ISB 22-03-2012_Layout 1 3/22/2012 2:16 AM Page 10
10 Islamabad
thursday, 22 march, 2012
Thai princess visits Lok Virsa g
Praises Pakistan’s rich culture IsLAMABAD
T
MAHTAB BAsHIR
HAI Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn visited the Lok virsa (National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage) on Wednesday. She was accompanied by Prime Minister’s Special Assistant for Social Welfare Begum Shahnaz Wazir Ali and Thai Ambassador Marwin Tah-Attanawin. The visit was coordinated by the Foreign Office. On arrival, the guest was received by Lok virsa executive Director Khalid Javaid and Deputy Director (museum) Anwaar-ul-Haq. Javaid briefed the princess about Pakistan’s culture and the Lok virsa’s role as a specialised cultural body that documents and preserves cultural heritage. The director also informed that the Lok virsa and other cultural organisations in Pakistan were created by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and were promoted by Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. The princess was taken around various three-dimensional creative displays at the Pakistan National Museum of
ethnology, popularly known as the Heritage Museum. The museum houses 25 large galleries and several link passages presenting Pakistan’s cultural history and influences derived from other neighbouring countries such as China, the Central Asian States and Iran. The princess took keen interest in the displays of folk tales, Sufis and shrines, textiles, wedding rituals in the Cholistan desert and the hall of architecture. Princess Sirindhorn said: “Pakistan has a very rich, diverse and beautiful culture which has been nicely presented in this museum.” The Lok virsa presented CDs and DvDs to the guest after her visit. A live musical performance by folk artists and musicians was also a part of the programme organised for the princess. Later, Princess Sirindhorn visited the Pakistan Monument Museum adjacent to the National Museum at Shakarparian. Dedicated to those who sacrificed their lives in service to the country, the museum depicts the history, the freedom struggle, the emergence and development of Pakistan through dioramic displays. The museum also presents key
NUml Spring Sports Festival concludes
achievements of the country after independence, particularly in the field
of culture, tourism, education, defence, communication, science and
technology, sports, industry other diverse sectors.
‘Julius Ceaser’ presented at RaC
IsLAMABAD
today is last day for aIoU admissions
sTAFF REPoRT
IsLAMABAD
Participation in sports develops cooperation, endurance and physical fitness and teaches students discipline, unity and consistency. This was stated by National University of Modern Languages (NUML) Rector Major Gen (r) Masood Hasan while addressing the prize distribution ceremony for the Spring Sports Festival held on Wednesday at the main campus. The rector said: “It is encouraging that despite a busy academic schedule a great number of students participated in different sporting events.” The Spring Sports Festival started on 9th March, during which seven sporting events were organised. These included cricket, football, volleyball and basketball for male participants and basketball, volleyball and handball for female participants. 1,386 students and 102 teams from different university departments participated in the event. 64 teams participated in the cricket tournament, 10 teams in volleyball, 24 teams in football and four teams in the basketball tournament. The cricket tournament final was bagged by the NUML Stallions while the Warriors were the runners-up, the volleyball (male) tournament was won by Shinning Stars and the volleyball (female) was won by Adroits, a team from the mass communication department. The football tournament was won by the Ravens, a team from the english department. Muhmmad Tufail was declared the Man of the Tournament for cricket, Sadam Hussain was declared the best footballer of the tournament, Marrium Khalid and Faheemullah Khattak were the best players of volleyball in the male and female category, respectively.
sTAFF REPoRT
rAwALPINDI sTAFF REPoRT
In connection with the International Theatre Day, a Drama Night was celebrated in which the Headway escuela School students presented different plays at the Rawalpindi Arts Council (RAC). National Assembly Member Tahira Aurangzeb, the guest of honour, was accompanied by Naheed Manzoor, RAC Resident Director Waqar Ahmed
and the principal of the school. The show opened with ‘Golden Goose’ a collection of folk tales, followed by ‘Beauty is Beast’, a slightly different and more humorous version of the fairy tale. The colourful costumes added to the ambiance of the show. First and second graders also gave an energetic performance on a medley. A scene from ‘Julius Ceaser’, a classical tragedy by William Shakespeare was presented with a modern twist. The play is about human
emotions, ranging from love, friendship, the extremes of jealousy, hatred and finally murder. The play ‘Chacha Chakkan Banaras Chalay’ based on a popular comic character from Urdu Literature, enthralled the audiences. Speaking on the occasion, Tahira Aurangzeb said Headway escuela trained its students to become confident and creative members of the society. She applauded the efforts of the staff and the children in putting up the event.
and
The last date for the submission of Matriculation to MA/MSc programmes’ admission forms of the Allama Iqbal Open University for the Spring Semester 2012 with late fee charges is today (22nd March). The submission date will not be extended. The admission forms and prospectuses for all programmes offered in the spring semester can be obtained from the university’s sale points at its main campus, regional campuses and coordinating offices across the country. The admission forms can be submitted at First Women Bank, Bank Alfalah, Allied Bank and the designated branches of National Bank of Pakistan and Habib Bank.
‘Arduous struggle required for balanced civil-military relations’ g
democratic oversight still a distant dream IsLAMABAD sTAFF REPoRT
Pakistan has made important strides on the road to establish democratic and parliamentary oversight on defence and national security but there remains a long and arduous struggle for establishing a constitutional equation of civil-military relations, believed experts and members of parliament, analysts and media representatives at the PILDAT public forum on democratic oversight of defence and national security: an account of four years. The initiative has to be taken by the parliament with the support of citizens and media. Speakers at the forum included Jang Bureau Chief Hafiz Tahir Khalil, PML Secretary General Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, Spokesman President of Pakistan Senator Farhatullah Babar and Chairman Parliamentary Committee on National Security Senator Mian Raza Rabbani.
Hafiz Tahir Khalil said while other committees of the parliament are generally open for media coverage, regrettably defence committees mostly hold in-camera meetings. He demanded that this should change barring sensitive security issues. Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said Pakistan had, for the first time, given an institutional response to Pak-US relations. This has defined new rules of the game that the parliament would discuss and approve. Looking ahead, he recommended that the concept of national security must be redefined from a security-specific definition to include important civilian components such as constitution, parliament, political parties, judiciary, education, food and energy. He praised the work of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) and recommended that the committee must be institutionalised. Working to define a comprehensive national security strategy of Pakistan for every two years
should be a major area of focus of the PCNS. Defence purchases and defence equipment should also be part of this strategy. Senator Farhatullah Babar praised the efforts of PILDAT for not only consistently raising the taboo subject of fixing the imbalance in civil-military relations in Pakistan but also for presenting its periodic assessments and studies and holding public forums on this taboo issue. Addressing the civil-military imbalance is a dangerous initiative, he said. He said PILDAT must also study how power had gradually moved from parliament to and civil governments to military and military dictators. He said the coalition government had taken the initiative of presenting details of the defence budget since 2008 and it was now responsibility of MPs who should come prepared to review this thoroughly and raise irrefutable points and suggestions. Senator Raza Rabbani said he did not
share the optimism of other speakers that Pakistan was moving towards changing civil-military relations according to the constitution. The changes that are apparent are cosmetic and due to regional and international scenario. The apparent “progress” is just to let off steam for the moment, he said. Senator Rabbani said that fixing the civil-military imbalance was not an easy task and it requires a change in mindset. With just a change in the situation, we should not assume that we had changed the mindset. Important developments have taken place since March 2008. Military leadership has been called at the bar of the parliament not just for briefing but for a grueling question and answer session as well. He said just because he was pessimistic, it did not mean he was without hope. The recommendations of the PCNS presented to the parliament on March 20, 2012, mark a milestone in Pakistan’s par-
liamentary history signifying that foreign policy, which had been considered a domain of civil and military bureaucracy, now had a collective parliamentary ownership. These recommendations are open for debate and must be improved. In his opening remarks, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob said that PILDAT had set a tradition of reviewing the performance of various government and parliamentary forums on democratic and parliamentary oversight of defence and national security. evaluating the performance, Mehboob said the defence committee of the cabinet (DCC) signifies the supremacy of elected civilian leaders in interpreting national interests and in laying down the broad parameters of defence and foreign policy. However, despite serious internal and external security challenges facing Pakistan from March 2008 to March 2012, the DCC had met on an average a little more than twice in a year.