ISLAMABAD: Anti-Narcotics Forces (ANF) personnel at the Benazir Bhutto International airport in Islamabad on Sunday claimed to have arrested a UK-bound British citizen after the recovery of one kilogram heroin from the passenger prior to boarding a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight for Birmingham.

An ANF spokesman Col Habib told DawnNews that the British citizen of Pakistani origin had tactfully concealed 1kg heroin in his shoes, which was detected during routine checking by ANF staff at the airport.

The spokesman said that the passenger was travelling from Islamabad to Birmingham by flight PK 791.

The heroine was worth several hundred thousand rupees.

A case has been registered against the arrested man as a probe by the ANF went under way.

LANDI KOTAL: The return of as many as 16,000 displaced families of Malakdinkhel tribe of Bara will begin tomorrow (Aug 10) under the fourth phase of repatriation plan.

Officials of the Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) said that a registration centre had been set up at the Government High School, Kohi Sher Haider area of Malakdinkhel, where every returning family would be provided with a mobile SIM card and an ATM card.

Under the repatriation plan, every returning family is entitled to receiving Rs10,000 through the SIM card for transportation, while another Rs25,000 would be given to them as immediate cash grant through the ATM card.

According to the plan announced by FDMA, a total of 15,000 off-camp and 1,000 Malakdinkhel families currently residing in Jalozai camp would be sent back till Sept 5.

Officials said that in order to avoid inconvenience to the returning families, they had set six different dates for return of each of the different sub-tribes of Malakdinkhel.

According to the plan, displaced families of Daulatkhel sub-tribe would be registered and sent back from Aug 10 to 15 and Umar Khankhel from Aug 17 to 22, while families belonging to Kulakhel and Khernakhel were required to get themselves registered at Kohi Sher Haider centre from Aug 24 to 29.

Families belonging to other major tribes of Bara, including Shalobar, Qambarkhel, Kamarkhel and Akkakhel, who had been residing in Malakdinkhel prior to their displacement would return to the respective localities from Aug 31 to Sept 5.

According to FDMA figures, so far 41,000 families of Akkakhel, Shalobar and Qambarkhel have returned to their homes under the repatriation plan started on March 20. The government is yet to announce return plan for the Sipah tribe. 

Meanwhile, elders of Akkakhel tribe ended their boycott of political administration on Saturday after an assurance by political agent Shahab Ali Shah of solution of their problems.

The tribe had a week ago announced boycott of all official engagements as the administration had refused to release some of the arrested Akkakhel tribesmen before Eidul Fitr.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2015

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In the world of sports, there are so many who hit stardom very early. It could be because the younger you are the more energetic you happen to be. And sports are all about physical activity. Sports stars who have only known hard work also remain fit for longer. But although it looks like they found instant success it wasn’t like that. They had been trained, groomed and nurtured for this from the very beginning.

Up against a wall

Pakistan’s squash legend Jahangir Khan first won the World Amateur Championship at the age of 15. Two years later, in 1981, he won the World Open by dethroning Geoff Hunt of Australia, who dominated the world of squash until then. Jahangir, though he was a very weak child, was groomed by his father Roshan Khan, himself a former British Open champion, and then by his late older brother Torsam Khan. Torsam collapsed during a tournament match in 1979 and died. Earlier, the 27-year-old World No 13 player had taken his little brother aside and told him that their father wished to see one of his sons as a world squash champion. “I can’t, you have to,” he had said.

Jahangir was heartbroken after his brother’s death but he worked very hard. Seeing the child’s keen ambition his cousin Rehmat Khan gave up his own career to coach him. Those who knew his story cried with the 17-year-old Jahangir that day when he beat Hunt and fell to his knees to offer sajda inside the squash court to thank the almighty for fulfilling his dream.

Here are the stories of some sports legends who hit stardom early

There was no looking back after that as Jahangir remained unbeaten for 555 consecutive matches over five years and eight months. He also won the British Open Championship 10 times straight, from 1982 to 1993. He was six times World Open Champion as

well and when someone did succeed in beating him finally it was another teenager from Pakistan by the name of Jansher Khan.

Prodigies on the court From one racket sport to another … Who hasn’t heard of John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Steffi Graf and Michael Chang?

A young Sachin Tendulkar

McEnroe, as an 18-year-old won the mixed doubles at the 1977 French Open with partner Mary Carillo. That same year he reached the Wimbledon semi-finals but lost to Jimmy Connors there. Two years later he won his first Grand Slam singles title at the US Open.

McEnroe was considered quite young at the time but then the world didn’t know the others. Boris Becker and Steffi Graf of Germany were a pleasant surprise. Born in 1967, Boris Becker at the age of 17 years and 227 days in 1985 became the first unseeded player and the first German to win the Wimbledon singles title.

Born in 1969, the former World No 1 tennis star Steffi Graf after seeing some success here and there since the age of 13, got her first big breakthrough in 1987 when she beat the reigning World Champion Martina Navratilova to take the French Open singles title. From then on she only got stronger and better.

During her early career, Steffi’s father, Peter, kept a close watch on her. To make sure she didn’t get burnt out, he didn’t let her take part in too many events and to make sure she concentrated on her sport more he didn’t let her socialise much either. A shy kid from the start, Steffi really didn’t mind this and the time spent practicing on the court paid back dividends.

Angry young man John McEnroe / Nadia Comaneci of Romania, the best of gymnasts / Tiger Woods when he was not much bigger than a golf club

Another young player to have made it big in the tennis world was American-born of Chinese decent Michael Chang, who has many youngest-ever records to his name. He even broke Boris Becker’s record of bagging a Grand Slam singles title at the age of 17 years and 110 days when he won the French Open in 1989.

The little masters

With cricket being so popular and played on every street and ground in Pakistan and India, how could our youngsters have kept away from it? Though most cricketers in this part of the world make their international debuts when young the youngest ever was Little Master Hanif Mohammad’s younger brother Mushtaq Mohammad, who made his domestic debut at the age of 13 years and 41 days.

In neighboring India Sachin Tendulkar made his Test debut at 16 years and 205 days on the tour to Pakistan in 1989. In the same match at Karachi, Pakistan’s pacer Waqar Younis, too, was making his debut at the age of 17 years and 364 days. Many lovers of cricket remember young Waqar celebrating after taking young Sachin’s wicket at Karachi after he could only make 15 runs and the kid walking back to the pavilion wiping away his tears.

Jahangir Khan at 17 / Boris Becker and Steffi Graf in a photograph from 1985

Aged 16 years and 217 days, Shahid Afridi burst on to the scene from out of nowhere to score a delightful century in an ODI on his debut series in 1996. Shahid was taken to Kenya as a replacement for the injured leg break googly bowler Mushtaq Ahmed. Batting at number three in his second match there he made a record (though broken now) for the fastest scored centuries from just 37 balls by hitting 11 sixes.

Pixie

Even if you haven’t seen her in action you have got to have heard of the gynast from Romania Nadia Comaneci. Her routines from the 1976 Montreal Olympics and 1980 Moscow Olympics where she was 14 and 18, respectively, and got her perfect scores of 10, are there on You Tube along with her other performances from several other international championships. Nadia was the first gymnast to have scored 10 points.

Since gymnastics is all about flexibility and agility, one has to start when young for that is when your bones and muscles can be trained for the demands of the sport. Nadia, too, began when she was studying in kindergarten. She was only six years old when selected to attend a special gymnastics school after that school’s owner saw her doing cartwheels with a friend in her school yard. When she was 13, she won gold medals in almost all events that she competed in at the European Championships in Norway. She competed in many events worldwide to surprise and force the judges to award her nothing but full points, which also happened at the Montreal Olympics and thereafter.

The records she created at the 1976 Games can never be broken as after that the Olympics committee revised the age eligibility in gymnastics to 16.

Out of the ‘Woods’

Thanks to his father Earl Wood’s planting a love for the sport in his heart, Tiger Woods has been playing golf since he was two. Born in 1975, Tiger was only three when he shot a 48 over nine holes. He wasn’t yet seven when he won the Under Age 10 section of the Drive, Pitch and Putt competition in California. One year later he won the 9-10 boys’ event at the Junior World Golf Championships. Later, he had won the championship six times.

He was only 15 when he became the then youngest ever US Junior Amateur Champion. He became the then youngest-ever winner of the US Amateur Championship in 1994.

In 1996, Woods turned professional and won his first Masters tournament in April, 1997. And two months later in June he had set the record for the fastest ever climb to No 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, August 9th, 2015

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LAHORE: The special protection unit, being raised in the police department for the security of foreigners, mainly Chinese, and important persons and premises, will charge for its services, a feature unknown in the history of the country.

According to officials on Saturday, recruitment for the unit was in progress and it would offer its services both to the public and private sector against fees.

“Yes, it is going to be a public sector security agency exclusively for security, ridding police department of the responsibility of guarding important places and people without any cost and allowing it to concentrate on law and order,” an official said.

Officials said the unit would be headed by a DIG rank officer who would be assisted by an SSP and an SP. There would be chief security officers, senior security officers, senior security constable and security constable.

Those recruited initially in the unit would not be transferred to Punjab police. Initial recruiting would be made in the rank of security constable and the age limit for the post would be 18 to 20 years. The unit would charge fee from the person or organisation seeking its services. The IGP would prescribe criteria for selection of such persons or organisations. It might also charge fee for rendering services to a public sector organisation.

The person or organisation utilising services of the unit would also bear the cost of the unit’s infrastructure, machinery, equipment and other related works to be used for their protection.

Officials said for making the unit functional, the government was hiring the services of ex-servicemen on a contract basis for a specified period and police officers of the corresponding ranks.

Also read: Army's special security division to protect Chinese workers in Pakistan

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2015

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LAHORE: Indian Bhangra singer Sukhbir Singh allegedly dodged the airport officials to evade his arrest at the hands of custom authorities at the Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore, after $27,000 were reportedly recovered from his luggage on Sunday.

According to details, Sukhbir was set to board flight PK-203 to Dubai but was found to have been carrying $ 27,000, during the luggage screening, after which the custom authorities barred him from boarding the plane.

The Indian singer was being taken in for interrogation when he somehow managed to dodge the authorities and flee the airport premises, leaving behind his luggage and the recovered currency, said the sources.

There were initial reports that Sarwar Road police has taken up the investigation in this regard and are trying to locate and arrest the run-away singer.

However, later the immigration sources at the airport informed this correspondent that Sukhbir had come to inquire about the maximum amount of money he can carry along.

Realising that he was carrying extra money, reportedly $27,000, Sukhbir returned without taking the boarding card, the sources added.

Earlier this year, Ayyan Ali, one of the most recognisable faces on Pakistan’s modelling circuit, was arrested on March 14 from Islamabad’s international airport on charges of money laundering after being caught by customs officials with over half a million dollars in her luggage while boarding a flight to Dubai.

Although Ms Ali claimed that the money was legitimate proceeds from the sale of her property, the case took on a life of its own when alleged links with some prominent political personalities came to light.

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party central president Asfandyar Wali Khan has condemned the suicide attacks in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul and termed it an attempt to disrupt the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, he expressed his condolences to the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Afghan people over the attacks. Asfandyar said both Pakistan and Afghanistan should evolve a joint strategy to root out the menace of terrorism. The ANP leader stressed that as long as distrust existed between the two neighbouring countries peace would remain elusive.

On Friday, a suicide attacker struck near the Kabul police academy, killing at least 20 cadets and wounding 27 others, according to Afghan officials.

The afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack came less than 24 hours after a truck bomb ripped through central Kabul, killing 15 civilians and wounding 240 others.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2015

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http://www.dawn.com/news/1199258/two-witnesses-identify-rape-murder-suspects?preview

PESHAWAR: Nayab Bibi is a fast runner. The fact that her arm has been paralysed since birth does not deter her from doing what she does best. She returned a champion to her hometown of Maneri Payan in Swabi district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

Nayab made her country proud in the 2015 Special Olympics in Los Angeles. She brought home with her a bronze medal in the 200 metre run. She also came fourth in the relay race and sixth in the 100 metre run.

Nayab Bibi brought home a bronze in the 200 metre run. ─ Photo by author

11-year-old Nayab is unaware of exactly what she has achieved for Pakistan, but she feels proud. She knows that she did something important when relatives, guests and officials come to her home to visit and congratulate her.

A group of people waits in the hujra of her house to congratulate her. The young athlete is dressed in a colourful shalwar kameez and scarf. She follows her brother, Abdullah, and her uncle, Shafi Kaka, into the hujra.

The visitors stand up and congratulate her and her family on her success. She sits down on a wooden sofa as her medals and ribbons are displayed on a table in front of her. She realises that she has done something special.

When asked by reporters how she feels after winning a bronze medal, Nayab looks uncertainly at her family and doesn’t respond. She’s not used to speaking in front of elders, especially men. But when she’s asked if she’s happy that she won the medal and whether she’ll participate in future competitions, she nods shyly.

When asked if she's happy that she won the medal, she nods shyly. ─ Photo by author

Her uncle tells her that she has made Pakistan and her village very happy by winning a bronze medal. “It’s an honour for Pakistan that our little Nayab won the medal and we will continue to support her to bring credit to our country.”

Abdullah is very happy with Nayab’s success at the World Games. He recognises her school, which teaches special children. “It’s all possible because of Mashal School and the teachers. They worked hard with Nayab and provided her opportunities within the country and abroad to participate in events,” he said.

Mashal Institute for Education was established in 1998 for special children. Currently, 166 students are enrolled – 64 girls and 102 boys. The school accommodates students from play group to matric.

According to Mr Abdul Wahid Ghaznawi, Director Administration of the institute, the school educates students free of charge. It has its own board of directors and runs on donations. Mr Ghaznawi added that four special students from Mashal, including Nayab, participated in the Special Olympics. They collectively won four medals, two silver and two bronze.

Abdullah is very happy with Nayab’s success at the World Games. ─ Photo by author

At the last World Games four years ago, seven students participated and won four gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal. The administration said that students specifically prepared for participation in the Special Olympics at school.

Before the World Games in Los Angeles, Nayab has participated in the National Games and won several medals and ribbons.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani and Indian forces traded fire along the Line of Control on Monday during which a Pakistani woman was critically wounded in Jandrot sector, according to a report on the Radio Pakistan website.

The woman sustained serious bullet wounds as a result of "unprovoked firing" by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) in Jandrot sector along the LoC, according to a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations.

An Indian news website quoted an unnamed defence official as saying that the exchange of fire had initiated from the Pakistani side. The website added that 120mm mortal shells were also fired by the Pakistani forces.

Earlier in August, 3 people were killed and at least 22 injured as Indian and Pakistani security forces exchanged fire in across the Working Boundary in Sialkot.

In July, Pakistani officials blamed the BSF for killing four civilians in two separate incidents of cross-border firing in Sialkot's Chaprar sector and Rawalakot's Neza Pir sector.

India moreover accused Pakistan of killing three border guards and one civilian.

Also read: Pakistan moves UNMOGIP over unprovoked Indian firing along LoC

A border ceasefire agreement signed by the neighbours in 2003 has largely held, but both frequently accuse each other of breaching it.

Also read: Indian shelling terrifies civilians; 3 die

Indian soldier, two militants killed in IHK gun battles

An Indian soldier and two suspected militants were killed in India-held Kashmir in two separate gun battles along the de facto border that divides the restive territory between India and Pakistan, police said Sunday.

The two militants died when a group of suspected armed rebels allegedly crossed the border into India and were intercepted by soldiers, triggering a gun battle in Keran, 150 kilometres northwest of India-held Kashmir's main city of Srinagar.

“According to sources in the army two militants were killed early Sunday morning in the gun battle,” Javaid Gillani, the inspector general of police for the region, told AFP.

An Indian army soldier was killed Saturday night in a similar but separate gun battle in the adjacent sector of Tangdhar along the heavily-militarised border, Gillani added.

The latest gun battles follow a recent uptick in cross border exchanges of heavy fire between Indian and Pakistani troops.

Among them was an attack on an Indian Border Security Force convoy last week in which two border guards and a militant were killed. Another militant was captured.

India said the captured militant confessed to be a Pakistani national but Islamabad has rejected the claim.

Kashmir has been divided between the South Asian rivals since they won independence from Britain in 1947. Both claim the disputed territory in its entirety.

Since 1989, several rebel groups have been fighting hundreds of thousands of Indian forces deployed in the region, for independence or a merger of the Himalayan territory with Pakistan.

The fighting has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead.

MANY Islamist militants and their sympathisers, especially in Afghanistan and Pakistan, are recovering from the shock of Mullah Omar’s death and struggling to spin a new narrative when confronted with difficult questions by opponents.

Why was Omar’s death kept a secret? Was he merely a symbolic figure, held hostage by some powerful Taliban figures close to Pakistan’s security establishment? Should the latest official statements by Taliban denying the internal rifts and power tussle be considered reliable? Is this the beginning of the decline of the Afghan Taliban? Is Al Qaeda set to lose its strongest ally?

1. Also read: Taliban publish biography of 'RPG-loving' Mullah Omar

As questions reverberate in jihadi circles, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Al Qaeda remained largely silent, leading many of their foot-soldiers to speculate and draw their own conclusions.

Many of the otherwise accessible TTP commanders have not been available on their mobile phones or through email. When eventually contacted, some attributed the lapse and subsequent delays to the latest offensive on both sides of the Durand Line which has hampered their lines of communication. However, they are adamant that Omar’s death is not going to have a major impact on their overall movement.

“There is no question of change of direction. We pray for Mullah Omar but people need to understand that we are not into personality cults. People die but not our ideology,” TTP’s central spokesman Mohammad Khurasani told this correspondent.

Others have tried to rationalise the secrecy surrounding the reclusive Afghan Taliban leader’s death as a ‘war tactic’.

“Someone’s death should not be kept a secret for so long. But that is the general rule. Special circumstances have their own rulings. This is a war. We can understand that for strategic reasons the Amir-ul-Momineen’s death may have been kept a secret. You should not make such a fuss out of it,” argued Marwan, a TTP commander close to Mullah Fazlullah.

In online forums, some Taliban supporters have expressed fear that the movement established by Omar may split into factions and some of them may embrace democracy.

“It seems Pakistan wants the Taliban to enter mainstream politics. What are the chances of Taliban accepting democracy?” questioned a self-proclaimed Taliban supporter on a closed Facebook group.

But the new Taliban leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor has been quick to dispel such fears with a clear message reiterating Shariah law as authority.

“No democracy or any of those useless ideologies. Our goal is Shariah and the path to that is through jihad,” he said in his first audio speech after taking charge.

While some in Pakistan have been arguing that Omar’s death is likely to weaken Al Qaeda-Taliban relations, the ground reality suggests otherwise. One of the newly appointed deputies of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor is Sirajuddin Haqqani, one of the most feared and wanted militants who the US accuses of doing much harm to the US and her allies in Afghanistan. In addition to running the Haqqani Network, Sirajuddin is also in Al Qaeda’s innermost circles and has participated in its shura meetings.

Moreover, while the Afghan Taliban have been claiming through their official statements that their struggle is confined to Afghanistan, they continue to shelter Al Qaeda. The latest case involves Taliban providing safe havens in Helmand to Al Qaeda operatives escaping Pakistan’s Zarb-i-Azb military operation in North Waziristan.

Al Qaeda welcomes the gesture with a warning to the ‘common enemy’.

“The bond between us and our Taliban brothers is a solid ideological bond. They opted to lose their government and family members just to protect us. There is no question of us moving apart now after going through this war together. Our common enemy does not know what is coming its way,” asserted Qari Abu Bakr, a member of Al Qaeda’s media wing As Sahab.

Splinter groups appear to endorse Al Qaeda’s view and explain that the goals are fundamentally similar.

“We may have our differences over strategy or some other matters but our goals are the same. Clearly all of us are being targeted by Nato, Afghan forces and others. So why should we not fight back together? And we will,” claimed TTP Jamat-ul-Ahrar’s spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan.

Will IS overshadow TTP, Al Qaeda?

Such resolve aside, the TTP, Jamat-ul-Ahrar, Al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban cannot ignore a challenge that seems to be growing by the day — Baghdadi’s self-styled Islamic State (IS).

IS has been winning recruits from Taliban and Al Qaeda ranks and has practically ‘ordered’ all jihadis to pledge allegiance to Baghdadi or be prepared to be dealt with as a rebel — the punishment for which they decree death. Over the last few months, IS and its supporters have been engaged in attempts to discredit Mullah Omar, accusing him of being mysteriously missing, disconnected from the Muslims, having a “narrow nationalistic Afghan perspective”, not being a Qureshi and hence not fit to be pledged allegiance to as a caliph.

Many IS supporters have pounced on the news of Mullah Omar’s death to discredit the Taliban and Al Qaeda. According to them, Taliban have committed “treachery” by concealing Omar’s death and issuing statements in his name. IS supporters online say the Afghan Taliban will be reduced to a nationalist force and eventually fade away.

They are also critical of Al Qaeda chief Dr Ayman Al Zawahiri, accusing him of deception in the case that he was aware of Omar’s death and chose to renew pledge of allegiance to a “dead man” instead of accepting Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi. On the contrary, they blame him for being out of touch if he was unaware of the supremo’s demise.

IS fighters have tried to assert authority in parts of Eastern Afghanistan by executing people they accused of spying or other crimes.

But Al Qaeda and Taliban figures say the dust will eventually settle.

“Ultimately we are heading into a scenario where people with knowledge and sincerity will outrun the emotional, thoughtless types. This is not the end of the war. It is merely the start of a new phase,” said Al Qaeda’s Qari Abu Bakr.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2015

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KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Sindh Chief Minster Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah visited the flood-hit areas of Sindh on Sunday, according to a report on the Radio Pakistan website.

As the PPP leaders visited the areas around Sukkur Barrage and embankments of River Indus at Ghotki and Khairpur, provincial Minister for Irrigation and Information Nisar Ahmed Khuhro and Secretary Irrigation Zaheer Haider Shah briefed them about the flood situation and the relief activities carried out in the area.

Read: Prime minister announces Rs1 billion for flood affectees in Sindh

Food items were also distributed among the flood-affected people at the camps.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari asked the Sindh government to speed up rescue and relief activities.

Also read: Rains cause widespread devastation in Sindh

Sindh Chief Minister said all arrangements to facilitate flood-affected people of Kacha area in Sindh had been completed and added that more than five hundred thousand people from Kacha have shifted to safe places.

Torrential rains had caused widespread devastation in Hyderabad, Matiari, Tando Allahyar, Tando Mohammad Khan, Jamshoro, Mirpurkas, Badin and Tharparkar districts of Sindh last month.

A large number of structures and houses collapsed and standing crops over thousands of acres were destroyed.

Relief operations were initiated earlier in Sindh's flood-hit areas of Sukkur, Larkana, Khairpur, Kashmor and Ghotki. More than 500 villages in these districts have reportedly been submerged due to rising flood water in River Indus.

Pakistan has suffered from monsoon floods for the last few years and has been criticised for not doing enough to mitigate against the dangers posed by seasonal rains washing away homes and farmland.

In 2010, the worst floods in the country's history killed almost 1,800 people and affected 21 million.

VEHARI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has warned that his party will hit the streets again if the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) fails to come up with a response regarding his 40 questions.

“If our questions remain unanswered about why this commission (ECP) is still in place, we will take to streets again,” Khan said speaking at a Kissan (farmers’) Convention held by his party at football ground at Vehari on Saturday.

He said that PTI was strongly taking up the case of the ECP’s “incompetence” as was declared by the Judicial Commission in its verdict on the party’s 2013 poll rigging allegations.

He called upon the farming community to vote for those who could make policies to make the farmers’ lives better and increase their earnings.

“We are here to educate you that do not waste your vote. Stop giving votes on basis of lineage or family. Today we are announcing that we will be uniting farmers across Pakistan. We will stand with them. If we want economic growth in the country, we will have to help our farmers first.”

Khan said there was so much potential in Pakistan and “if we lift our poor and farmers, we can turn the country around. We can use floodwater in water reservoirs; we as a nation have to decide how to use water better. Global warming is rapidly taking place; we have to decide as a nation how to use water from melting glaciers,” he said.

The PTI chief said both India and China had invested heavily on their farmers to combat poverty and improve economy.

He announced if his party came into power it would set up a Rs5 billion cotton research institute. The institute, he explained, would be run by the representatives of farmers community.

He said the oil prices had fallen globally, asking whether the diesel prices in the country also came down at the same ration for farmers? Did electricity price fall? he asked from the audience, getting response in the form of a loud “no” from them.

“Our farmers are not just drowning in floodwater, they are drowning in debt as well,” he said.

Other PTI leaders, including Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jahangir Tareen, Chaudhry Sarwer also spoke on this occasion and criticised what they called the government’s anti-farmers policies.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2015

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KASUR: Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif on Sunday ordered a judicial inquiry into the Kasur child abuse scandal.

The CM directed the Punjab home department to request the Chief Justice Lahore High Court Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik to immediately form a commission made up of district and sessions judges to conduct the inquiry, said a press release issued by the Directorate-General Public Relations, Punjab.

"Those involved in the case will be severely punished. They will not be able to escape their fate," he said, adding, "The affected families will be provided with justice at any cost."

A joint investigation team (JIT) was formed under the leadership of Commissioner Lahore Division Abdullah Khan Sumbal and Additional Inspector-General Operations Punjab Arif Nawaz Khan to investigate the case.

A report submitted by the JIT states that six people have been arrested in connection with the case, while three suspects are absconding. Raids are being conducted to capture the fleeing suspects.

Also read: Child sex abuse case: Protesters clash with police over 'failure' to catch culprits

'There is no land dispute'

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed while speaking to the press on Sunday said that his party would submit a condemnation resolution in the Punjab Assembly.

Rasheed said the PTI would hold protests against the scandal and will not rest until those responsible for the incident are brought to justice.

"This incident is a failure of the government. There is no land dispute, that is a separate matter which has nothing to do with the sexual abuse of children." he said.

"There should be a complete inquiry into the incident and the judicial commission ordered by the Chief Minister should initiate its probe immediately," he said, adding that the CM should also take note of intimidatory tactics employed by the police in the area.

"No one's lives and property are safe in Punjab," he added.

Also read: High-ups play down child abuse scandal

'Disturbing' reports, says Zardari

Former President and PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari termed reports of the Kasur child abuse scandal 'very disturbing'. He called for a thorough probe and investigation into the case, and bringing the culprits to justice.

He also directed the PPP Punjab chapter to prepare a report about the children in Kasur who were sexually abused and filmed by criminal gangs for blackmail and extortion.

The former president urged PPP lawmakers to investigate the reports and raise the issue in the parliament so that justice could be served.

"The reports are a slap on the face of the government and society, and must not go unnoticed," he said.

'Punjab government is sleeping'

Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq while speaking to the press on Sunday accused the Punjab government of sleeping "while the Punjab police sides with the culprits instead of the victims."

The JI emir said that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif should have taken notice of the incident immediately.

"The provincial government should have reached Kasur to address the grievances of victims," he said, adding, "Instead, those who were protesting against injustice were baton-charged."

'Baseless' scandal

Senior minister of the Punjab government, Rana Sanaullah, while talking to DawnNews on Saturday, said the inquiry had concluded that no instance of child sex abuse had been reported, adding that reports to this effect surfaced after two parties involved in a land dispute registered "fake cases" against each other.

Sanaullah had said that almost eight years ago, incidents of child molestation and videos of such acts to blackmail families had been reported in the area, adding that cases were registered against those involved and the culprits were apprehended.

The provincial minister and PML-N stalwart insisted that the scandal had been created by rival parties who were involved in a fierce land dispute.

Also read: Kasur child molestation scandal baseless, says inquiry report

Earlier, District Police Officer Rai Babbar had said there were “certain misperceptions” about the scandal.

It was reported that about 280 children, most of them less than 14-year-old, of Husain Khanwala village, about 5km from Kasur, were sexually abused and filmed. Their families had also been blackmailed.

A gang had been suspected of involvement in the case since 2009. A property dispute allegedly brought the issue to the surface.

Also read: Two DSPs among 25 injured as mob takes on police

— Irfan Haider contributed to the reporting of the story

QUETTA: Yoga expert Wajahat Ali Afridi has said that depression, anxiety and other mental diseases are on the rise in the country because people do not give time to themselves and refrain from exercises like yoga.

He was speaking at a seminar “Yoga: Nation in Motion” organised by the Balochistan chapter of the Pakistan Orthopaedic Association (POA) here on Sunday.

The seminar was held to spread awareness about yoga and attended by parliamentarians, psychologists, psychiatrists, doctors, politicians, journalists and civil society activists.

Yogi Wajahat said that people, particularly professionals, doctors, women and students, devoted little time to themselves as they remained too busy in their work, which caused physical and psychological diseases among them.

“Our society lacks positive attitude and has been infested with intolerance,” he said, adding that one could rid of such negative tendencies if he gave a little time to yoga exercises on a daily basis.

He said yoga created calmness and tolerance in the mind of its practitioner by triggering positive attitudes.

Dr Lal Mohammad Kakar, the provincial president of the POA, said yoga helped one to stayin shape physically and gave him mental peace. “It is ideal for those professionals who cannot spare time for outdoor exercises.”

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2015

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KASUR: There was no confession in the serial child abuse case in Kasur’s Husain Khanwala village but the principal accused gave a strange twist to the happenings by saying that he used to be present when the crimes were committed and filmed in a classroom of the academy where he and those captured in the clips studied.

Media reports suggested that the accused had confessed to their crime, but Kasur’s DPO Rai Baber Saeed told Dawn that no confession had been made. He said police were investigating the matter and would submit a report to the court.

Also read :Kasur child abuse scandal: Shahbaz orders judicial probe

The only development he reported was the arrest of another accused, Usman. Six others, including the principal accused, Haseem Amir, were arrested on Thursday.

The DPO said there were nearly 15 accused in the seven FIRs registered. Police are conducting raids to arrest another two accused while the remaining were on bail.

This reporter met the accused in Kasur’s Police Station B Division where they are being kept instead of the Ganda Singhwal Police Station for security reasons. Six of them are in their early 20s and the seventh, Abdul Mannan, says he is 14 years old.

They all said they were innocent. The principal accused, Haseem, 25, said he was innocent because none of the films seized by police showed him indulging in any abuse. When asked whether he used to film the child abuse, he said he would sit in the classroom where his classmates would commit the crime.

He claimed that he and others had been implicated in the case because some people wanted to grab 16.50 acres of land his family had purchased.

Others did not come up with any such reason. Ali Majid said the one Mubin who had raised the issue allegedly to grab the land had abused him and wanted his father to stop cultivating fodder there.

The villagers, victims and their relatives who said they had kept quiet because of fear and shame were now openly talking about what they called the brazen deeds of the accused. There was no more fear of the accused or shame as they were readily giving details of the events.

There were no police in the village, but plainclothesmen were there to keep an eye on the mood of the villagers.

The fear was no more there because of one Mubin Ghaznavi, reportedly a former Jamaat-i-Islami worker who continued to urge the victims and their families to stick to their allegations. Two lawyers – Latif Sohra from Lahore and Chaudhry Munir – were also seen in the village and were reportedly supporting the victims.

Some people, including Lambardar Saifullah, alleged that the JI man and the two lawyers were after the 16.50 acres of irrigated land which the family of the principal accused known as Karmoo group had purchased. But they could not satisfy many as to how one could ask people to say that they had been sodomised for settling the score.

Punjab chief minister orders judicial probe

The allegation was that Mobin wanted some NGOs to build a school and other facilities for villagers on the land and lawyer Chaudhry Munir was with him.

Mubin and the two lawyers denied that they were supporting the villagers. Mubin said the accused were his relatives and he was angry because they had also abused children of their own family. Latif Sohra claimed that the victims had visited them in Lahore for legal help and he engaged his friend Chaudhry Munir for assistance.

“Look at the abused youngsters. Can one make them confess to an act which will haunt them all their lives,” Mubin said.

He said police and those supporting the accused were levelling such allegations to confuse the issue. The government should impartially look into the matter, he added.

The Karmoo group, it is alleged, had the backing of people mostly in government departments and courts.

Mubin said he had nearly 150 clips of the child abuse. Young girls were also assaulted, “but we are not sharing their clips to save their families from ignominy. Police have much more but they are trying to marginalise the issue,” he claimed. He said the father, brothers and uncles of the principal accused also used to abuse children.

Haseem claimed in the lockup that police had one clip showing the rape of a girl. But he said the victims were also abusing each other.

Women and their young relatives felt no hesitation in telling their side of the story. One Amna said his brother Abdul Mannan had been kidnapped at gunpoint by Haseem when he was seven. He was taken to Haseem’s haveli, intoxicated and abused by him and others. The scene was filmed for blackmailing. “We have given them a total of Rs800,000 on different occasions.”

Danish Ali, 18, a student of Lahore’s National College of Arts, said he had been picked when he was nine. He repeated the allegations and said the accused used to extort money from him till recently by threatening to release the clips. He would also be forced to abuse children picked by Haseem in the meantime.

And as the villagers, including women and the victims, were sticking to their claims, none of them could quote even a single incident in which a victim was found injured or sick after the criminal assault by more than one man.

“We were silenced. I was hurt but I would not tell anyone for fear of my life and safety of my family. They also used to make me entice more children for abuse,” one of them said.

And there was a story to tell how the alleged racket was exposed. According to the villagers, Haseem gave his mobile phone to a cousin while playing volleyball and the cousin who knew about the crime stole his memory card. Clips from the memory card went around in the village and to those who dared seek justice, they said.

They said the RPO had come to Ganda Singhwala a month ago and constituted an investigation team under the SP investigation but it never completed its report. Had it been done, the matter would not have been agitated with so much force, they said.

According to them, 400 to 500 children were abused.

Our Correspondent Afzal Ansari in Kasur adds: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ordered on Sunday a judicial inquiry into the matter.

He was to visit the village on Sunday morning, but cancelled the trip, reportedly because of security reasons. The chief minister wanted the bereaved families and the victims to come to Kasur city, but they refused.

Sunday was the day for political leaders to express solidarity with the victims and families. However, no MPA or MNA visited the village.

JI EMIR’S VISIT: Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Sirajul Haq said the incident was the worst example of terrorism and barbarism and urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take sue motto notice.

He also demanded a judicial commission on the matter and called for speedy trial of the accused.

He said that in view of the severity of the case, sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act should be included in the FIRs. He said a case registered against the villagers after a clash with police a few days age should be immediately withdrawn.

The JI chief said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should have visited Kasur to express sympathy with the victims’ families.

PTI leader Mahmoodur Rasheed also visited the village and demanded a speedy trial of the case and exemplary punishment for the accused. He accused police of protecting the accused.

Jahan Arra, daughter of PPP leader Manzoor Watto, met the victims’ families and assured them that the matter would be raised at every platform.

A team of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek, which visited the village, said the child abuse case should be referred to a military court. Led by retired Maj Saeed and Nurullah Siddiqui, it said Punjab should be handed over to Rangers because the provincial government and its police had failed to protect life and honour of the people.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2015

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NEW DELHI: Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Saturday that India is completing the necessary formalities to bring back Geeta, a hearing- and speech-impaired Indian girl stranded in Karachi, to India. 

“We are completing the necessary formalities to bring Geeta back to India,” she tweeted. 

Ms Swaraj also tweeted that during the past few days “four families from Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand and UP have claimed Geeta as their daughter” and that she had requested the chief ministers of the states to “verify and report”. 

“Geeta conveyed to Indian high commissioner by gestures that they are seven brothers and sisters. She also conveyed that she had visited a temple with her father. Then she wrote down ‘Vaishno Devi’. With these details, please help locate Geeta’s family,” the minister tweeted. 

On Tuesday, the minister announced that the government would bring Geeta back to India after Indian High Commissioner T.C.A. Raghavan met Geeta at the Edhi Foundation in Karachi where the young woman has been staying for the past 12 years after she accidentally strayed into Pakistani territory. 

Four families claim that she is their relative

Ms Swaraj had requested the envoy to go to Karachi to meet Geeta. 

Pakistani human rights activist Ansar Burney, who has been closely pursuing Geeta’s case, had travelled to India in October 2012 with photographs of the girl but was unable to make progress in the case.

In 2003, Geeta — then 11 years old — was spotted by the Pakistan Rangers in Lahore, after she had strayed across the border. The girl was then handed over to the Edhi Foundation. Bilquis Edhi has named her Geeta. 

According to media reports, Geeta is a vegetarian and has set up a small “mandir” in her room at the Edhi Foundation where she prays. She also observes the Ramazan fast.

By arrangement with the Times of India

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will leave on Monday (today) for Belarus on a three-day official visit, the PM House said in a statement on Sunday.

During the visit, the premier will have a one on one meeting with president of Belarus followed by the delegation level talks, the statement added. “Nawaz will also meet the prime minister of Belarus.”

The handout issued by PM House stated that meetings with Chairman of the House of Representatives and Chairman of the Council of the Republic are also scheduled.

It was further apprised that Nawaz Sharif will be conferred upon the title of honorary professor by Belarus State University.

A number of important agreements and MoUs are expected to be signed during the visit. The premier is also scheduled to visit top Belarusian industrial units.

Nawaz will also participate in Pakistan-Belarus Business and Investment Forum. The president of Belarus and the prime minister will inaugurate joint Pak-Belarus Business Forum.

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly for the first time in its history will launch National Assembly Strategic Plan (NASP) 2015-2018 tomorrow (Monday).

"These reforms are aimed at moving away from the traditional piecemeal approach to a more holistic approach, ensuring that the entire House benefits from the reform process," the spokesman for NA secretariat Mehboob Ali Gurmani told DawnNews.

This strategic plan has been made under the supervision of Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, who formed a Strategic Planning Oversight Committee (SPOC), with representation from all major political parties, to ensure sustainability and continuity of previous useful measures.

The cornerstone of the strategic plan is to ensure that National Assembly moves away from conventional working environment, which is deemed to be outdated, to a more modern, professional and automated form of working.

Information Communication and Technology (ICT) reforms are one of the six goals that will be cross cutting through the five goals which drive the NASP.

Five key goals set under the strategic plan are as follows:

• Strengthen all aspects of legislation making it effective and beneficial to Pakistanis

• Ensure that oversight is enabled at all times and across all platforms particularly for parliamentary committees assuring transparency, accountability and judicious use of time and resources

• Safeguard the integrity of the assembly by improving its representative role

• Move from the traditional mode of working towards an automated e-parliament by undertaking structured reforms in Information Communication and Technology (ICT)

• Strengthen PIPS (Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services) into a premier training and research institute for members and staff of the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies

Strategic Planning Oversight Committee (SPOC) deliberated upon development of the NASP 2015-2018 with the assistance of the Project Management Unit (PMU) and the EU-funded Improving Parliamentary Performance in Pakistan (IP3) project.

During the reforms process, strategic plans and literature of successful and progressive parliaments, like Britain's House of Commons, parliament of South Africa and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), were reviewed and incorporated making the reforms compatible with the practices of the Pakistani parliament.

The NA secretariat spokesman said, "Working and implementation the strategy of NASP 2015-18 will show high rewards in days to come and it will improve the efficiency and quality of work of the House."

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has said that law-enforcement agencies have so far placed 30 religious seminaries in the “suspect” category which have been closed.

The minister said this in an official report on the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism and extremism.

Two of the “suspect” madaris were from Punjab, 15 from Sindh and 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. No seminary in Balochistan has been placed in this category since the launch of the NAP in December last year.

Although the report does not explain in so many words what is meant by suspected madaris, a senior official involved in the implementation of the NAP said they had some direct or indirect connections with militants or their activities.

According to the report, Sindh is the only province which has taken concrete action and has

so far closed 72 unregistered madaris. No such action has been reported from the other three provinces.

About reforms and registration of madaris, Chaudhry Nisar, who is the focal person for implementation of the NAP, has admitted that it is a time-consuming exercise, but says the provincial apex committees are actively working on NAP’s implementation. He said a standard registration form had been prepared and shared with the provinces. The authorities in Punjab, Islamabad Capital Territory and Azad Kashmir have completed the mapping of madaris in their areas and the exercise is being carried out in the other provinces.

About 30,000 madaris, both registered and unregistered, are operating in the country and critics say that even if 10 per cent of them are not following rules, as per the interior minister’s own estimate, action needs to be stepped up.

In a separate report on the initiatives taken by the successive governments to reform madressah education, Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony Sardar Mohammad Yousaf has claimed that no progress was made on this front since 2000 – the era of Gen Parvez Musharraf.

According to him, a madressah education board was set up through the “Pakistan Madressah Education (Establishment and Affiliation of Model Dini Madaris) Board Ordinance, 2001, to cater to religious and modern education. Under the ordinance, three model seminaries were set up – one each in Islamabad, Karachi and Sukkur. In Islamabad, the seminary was only for girls and those in Sukkur and Karachi for boys. The number of these madaris was to be increased with the passage of time, but unfortunately not one has been added so far.

The purpose of the Pakistan Madressah Education Board (PMEB) was to improve and secure uniformity of standards of education and to integrate the system of Islamic education imparted in Madaris within the general education system throughout the country.

The ordinance has given the board sufficient powers to extend its operations throughout the country, but except for the establishment of the three model seminaries, the board has not been able to carry out effectively in any of its other stated functions, the religious affairs minister says in the report. The establishment of the three madaris is a partial success because instead of getting them affiliated with the board they were affiliated with the boards of intermediate and secondary education, he adds.

Despite the fact that the PMEB has not been able to carry out its functions for 14 years, the fact is that the rationale behind the establishment of the board, Sardar Mohammad Yousaf says, should not be underestimated.

He says that matters relating to madaris could have taken a different course if the regulatory mechanism visualised in the PMEB ordinance had been put in place. “The failure of the board to perform its function does not mean that the rationale behind the scheme is faulty.”

About the board’s current status, the minister is not clear if after the devolution of “Islamic education” to the provinces, operation and existence of the board is confined only to the federal areas.

In order to reactivate the PMEB, particularly after the Dec 16 terrorist attack on Peshawar’s Army Public School, the board held a meeting on March 11 this year, after a gap of 11 years, and constituted two committees.

But the committees will look only into recruitment rules for the board’s employees and scrutinise the legality of the recruitments made and the three model madaris.

The board’s chairman, Dr Amir Tauseen, was mandated to immediately start the process of affiliating about 500 new madaris with the board.

Talking to Dawn, he said that following a recent advertisement, the board had received 400 to 500 applications for affiliation which were being scrutinised.

Dr Tauseen clarified that these were independent madaris which were besides 33,000 registered with five madressah boards of different sects.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain removed the vice-chancellor of Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (FUUAST), Dr Zafar Iqbal, from his post on Sunday.

The decision was taken after a meeting of the university’s senate held on Saturday recommended the removal because of his alleged involvement in corruption, favouritism, moral turpitude and misuse of authority.

“The president has removed the VC of the university,” a senior official of the presidency told this correspondent on Sunday. “It has been decided that his case will be sent to the National Accountability Bureau and the Federal Investigation Agency.”

He added that the presidency was considering three candidates recommended by the varsity’s senate to fill the vacant post. According to a source at the university, the VC was appointed on Feb 1, 2013 by the Pakistan People’s Party government for a five-year term. He managed to save his job twice in the past by getting stay orders from the Sindh High Court against decisions taken by the university’s senate.

According to the varsity’s rules, the senate has to be summoned twice a year. But Dr Iqbal did not do so for two years. President Hussain took notice of the matter and directed the vice-chancellor to call a senate meeting but the source accused the VC of ignoring the directive.

Meanwhile a source in the National Accountability Bureau said that corruption cases at Urdu university were already being investigated. When contacted, Dr Iqbal said the senate meeting held on August 8 was illegal because it had not been called by him.

He claimed that his case was already in the Supreme Court and, therefore the president could not remove him. “Even the senate of the university which recommended my removal is illegal as it was formed illegally by the president,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2015

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