are more sensi-tive to the taste of fat are more likely to eatfatty foods, putting them at greater risk of obe-

Salt could lead to weight gainby driving fatty food intake

sity. Their latest studies build on that research,suggesting that the amount of salt in a certainfood may influence how much we eat.

For the first study, the team set out to in-vestigate the effects of salt on the taste of fat

and food preference. The re-searchers enrolled 49 healthyparticipants aged 18-54 andasked them to taste a variety oftomato soups that had four dif-ferent fat concentrations (0%,5%, 10% and 20%) and fivedifferent salt concentrations(0.04% - no added salt - 0.25%,0.5%, 1% and 2%). After con-suming the soups, participantswere asked to rank the pleas-antness and desire to eat eachsoup, as well as the perceivedfattiness and saltiness of eachsoup.

Fat taste sensitivity amongparticipants was measured bytheir ability to taste oleic acid -a fatty acid in vegetable fats andoils - at various concentrations

in long-life skimmed milk. The researchersfound that salt is a major player in the pleas-antness of a food, with rating of food pleas-antness varying greatly dependent on differ-ent salt contents; a salt concentration of 0.25-5% rated as most pleasant.

Surprisingly, they found this was not somuch the case with fat content; no differencein food pleasantness was found between fatconcentrations of 5%, 10% or 15%, though afat content of 20% was rated as less pleasant.“We expected to find an increase in pleasant-ness in the 5% and 10% fat soups, but pleas-antness did not differ between the soups with0%, 5% and 10% fat,” note the authors.

Adviser to PM on National History and Literary Heritage Irfan Siddiqui inaugurating Shehr-e-Kitab at Jinnah Super Market.—APP

A model walks on ramp during Islamabad Fashion Week at Pak China Friendship Centre.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Haq KhateebHussain Badshah Sarkar, Pirof Balawara Sharif, TehsilKotli Sattian, arrived inIslamabad late Saturday nightto address hundreds and thou-sands of devotees here at F-11 Cricket Ground. The devo-tees of the Pir had organizeda conference ‘Labaik YaRasul Allah’ and one couldsee men, women, childrenand elderly persons, thehealthy as well as the sickmaking a beeline to thecricket ground of the SectorF-11 to glean pearls of wis-

Hazrat Sahibzada Haq Khateeb Hussain Ali Badshah Sarkar addressing the 4th Annual Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Confer-ence in the capital.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

dom from the Pir’s sermon.Allama Riaz Hussain Shah

also addressed the gathering.Before the address, noted NaatKhwan and Qaris warmed theaudience with their pure melo-dious voice.

In his address Pir HaqKhateeb Hussain Shah askedthose who had gathered to lis-ten to his sermon to hold firmlycord of Allah and never indulgein sects and sectarianism. ToAllah Almight only he who ispious and noble in his deeds isdear, said Pir Khateeb. He alsoexpressed his surprise at thepeople who don’t realize thetreasures of wisdom and guid-

ance that lie in the teachings ofHoly Prophet (SAW).

Each word of our HolyProphet is like a gem of wis-dom and he/she is luck whodoesn’t make full use of theHazrat Muhammad (SAW)golden words,” said he to thepeople who were not only in-side the ground but were alsositting on the roads adjacent tothe cricket ground. PirKhateeb is considered amythological character for hisfollowers as he seldom comesout of his hut and in Saturdaysermon people, particularlyhis devotees were excited tofind their young Pir among

them.At the end of his sermon,

he prayed for the health andrecovery of the ailing personswho had arrived at the venuecovering a distance of hun-dreds of miles.

Allama Riaz Hussainalso preached universal val-ues of Islam: Brotherhoodand peace. Islam and theProphet of Islam alwayspreached love, peace andkindness. Since we representIslam, we should act onthese principles. The worldwill automatically start lov-ing us and respecting ourreligion, he said.

Balawara Sharif’s Pir asks masses to truly follow path of Prophet (SAW)

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Capital DevelopmentAuthority (CDA) would construct fivemulti level parking plazas at busiestpoints of the city to help overcomingparking woes and easing traffic pressurein the city.

The parking plazas would be con-structed in Blue Area and other busiestareas of the city. CDA had allocated asum of Rs 256.057 million for construct-ing parking plazas during financial years2014-15 and 2015-16. According tobreakup, Rs 169.922 million had beenallocated for constructing parking pla-zas during 2014-15 and Rs 86.135 mil-lion for completing the task during 2015-16.

The planning and development de-partment Capital Development Author-ity (CDA) has almost finalised the planfor constructing five Parking Plazas invarious areas of the city. Parking plazasare imperative not only to overcome theparking problems but also to counter in-creasing car-lifting incidents in the fed-eral capital.

Traffic problems and car thefts canbe overcome to a great extent by con-structing proper multi level car parkingplazas.

Parking plazas would be constructednear G-6, Parade Ground in south ofMetro Station, F-7 Stock Exchangesouth of metro station, F-7 north of Sev-enth Avenue, F-8, Pakistan Institute ofMedical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital andF-8, Ketchery Crossing.Plazas wouldhelp easing traffic congestion.

Shortage of parking space in BlueArea and other major markets of the cityincluding Aabpara, Super, Jinnah Superand Karachi Company has not only ag-gravated traffic woes but also increasedcar-lifting incidents in the federal capi-tal, police and CDA officials told mediathat food courts would also be con-structed near these plazas, according toCDA, survey had also been completedfor pin pointing suitable places for con-structing parking plazas.

It merits mentioning here that CDAhas already constructed two multi levelPublic Car Parking in Jinnah Super Mar-ket (F-7 Markaz) with the capacity to

park 440 vehicles.Meanwhile, Capital Development

Authority (CDA) has planted 375,502saplings from its own nurseries in lasttwo years at a cost of only Rs six mil-lion.

Capital Development Authority(CDA) is planting 450,000 more sap-lings in the Federal Capital in collabo-ration with Non-GovernmentalOrganisations (NGOs) and different in-stitutions this year.

According to a document, the plantswere obtained from civic authority’sown nurseries.

Meanwhile out of 450,000 saplings,which includes Alestonia ,Silver Oak,Legustornea, Argun and Gab bets etcwould be planted in different areas ofIslamabad this year.

CDA would plant 225,000 plants inthe rural areas of the city while 75,000saplings would be planted in the urbanareas particularly in different residen-tial sectors, median strips of avenues,green belts along major highways andparks to eventually help enhance natu-ral beauty of the capital.

Five multi-storey parkingplazas to be constructed tohelp ease traffic congestion

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A PC-I is under considerationwith the government for construction of 200bedded Islamabad General Hospital at Tarlai,aimed at ensuring more health facilities inrural areas of Federal Capital.

A token fund of Rs. 10 million has al-ready been allocated in current Public Sec-tor Development Programme (PSDP) 2015-16 for the project which would have an esti-mated cost of Rs. 2722.56 million.

Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Con-trol has highlighted steps being taken by thegovernment for establishment of hospitalsand more health facilities in rural areas ofIslamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and saidconstruction work is underway to establishmore Basic Health Units (BHUs). These in-clude construction of BHU at Tarnol and

BHU at Kirpa.The Ministry said there is no major gov-

ernment hospital in rural areas of ICT. Pres-ently, there are 03 Rural Health Centers func-tioning under administrative control ofHealth Department, ICT to provide healthfacilities to population.

These are Rural Health Centre Tarlai, Ru-ral Health Centre Barakahu and Rural HealthCentre Sihala.

It said besides 14 Basic Health Units arealso functioning in rural areas of ICT andthese are BHU Rawat, BHU Gagri, BHUBukhar, BHU Bhimber Trar, BHU Sohan,BHU Jagiot, BHU Jhangi Syeddan, BHUChirah, BHU Turmair, BHU Pind Begwal,BHU Phulgran, BHU Shahdara, BHUGokina, and BHU Shah Allah Ditta.

In addition, one dispensary is also func-tioning at Model Town Hamak, Islamabad.

200 bed General Hospitalto be built at Tarlai

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Adviser toPrime Minister on NationalHistory & Literary Heritage,Irfan Siddiqui has pinnedhopes on books and reading ofbooks to counter trends of ex-tremism in society. “Only areading generation can stand

Launch of Shehr-e-Kitab another feather in NBF’s cap

Only a reading society can countermilitancy, extremism: Irfan Siddiqui

tall and strong to the onslaught of extrem-ism and defeat it,” said he while address-ing the launching ceremony of ‘Shehr-e-Kitab’ a project of the National BookFoundation here in F-7 Markaz on Sun-day. A number of poets, writers and in-tellectuals including Chairman PakistanAcademy of Letters Dr Qasim Bughio,ex-foreign secretary Akram Zaki, DrJamal Nasir, Dr Ayub Sabir, Prof JamilYousaf, Dr Riaz Ahmad RIaz, Dr AnwarNaseem, Jabbar Mirza, Haleem Qureshiand Muhammad Aslam Rao were alsopart of the ceremony. Besides, a largenumber of bibliophiles, readers and schol-ars had turned up to witness a uniquebook-friendly project.

Irfan Siddiqui despite the fact he wasfacing difficulty in speaking due to a mi-nor accident a day earlier, spoke at lengthon the utility and usefulness of the bookreading habits in society. The Book Cityor Shehr-e-Kitab is a permanent ‘Book

Fair’ participated by more than 28 book-sellers and publishers of the country whereresidents of Islamabad would find bookson discounted rates. Irfan Siddiqui saidafter Islamabad, another Book City onsimilar lines is going to be set up inKarachi.

The land for this purpose has alreadybeen acquired. The Book City in Karachiwould consist of more than a hundredstalls, he said.

In order to promote book culture andto enlighten the local message similarprojects will be launched in rest of theprovinces, Peshawar and other cities.

Dr Inamul Haq Javed Managing Di-rector of the NBF highlighted various as-pects of the Shehr-e-Kitab and apprisedthe audience of the challenges his teamand he faced in realizing the ‘dreamproject’. In the heart of the Sector F-7, itwas not easy to reclaim our plot from theland mafia that had made some construc-

tions on it, said Dr Javed. However, heattributed the possession of land to thepresent government’s patronization andsupport, particularly that of Irfan Siddiquiwho was keen to see books selling on dis-counted rates. “NBF has recently soldbooks for millions of rupees through or-ganizing such book fairs and events andthis goes to the credit of the collectiveteamwork of the NBF staff and supportof the ministry,” said MD of the NBF.

Earlier, the Secretary National History& Literary Heritage Division, Mohsin SHaqqani spoke on the importance of“Shehr-e-Kitab” saying the nations thatbefriend books always lead the world.

On behalf of book stall holdersNadeem Iqbal Siddiqui hoped the won-derful project would contribute to pro-motion of book culture. Mehboob Zafar,the poet and stage secretary also high-lighted importance of books for a dy-namic, progressive society.

05:30 01:3005:00

08:15

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

March 30Roundtable

SSII Round Table Discus-sion on ‘Prevailing NuclearIssues: The Marshal IslandCase and the Nuclear Secu-rity Summit 2016’ at SSII,Islamabad, Wednesday 30th

March 2016.

****Jashan-e-Baharan

JASHAN-e-Baharan festivalwould be celebrated here atNawaz Sharif Park fromMarch 30 to April 10. Chair-man PHA Malik IbrarAhmed talking said that allavailable resources are beingutilized to provide a healthyenvironment to the people. Aflower arrangement compe-tition would also be held tomark the arrival of Spring,he added.

Ruins of a Buddhist stupa dating back to 200-500 AD.

A lady capturing the scene with her cell phone during 34th spring Flowers, Vegetables andBirds Show at Rose and Jasmine Garden.

SSP Traffic Malik Matloob Ahmad, Station Director FM 92.4 Ayesha Jameel and DirectorAcademic and Qualiy Assurance Nicon Group of Colleges Esha Masud distributing certifi-cates amongst the successful students during annual prize distribution ceremony at NiconGroup of Colleges.

Members of civil society painting a ‘Wall of Kindness’.

RAWALPINDI—On the directives of thePunjab Government the Metro Bus Authorityhas sent a summary of the proposed fares tothe provincial government for the shuttle ser-vice linking remote area with the Metro busstations. The shuttle service is likely to startsoon to transport the people living in far awayareas in Rawalpindi to Metro Bus Stations.

The Metro Bus Authority has proposedthat no additional fare will be charged fromthe passengers except rupees 20 who will fur-ther proceed to the metro bus, while only ru-pees 10 will be charged from the passengerswho will culminate their journey at metrobus stations.

According to sources the shuttle service

will pick up passengers from Swan and dropat Marrir Chowk, Karal Chowk to MotiMahal, Chauhar Chowk to Saddar Stationand Khanna, Sadiqabad to Chandni Chowk.Likewise the shuttle service will be operatedin different remote areas of the city, provid-ing a convenient route to reach the nearestmetro bus stations.

The operation of the shuttle service willcause no inconvenience to the existing localpublic transport routes and they will continuetheir service normally.

Sources further said after the approvalof the provincial government the devisedsummary, the shuttle service will put intoaction soon. —INP

Shuttle Service linkingremote areas with

Metro bus stations soon

Road constructionfrom Sowan bridgeto Gulraiz scheme

RAWALPINDI—The road con-struction work from Sowanbridge to Gulraiz scheme at acost of Rs 300 million is inprogress by Rawalpindi Devel-opment Authority (RDA).

RDA spokesman, HafizMuhammad Irfan told APPthat drainage work has beencompleted and work on theroad will be carried out whenWater and Sanitation Agency(WASA) completes work oflaying water pipelines in thearea. The work on the projectwould be completed by theend of June this year, headded.

The project was started af-ter the area residents decriedthe apathy of the concerned dueto the pathetic condition of theroad as a large number of arearesidents move towards Canttand GT road.

The road from Sowanbridge to Gulraiz scheme isbeing rehabilitated and theresidents demanded of the au-thorities concerned to also re-pair the broken up Bostanroad which links Scheme IIIand Airport road which is ex-tensively used by thecommuuters.

The spokesman appealedto the public to cooperate withthe working staff carrying outwork and regretted the incon-venience caused by it.—APP

Kites in skydespite ban

RAWALPINDI—Despite theban kite flying is going on un-noticed and police were nottaking action against the viola-tors.

Kites could be seen fly-ing in different localities in-cluding Dhoke Mangtal ,Ratta Amral, Race Course,Banni, Bhabra Bazaar,Asghar Mall Scheme, JamiaMasjid Road, Raja Bazaar,Committee Chowk, KohatiBazaar, Waris Khan, IqbalRoad, Naz Cinema, Shakrial,Kuri Road, Muslim Town,Bandh Khana Road, IqbalTown, Commercial , andDhoke Kala Khan.

Moreover, sale of kites andstrings were also being sold indifferent parts of the city.

Talking to APP, City Po-lice Officer Israr AhmedKhan said strict action wouldbe taken against Kite flyingand added that no one wouldbe allowed to violate rule oflaw. He said that ban on kiteflying was strictly imple-mented.

He said that Station HouseOfficer (SHO) would be re-sponsible of kite flying in theirbeats. He directed the police-men to launch action againstthe violators without any dis-crimination.—APP

37th deathanniversary ofZAB on April 4RAWA L P I N D I—The 37thdeath anniversary of Paki-stan People’s Party (PPP)founder late Zulfiqar AliBhutto will be observed onApril 4. Quran Khawani willbe held at Jinnah Park for thedeparted soul.

Talking to APP, City Chap-ter PPP Amir Fida Piracha saidthat arrangements are beingfinalised to observe the deathanniversary of the Party’sfounder with a pledge to con-tinue his mission andstrengthen democracy in thecountry.

He urged party workers topromote ZAB’s philosophy andutilize their resources for pro-moting democratic culture inthe country.

Various programmes in-cluding seminars and workersconvention will be organized indifferent parts of the country topay tribute to the PPPfounder.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The ‘distinc-tive’ curriculums at differentedcuational institutations, areeventually causing a sense ofdespondency and deprivationfor ‘specific’ groups of stu-dents. The ‘exclusive’ curricu-lums are not only creating dis-appointment among studentsbut also leading to a divisionof society on class basis, in linewith their educational back-grounds. Additionally, somestudents are rated ‘superior’due to efficient, advanced syl-labus while others are given

less importance due to ‘generaland old’ curriculums. At any rate,quality education is the funda-mental right of every citizenwhich lays basis for other rightsin a society.

Currently, public sectorschools are over-loaded andover-burdoned, while privateschools are handling ‘limited’students but earning big mar-gins. Usman Zafar, a studentsof Gorden College Rawalpindisaid that he was taught PunjabTextbook as curriculums, outof which papers were set for an-

nual examination. And for ap-pearing in exam of NationalTesting Service (NTS) or otherexams at a later stgae, he hadto solve paper, based on mod-ern techinques and concepts.

He said it seems studentsof private schools or collegesdo have a better understandingdue to modern and updatedcurriculams. “ In any case, wedo not have uniform curricu-lums in educationalinstistutions, then why studentsgo for a ‘combined’ competi-tive examination,” he ques-

tioned.Hina Sheraz, a students of

Islamabad Model College forGirls said that it becomesembarassing for them when-ever they face students of pri-vate schools due to their pro-active and dynamic personal-ity. She said students aregroomed in private schools byproviding excellent and up-dated modern curriculams andtrained skilllfuly by tecahingstaffs.

Extra-curriculams and rec-reational activities is another

important feature of privateschool system which is ignoredin public sector schools at themoment, she remarked. Shewas of the view that govern-ment schools would perfommore efficiently if modern andupdated curriculams, areadopted at these institutions,besides inducting trained andskilled teaching staff.

This will ultimately abol-ish monoploy of privateschools, she added. AminaAslam, a parent of school-go-ing child said that “for a better

future of childern, we are un-willingly sending our childrento private schools, besdies pay-ing hefty amount as schoolfees.” She complained privateschools increase fees everyyear and called for ensuringproper check in this regard.

Associate Professor ofIslamabad Model College forboys H-9 Syed Agha Hassansaid that dealing with over-burdened and increasing num-ber of students, is the maincause for poor performance ofpublic sector schools. He said

public schools have limited re-sources and shortage of skilledteaching staff. He said thatpublic sector have more poten-tial and facilities includingsports grounds, capaciousbuildings which is necessary togroom students at these insti-tutions. Nazish Rehman, Psy-chologist at Pakistan Instituteof Medical Sciences (PIMS)told APP that first 5 to 10 yearsof the child life is very impor-tant for ultimate grooming andpromoting natural skills.

It has been observed that

the children, given more at-tention and care in first tenyears, would be more active,intellectually sharp than otherchildren who were ingored atany stage, she added. An of-ficial of education ministrysaid steps are underway tointroduce uniformcurriculams in the country.He said the govternment isalso working to check themonploy of private schoolsand introducing propermechanism for increasingschool fees.—APP

People busy in flying kites to celebrate the Basant in F-9 Park, despite a ban.

‘Distinctive’ curriculum causing disappointment: Survey

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Riphah International Universityorganized a one-day workshop on ‘Communi-cation Proximity at Organizational Level’ tohighlight importance of social media in presentenvironment.

Speakers of the workshop elaborated theexistence of tangible and well-knitted commu-nication structure in any organization and itsstrength, entirely depended on communicationproximity through social media.

The training was inaugurated by Prof. Dr.Samina Amin Qadir, Vice Chancellor, FatimaJinnah Women University while RehanHassan, Director, Riphah Institute of MediaSciences, Dr. Masrur A Khan Professor andDr. Raheela Yasmin, Associate Director ofRiphah Institute shared their remarks on theoccasion.

Dr. Masrur apprised the participants with

the strength of the communication structureto further support the absence of dyad andisolates which are assumed as indicators fora weak communication structure in an orga-nization, said a news release issued here onSunday.

He examined the dyadic Interaction envi-ronment in Business Community and how com-munication proximity is reduced uncertaintythrough social media.

Speakers of workshop also examined howproximity through social media have influencedproductivity and efficiency not to mention in-terpersonal interaction and increased use of tech-nology in the organization. In many organiza-tions, informal networks are the primary meansby which employees find information, solvecomplex problems, and learn how to do theirwork, they said.

Various university students of Rawalpindiand Islamabad participated in the workshop.

Riphah University holds workshopon Communication Proximity

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The conservation work of thenewly discovered Buddhist site ‘BanFaqiran’ atop Margallah Hills would com-mence soon by Department of Archeologyand Museums (DOAM). The department hascompleted the excavation work of the siteand the conservation process would bestarted soon after approval from the relevantauthorities, said an official of DOAM whiletalking to media.

The official said the conservation workis aimed at protecting the heritage site andthis process will be a frequent activity. Theexcavation of the fourth heritage site of ‘BanFaqiran’, which is around 2000 years old,in capital was the first ever field activity un-dertaken by the department after the 18thconstitutional amendment 2010.

The antiquities dug out from excavatedsite would be housed in the museum for con-ducting research, imparting education, pro-moting tourism and providing recreation tovisitors. The objectives of this project, be-ing executed with a cost of Rs. 2 million,

Conservation work of Buddhistsite ‘Ban Faqiran’ to start soon

were to reconstruct the ancient cultural pro-file, establish antiquities and explore, exca-vate and preserve potential archeological sitesin the federal Capital, the official said.

Besides this, it will reflect soft image ofthe country when foreign visiting dignitariesor delegates are shown around the heritagesites and the museum, housing the antiquity,he added. The funds for excavation and pres-ervation of this Buddhist site were providedby the National Fund for Cultural Heritage(NFCH) in April 2015 and its excavationcommenced in August 2015.

The excavating team under the field di-rectorship of Abdul Ghafoor Lone and sitesupervisor, Arshad Khan exposed a largestupa- like square structure, measuring 10.26meter a side, on the top of Margalla Hills.This structure is made of lime and kanjurstone, with semi ashlar and diaper masonrydated from the second to the fourth centuryCommon Era (CE). Besides other antiqui-ties, six coins and four iron arrowheads werediscovered from the Buddhist site. The heri-tage site also include a water tank and mosqueof early period.

SALTANAT FAROOQ

HALF widows is a label used for those womenwhose husbands have disappeared, and yet notdeclared dead. A half widow means a woman

who is neither a complete widow nor a complete wife,but something in-between the two.

A half widow hangs between these two identities,to lead a life that provides her with half the amount ofbreaths coupled with complete agony and affliction.

For a widow, when her husband dies, the painceases to go but to surrender before the will of Godturns ultimate for her. By the very passing of time fromdays to months and then rolling of these into years, herdeep wound fills up by the remedy of time and lifemoves on henceforth.

Being a half widow is a different tale in itself. Here,in this case, the husband is subjected to forced disap-pearance with meager chances of his return. The mindcontinuously directs the soul to shun away all hopesleading to his release but the foolish heart overwhelmsthe currents of brain to hope against the hopeless.

The hope of her husband’s return never ceases todie even after passing up of giant years. It’s rightlysaid, that “Hope sustains life,” and for half widows,their life sustained by the very hope of their husbands’return is nothing more than a hoax, a drama of ex-change of some tired breathes playing hide and seekwithin and outside their fragile frames, vulnerable tothe harsh winds of misfortune.

Half widows bear a twin-tragedy. One, that theylose their husbands, their support system and the other,that they can’t even mourn the very loss of their be-loved ones. They remain in a dilemma all through theirlives whether to wail over their lost husbands or tohope for their home coming.

Life never waits for anyone. Its nature is to con-tinue amid hurdles, so is the nature of life of half wid-ows. As wives of men thus ‘disappeared,’ half wid-ows face various economic, social, and emotional in-securities and to live in such a vulnerable environ, isitself a great challenge. The absence of husbands thusrenders them economically reliant, most often on theirin-laws, with their property and custody rights unde-termined.

Views from Srinagar

Agonies: Half life of half widowsFurther, the uncertain nature and duration of the

absence opens women to scrutiny and policing by theirsociety as well as threats, extortion, and manipulationby those in external positions of power. The absenceof her husband renders awoman economically vulner-able. In already socio-eco-nomically weak families, suchdisappearances turn half-wid-ows vulnerable to destitution.The condition of the finan-cially dependent half widowsis worse than those who atleast earn two square meals aday for themselves along withtheir children.

The result is that suchwomen either opt for beggingor do some menial jobs to sus-tain their lives. In addition toall the miseries they carry onin their lives, their continuoussearch operations for the lostones, adds an additional bur-den on their backs.

With less monetarystrength, it turns difficult forthem to fight against the in-justice meted to them. Lifeturns a pyre on which their hopes, desires, aspirationstogether in a bundle kiss the eternal flames of misfor-tune.

The very survival of a half widow along with herchildren turns a herculean task with each passing day.It usually becomes tough for a single mother to strugglewith life, education for her children and her money-making efforts.

Apart from the economic constraints, a half widowcontinuously burns in the “Sati” of social stigma. Suchunfortunate lot of women are socially discarded offand hence thrown away to the borders of neglect and

abuse.After the disappearance of their husbands, their

in-laws consider them a burden together with theirchildren. And more importantly, they are being cursedfor bringing bad-luck to these families and often arebeing tortured on the pretext of being the responsiblecauses for the disappearance of their husbands.

In such a venomous atmosphere, a half widow is

left with only two options. One is either to bear thesetortures or return to her parents’ home. The atmospherethere too doesn’t allow them to breathe on their own.

Once a woman is married off, it’s usually lookeddown upon by the societalcircles if she returns back toher parents’ home. As such,the half widows, who swingin the cradle of agonies, aretime and again tossed inbetween the walls of soli-tude and confinement.

Hope plays a negativerole in the lives of this un-fortunate lot of women.From the very hope of theirhusbands return to the hopeof having a new start of lifewith their beloved ones; allhopes turn hoax and theonly monstrous reality thatconfronts them with a wideopen mouth is of the “stateof perplexity” in which theylive. Although, remarriageis an easy and sound way-out, but only a small frac-tion of half widows chooseto remarry. Many half wid-

ows do not contemplate re-marriage, believing theywill eventually receive some information about theirhusbands. For many half-widows, the constant di-lemma of whether or not to remarry is juggled with asense of loyalty and love for the missing husband.

And for those who want to remarry, social stig-mas around remarriage remain strong hurdles and tocross them turns usually impossible for these half wid-

ows. Some scholars and clerics are of the view that toremarry, a half widow is at least required to wait forabout four years for the disappeared husband. But it isnot a general view shared by others.

Different religious schools have chalked out dif-ferent time periods for a half widow to wait for remar-rying. Still, at large the idea of remarrying usually doesnot go down the dry throats of these half widows espe-cially owing to their concerns towards the future oftheir children.

The initial trauma of the disappearance, and theresulting economic hardships and social challenges—that combines to have lasting adverse effects on thelives of half widows in turn deeply affects their chil-dren as well.

These children either grow up in the insecurity thatshrouds the lives of half widows or away from theirmothers in orphanages or in their grandparents’ homes.They carry the social stigma of being fatherless.

Combating the pressures of misery and debaclessuch half widows and their children too often witnessan unending catastrophe in which their psychologicalparadigm loses its balance and dwindles between thetwin struggle of sustaining life and safeguarding emo-tional security. The result is the ever increasing num-ber of psychological illnesses that grasp and grope thevery existence of these ill fated women and their chil-dren. To add fuel to the fire, such ill fated women andtheir families are often neglected equally by the soci-ety as well as government authorities. A meager sumof rupees two to three hundred is provided to half wid-ows as a means of financial assistance by the govern-ment. It is rubbing salt into their wounds. How can aworld of necessities and requirements could ever ad-just in handful money?

In such a situation where a half widow’s ownbreaths turn a burden for her already loaded self, she isrequired to lift the load of her family in terms of herchildren’s requirements. Her hope widened eyes areforced to be sharp so that she could chalk out a securefuture for her children amid her blurred present.

—Courtesy: Rising Kashmir[Author is a research scholar at University of Kashmirand can be mailed at sannabutt786@gmail.com]

MLA Rashidalleges torture

of youth byarmy

SRINAGAR—IndependentMLA representing Langate instate legislature RasheedAhmad Sunday alleged tortureof youth by Army official anddemanded action against himfor ‘torturing’ 18 year old, aresident of Zafarkhani in thisnorth Kashmir tehsil.

In a statement , Rasheedalleged that the company com-

mander of 6RR stationed atKukroosa in Handwara hasbeen ‘harassing the inhabitantsof the area and the movementof civilians in the area has be-come terrible’.

He accused the officer oflaying cordon of villageZafarkhani during night andcommencing search operationsearly morning by claimingpresence of militants in the vil-lage.—GK

Grenade attackin Bijbehara:Hizb claims

responsibilityISLAMABAD (ANANTNAG)—Militant outfit HizbulMujhadeen has claimed the re-sponsibility of grenade attackon Indian Army in SouthKahsmir’s Bijbehara town.

Hizb Operational Spokes-person Burhanuddin told

Srinagar based media that mili-tants from outfit lobbed a gre-nade over Army personnel thatleft many either injured ordead. “Operational Field Com-mander has congratulated theboys (militants) for this attackand has directed them to inten-sify attacks on Indian SecurityEstablishment,” the spokesper-son said.—KW

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Prime Ministerof Azad Kashmir Ch AbdulMajeed has said Kashmir issueis a “stark reality” and voicesfor its resolution would con-tinue to get louder.

A delegation of KashmirJournalists Forum (KJF) led byEjaz Abbasi called on PrimeMinister here at KashmirHouse on Sunday. Media Ad-viser to PM Syed AzadarHussain Shah was also presenton the occasion.

The delegation briefed thePremier problems the Kashmirijournalists community faces.

The PM assured the jour-nalists that government wasfully aware of problems and is-sues of the journalists and stepsare being taken to resolve them.The Prime Minister appreciatedthe journalists’ s efforts for highlighting the Kashmir issue at na-tional and international levels.

The Premier strongly con-demned the Indian brutalitiesin occupied Kashmir. He saidthat Indian forces and mediawere trying to shut the voicesof people fighting for right toself determination accordance

Kashmiri journalistsproblems solutiontop priority: PM

NEW DELHI—Aam Aadmi Partyleader Kumar Vishwas askedMehbooba Mufti, set to head the newPDP-BJP government in Jammu andKashmir, to clear her stand on AfzalGuru whose hanging for his alleged rolein the 2001 parliament attack she hassaid was wrong. Vishwas in a letter toMehbooba also asked the would-be JKchief minister to facilitate the arrest ofKashmiri youth who had allegedlyraised anti-India slogans in JawaharlalNehru University (JNU) on February 9.

“We have come to know that youare going to form a coalition govern-ment with the BJP. But your stand oncertain issues like holding parliamentattack accused Afzal Guru a martyr can-not be agreed with. Now, we have come

AAP, Congress ask PDP,BJP to clear stand on Guru

to know that you have changed your oldstand on Afzal,” Vishwas wrote.

“Congratulations in anticipation foryour government formation. You shouldvoluntarily give a statement in the me-dia that you hold Afzal Guru as a trai-tor and not as a martyr,” Vishwas said.

The letter begins with “VandeMataram” and ends with “Jai Hind” and“Bharat Mata ki Jay” — slogans thathave rekindled the nationalism and pa-triotism debate in India.

“Now that you believe Kashmir tobe an integral part of India, you wouldfacilitate the arrest of the Kashmiri youthwho raised slogans against mother Indiain JNU,” the AAP leader wrote.

Vishwas’s letter was retweeted byDelhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The Congress also has a poser for thenew government that is set to assumeoffice in Jammu and Kashmir: “Whatwill be its stance on parliament attackconvict Afzal Guru as the BJP’s senioralliance partner PDP believes that hang-ing the Kashmiri militant was a mis-carriage of justice.”

“J&K deserves an elected govern-ment and we welcome celebration ofdemocracy. But will (the) BJP tell whatis the stance of PDP-BJP on Afzal Gurunow,” Congress spokesmanRandeepSurjewala asked in a tweet.

In another post on the micro-blogging site, he asked: “As PDP-BJP eulogizes Afzal Guru and manyothers, whom will Amit Shah andBJP brand as anti-national now? Or

anything for power?”The PDP and BJP are set to form a

new government in Jammu and Kash-mir headed by Mehbooba Mufti whohas condemned the execution of Guru,hanged in 2013 for his alleged role inthe December 13, 2001 attack on In-dian parliament.

The BJP-led central governmenthas come under flak over the arrest ofat least three JNU students who orga-nized an event in the university cam-pus on February 9 to commemorate thedeath anniversary of Guru.

The students were charged with se-dition for raising anti-national slogansand hailing Guru as a hero for beingwrongly convicted in the parliament at-tack case.—GK

SRINAGAR—Several women were in-jured in police action during protestsstaged here against the implementationof National Food Security Act (NFSA).

Police fired stun-grenades and tear-smoke canisters when the protestersblocked the busy Amira Kadal bridge.

Scores of people from Koker Ba-zaar and Maisuma localities of uptownSrinagar had assembled at the bridgeto protest.

They were demanding revocation ofNFSA—the Act constituted by NewDelhi to regulate the monthly supply offood-grains to consumers. Under the

SRINAGAR—Hurriyat Conference (G) on Sunday termedBJP leader Jitendra Singh’s remarks on Kashmir as “ridiculous”and “bereft of any historical background”.

Jitendra had on Friday said that ‘Kashmir has always beenan integral part of India and will continue to do so’ and had citedan “evidence” of passing of a Parliament resolution in 1994 inthis regard.

A Hurriyat (G) spokesman, in a statement issued here, re-acted to BJP leader’s remarkssaying, “Kashmir can neither be-come an integral part of India bypassing resolutions in the parlia-ment nor can the freedom senti-ments of Kashmiris be sup-pressed this way. The disputedstatus of Kashmir is supported bystrong legal evidence and the in-tegral part theory Jitendra Singhhas no historical background.”

Spokesman said the “one-sided” decisions have no mean-ing in conflict situations and “these statements can only satisfyJitendra Singh and BJP leaders”. “No matter what Indian gov-ernment says and claims on Kashmir, the real stakeholders ofKashmir issue are its people who haven’t given such mandate toanyone to decide their future,” he said.

He also termed Singh’s statement that ‘Pakistan had forc-ibly occupied one part of Kashmir’ as “false and incorrect”. “Itis like putting blame on others. This way, India can’t justify itsforced occupation in Kashmir.”“Pakistan hasn’t occupied that part of Kashmir and has neveropposed the right to self-determination of Kashmiris. Pakistanis a supporter of Kashmiris’ freedom struggle,” he said.—KR

Integral part remark orIndian parliament

resolutions on Kashmirnegate history: Hurriyat-G

Several anti-NFSA protestingwomen injured in police action

with UN resolutions on Kash-mir.

“It does not warrant thatanybody raising such voice bedeclared as traitor or anti-na-tional. It is unfortunate thattalking about the resolution ofKashmir these days has be-come a taboo in India, and any-body taking up this issue is im-mediately being declared ananti-national. Anti-nationalcases are registered againstthose saying the death sentenceof Afzal Guru and MaqboolBhat was erroneous,” he said.

The Premier said the angerand unrest in Kashmir were dueto “suppressive” policies of thegovernment of India.

“If atrocities, use of mili-tary might, or economic tacticscould suppress the people’svoice, there would have beenno demand for freedom inKashmir today,” he said.

He said India’s defencebudget “had exceeded beyondlimits” due to the unresolvedKashmir issue.

“According to a UnitedNations report, 40 per cent chil-dren in India are malnourished,”he said. He also condemned thearrest of Hurriyat (M) leaders.

Kashmirorphanages..touching!!

AZRA MUFTI

Orphanages are the only placesthat ever left me feeling emptyand full at the same time.” Ihave grown by hearing timeand again that life never givesyou a second chance, but I donot share the same eye. Mytake is different to this. I be-lieve every new day comeswith a new chance, a new rayof hope, a new wonder, a newmiracle and a new magic tocreate! Each one of us isblessed with some uniquepower or asset that nobody cantake from us, but at the sametime, their are some dark cham-bers in our hearts that we neverwant to show to anybody.

I call this as “Pandora’sbox”, a box full of brokendreams, wishes and sacrificesthat will always be carried withus wherever we go. Sorrowscome in many forms, there isno consensus yet found as towhich pain is more difficult toforget, but going by the expe-rience and observation, I feelthat to lose your parents andlanding up being an orphan isthe worst of all!

Feeling this pain in myheart, i once got a chance tovisit an orphanage. Famousby the name of J&K PET(People’s Educational Trust)WELFARE SOCIETY. PETcame into being on 26th April2000 with registration of thetrust deed for enabling, pre-paring and positively assist-ing the youth to seek educa-tion and empower them tolive a useful life with dignity,honor and self reliance. Ihave never felt so muchmoved before. I entered thisbuilding and was welcomedby a lady who was curious toknow my whereabouts. Intro-ducing myself she directedme to the office for a tetetete.—KW

Act, the quantity of food-grains sup-plied to each household will be deter-mined by its family strength.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the con-sumers believe the Act will drasticallyreduce their monthly quota of food-grains, particularly of rice—the staplefood in the region.

Following the protests , theMaisuma market remained closed,while the authorities ensured a heavydeployment of police and paramilitaryforces.

Tehsildar concerned also visited theprotesters and tried to pacify them. The

protest disrupted the traffic; the ve-hicles were diverted to alternate routes.

Meanwhile, both factions of Kash-mir Economic Alliance (KEA) con-demned the police action over the pro-testing women.

In its press statement, MuhammadYasin Khan-led faction of KEA said, “Itis a shame for the government that thewomen who were demanding theirrightful share in ration were respondedto with batons and teargas.

A government which is intolerant topeaceful protests for food has not rightto exist in a democratic setup.”—KR

When you really wantto do something, theentire Universe con-spires in helping you

to achieve it…”

— Paulo Coelho

ISLAMABAD—Chairman of the UnitedInternational Group (UIG) Mian Shahidhas asked the government for solid mea-sures to safeguard cotton growers from anyuntoward situation in the future lest it bringdown the annual production.

In a statement issued here on Sunday,Mian Shahid demanded steps aimed at pro-tecting the rights of planters who are inpain due to collapse of cotton crop. He saidthat low cotton output is hurting millionsof families in the farming communities andit is to drag exports down and GDP which

UIG urges for solid measuresto save cotton growers

is unacceptable.The reduced output is resulting in im-

ports estimated to be to the tune of fourbillion dollars which will hit forex re-serves, he added.

The chairman UIG said that cottongroup, backbone of the economy hold8.5 percent share in GDP, fetches 12billion through exports while providejobs to 40 percent of the labour whichneeds immediate attention of the gov-ernment.

Reasons behind the low cotton out-

put include sudden and unpredictablerains, draught in some areas, low cottonprices and unchecked hike in prices ofinputs and use of substandard seed, he in-formed.

Authorities discounted local wisdomto promote genetically modified seed term-ing it pest resistant but it failed to with-stand pink bollworm and whitefly attackswhile sprays and medicine to tackle thepests were not available in the market.Calling immediate action, he said that de-lay can hurt the economy.—INP

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Technical Education and VocationalTraining Authority (TEVTA) and National Vo-cational & Technical Training Commission(NAVTTC) are organizing the National SkillsShow at Expo Center Johar Town, being startedfrom tomorrow (Tuesday).

Various Projects being prepared by enrolledyouth enrolled in technical and vocational insti-tutes will be displayed in two days NationalSkills Show 2016. Large number of enrolledyouth and stake holders of renowned organiza-tions is participating in this skills show.

It was stated by Chairperson TEVTA IrfanQaiser Sheikh while briefing about NationalSkills Show 2016 here at TEVTA Secretariat.Chief Operating Officer Jawad Ahmed Qureshi,Hamid Ghani Anjum, Azhar Iqbal Shad, MustafaKamal Pasha, Uzma Nadia, Maqsood Ahmed,Sarfraz Anwar and other officer were also

present on this occasion.Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that students have

prepared their projects for display with keen in-terest. National Skills Show will highlight theskilled training being provided in technical andvocational training Institutes across the prov-ince of the Punjab. Stalls of various nationaland multi organizations will also be placed inthe skills show. It will also offer an opportunityto business community, general public and es-pecially youth to witness the multi projects ofstudents under one roof.

Chairperson TEVTA further said that thisshow will be attended by large number of par-ticipant across the province of the Punjab.TEVTA and NAVTTC are also providing anopportunity to its trained work force to getjobs at this occasion. Dignitaries from gov-ernment departments, academia and privatesector will also be invited to make it an inter-active event.

TEVTA, NAVTTC’s national skillsshow at Expo Centre tomorrow

BEIJING—Chinese business entrepreneurs areeager to make more investment in countries likePakistan in the development of basic infrastruc-ture for a win-win situation.

They are highly encouraged with pace of de-velopment in Pakistan and wished to participatein it for their mutual benefits, this was stated bythe panelists attending the annual Boao Forum forAsia, reports China Daily on Sunday.

They called for more investment in infrastruc-ture projects between China and other regionalcountries. More investment is needed in infrastruc-

ture construction that will help bolster local logis-tics and trade contacts, especially electric powerand railway projects, Ning Jizhe, deputy head ofthe National Development and Reform Commis-sion, said at the panel discussion on productioncapacity in Boao, Hainan province.

China has signed agreements on capacity col-laboration with dozens of countries, including de-veloping countries along the Road and Belt Initia-tive, and developed countries, according to Ning,who noted that it will be easier to start workingwith neighboring countries such as Pakistan and

Kazakhstan as they have greater demand in termsof infrastructure compared with developed coun-tries. The initiative, proposed by China in 2013, ismeant to improve transport infrastructure linkingAsia and Europe.

Ning said that the railway project betweenChina and Thailand, which will be designed andconstructed by Chinese companies, marks a fur-ther step to enhance cooperation that is not onlybeneficial to local communities but also to China’sequipment exports.

Delegates attending the forum said that such

investment is a win-win strategy for everyone in-volved. New infrastructure projects bring commu-nities with more jobs and bring more tax incomefor the government, according to Pakistani Minis-ter of Planning Development and Reform AhsanIqbal. On China’s side, capacity cooperation leadsto a particular growth in railway equipment withhigh quality, according to Zhang Jiehui, vice-gov-ernor of Hebei province.

“There are more than 700 companies in steeland iron industries in Hebei that made investmentand built factories overseas, each of which is mak-

ing a profit,” said Zhang, in response to concernsthat China exports inferior capacity to other coun-tries to tackle its own overcapacity problems.

“By moving factories abroad Chinese compa-nies specialized in these fields could better playtheir roles in countries with higher demand in steel,cement and other manufacturing products,” saidZhang.

Zhang said further investment would be madein cooperation with Pakistan and Kazakhstan, andhe expected a prospective future for further coop-eration.—INP

Chinese entrepreneurs eager to make more investment in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD—The Union of Small andMedium Enterprises (UNISAME) invitedthe attention of the Federal Finance Min-ister Ishaq Dar to the proposals submittedto his ministry for putting the economy onfast track recovery through SME friendlypolicies by adopting modern banking, leas-ing, insurance and logistics.

President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaversaid the SME sector is the majority sectorand unless the policy makers focus on theprimary, secondary and the services sec-tors the growth of the economy will nottake place as targeted. The governmentcannot afford to neglect the micro andSME sectors.

UNISAME has submitted long termand short term measures and high impactsteps for making the SMEs competitive,efficient and growth oriented.

He appreciated the efforts of the StateBank of Pakistan (SBP) to make financeaffordable but regretted that it is not ac-cessible. To make it accessible the sectorneeds an SME specific bank with countrywide branches and also the commercialbanks need to take interest in the SMEsector. The commercial banks are inclinedto park their funds in government treasurybills rather than focus on private sector.

It is very important that the banks aremade comfortable to finance the SMEs andfor this SME Credit Guarantee Insuranceinsurance institutions needs to be strength-ened. The sector is awaiting the muchtalked about and promised Exim Bank andUNISAME has urged the SBP to expeditethe establishment of the Exim Bankpromptly to facilitate international trade.

Thaver said the banks are not inclinedto finance exports to third world countries

and letter of credits (L/C) of opening banksof low ratings. Secondly the banks aredemanding 100% margin for import L/Cs.

The small entrepreneur is not accom-modated by the commercial banks and itis therefore proposed to enhance the creditlimits of the micro finance banks from Rs500,000 to Rs one million to enable themfinance the small businesses who are de-prived of finance facilities.

The sector also needs modern logis-tics concept which includes transportation,insurance cover for goods in transit, ware-housing with collateral management, riskmanagement , modern banking , leasingand insurance expertise to facilitate, sup-port and make finance accessible for theSMEs. Commercial property leasing andpay as you earn schemes are the need ofthe hour.

He pointed out that the country is im-porting many items which are or could bemanufactured in Pakistan and it is painfulto note and see the imports of confection-ery, stationery, furniture, clothing,jewellery, cosmetics, electrical goods, lightengineering goods, footwear, food itemsand butter, cheese, jam and jellies althoughall are manufactured in Pakistan. The gov-ernment must promote the setting up ofindustries for import substitution items andexempt them from taxes, duties and lev-ies. There is need for transfer of technol-ogy and collaboration especially withChina under the China/Pakistan agree-ment.

UNISAME urged the government togive the status of SME Chamber of Com-merce and Industry to the union and fa-cilitate it to work more for the benefit ofthe sector under SMEDA and house the

chamber offices in all district offices ofSMEDA to work jointly for the promo-tion and development of the sector.

UNISAME has proposed subsidizedfinance for alternate energy devices andalso 0% duty on imports of equipment anddevices.

The proposal also included the settingup of industrial estates for SMEs and pro-viding land at concession on pay as youearn basis.

The cost of doing business and easeof doing business was also highlighted inthe proposal.

The strengthening of the Small andMedium Enterprise Development Author-ity (SMEDA), the sharpening of the TradeDevelopment Authority of Pakistan(TDAP) and the out reach of the PakistanCouncil of Scientific and Industrial Re-search (PCSIR) were also demanded.

The Engineering Development Board(EDB) also needs to do more for the sec-tor. All these institutions need to gear upfor high impact results.

The TDAP is required to lend market-ing support to the SMEs and it is very es-sential that an SME Gallery is set up un-der an SME Export House.

SMEDA needs to work from grass rootlevel in the primary, secondary and tertiarysectors. PCSIR and EDB need to promotenew industries and upgrade and modern-ize the existing units.

The Union has urged AlamgirChaudhry chief executive officer (CEO)of SMEDA to take up the issues and re-quirements of the sector with the financeministry on priority basis and express theurgency in implementation of the SMEfriendly policies.—NNI

SME-friendly policies urged forfast track economic recovery

KARACHI—Vice Chairman BusinessmenGroup (BMG) & Former President KCCIMuhammad Zubair Motiwala and PresidentKCCI Younus Muhammad Bashir have said thatthe immense participation of foreign diplomatsand exhibitors at 13th My Karachi-Oasis ofHarmony Exhibition clearly indicates that thisexhibition has once again succeeded in attain-ing the prime objective of promoting the posi-tive image of Karachi.

Addressing a press conference to mark theclosing of 13th My Karachi-Oasis of HarmonyExhibition on Sunday, they announced that nextyear’s 14th My Karachi-Oasis of Harmony Ex-hibition will also be held with same zeal andenthusiasm on April 7th, 8thand 9th, 2017 atKarachi Expo Center.

Consul General of Switzerland Emil Wyss,Senior Vice President KCCI Zia Ahmed Khan,Vice President KCCI Naeem Sharif, ChairmanSpecial Committee for My Karachi ExhibitionMuhammad Idrees, Former Senior Vice Presi-dent KCCI Muhammad Ibrahim Kasumbi,Former Presidents KCCI Abdullah Zaki andIftikhar Ahmed Vohra, Deputy Chairman Spe-cial Committee for My Karachi ExhibitionShamim Ahmed Firpo and KCCI ManagingCommittee member were present on the occa-sion.

Vice Chairman Businessmen Group &Former President KCCI Zubair Motiwala, whileterming Gwadar Port and China-Pakistan Eco-nomic Corridor as most significant projects, in-formed that Karachi Chamber will now be fo-cusing on how the business and industrial com-munity of Karachi can benefit from these megaprojects.

In this regard, KCCI, in its 14th My KarachiExhibition next year, will be setting up a spe-cial pavilion to highlight the potential and raiseawareness about opportunities to be availableon completion of Gwadar Port and CPECprojects.

To a query, Zubair Motiwala informed thatthe federal government was invited to partici-pate in 13th My Karachi – Oasis of HarmonyExhibition but nobody from federal governmentshowed up to take ownership of My KarachiExhibition.

He was of the opinion that the Federal Gov-ernment must come forward to participate in thisexhibition and they were welcome to take theownership of My Karachi Exhibition as doneby the Sindh government which would surelyencourage the business and industrial commu-nity of Karachi to strive even more for promot-ing the positive image of Karachi, besides mak-ing this exhibition an international event.—DNA

Next year’s My KarachiExhibition to be held from April 6

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—President Industrial Area Associa-tion (IIAA) Faridoon Khattak on Sunday said Pa-kistan and Iran have embarked on promoting andboosting bilateral trade and economic relations. Hesaid Pakistan-Iran strategic cooperation will alsogive impetus to the economy of entire region. Healso welcomed the signing of MoU on Five-YearStrategic Trade Cooperation Plan between Paki-stan and Iran, according to a Press Release.

He said it would facilitate trade and people-to-people contacts between the brotherly Islamiccountries. He said the bilateral trade volume upto five billion dollars in next five years, wouldultimately enhance business-to-business con-tacts. He stressed to give highest priority to bi-lateral trade and said the private sector of boththe countries should move forward to promotebusiness and trade relations.

He said Pakistan should also arrange an ex-

hibition in Iran to promote bilateral trade. Hesaid Pakistan’s economy had improved duringthe current government’ tenure and added Irancould also take advantage of this rapidly grow-ing economy.

He said that the bilateral trade was confinedto limited items as Pakistan mostly imported oiland gas from Iran and exported rice and meat toIran.

He said Pakistan could export many prod-ucts to Iran including fruits, textiles, surgicalitems, sports goods, gems and jewelry.

Both countries may opt for joint investmentsin agro-food processing and infrastructure, par-ticularly in the field of establishing effective rail,air, road and sea links to improve trade relations,he added.

He said trade through Gwadar Port andChahbahar Port would be beneficial for bothcountries and added urgent steps be taken topromote this route.

Pak-Iran enter new era ofbilateral trade, economic ties

LAHORE: Foreign delegates visiting Plastic Manufactures exhibition at Expo Centre JoharTown.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Oil and Gas Regulatory Author-ity (OGRA) has issued financial reports of theSui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) which werepending for last three years, official sources inthe company said.

“Now, the financial reports for the years2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 are in the print-ing process and the shareholders will be in-formed about their dividends soon,” they told.

Answering a question, the sources informedthat gas supply to the company’s consumers hadconsiderably increased after addition of importedLiquified Natural Gas (LNG) to its distributionsystem. They said uninterrupted gas supply was

being ensured to Compressed National Gas(CNG) stations, gas-based power generationunits, fertilizer plants and industrial sector.

Replying to another question, the sourcessaid a summary had been sent to the quartersconcerned to lift ban from issuance of gas con-nections for commercial purpose.

Citing reason for moving the summary, theysaid it would help stop gas theft, which was be-ing committed by restaurants, confectioneries,bakeries and small-scale industries mainly, andease deployment of heavy manpower for thechecking and raids. Presently, the sources said,the SSGC had over 2.5 million consumers andthe company was making all-out efforts to en-sure provision of improved services to them.

Ogra releases three pendingfinancial reports of SSGC

Newest Teslaelectric will aim

at middle marketNEW YORK—Tesla is set tounveil the Model 3, its long-anticipated pitch to middleclass drivers and a key compo-nent in founder Elon Musk’svision to mainstream the elec-tric car.

Tesla Motors, until now apurveyor of luxurious all-elec-tric cars with equally luxuriousprice-tags, plans to sell theModel 3 for $35,000, half thebase price of the flagshipModel S.

The Model 3 will be un-veiled at Tesla’s Design Studioin Hawthorne, California, onMarch 31. Now only puttingout 50,000 cars a year, Teslaplans to use the Model 3 to turnitself into a mainstreamautomaker selling 500,000electrics annually by 2020.

Analysts say the new car iscritical to Tesla at a time whencheap gasoline is challengingall green cars, and as rival Gen-eral Motors stakes its claim onthe electric vehicle middle mar-ket with its new Chevrolet Bolt.

“The Model 3 is really themeasure if Tesla is going tomake it long-term as a car com-pany,” said Jessica Caldwell, ananalyst at the auto industrywebsite Edmunds.com. “If theywant to bring the EV to the massmarket they need the Model 3to be successful.”—AFP

MULTAN—Punjab Governor Malik RafiqueRajwana on Sunday said uplift of the agricul-ture sector could help strengthen the country’seconomy. He was addressing “Kissan Mela” or-ganized at Qasim Fort Stadium here on Sunday.

Malik Rafique said farmers played a vitalrole in improving economy of any country andour agriculture sector was the backbone of thecountry’s finance. He said the government’skissan package surely helped farmers and as-

sured farmers of working for minimizing salestax on agriculture inputs and improving cottonquality. The government had also provided thou-sands of cows and buffaloes to poor farmers tomake them stand on permanent footing, he said.

Big companies had been invited to set upstorage houses of agriculture commodities sothat role of middle men could be abolished andfarmers could get handsome return of their pro-duce, he said.—APP

Farmers’ uplift top priorityof government: Governor

Dar for timelypayment forretiring Euro bondSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—FederalMinister for Finance, SenatorMohammad Ishaq Dar hasdirected Economic AffairsDivision (EAD) to ensuretimely payments for retiring theUS$ 500 million Euro bondfloated in 2006. The bond wasissued during the PervaizMusharraf/Shaukat Aziz ledregime and carried an interestrate of over 7%. It may beadded that the bond is maturingand due for payment by 31stMarch 2016. Finance MinisterIshaq Dar has asked the EADto pass necessary instructionsto the State Bank of Pakistanfor making the payments on thedue date. The retiring of theEuro bond liability will alsoresult in the reduction in thecountry’s external debt stockby US $ 500 million.

Rising risks liftdemand forspecialist insuranceLONDON—Rising risks indeveloped countries after astring of deadly attacks aredriving up demand forspecialist insurance to coverlosses stemming from suchevents, putting upward pressureon premiums, underwriters andbrokers say. Insurers havegenerally excluded the risks ofsuch attacks from standardproperty, event cancelation ortravel insurance policies sincethe 9/11 attacks in New York in2001, though customers canask for the addition ofspecialist cover known in theindustry as “terrorisminsurance.” Attacks in Paris,Istanbul and San Bernardino inCalifornia in the past year hadmade company boardsincreasingly concerned aboutsafety even before this week’sattacks in Brussels, saidTarique Nageer, of brokerMarsh. “We have seen achange in demand as more ofthese events have occurred inmore developed countries,”said Nageer, who headsMarsh’s New York departmentspecializing in cover againstsuch events. The number ofattacks and fatalities has risensharply since 2011, insurancebroker Jardine Lloyd Thomp-son said in a report publishedon Thursday, adding that thelikelihood of further majorattacks is expected to remainhigh. The economic costs ofthe Paris attacks in November,which killed 130 people, werebetween $9 billion and $12billion, the report said.—Agencies

‘Matters resolvedas per law’FAISALABAD—DirectorGeneral Trade OrganizationMinistry of Commerce AzharIqbal has said all matters areresolved strictly in accor-dance with law. He wasaddressing members of thePakistan Yarn MerchantsAssociation (PYMA) Punjab& KPK Zone Faisalabad hereon Sunday. He said the officebelieved in settling intra tradebodies disputes amicablywithout upsetting a demo-cratic procedure and as perlegal provisions.—APP

Afghanistan Innings:Shahzad c Benn b Badree 24Usman Ghani b Badree ...... 4Asghar Stanikzai c Bravo bBadree .............................. 16Gulbadin c Bravo b Sammy8Samiullah c Sammy b Benn1Najibullah not out ............ 48Mohammad Nabi c Samuels bRussell ............................... 9Shafiqullah Shafiq c Fletcherb Russell ............................ 4Rashid Khan not out .......... 6Extras: (lb 2, w1) ............... 3Total: (7 wickets) ........... 123Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-33, 3-50, 4-52, 5-56, 6-90, 7-103Bowling: ............. O-M-R-WRussell ................... 4-0-23-2Badree .................... 4-0-14-3Brathwaite .............. 2-0-21-0Benn ....................... 4-0-18-1Bravo ..................... 4-0-28-0Sammy ................... 2-0-17-1

West Indies Innings:Johnson Charles b Hassan22Evin Lewis c Khan b Hamza 0Andre Fletcher not out ..... 11Marlon Samuels b Khan .... 5Denesh st Shahzad b Khan18Dwayne Bravo lbw b Nabi28Andre Russell run out ........ 7Darren c Shenwari b Naib . 6Carlos c Zadran b Nabi .... 13Samuel not out ................... 2Extras: (lb 1, w 2, nb 2) ..... 5Total: (8 wickets; 20 overs)117Did not bat: Sulieman BennFall of wickets: 1-17, 2-33, 2-34, 3-38, 4-79, 5-89, 6-98, 7-107, 8-114Bowling: ............. O-M-R-WHamza ...................... 4-0-9-1Nabi ....................... 4-0-26-2Hassan ................. 2.4-0-19-1Khan ...................... 4-0-26-2Shenwari ................ 4-0-22-0Naib .................... 1.2-0-14-1

NAGPUR (India)—Afghanistan downedthe powerful West Indies by six runs in ahistoric World Twenty20 match in Nagpuron Sunday, handing the never-say-die un-derdogs their first ever Super 10 victory.

Afghanstan had failed to qualify forthe semi-finals heading into Sunday’smatch, but were determined to take homea consolation victory against the WestIndies, who had already made the finalfour.

After being sent into bat, AsgharStanikzai’s side posted a respectable 123/7, with Najibullah Zadran smashing anunbeaten 48 against the 2012 World T20champions.

The West Indies, who had a perfectrecord heading into the match with threestraight wins, warned that they were notgoing to let up against Afghanistan.

But their run chase got off to a shakystart, with opener Evin Lewis dismissedfor a duck, and some excellent Afghani-stan spin bowling led by 17-year-oldRashid Khan (2-26) meant the wickets keptfalling.

With the West Indies needing 10 runsfrom the final over, Najibullah sprintedseveral metres along the boundary to takea spectacular, tumbling catch and claimCarlos Braithwaite for 13, just when helooked like bringing the West Indies home,as he had done against South Africa onFriday.

Samuel Badree and an injured AndreFletcher could only manage to push thetotal to 117 in the three remaining deliver-

World T20: Afghanistan clinchhistoric win over Windies

ies.Despite the loss, the West Indies still

finish top of Group One, and will play ei-ther Australia or India, who clash laterSunday in Group Two, in the semi-finals.

After being sent in to bat, Najibullahtop scored for Afghanistan, striking fourfours and one six in his 40-ball knock tobring cheers from thesmall but vocalcrowd.

Afghanistan hadlost all of their pre-vious Super 10matches, but theyhave won new ad-mirers in India withtheir aggressive andcarefree brand ofcricket that hascaused some anxiousmoments for theiropponents.

O p e n e rM o h a m m a dShahzad made a con-fident 24, but wascaught off leg-spin-ner Badree, trying toheave over the in-field, just as he waslooking exciting.

A s g h a rStanikzai also madea handy 16. Theskipper shuffleddown the wicket to

smash a six over long on, but was caughtthe next ball by Dwayne Bravo off Badreeattempting the same shot.

As the wickets started to tumble thanksto some strong fielding, 23-year-oldNajibullah held his nerve, guiding Af-ghanistan past the 120 mark and to whatproved a winning total.—AFP

Afghanistan’s cricketers celebrate their win over West Indies’ in the ICC World Twenty20 cricket match in Nagpur, Indiaon Sunday.

BIPIN DANI

OBSERVER CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—Members of the Indian cricketteam may be warned against pasting tricolor(resembling national flag) on their helmets. TheMohali police have been “alerted” to ensurethat the national flag is not disrespected dur-ing Sunday’s World T20 match between Indiaand Australia.

The Mohali police did acknowledge thereceipt of the complaint lodged by P. Ullhas,the Delhi-based social film maker and the ac-tivist.

Speaking exclusively over telephone fromDelhi, Ullhas says, “It is illegal to paste tri-color on helmets. By displaying the tricoloron the helmets, our national pride is disre-spected. It is shameful to note that the playersare seen spitting on the ground where they alsoput their helmet (when not in use)”.

“I brought it to the notice (via twitter) ofTeam India captain (Dhoni) and Dhoni hasstopped using tricolor on his helmet but the

Indian players may be warnedagainst pasting tricolour on helmet

other players still do so and hence I have writ-ten a complain to the Mohali police”, he added.

“I was directed by the Delhi High Courtand the Home Ministry to inform the nearestpolice station where players violate the lawsand the nation pride is not respected and there-fore the attention is drawn”, he added.

“Our duty is to ensure the smooth func-tioning of the match. Regarding players vio-lating the laws by pasting national emblem orthe tricolor on helmet, the action can be takenonly when we receive instructions from theDeputy Collector”, the IPS ranking police of-ficer Navnihal Singh, attached with the Mohalipolice, said over telephone.

“So far we have not received any such in-structions. The order has to come from theBCCI office”, an influential member of theteam management, speaking exclusively, said.Interestingly, the same activist also drew theattention of Amitabh Bachhan for his incor-rect pronunciations while singing the NationalAnthem before the commencement of the In-dia-Pakistan match at Eden Gardens recently.

MOHALI—The Indian cricket board won’tleave anything to chance when it comes to con-trolling ‘cricketing elements’ so the host teamqualifies for the World T20 semi-finals, aHindustan Times report said on Sunday, afterIndian team manage-ment requested chang-ing the Mohali trackinto a turner.

India and Australiaare set to face eachother in a virtual quar-ter-final today at thePunjab Cricket Asso-ciation (PCA) ISBindra Stadium inMohali.

“The game wasscheduled to be playedon a pitch which wouldhave played similar tothe one that was usedfor the Pakistan-Aus-tralia match,” a sourceclose to the Board of Control for Cricket inIndia (BCCI) was quoted as saying by theHindustan Times report.

“But India weren’t happy and have nowrequested a change. Now, the pitch that theyhave chosen will assist spin and maybe incon-sistent bounce.” Like the one in Nagpur, thetrack is expected to benefit spinners.

The World T20 Super 10 opener between

MOHALI—West Indies edged out India bythree runs in a closely fought women’s WorldTwenty20 encounter at the Punjab CricketAssociation Stadium here on Sunday.

Electing to bowl first on winning the toss,India restricted West Indies to114/8 in 20 overs withHarmanpreet Kaur and AnujaPatil slicing through the visitors’line-up.

Harmanpreet returned fig-ures of 4/23 in three overs whileAnuja registered 3/16 in fourovers.

Opener Stafanie Taylor wasthe top scorer for the West Indieswith 47 runs off 45 balls. DeandraDottin also produced a brisk 45off 40 balls, but the rest of theWest Indies batsmen were unableto reach double figures.

In reply, India could onlymanage 111/9 in their 20 overs.Dottin bagged 3/16 in her fourovers while Afy Fletcher (2/15)also bowled well. ShamiliaConnell (1/15) and ShaquanaQuintyne (1/19) were also amongthe wickets.

The hosts suffered a blowright in the opening over as cap-tain Mithali Raj was caught be-hind in very first over. VedaKrishnamurthy (18) was look-ing good for a big score withfour well-struck boundaries inher 16-ball innings. But she per-ished while attempting anotherbig hit.

Anuja (26) and Jhulan

West Indies beat India inWomen’s World T20 tie

Goswami (25) carried the Indians past the100-run mark. But after both were dis-missed in consecutive overs, the Indiantail-enders semed tobe overwhelmed bythe chalenge.

Brief scores: West Indies women 114/

8 in 20 overs (Stafanie Taylor 47, DeandraDottin 45; Harmanpreet Kaur 4/23, AnujaPatil 3/16) vs India women 111/9 in 20overs (Anuja Patil 26, Jhulan Goswami 25;Deandra Dottin 3/16, Afy Fletcher 2/15).—AFP

Smriti Mandhana plays the sweep during India vs West Indies, Women’s World T20 matchin Mohali on Sunday.

Australia vs India

Mohali track altered tofavour hosts: report

India and New Zealand was being touted as arun-fest. But as the track was changed into onewhich had more grip and break in it made it alla low-score affair.

The Nagpur track, too, was changed at thebehest of the Indianteam management, theHindustan Times said.

However, it back-fired for the hosts whofailed to tackleMitchell Santner’s andIsh Sodhi’s sharplyturning deliveries andfell out for just 79 runsin pursuit of 47 more.

“You have seenwhat happened duringlast year’s Test againstSouth Africa. [Mohali]is known for its quickwicket,” said a PCA of-ficial, who was con-tacted by the Hindustan

Times after the ground curator and the BCCIpitch committee chairman Daljit Singh refusedto comment.

The PCA official added that the same pitchwill host the women’s match between India andWest Indies before the knockout men’s game.“There will definitely be some wear and tear.The pitch is likely to slow down in theevening.”—Agencies

NEW DELHI—England opener Jason Roy andfast bowler David Willey have been fined at theWorld Twenty20 after emotions spilled over dur-ing their win over Sri Lanka on Saturday.

Both players gave solid performances dur-ing England’s nailbiting 10-run victory over SriLanka in New Delhi to secure a place in the semi-finals.

But Roy was fined 30 percent of his matchfee for swearing and then throwing his bat and

England’s Roy, Willey finedas emotions spill over

helmet upon leaving the field, after being givenout lbw for 42 off 39 balls.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) saidon Sunday that Roy had shown “dissent at an

umpire’s decision during an in-ternational match”.

Willey, meanwhile, whotook 2-26, was fined 15 percentof his fee after giving a colourfulsend-off to Milinda Siriwardanawhen the Sri Lankan was dis-missed immediately after hittingthe seamer for six.

The ICC said he breachedthe code of conduct for “actionsor gestures which disparage orwhich could provoke an aggres-sive reaction” from a batsmanon their dismissal.

Both players admitted theoffences during a meeting with match referee JeffCrowe, the ICC said in a statement.

England are now likely to face New Zealandin a semi-final encounter in Delhi on Wednes-day, with the West Indies having already quali-fied from their group.—AFP

DHAKA—Bangladesh skipper MashrafeMortaza on Sunday blamed the ICC’s suspen-sion of two of its key bowlers for illegal actionsfor his side’s exit from the World Twenty 20.

Bangladesh were bundled out of the tourna-ment after four straight losses in the Super 10group stage—including a crushing 75-run de-feat to New Zealand on Saturday.

But Mortaza said they were hobbled by theInternational Cricket Council’s (ICC) decisionto bar key pacemen Taskin Ahmed and left-armspinner Arafat Sunny early in the group stages.

Bangladesh, whose side finished runners-upto India in the Asia Cup just before the WorldT20, made a failed frantic appeal to the ICC tohave Taskin’s suspension overturned.

“In the last eight matches, Taskin’s economyrate was the best in the world. So it was alwaysdifficult to lose him,” Mortaza said at Dhaka

Mortaza blames ICC banfor Bangladesh T20 exit

airport after returning home.“The way he was bowling, we had our plan

set aroundhim. We hadto change theentire gameplan. Beforethe Australiagame when hewas bannedwe could nothold our emo-tions due tothis shock.“We acceptedthat Sunny’s action has problems.

Even Sunny himself accepted it. ButTaskin’s ban was a complete shock for us,” hesaid.—AFP

Today’s FixturesSouth Africa vs Sri Lankaat Delhi (19:00 PST)

SA Women vs SL Womenat Bangalore (15:00 PST)

Mathews: We’velet down fans andcountryDELHI—Sri Lanka captainAngelo Mathews said the de-fending champions let downan entire nation after crash-ing out of the WorldTwenty20, though he did

h i g h -l i g h ts o m ep o s i -t i v e s .Mathewsand Cow e r ee l i m i -n a t e dw i t ho n em a t c hto spare

in the Super 10 stage as En-gland claimed a 10-run winon Saturday, despite a heroicperformance from Mathews.After slumping to 15-4 in thefirst six overs, Mathewsposted an unbeaten 73 off 54balls to help Sri Lanka comewithin touching distance ofEngland’s imposing 171-4total in Delhi. The defeat con-signed Sri Lanka to a seconddefeat in three games aheadof their final Group 1 clashagainst Afghanistan on Mon-day and while the campaignhas been disappointing,Mathews insisted no rash de-cisions will be made in re-gards to team selection. —AP

Boycott fails inYorkshire boardbidLONDON—England greatGeoffrey Boycott’s contro-versial bid to return to theYorkshire board failed on Sat-urday after his candidacy was

rejectedby thecounty’sm e m -bershipat thec l u b ’sannualgeneralmeetingon Sat-u r d a y.W h e n

the ballots were counted atthe club’s Headingley head-quarters in Leeds, 758 mem-bers had voted against Boy-cott compared to 602 infavour of the 75-year-oldformer Yorkshire opener.Boycott previously served onthe board between 2007 and2012. He was alsoYorkshire’s president in 2012and 2013, since when theyhave won back-to-backChampionships, with alargely homegrown teamcoached by former Australiafast bowler JasonGillespie.—AFP

Messi: I don’tcompare myself toRonaldoCAMP NOU—Barcelona starLionel Messi has reiteratedthat he does not care aboutcomparisons with Cristiano

Ronaldoor anyo t h e rplayersas he isonly fo-c u s e don hiso w nperfor-mances.The Ar-gentina

international’s achieve-ments are often contrastedto those of the Real Madridstar, but Messi remains un-perturbed by such talk andsays he is only thinkingabout helping his team tosuccess. “The press is al-ways looking for compari-sons and those kinds ofthings,” the 28-year-old toldMBC. “The only thing I careabout is helping my teamand to keep on improvingeach season. “I am not com-paring myself to CristianoRonaldo or to anyone else.I am only thinking aboutmyself and my team-matesand winning games.”—AFP

IT’S NO secret: too much salt is bad for us.It can increase blood pressure, raising therisk of heart attack, stroke, heart disease

and more. But two new studies have identi-fied another downfall of a high salt intake - itcan lead to over consumptionof fatty foods, increasing therisk of obesity. Researcherssay the studies - published inthe Journal of Nutrition andChemical Senses - supportcalls for the food industry tolower the salt, or sodium,intake of food products.

Both studies were con-ducted by Prof. RussellKeast and colleagues fromDeakin University in Austra-lia. The Dietary Guidelinesfor Americans recommendindividuals aged 2-50 limitsodium intake to less than2,300 mg daily, while thoseaged 51 and older and peoplewho have diabetes, highblood pressure or kidney dis-ease should consume no more than 1,500 mgof sodium daily. However, it is estimated thatthe average American consumes sodium atwell above these guidelines - around 3,300 mgdaily.

While you may not be heavy handed withthe salt shaker, it is processed foods and res-taurant meals that are the primary culprit, ac-counting for more than 75% of our sodiumintake. Previous research from Prof. Keast andcolleagues, including a study reported byMedical News Today earlier this year, sug-gested that individuals who are more sensi-tive to the taste of fat are more likely to eatfatty foods, putting them at greater risk of obe-

Salt could lead to weight gainby driving fatty food intake

Sindh National Party holds a Peace Walk rally.—PO photo

sity. Their latest studies build on that research,suggesting that the amount of salt in a certainfood may influence how much we eat.

For the first study, the team set out to in-vestigate the effects of salt on the taste of fat

and food preference. The re-searchers enrolled 49 healthyparticipants aged 18-54 andasked them to taste a variety oftomato soups that had four dif-ferent fat concentrations (0%,5%, 10% and 20%) and fivedifferent salt concentrations(0.04% - no added salt - 0.25%,0.5%, 1% and 2%). After con-suming the soups, participantswere asked to rank the pleas-antness and desire to eat eachsoup, as well as the perceivedfattiness and saltiness of eachsoup.

Fat taste sensitivity amongparticipants was measured bytheir ability to taste oleic acid -a fatty acid in vegetable fats andoils - at various concentrations

in long-life skimmed milk. The researchersfound that salt is a major player in the pleas-antness of a food, with rating of food pleas-antness varying greatly dependent on differ-ent salt contents; a salt concentration of 0.25-5% rated as most pleasant.

Surprisingly, they found this was not somuch the case with fat content; no differencein food pleasantness was found between fatconcentrations of 5%, 10% or 15%, though afat content of 20% was rated as less pleasant.“We expected to find an increase in pleasant-ness in the 5% and 10% fat soups, but pleas-antness did not differ between the soups with0%, 5% and 10% fat,” note the authors.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—A photography contest wasorganised here by Alliance Française deKarachi (AFK - French Cultural Centre) incollaboration with NewsPakistan.TV. Out ofover 500 entries received by the students ofmedia studies belonging to Pakistan’s numer-ous educational institutions, 27 snaps wereshort-listed and displayed at AFK’s main Art

AFK holds Inter-Universitiesphotography contest

Gallery for a week.On Thursday March 24th a jury headed by

veteran photographer professor RehmatullahKhan judged the award-winning photographtitled Vigor snapped by Bint-e-Hanif. Cashprize of Rs10,000 sponsored by News-Pakistan.TV was handed over to the winnerby the AFK Acting Director Monsieur EricTouze. All the participants were also given cer-tificate of appreciation.

Acting Director Alliance Francaise de Karachi (French Cultural Centre) Eric Touze seenpresenting the first prize to Bint-e-Hanif, winner of the Inter-Universities photographycompetition.—PO photo

CITY REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh Rangers have foiledan attempt of terrorism in Karachi, arrest-ing two alleged target-killers and recov-ering a huge cache of sophisticated weap-ons.

According to Rangers statement, theparamilitary troops raided house of a

Rangers recover hugecache of arms, terror bid foiled

KA R A C H I—The AdministratorKarachi, Roshan Ali Shaikh, has calledfor speedy construction of the garbagetransfer stations in the metropolis.

He issued the directive to this ef-fect during a visit to the constructionsite of the garbage transfer station inKorangi on Sunday.

Shaikh said that the construction ofsuch stations would help dispose of thegarbage in the metropolis in a scientific

Administrator for speedy constructionof garbage-transfer stations

manner.He stated that three garbage trans-

fer stations would be constructed forcarrying the garbage of Landhi,Korangi and adjoining areas to the land-fill sites.

There would be separate garbagetransfer stations for the shifting of do-mestic, industrial and hospital garbagefrom Landhi- Korangi.

During the visit he also reviewed the

cleanliness measures in the city besidesthe provision of the civic facilities.

Meanwhile, the Minister for LocalGovernment Jam Khan Shoro has di-rected the District Municipal Corpora-tions to improve cleanliness steps in themetropolis.

He asked the Administrators of theDMC to themselves undertake visits tooversee such arrangements in their re-spective jurisdictions.—APP

LG Ministerattends Easter

ceremonyKARACHI—Sindh Ministerfor Local Government, JamKhan Shoro, visited an Easterceremony at the St. PatrickChurch in Saddar here on Sun-day. Speaking on the occasionhe said that the very purposeof his visit was to attend theEaster festivities and to extendgreetings to the Christian com-munity of the city, the provinceas well as of the country.

Shoro said that he has comehere on the directive of BilawalBhutto Zardari, the chairman ofthe Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP), to extend Easter greetings.The provincial minister pointedout that there is a religious har-mony in Sindh. He pointed outthat the festival of Holi was alsoobserved by the Hindus, Chris-tian and the Muslims.

The Minister also praisedthe role of the Christian com-munity especially in the fieldsof education and health. TheSpecial Representative of theBishop of Pakistan, thanked theSindh Government for the se-curity and the cleanliness ar-rangements on the occasion.

He said that the Christiancommunity is with the peopleof Pakistan for the progress andprosperity of the country.Saleem Micheal also expressedhis views on this very occa-sion.—APP

Steps taken forcleanliness around

exam centresKARACHI—The Administratorof District Municipal Corpora-tion (DMC) Korangi, GhulamRasool, on Sunday visited vari-ous areas to inspect the arrange-ments for cleanliness especiallyaround the centres for the Matricexaminations commencingfrom March 28.

An official said that the ad-ministrator also directed the con-cerned officials to improve thesewerage system so that there isno accumulation of water aroundthe examinations centres.

He also instructed that sprayshould also be arranged on thedaily basis. The administratoralso called for steps to resolve thecivic problems in the area besidesmaintenance of cleanliness aswell as beautification.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—A Seminar on Greener DHA organizedby Institute of Architects Pakistan in collaborationwith DHA was held at Defence Authority Country& Golf Club. Administrator DHABrig Zubair Ahmed was Chief Gueston the occasion.

Administrator termed the Semi-nar as a remarkable initiative herald-ing the beginning of a reinvigoratedawareness in society for preserva-tion of nature and promotion of hor-ticulture to ensure greener, cleanerand healthy environment for a vi-brant living. He reiterated that DHAwas committed to promotion ofgreenery and plantation in the areato provide aesthetically vibrant liv-ing environment to its residents.

Brig Zubair Ahmed said thatgreen colour has multifarious ramifications rangingfrom horticulture to architectural design encompass-ing master planning, engineering and execution com-ponents. He stressed that DHA has made signifi-cant inroads towards this end by practically imple-menting greener policies and regulations in all itsundertakings and planning for mega projects.

Seminar on greener DHA

Initiative heralds awarenessin for preservation of nature

Horticulturists, landscape specialists and expertshighlighted importance of trees and their benefits,recommended appropriate species for fruitful plan-tation in area. They also recommended various sci-entific techniques for maintaining health of trees

through application of pruning, protection methods.Ms Ayesha Chaudry, Secretary Defence Cen-

tral Library in her welcome address said that theseminar would help in chalking out an effectivemethodology for maintaining a fine balance be-tween development and preservation of naturalenvironment.

party’s former militant wing chief inKorangi area where they arrested ‘target-killers’ and recovered huge cache of arms.

Rangers said the raid was carried outinformation provided by the ex-ringleaderwho is already in Rangers custody. Theweapons include LMG, 15 SMGs andthousands of rounds.

The Sindh Rangers foiled an attempt

of terrorism and arrested two alleged sus-pected target-killers besides recovering ahuge cache of sophisticated weapons hereon Sunday.

Spokesman of Sindh Rangers said thatthe paramilitary troops raided house of aformer chief of a political party in Korangiarea where they arrested two ‘target-kill-ers’ and recovered huge cache of arms.

IT’S NO secret: too much salt is bad for us.It can increase blood pressure, raising therisk of heart attack, stroke, heart disease

and more. But two new studies have identi-fied another downfall of a high salt intake - itcan lead to over consumptionof fatty foods, increasing therisk of obesity. Researcherssay the studies - published inthe Journal of Nutrition andChemical Senses - supportcalls for the food industry tolower the salt, or sodium,intake of food products.

Both studies were con-ducted by Prof. RussellKeast and colleagues fromDeakin University in Austra-lia. The Dietary Guidelinesfor Americans recommendindividuals aged 2-50 limitsodium intake to less than2,300 mg daily, while thoseaged 51 and older and peoplewho have diabetes, highblood pressure or kidney dis-ease should consume no more than 1,500 mgof sodium daily. However, it is estimated thatthe average American consumes sodium atwell above these guidelines - around 3,300 mgdaily.

While you may not be heavy handed withthe salt shaker, it is processed foods and res-taurant meals that are the primary culprit, ac-counting for more than 75% of our sodiumintake. Previous research from Prof. Keast andcolleagues, including a study reported byMedical News Today earlier this year, sug-gested that individuals who are more sensi-tive to the taste of fat are more likely to eatfatty foods, putting them at greater risk of obe-

Salt could lead to weight gainby driving fatty food intake

A large number of visitors enjoying themselves at Zoo on Sunday.—DNA

Visitors watching Annual Flowers and Gardening Show at Jillani Park.—APP

sity. Their latest studies build on that research,suggesting that the amount of salt in a certainfood may influence how much we eat.

For the first study, the team set out to in-vestigate the effects of salt on the taste of fat

and food preference. The re-searchers enrolled 49 healthyparticipants aged 18-54 andasked them to taste a variety oftomato soups that had four dif-ferent fat concentrations (0%,5%, 10% and 20%) and fivedifferent salt concentrations(0.04% - no added salt - 0.25%,0.5%, 1% and 2%). After con-suming the soups, participantswere asked to rank the pleas-antness and desire to eat eachsoup, as well as the perceivedfattiness and saltiness of eachsoup.

Fat taste sensitivity amongparticipants was measured bytheir ability to taste oleic acid -a fatty acid in vegetable fats andoils - at various concentrations

in long-life skimmed milk. The researchersfound that salt is a major player in the pleas-antness of a food, with rating of food pleas-antness varying greatly dependent on differ-ent salt contents; a salt concentration of 0.25-5% rated as most pleasant.

Surprisingly, they found this was not somuch the case with fat content; no differencein food pleasantness was found between fatconcentrations of 5%, 10% or 15%, though afat content of 20% was rated as less pleasant.“We expected to find an increase in pleasant-ness in the 5% and 10% fat soups, but pleas-antness did not differ between the soups with0%, 5% and 10% fat,” note the authors.

Christians participating in special Easter Service in a Church.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Provincial Minister for FoodBilal Yasin has said that government ispaying special attention to the provisionof quality edible items and fresh fruitsin Sunday bazaars and by eliminating therole of middleman, an opportunity hasbeen given to farmers to sell their prod-ucts directly to the citizens and get duereturn.

He expressed these views while

Attention is being paid to provision ofquality edible items at Sunday Bazars: Bilal

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—On the instructions of Pro-vincial Irrigation Minister, Mian YawarZaman, six high level teams have beenconstituted by the Irrigation Depart-ment to inspect the Flood Bunds, FloodProtection Works and Breaching Sec-tions to check their status of mainte-nance and readiness to meet the chal-lenges of flood emergencies during theyear 2016.

According to details, the team con-stituted under supervision of AfzalAnjum Toor, Deputy General Manager(PIDA), Lahore will conduct inspectionof DG Khan Zone.

The team headed by Tahir Anjum

Six teams constituted for pre-floodinspections of infrastructure: Mian Yawar

Iqbal Qureshi, Superintending Engi-neer, Machinery Circle, Lahore will in-spect Faisalabad Zone and submit itsreport to the Department.

The team headed by AsgharHameed, Superintending Engineer,Drainage Circle, Faisalabad has beenentrusted to inspect Multan Zone. Simi-larly, the team of Rana MuhammadLatif, Superintending Engineer, LinkCircle, Lahore will inspect the LahoreZone.

Meanwhile, the Sahiwal Zone hasbeen given to the team headed bySaeed-ul-Hassan Hashmi, Superintend-ing Engineer, Nilibar Canal Circle,Sahiwal.

The team headed by Sh.

Muhammad Qasim Saeed, Superintend-ing Engineer, Haveli Canal Circle,Multan wil l visi t and inspectBahawalpur Zone.

The Irrigation Department has alsodeputed Shabbir Ahmed Saqib, Direc-tor Structures, Safety Evaluation Cellto coordinate with Pre-Flood inspectionteams of Upper / Central Punjab dur-ing their visits and Muhammad Latif,Director Embankments, Safety Evalu-ation Cell shall coordinate with Pre-Flood Inspection teams of Southern /Lower Punjab during their visits.

The Irrigation Department shallprovide necessary guidance and supportto the Line Departments for better floodmanagement and policy planning.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Parliamentary Secretary In-formation & Culture Rana MuhammadArshad has said that effective precaution-ary measures are essential for coping withnatural calamities and minimizing thelosses. He said it is need of the hour thatthe disaster management should be for-

Effective precautionarymeasures essential for coping

with natural calamitieswarded in a professional manner.

He said that an effective responsemechanism is vital for coping with any natu-ral calamity. He also stressed the need ofcapacity-building of concerned institutions.Rana Arshad said that trained human re-source can play an effective role in disastermanagement, therefore, there should be ef-fective coordination between National Di-

saster Management Authority and Provin-cial Disaster Management Authority.

He said that best results can beachieved through use of modern technol-ogy with regard to disaster management.He said that government has constituteda committee which will consider all pro-posals jointly with the officials of Na-tional Disaster Management Authority.

CITY REPORTER

LAHORE—The Lahore General Hospital adminis-tration has introduced a new security plan to ensuresafety of patients, attendants and staffers. The ad-ministration has restricted entry of attendants within-door patients or enter into wards without havingspecial security cards.

Under the new security plan, non-concernedpeople would not be allowed to live at hostels of thehospital with the allotees neither any vehicle of out-siders would remain parked after fixed timings.

More CCTV cameras will be installed to watchthe building continuously and all this process willbe supervised by Principal PGMI & LGH Prof.Khalid Mahmood.

These views were expressed by Principal ProfKhalid Mahmood while talking to APP here onSunday. Prof Khalid Mahmood stressed that secu-rity personnel should remain alert and active moreand did not allow any ambulance, wagon or rick-

New security planfor General Hospital

shaw to be parked permanently in the hospital park-ing. He also directed to ensure verification by po-lice of credentials of all those workers who supplymeals and other items to hospital and also remaininformed in case of the replacement of any suchworker.

He said staffers would display their hospitalidentity cards during duty hours. Nursing adminis-tration must maintain record of all visitors in addi-tion to strictly implement the visit timings.

Prof Khalid Mahmood said officials of policewould also keep patrolling in premises of the hos-pital round-the-clock. He emphasized residents ofthe hospital housing colony to keep vigilant andalert about their surroundings and inform DutyDMS and police immediately on finding any thingsuspicious.

AMS and DMSs of the evening and night shiftshad been made duty bound to monitor sanitary in-spectors and security guards besides reporting to theprincipal daily under the new plan, he maintained.

LAHORE—Punjab Highway Patrol arrested 46criminal, including 21 proclaimed offenders, andalso recovered 83 litter liquor, four pistol, fiveguns, one rifle and 440g charas.

PHP arrests 46 criminalsPHP officials handed over the accused and

narcotics to local police for legal action. Addi-tional IG PHP Amjad Javed Saleemi appriciatedthe performance of personnel.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab Education Founda-tion (PEF) has completed the conduc-tion of Quality Assurance Test (QAT)of partner schools situated in Cholistanarea of Bahawalpur Division. The stu-dents of 73 partner schools sit for theexams.

The purpose of this examinationwas to observe academic standards ofthe schools. PEF Additional Director

talking to consumers at Shadman Sun-day bazaar, here Sunday. TMO DataGanj Bakhsh Town also accompaniedhim. The Provincial Minister said thatSunday bazaars are playing an impor-tant role for the provision of cheaperand quality eatable items to the citizens.He said that these bazaars have helpedin fulfilling the food requirements of thepublic.

He said that scope of the Sunday ba-zaars will further be expanded so that

common man could rid of price hike. Hesaid that Muslim League-N governmentis making efforts to provide facilities tothe citizens for improving their livingstandard.

Bilal Yasin said that after setting upof metro bus system, orange line metrotrain service reflects the determinationthat the government has diverted devel-opment resources for the welfare ofcommon man so that every person couldbenefit from the fruits of democracy.

He said that Chief Minister Shehbaz isendeavouring to make Punjab provincea role model with regard to develop-ment and welfare of the people.

The Provincial Minister directedTMO Data Ganj Bakhsh Town to im-prove parking system in Shadman Sun-day bazaar so that the consumers shouldnot face any parking problem. He fur-ther said that security arrangements andsitting arrangements for senior citizensshould also be improved.

PEF conducts QAT of partner schools(South) Mazhar Abbas also visited theschools and inspected the examinationactivity. During the visit, he said thatTree Plantation Drive has also beenstarted in the partner schools so thatthe students could be provided greenenvironment.

Meanwhile, PEF Director (Founda-tion Assisted School) Zahid Ali has di-rected the school partners, whose reg-istration or renewal is lifetime, to con-tact their concerned office of Executive

District Officer (Education) for com-pleting school registration renewal pro-cess and submit the attested copy to thedepartment, maximum by April 8.

A reminder circular has also beenissued in this regard. He has also askedthe school partners to follow the di-rections of the Punjab Governmentwith regard to elimination of denguethreat in their schools. PEF has alsoissued SOPs for the schools in this re-gard.

InvestigationWing data

computerizationLAHORE—Computerization ofdata of Investigation Wing wouldrevolutionize investigation pro-cess, as now everyone can getdetails of an investigation througha click only on a computer,claimed DIG Investigation SultanAhmad Chaudhry here Sunday.

Talking to APP, he said thewing had computerized allFIRs, numbering about 86,000,registered in 2015. Besides,investigation details of everycase, registered in 2016, hadbeen computerized.

He said it was for first timein history of country that the in-vestigation data had been com-puterized and centralized througha server. And, project has unani-mously been supported by everypolice officer. He said officerswho designed software, Polcom,and worked practically for com-puterization of data were praise-worthy.—APP