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23 February, 2020 I 28 Jamadi-ul-Sani, 1441 I Rs 27.00 I Vol X No 235 I 68 Pages I Islamabad Edition
Week-long partial truce comes into force in afghanistan g
Anti-terror war gains will be consolidated for enduring peace, says Gen Bajwa STORY ON PAGE 02
PBC urges PM to sack law minister for maligning judiciary
A suCCessful week would show TAliBAn CAn ConTrol Their forCes And deMonsTrATe good fAiTh AheAd of signing of PeACe deAl on feB 29 KABUL
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week-long partial truce took hold across Afghanistan on saturday, with some jubilant civilians dancing in the streets as the war-weary country woke up to what is potentially a major turning point in its long conflict. The Taliban, us and Afghan forces have all agreed to a socalled “reduction in violence” which, if it holds, will be only the second lull in fighting since 2001. it is expected to set the conditions for washington and the insurgents to sign a deal that could, ultimately, pull American troops out after more than 18 years and launch war-weary Afghanistan into an uncertain future. “it is the first morning that i go out without the fear of being killed by a bomb or suicide bomber. i hope it continues forever,” taxi driver habib ullah told AfP in kabul early saturday. A successful week would show the Taliban can control their forces and demonstrate good faith ahead of any signing, which both the us and the insurgents have said could be done on february 29 in doha. it also give a much-needed respite to civilians, who have long borne the brunt of the bloody war.
The un said last year that more than 100,000 people have been killed or wounded in Afghanistan in the last decade. in southern kandahar, considered the Taliban heartland, and eastern Jalalabad, dozens of Afghans could be seen dancing the attan — a traditional Pashtun dance — in the streets in celebration overnight. in kabul, which for years now has been one of the deadliest places in the country for civilians, those who spoke to AfP were slightly more wary. “A temporary break in war is good but we want a permanent ceasefire,” said government worker fazul rahman, adding he also wants peace talks between the Taliban and kabul to begin “as soon as possible”. shopkeeper emamuddin, who like many Afghans goes by one name, said Afghan want peace “whatever it takes”. “A week of no violence will pass in a blink of the eye,” he said. “They should find a long-lasting solution for this country’s problem.” DANGEROUS MOMENT: details of how exactly the reduction in violence will work have remained scant. The us has said there is an “understanding” for a “significant and nationwide reduction in violence across Afghanistan”, while Afghan security forces will remain “on active defence status” during
the week. “The Taliban must demonstrate their commitment to a meaningful reduction in violence,” us secretary of defense Mark esper said on Twitter. “should the Taliban reject the path of peace, we remain prepared to defend ourselves and our Afghan partners,” he added. in kandahar, one insurgent told AfP he had received orders to stand down — but another said he had only been ordered to refrain from attacking major cities and highways. Any truce comes fraught with danger, and analysts warn the attempt to stem Afghanistan’s bloodshed is laced with complications and could fail at any time. since the us invasion in 2001 there has only been one other pause in the fighting — a surprise three-day ceasefire between the Taliban and kabul marking the religious festival of eid in 2018. Afghans responded joyfully, with Taliban fighters, security forces and civilians hugging, sharing ice creams and posing for selfies in previously unimaginable scenes.
Pakistan constructed roadmap to Afghan peace, says Qureshi STORY ON BACK PAGE
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STORY ON PAGE 03
Justice Isa says PM owns offshore properties STORY ON BACK PAGE
in today’s issue
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Sunday, 23 February, 2020
02 NEWS Anti-terror wAr gAinS will be conSolidAted for enduring PeAce, SAyS gen bAjwA RAwALPINDI Staff RepoRt
Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Saturday said that gains made during the past two decades of the war on terror will be consolidated to achieve enduring peace and stability for Pakistan and the wider region. Gen Bajwa’s statement comes on the third anniversary of Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad – a counterterrorism operation launched in the urban areas of the country after terrorist sanctuaries in the erstwhile tribal areas were neutralised. “Operation aims at indiscriminately eliminating residual/latent threat of terrorism, consolidating gains of operations made thus far and further ensuring security of the borders,” said the ISPR at the launch of the operation on Feb 22, 2017. In a series of tweets, the InterServices Public Relations (ISPR) paid tribute to the
martyrs and the sacrifices rendered by security forces in achieving stability and peace in the country. “Tribute to our martyrs, our real heroes, our pride.” The military media wing said the residual and latent threat of terrorism was eliminated ‘indiscriminately ‘ and the effort was backed by the entire nation. Terming the journey from ‘Terrorism to Tourism’ the ISPR added that the successes were achieved at
a “monumental cost paid in men and material”. Praising the nation for being resilient and defeating the extremist ideology, the military also appreciated the citizenry’s unflinching support to the armed forces. In February 2017, the terrorist group Jamaat-ulAhrar claimed responsibility for several suicide attacks across the country. With an increase of attacks across the country, the Pakistan Army launched Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad. The intensive nation-wide operation against terror groups, steered by Army Chief Bajwa, successfully thwarted hundreds of terrorist plots across the country. According to defence analysts and former military officials, the operation was not easy by any measure. During Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, the military carried out more than 49,000 Intelligence Based Operations (IBO) to foil terror attacks and prevent militants from disrupting life across the country.
PTI govt to end in six months, Bilawal claims PPP CHAIRMAN SAYS HE IS NOT INVOLVED IN MURDER OF JOURNALIST AZIZ MEMON, CALLS FOR JUDICIAL PROBE INTO INCIDENT LAHORe Staff RepoRt
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government would be sent packing in six months. Talking to reporters here, Bilawal said the “PTI government was obtained on contract”. “The contract period is now over and the government will end in six months. The government has no rights, it can only do what it has been contracted to do,” he said. Bilawal also said that state institutions do not think much of the public and deny public power. He added that PPP would not enter a power sharing formula with the government and will review this formula should it come into power. “PPP ensured parliamentary and civilian supremacy through the 18th Amendment,” he said. The PPP chief said that before Imran Khan, Nawaz Sharif too was a selected prime minister. “Whenever Punjab has needed them, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership has disappeared,” Bilawal said. He, however, expressed hope that Shehbaz Sharif would come back to the country soon as “the role of the leader of the opposition is an important one.”
Bilawal criticised the media, saying that a dog bite in Sindh becomes breaking news on prime time media but dog bites in Faisalabad and Lahore are not important enough. “HIV in Sindh is bad but HIV in Punjab is good?” he questioned. The PPP chief also denied that he was involved in the cold-blooded murder of Aziz Memon, a Sindhi journalist who had cited serious threats to his life from PPP leaders after he had exposed how the party’s local leadership had hired people to attend Bilawal’s train march in November last year. “How can anyone think that I will order the killing of a journalist?” Bilawal asked. He said that a judicial commission should be formed to investigate the TV journalist’s killing and trace the perpetrators of the heinous crime. “My sympathies are with the family of Aziz Memon,” he said. Earlier in the day, Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan had alleged that Memon was murdered for exposing Bilawal’s failed train march. “Memon had accused the PPP leadership of hurling death threats to him, therefore it is important that Bilawal and his father Asif Zardari are included in the murder investigation,” he said.
Another Islamabad cleric lays claim to govt mosque
News Desk Following in the footsteps of Lal Masjid’s Maulana Abdul Aziz, another cleric in Islamabad has refused to vacate his post as a prayer leader at Masjid-e-Shuhada despite being reaching the age of superannuation. According to reports, Maulana Ghulam Rasool refused to leave his post even though he retired last year and a new prayer leader, Maulana Amir Siddique — nephew of Aziz and a former Lal Masjid khateeb — was appointed to take charge of the mosque situated in the Aabpara area. With the Auqaf Department’s inability to fix the issue, the rift between the two clerics has led to multiple disputes between the supporters. Rasool’s supporters have refused to allow Siddique to lead the prayers at the mosque, which compelled him to approach the Aabpara police station to file a com-
plaint, followed by a counter police complaint filed by Rasool. The dispute at Masjid-e-Shuhada follows a standoff at Lal Masjid that began when Maulana Aziz returned to the mosque last month, reiterating his claim to be its prayer leader. The situation, however, turned serious a few weeks ago when over 100 female students entered the Jamia Hafsa in Islamabad’s Sector H-11 by breaking its official seal. Subsequently, officers from the capital administration approached Lal Masjid to meet Maulana Aziz, but the talks remained inconclusive as the cleric insisted that a senior authority equivalent to a fedeal minister should negotiate with him. Since then, a multitude of clerics, including two delegations, have met both parties — the interior ministry and Maulana Aziz — but failed to end the standoff.
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Polio winning in Sindh as another case reported in Kashmore News Desk There are no signs of Pakistan getting rid of polio virus as the crippling disease took another minor here in its clutches on Saturday, taking this year’s tally of such cases across the country to 18, as per reports by local media outlets. According to the Sindh polio emergency operation centre (EOC), a three-year-old girl in union council Jamal of the Kashmore district was tested positive for the virus. This is a sixth confirmed case in Sindh province this year. Earlier on Feb 15, five new cases of polio have been reported from various parts of the country, four from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and one from Balochistan. It may be noted that a five-day countrywide anti-polio drive, in which 2,65,000 anti-polio workers participated from across the country, ended on Friday.
Sunday, 23 February, 2020
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PBC urGes PM to sACK lAw Minister for MAliGninG JudiCiAry LAWYER BODY CALLS FOR A PROBE AGAINST FAROGH NASEEM BY A JUDICIAL COMMISSION ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) on Saturday demanded the resignation of Law Minister Farogh Naseem in the “larger interest of the country” after the controversy over remarks by former attorney general Anwar Mansoor Khan against a Supreme Court bench hearing Justice Faez Isa case. The attorney general resigned following the backlash concerning his comments. Following his resignation, ex-AG Khan had said the government knew about the remarks he was going to make in the top court that eventually cost him his job as the country’s top law officer. On the other hand, Naseem had denied hav-
ing prior knowledge about the former attorney general’s intention to make those remarks. In a statement, PBC Vice Chairman Abid Saqi said: “Submitting to the demand of the PBC and the legal fraternity, Khan’s decision to resign […], withdraw his controversial and uncalled for statement made on Feb 18 during the hearing of Justice Isa’s case […], and tendering an apology to the apex court, are welcome and appreciable steps.” The PBC statement maintained that after statements made by the former attorney general in the media explaining that the government was fully aware of his remarks is “gravely alarming and reflects the nefarious designs of the government to bow down the judiciary”. The PBC also called for a probe against the
Second day of LLF hits hard on social issues IMMOBILITY OF WOMEN IN PAKISTAN A SERIOUS ISSUE, SAYS SALMAN SUFI
LAHORE Shahab omeR
The second day of LLF kicked off with five different sessions spearheaded by notable personalities including eminent journalist Arif Nizami, writer Fatima Bhutto, academic and poet Nitasha Kaul and many others. The event began with five different sessions on topics like mining conflict, imperials and imperialists, poetry, women on wheels and young Urdu poets. While speaking to the participants of the Women on Wheels session, Salman Sufi highlighted how women were deprived of their right to public spaces and infrastructure due to mobility and how it affects their lives. “In Pakistan, the mobility of women has never been taken seriously. They’ve always been seen sitting with a man who controls a vehicle; mobility is as essential as eating. By 2025, we want to train 500,000 women to be mobile and plug them into the workforce,” he said. “All their life, women wait for a male family member for mobility. It is important that they are made independent to move around and stop de-
DYNAMICS OF POST CRIME SITUATIONS QUESTIONED BY AYESHA BAKIR
pending on their sons, husbands, brothers, fathers to provide transport,” he added. During the session on Mining Conflict, Ayesha Bakir revealed, “Sexual assault is a crime but then there is a post crime situation. I am trying to detach the two as a writer. Why should the crime be linked to shame, and why should it be imposed on anyone, especially a girl?” During the session ‘Of Princes and Patronage’, Audrey Truschke, Mehreen Chida-Razvi, and William Dalrymple along with the moderator F.S. Aijazuddin discussed Mughal-era art and aesthetics. Talking about Emperor Aurangzeb, Dalrymple said that there were suspiciously a large number of portraits for a man who banned paintings. A session on poetry, Ode to Stanza, was moderated by Haris Khalique while Mehvash Amin, Afshan Shafi, Ilona Yusuf, Marianne Jungmaier and Athar Tahir were among the panellists who discussed Pakistan’s English-language poetry. Speaking on the occasion, Sabyn Javeri, the author of Hijabistan said, “The hijab is not just as a garment but a veiled divide between men and women, public and private spaces, the inner and outer world, for what we hide and what we show
law minister by a judicial commission, calling Naseem to be the “mastermind of a conspiracy against the judiciary”. “Needless to add that his past amply reflects that instead of believing in the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law, democracy and civil authority through democratic process, he always takes pride to support and serve the undemocratic forces in power,” the statement read. “As the role, conduct and activities of the law minister, aimed at undermining the independence of the judiciary and continuity of democratic process of government as per the Constitution, are against the national interest and thus are earning a bad name for the incumbent government,” the statement added..
Khalid Jawed Khan notified as new AG
PAKISTAN HAS TRIED EVERYTHING TO SOLVE KASHMIR ISSUE, NOW IT IS TIME FOR PATIENCE, SAYS ARIF NIZAMI to people. We have these morals attached to women. We find it strange that a woman could cheat or betray. Even good qualities, we find it hard to associate them with women. A man being ambitious is good but a man would not marry an ambitious woman”. The session Terror in Kashmir was graced by Arif Nizami along with Nitasha Kaul with Khaled Ahmed in the moderator’s seat. Arif Nizami in the session explained, “Pakistan has, over the years, tried everything in Kashmir; three wars, diplomacy, and jihad. Perhaps India’s threshold level is very high but all we can do is concentrate on policy like Imran Khan has been”. “I think the best place to have conversations about Kashmir should not be Lahore, Jaipur, Delhi or Islamabad but in Sri Nagar. If Trump has offered mediation on Kashmir then what does that mean? Not a lot because there is a credibility problem there,” Nitasha Kaul added. Later during the day, the session Bombay to Karachi was held with Nour Aslam, Samina Iqbal and Zehra Jumabhoy of the Courtauld Institute and was moderated by Salima Hashmi. The panel discussed the post-independence exploration of art and collectorship. Towards the end, former editor of the Herald Shahid Zahid and Senator Sherry Rehman conducted a conversational session called ‘Critical Concerns for Pakistan’ in the years to come. Sherry Rehman warned that Pakistan was facing clear and present dangers in climate, population and economy. “Climate crisis is a personal pet peeve. Pakistan is not taking adequate measures for this change. The country has a severe water crisis and it will rise in the coming years. We need to tell multilaterals that you can’t keep increasing taxes at the bottom of the pyramid as my driver is paying more tax than I do. The meat industry is one of the largest consumers of water globally. We are the biggest consumers of water per capita,” she lamented. A discussion was also held on Faiz’s Poetry in which Salman Akram Raja in conversation with Aitezaz Ahsen, Zehra Nigah and Noman Ul Haq discussed how Faiz’s poetry was currently transcending borders and languages, and firing peoples’ movements. This session was unsurprisingly the most crowded. The last day of the LLF shall be held on Sunday, February 23.
ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
The Ministry of Law and Justice on Saturday notified Khalid Jawed Khan as the new Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP). As per the notification issued by the Law Ministry, President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi has appointed Khalid Jawed Khan as Attorney General for Pakistan “with the rank and status of federal minister with immediate effect.” Khan has replaced Anwar Mansoor Khan who had resigned from this post on Thursday, for levelling allegations against some members of the Supreme Court bench hearing petitions challenging the filing of presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa. While Khan claimed that he had decided to quit on his own in compliance with the demand of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), the Law Ministry said he was asked to do so. On Friday, he submitted a written apology to the apex court. Prime Minister Imran Khan had given the nod for Jawed’s nomination, a press released issued by the PM Office had revealed. Khan was selected among eight eminent lawyers. Besides Khan, the other lawyers considered for this post were Abid Zuberi, Punjab Advocate General Ahmad Jamal Sukhera, Syed Ali Zafar, Kamal Azfar, Naeem Bukhari and Molvi Anwarul Haq. Khan also served as the attorney general during the interim government prior to the July 2018 General Elections. Jawed is the son of ND Khan — a senior politician who also served as the law minister during the second government of PPP in the 1990s. He enrolled as a high court advocate in 1991 and became an advocate of the Supreme Court in 2004. He served as a legal adviser to the attorney general for Pakistan and, in this capacity, advised Benazir Bhutto during her second tenure (1993-1996) as prime minister. Jawed obtained his LLB degree from London University, bachelor of civil law (BCL) degree from Oxford University, LLM from Harvard University and bar-at-law from Lincoln’s Inn. Jawed is a senior advocate who has appeared before the Supreme Court in a number of cases and also served as Advocate General for Sindh in 2013 as well as a member of the Privatisation Commission of Pakistan from 1995 to 1996.
04 ISLAMABAD
Sunday, 23 February 2020
WEATHER UPDATES SUNDAY
230C 90C
MONDAY
250C 80C
TUESDAY
260C 80C
WEDNESDAY
250C 100C
Era of prospErity imminEnt, KhattaK claims PESHAWAR
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APP
eDeRAl Minister for Defense Pervez Khan Khattak has made it clear that the era of prosperity was imminent soon after Imran Khan’s prudent policies were resulting in Pakistan getting rid of external world debt. Addressing a big public meeting at village Salem Khan District Swabi on Saturday afternoon, he said that unfortunately opposition was criticizing the gov-
ernment without making unnecessary accusations instead of giving good suggestions and guidance. He said the opposition should show faults to the government and if the government has any flaws it would solve it, adding the Prime Minister Imran Khan was a tremendous leader of great vision as he had made tough decisions and hopefully Pakistan would come up very soon in the rank of prosperous countries of the world. He said the previous governments put the country under huge debt but when the PTI government came into power, the
250m saplings to be planted in spring, says PM’s aide ISLAMABAD APP
Prime Minister’s Advisor on Climate Change, Malik Amin Aslam said Saturday that afforestation activities have been prioritised by the present government, because forests have been recognised as the most effective, cheapest way to tackle fallouts of the global warming-caused climate change on the country’s critical socioeconomic sectors, particularly agriculture, water, energy and health. “The important services forests provide are often ignored or underestimated by many of us as long as we wake up to the unprecedented importance of the forests in dealing with deleterious fallouts of climate change,” he said while talking to media here today in connection with the preparations and targets for the spring season tree plantation. Prime Minister Imran Khan is set to kick off national spring tree plantation drive on February 23 (Tomorrow) by planting a tree sapling in the country oldest Kundian forest area in Mi-
anwali district. The plantation drive will continue across the country till June 30 under the theme ‘Restoration of Degraded Forests’ as a part of the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Programme (10 BTTP). Malik Amin Aslam told media that a target of around 250 million tree saplings has been fixed for the spring 2020 season under the 10 BTTP afforestation programme, conceived to re-invigorate the country’s ailing forestry sector. These tree saplings would be planted across the country, most of them in not only new vacant areas but also in the degraded forest areas, he added. Besides wiping out pollutants from the environment, the forests offer various key services for survival of socio-economic lives, sustained provision of livelihoods of the people and the planet earth’s sustainability, Amin Aslam highlighted. “Trees, in fact, help protect soil from degradation and regulate water on farms, mitigate floods, regulate weather and enrich biodiversity. Besides, crops grown in agroforestry sys-
brave leader Prime Minister Imran Khan made tough decisions and swept the country out of difficult time. “These tough decisions were made to put the country on its feet and the problems and economic crises would end very soon from now,” he informed. “The income and expenditure of the country are not equal and the income is not greater than the expenditure, the development and prosperity of the country cannot be achieved,” he said, adding, “Prime Minister Imran Khan has a mind and thought that the country could go on
tems are often more resilient to drought, excess rain and erratic weather patterns,” the prime minister’s advisor explained the benefits. Spelling out the spring season tree plantation targets set by provinces, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, GilgitBaltistan and other governmental oranisations, Inspector General Forests of the Ministry of Climate Change, Muhammad Sulyman Khan Warraich said that a whopping target of 100 million tree sapling plantation has been set by the Punjab provincial government, 83 million tree plants by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 23 million by Azad Jammu & Kashir region, 20 million by Sindh province, 12 million by Gilgit-Baltistan region, one million by Ministry of Defence, 0.6 million by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 0.5 million by Capital Development Authority, 200,000 by National Highways Authority, 100,000 each by the Heavy Industrial Taxila and Pakistan Ordinance Factory and remaining plants by the non-governmental oraganisations. Sharing details of the tree plantation activities to be carried out on the Plant for Pakistan’ day. Which falls every year on February 23, the inspector general forest said, “The day will be celebrated across the country with hash tag (#PlantforPakistanDay) , which is the spring season’s day of the largest tree plantation programmes.
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track and achieve development.” He said that previous governments had left terrorism and debt in the country which gave bad name to Pakistan globally. The Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said, busying in correcting wrong doings of previous rulers. “We have inherited a ruined economy and the opposition has criticized it but does not give good suggestions to the government to provide relieve to the common people,” Pervez Khattak added. “The opposition rejected the elections and was unable to govern, he said, adding, “the previous governments had borrowed $
30 billion and now we are paying the same loan with interest instead of appreciating on the govt the opposition criticizing us.” The Federal Minister for Defense said that Health Insaf cards would be given to the people of the entire province. He said, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan was truly serving the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and we had fully confident that Prime Minister Imran Khan iwa leading the country in right direction and on the right path where common man would be provided all facilities of life and chances to grow.
Rashakai Economic Zone to change KP’s destiny: CM SWABI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said that all the districts of the province have been given equal share in developmental projects and various steps have been taken for the welfare and socio-economic emancipation of
people in KP. He was addressing a public gathering after inaugurating Palo Dand Road in village Salem Khan, district Swabi. He said that uplift projects have also been initiated in backward and ignored areas of the province. APP
Sunday, 23 February 2020
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IHC wANTS GOvT TO revIew deCISION ON rePATrIATING PAKISTANI STudeNTS FrOM CHINA ISLAMABAD
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Staff RePoRt
HE Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday directed the federal cabinet to review its earlier decision of repatriating stranded Pakistani students from virus-hit China. Parents of students were also present during the hearing which was presided by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah. The petition, filed by lawyer Mian Faisal, prayed upon the court to evacuate the Pakistani students from at minimum the epicentre city of Wuhan “even if they have to be kept on an island”. “Foreign Office representatives had not met all the students there [China],” the counsel pleaded. “Parents were told in Islamabad’s meeting
that students cannot be repatriated.” Justice Minallah remarked that some countries had evacuated their students from the coronavirus epicentre. He also said that the lack of communication between the parents and
PM doling out public money to his friends: Nafisa Shah ISLAMABAD
their children in China is also an issue of concern. To this, Foreign Office representative stated that Prime Minister Imran Khan had a telephonic conversation with his Chinese counterpart, in which
Li Keqiang had assured the premier that all Pakistani students would be taken care of like their ‘own children’. “We have received a lot of phone calls on the hotline that has been active for a month,” the FO representative said. “You can give us contact details of the children and we will find out about the kind of facilities they are being provided.” Justice Minallah said that the court understands the grievances of parents and the federal government should not have outrightly rejected the idea of bringing back the Pakistani students. However, he also said that “since this is a policy matter, the court cannot directly intervene in this regard. The federal cabinet should discuss this issue to satisfy the parents and should be presented the letter written by the Pakistani students to the IHC.”
Efforts being made to arrest Ehsanullah Ehsan: interior minister NANkANA SAHIB Staff RePoRt
INP
Secretary Information Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MNA Dr. Nafisa Shah has alleged that Prime Minister Imran Khan is doling out public money to his aides creating problems for the country and countrymen too. In a statement issued here on Saturday, Nafisa Shah said that the Wasila-e-Haq, Wasila-e-Rwzgar and Wasila-eTaleem are parts of Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) and thousands of people are getting benefit from Hunarmand Naujawan program and are doing their own businesses. She said that Benazir Income Employees Stock Scheme represents the vision of President Asif Ali Zardari. She said that on one hand over eight hundred thousand women have been taken out of BISP and on the other 22 billion rupees of have been stolen from Benazir Income Stock Employees Scheme. The PPP Secretary Information said that the projects which were inaugurated by Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as prime minister were being inaugurated again by PM Imran Khan. Nafisa Shah said that there was only one project for Imran Khan and that was BRT project which was buried under massive corruption by Imran Khan Cronies. Imran Khan corrupt friends were now demanding 4.37 billion rupees for BRT so that they can gulp that money as well, she added.
Two youths killed by Indian forces in IOK NewS DeSk Indian troops, in the freshest act of state terrorism on Saturday, martyred two Kashmiri youth in occupied Kashmir. According to the details, the youngsters were martyred by Indian soldiers at Naina Sangam in Bijbehara area of the district during a cordon and search operation which was ongoing until the filing of this report. It may be noted here that over 70 Kashmiris, including two women and four young boys, were martyred by Indian troops during the past 200 days of military lockdown and siege in the territory. According to the data released by Research Section of Kashmir Media Service, of those martyred, 11 were killed in fake encounters or custody. At least 942 Kashmiris were critically injured in the firing of bullets, pellets and teargas shells on peaceful protesters by Indian forces in the occupied territory since August 5, 2019 till date.
Interior Minister Ijaz Shah said on Saturday that efforts were being made to arrest Ehsanullah Ehsan, former spokesperson of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who had earlier escaped custody. The interior minister was speaking to media after a tree plantation ceremony at the District Commissioner’s office. Talking about Ehsan’s escape from custody, he said that efforts were being made to arrest him. Last week, Shah admitted for the first time that the ex-TTP spokesperson had escaped the state’s custody after an audio message of the militant stating the same started doing the rounds on social media. The interior minister commented on the security situation of the country, saying that the UN chief’s visit and other heads of state coming to Pakistan was a positive development. “The Bangladesh cricket team coming to Pakistan after the Sri Lankan cricket team is good news,” he said. “The PSL being hosted in Pakistan speaks of the success of our security institutions.” On the issue of Pakistani students stranded in Wuhan, he said meetings were being held daily to address the issue. “Whatever is best for the country and for the students will be done,” he said. ‘SECURITY AGENCIES BROKE PROM-
ISES’: After his escape, the TTP spokesperson issued an audio clip on social media wherein he said that he “surrendered” before the security forces and made a signed agreement that guaranteed certain rights to him. However, the security forces allegedly didn’t keep the promises and subsequently detained his family as well. “My name is Ehsan and I am former member of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Jamaatul Ahrar. On Feb 5, 2017, I handed myself into the hands of Pakistan’s security officials under an agreement and I kept that agreement on my part but I along with my family was detained by the security officials. We faced jail at least three years with patience but we made a plan to escape and finally, we successfully escaped on Jan 11, 2020,” the former spokesperson of the terrorist organisation claimed.
Govt must improve roads before arranging festivals in Chitral CHITRAL INP
The three-day snow skiing festival in the picturesque Madgalasht valley in Chitral witnessed significant reduction in tourists mainly due to poor condition of roads in the area. The festival was organised by the local people without any help from the government institutions in which a large number of people had participated, but this year a significant decline in the number of tourists was noticed. The local tourists who had come to witness the festival said they always remain fearful about road mishaps due to extremely poor condition of roads. Sher Muhammad, former nazim of Shishi Koh, said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and Tourism Development Corporation must improve the condition of roads before arranging festivals in the valley. He said no area can make development without roads. He said tourism particularly suffers a lot due to bad condition of roads as safety comes first.The festival was arranged by the district administration this year. Local people said such was the condition of road that a vehicle would go several hundred meters back to enable the vehicle coming from opposite direction to cross it safely. The road leading to the area was constructed by the Forest Department 40 years ago for carrying forest wood. Then the local people demanded handing over the road to Construction and Works Department. Sher Muhammad said neither the Forest Department nor the Communication Department is taking care of the road and it is in extremely poor condition.
CMYK
Shatrughan Sinha meets President Alvi LAHORE: Indian film actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha called on President Dr Arif Alvi at Governor’s House on Saturday, where they both agreed that there was a strong need to work for promotion of peace in the subcontinent. Highlighting the persecution of Indian minorities, particularly Muslims, which are being discriminated and oppressed under Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) throughout India, the president expressed his deep concerns over the human rights violations by the Indian security forces in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K). The president also highlighted Prime Minister Imran Khan’s peace overtures that were constantly spurned by the Modi-led regime in India, according to an official statement. In response to President Alvi’s statement that Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) is a conflict-free area providing liberty and freedom to its people, Sinha proposed that parliamentarians from both sides of the aisle in India should be invited to visit AJK to see for themselves the situation on the ground, where people can exercise their fundamental rights without any apprehensions. Both officials agreed that there is a strong need to work for promotion of peace and stability in the subcontinent. The former Lok-Sabah member is on a visit to Pakistan to attend a wedding. Primarily the visit is a continuation of family ties. Sinha had also attended the marriage ceremony of Dr Awab Alvi, President Alvi’s son, in Karachi in 2001. Staff RePoRt
Pakistan’s appreciation at FATF meeting good news: Firdous ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has termed appreciation of Pakistan at Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting as good news for the country and bad news for its enemies. In a tweet on Saturday, Firdous Ashiq thanked Iron brother China for supporting Pakistan on the issue. She said that Indian dream of pushing Pakistan into black list had shattered. Pakistan was a responsible state which had offered great sacrifices in war against terrorism, the Special Assistant to PM added. Dr Firdous said that the members of FATF appreciated Pakistan’s determination to meet other targets which was manifestation of its sincere efforts. INP
Sunday, 23 February, 2020
06 WORLD VIEW Journalism is under attack in india New players challenge America’s cultural dominance THE ATTACKS AND INTIMIDATION HELP CLEAR THE WAY FOR WHAT AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST RAVISH KUMAR HAS TERMED THE LAPDOG MEDIA, OR ‘GODI MEDIA’
washinGton Post
“J
Rana ayyub
ihadi.” “Presstitute.” Those are some of the insults the government of India routinely deploys against critical journalists. I’ve been at the receiving end of both. A few weeks ago, the Twitter account of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party called me a “jihadi” for my criticism of its polarizing tweets against Muslims in India. But I’m far from alone. Journalists are facing enormous pressures and intimidation in India. President Trump, who is visiting the country next week, will surely feel right at home with a government that also dismisses critical news stories as fake and casts aspersions on journalistic integrity every day. Fabrication, hyper-nationalism and self-censorship are on the rise as the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi tightens its grip on the country’s political and economic life. High-profile journalists have been pushed aside for not toeing the line. As a result, many of India’s finest journalist and editors can’t find supportive newsrooms. One of the country’s most popular news anchors, Faye D’Souza, resigned under pressure after she aired an episode in August questioning the government’s decision to revoke the special status accorded to Indian held Kashmir, which led to a crackdown on local politicians, a total Internet blockade and a tight curfew. The channel pushed her out because it decided to stand with Modi’s Indian held Kashmir decision. This climate of intimidation is not new. In June 2017, the Central Bureau of Investigation raided the residence of Prannoy Roy, the proprietor of one of India’s oldest and most credible news networks, NDTV. In his response, Roy said “they are trying to tell us that we can suppress you even if we haven’t done nothing wrong." Then he added: "It is a signal to the entire free press of India.” But the tactics have become more brazen and are not even restricted to journalists based in India. After the New Yorkbased writer Aatish Taseer wrote a cover story for Time critical of Modi, Taseer found his Overseas Citizen of India card revoked, which will now make it difficult for him to visit his home country. The attacks and intimidation help
clear the way for what award-winning journalist Ravish Kumar has termed the lapdog media, or “godi media.” It’s this partisan media that has been tasked with dehumanizing and demonizing students — who are protesting India’s discriminatory policies, including its controversial citizenship laws — minorities and activists, who are routinely labeled as anti-nationals on prime-time shows. When you have a “lapdog media,” the prime minister doesn’t have to answer tough questions: Modi has yet to hold a news conference since he took office, but he has sat down for scripted interviews with selected news anchors. These pliable anchors also generously amplify fake-news videos generated and circulated by the ruling party’s social media and then refuse to course-correct despite being called out by fact-checkers. This week, many journalists, including Stephen Sackur, host of the BBC’s “Hard Talk,” took a dig at the presenters of a Hindi news channel for heckling a student on a show, calling him an antinational. And earlier this month, when a fact-checking news site in India, Alt News, clarified that a student had not thrown a rock at a police officer, it was too late: The nationalist mainstream media had already ran with the story to say student protesters at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi were pelting cops with stones. In reality, police and thugs were the ones who entered the university’s library and mercilessly attacked students, injuring many and sparking international condemnation. Even a popular stand-up comedian decided to do something to break this cycle. When Kunal Kamra found himself on a flight in January with Arnab Goswami, the anchor of a repugnant show on the channel Republic, he decided to question him and film the exchange. He asked Arnab if he was a coward or a nationalist since the anchor awarded these tags every night on his news show. But instead of being applauded, Kamra was banned from flying on almost all commercial airlines, including the national carrier Air India. As India heads down the path of authoritarianism and hyper-nationalism, the price for speaking up is rising. Minorities are being stifled and intimidated. Protesters speaking against tyranny and discrimination are demonized. Never has journalism in India been in more urgent need of resolute moral clarity. Our public institutions are being tested; the Indian journalists who are upholding the truth must remember that history will be kind for taking that position, especially when it was unpopular and the response brutal. Rana Ayyub is an Indian journalist and author of “Gujarat Files: Anatomy of a Cover Up.”
THE UNITED STATES HAS BEEN THE WORLD’S CULTURAL GIANT SINCE THE TWENTIETH CENTURY—BUT IS ITS SUPREMACY AND SOFT POWER BEING CHALLENGED BY BOLLYWOOD, DIZI, AND K-POP? Cairo review of Global affairs Sydney WiSe
The United States was the cultural beacon of the last century; yet, the country’s status is declining in the face of new cultural movements in the East, Fatima Bhutto argues in her new book, “New Kings of the World: Dispatches from Bollywood, Dizi, and K-Pop.” In a lecture at the American University in Cairo’s (AUC) Oriental Hall on February 11, Bhutto reiterated her argument and identified key challenges to U.S. cultural influence. Bhutto outlined three internal factors responsible for the United States’ cultural decline. First, she linked the spread of American culture in the latter half of the twentieth century to the presence of its troops abroad. “They brought their cultures with them, their films, their music, their tastes and their products,” Bhutto explained in an interview with the New York Times. U.S. troop deployment overseas, however, has decreased rapidly: In 2017, it was at its lowest since the 1950s, a statistic which Bhutto used in her lecture at AUC to argue that American culture isn’t spreading as quickly as it once did. Bhutto used South Korea as a case study, which she said is the most potent example of the reach of the U.S. military industrial complex. Writing for the New York Times, E. Tammy Kim detailed “California-style mansions,” American ATMs, and a movie theater complete with Marvel films inside of Camp Humphreys, a U.S. army garrison in Pyeongtaek. But, “The privilege of being allowed to enter Camp Humphreys was not lost on me”, Kim wrote. “As a journalist and the family member of an Army veteran, I had access to thousands of acres that most Koreans will never see.” Bhutto also tied American cultural decline to a loss in credibility, particularly under President Donald Trump. This loss of credibility combined with increasing global migration and urbanization means that the image of Old Hollywood glamour resonates with the non-Western public far less than it used to. Viewers no longer see themselves reflected in American popular culture, and are skeptical that they ever will. They do see themselves reflected in Bollywood movies, Dizi television dramas, and K-Pop music, Bhutto counters. These industries—hailing from India, Turkey, and South Korea, respectively— are homegrown, and channel messages of nationalism to appeal to the nonWestern viewer’s sense of self. But, perhaps the reason why the popularity of Asian movements has
grown among a population used to Western cultural products is because they embody many of the same values. Bhutto says that, in a way, “Asian popular culture is a mimicry” of America’s; many hit K-Pop songs are based on Western pop tempos, which are then “localized” (i.e., sped up) to turn them into something new. K-Pop producers also ensure that their songs include a smattering of English, so that everyone can sing along. Think about the 2012 hit “Gangnam Style,” Bhutto urged her (largely bilingual Arabic and English) audience: what three words do you know in that song? Moreover, Asian and Western popular cultures have been able to compete because both spheres seek to internalize the values of morality and openness as they each understand them. “Both show states not as they are, but how they want to be,” Bhutto explained. The Turkish dramas Diriliş: Ertuğrul (Resurrection) and Payitaht: Abdülhamid (The Last Emperor), for example, are glamorous historical recounts of life under the Ottoman Empire. Their version of events is in sharp contrast to the Saudi TV show Mamaluk Al-Nar (Kingdoms of Fire), which was recently aired as an alternate view of the Ottomans in the face of its Dizi counterparts’ success. The use of popular culture as a vehicle of regional politics has also contributed to Asian movements’ success. States increasingly promote—or suppress—Bollywood, Dizi, and K-Pop products in line with their regional ambitions. The aforementioned Saudi-Turkish television battle is just one example; the cast of Ertuğrul was visited by Nicolas Maduro, the contested president of Venezuela. Joseph Stalin was a fan of Bollywood, which Bhutto says “set the mood music” for the rise of India’s neofascist right. Kim Jong-Un attended a South Korean K-Pop concert a week before meeting with President Moon Jae-in. “[Art is] a Trojan horse,” Bhutto summarized. Even the United States has promoted Asian popular culture in line with its political leanings. Netflix just announced that it has selected six Saudi short films to add to its repertoire at the end of February. Yet, a question remains: has this promotion of Eastern popular culture had any negative effect on Western cultural industries? Bhutto argues that there is a challenge to American popular culture specifically—namely television, film, and music. But, what is important is the way that popular culture plays into the broader concept of soft power: states’ abilities to “[get] other countries to want what it wants…in contrast with the hard or command power of ordering it to do what [they want],” as put by Joseph Nye. Although a state’s global influence in popular culture is certainly part of its
Protests bring to life a new generation in Iraq IRAQIS UNDER THE AGE OF 18 HAVE BEEN PARTICIPATING IN PROTESTS AT HIGHER RATES THAN BEFORE al Monitor Lujain eLbaLdaWi
Parliamentary speaker Mohammed alHalbusi expressed full support for protesters’ demands Feb. 17, meeting with a 13-year-old protester whose nickname, Hamid Daghethoum, translates to "pressuring them," as in, pressuring the government. Hamid is known for posting videos of himself on social media, reciting poetry that voices the demands of Nasiriyah's protesters. He posted a video challenging Halbusi to meet with him if he supported the protests. Hamid is not the only youthful Iraqi who is active in the protests taking place in the squares of Iraqi cities throughout the country.
The current protests are different from ones in years past due to a large number of youths under the age of 18, and many even under the age of 13, calling for the restoration of an Iraqi national identity, something the country has lacked for decades given successive crises, wars and the US occupation, in addition to sectarianism. Iraqi youths under the age of 18 have been killed, kidnapped and detained while participating in protests. Al-Monitor learned from medical sources that no less than 50 out of the 600 protesters killed in the protests were under the age of 18. These are violations of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, of which Iraq is a signatory. It states, “The child shall have the right to freedom of expression,” and provides for “the rights
of the child to freedom of association and to freedom of peaceful assembly." It adds, “No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference” and that “the child has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.” Fadlallah, 11, has attended the protests in the southern Iraqi city of Diwaniyah since October. “I am joining the protests for the sake of the homeland, which is greater than a mother or a father," he said. "The homeland is sacred.” He continued, “My generation and I, not any outsider, will be ruling this country.” Faris Kamal Nadhmi, a political psychology specialist, explained that the participation of children in the protests have both positive and negative impacts on their character in the future. While they learn important concepts like justice and
civil protests against injustice, they get exposed to violence that affects their psychological health. Nadhmi pointed out that the brutality and violence enacted on children during the protests could evoke feelings of existential anxiety. They could come to perceive the world as a brutal, dangerous and insecure place. As they age, they could mistrust others and feel a greater pessimism on human nature. Children could develop post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or suicidal tendencies. Therese Tayah, a consultant for international institutions in Iraq since 2005, visited Tahrir Square during recent protests. She is afraid of the psychological effects the violence will have on youths. She said violence will have a detrimental impact on their future personalities and could lead to aggressive behavior. Nevertheless, the youth participation in protests could produce a new generation of Iraqis with an authentic national identity. By participating in peaceful national protests, youths could advocate for
soft power, it’s only a drop in the bucket. Anmol Saxena of the BRICS Post wrote that, when America voted for President Donald Trump in 2016, it voted “for a global retreat.” First, the Trump administration withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership; then the Paris Climate Agreement; then the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Certainly, to Trump’s supporters, isolationism is part of the appeal of his “America First” foreign policy. But, also inherent to his foreign policy—and to his profile as a candidate itself—is a sense of aggressive machismo. The popular culture that Bhutto discusses is charged by rhetoric, and Trump’s rhetoric of machismo has been echoed by right-wing figures across the globe—from Boris Johnson to Narendra Modi. Also integral to soft power, according to Nye, are quality of health and education, employment opportunities, economic growth, technology, and transportation: factors that make individuals want to live in one state or another. It’s worth pointing out that Bhutto’s lecture was given in English, at the American University in Cairo, with refreshments catered by Crave, a Western-inspired Egyptian restaurant. Threats surely have risen to U.S. soft power: but, the strongest ones aren’t from India, Turkey, or South Korea. 2019’s “Soft Power 30” report—written jointly by Portland consultancy group, the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy, and Facebook, with contribution by Joseph Nye himself— ranked the United States fifth in terms of global soft power. It was beaten only by Western states: France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden. Additionally, both the International Monetary Fund and the World Economic Forum agree that China is now the world’s largest economy, and that its education system is the largest in the world. China constitutes another threat to U.S. soft power, and one of its most potent challenges from the East. In 2019’s “Soft Power 30” Report, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and China were the only Asian states to make the top 30, in that order. Ranked at eighth globally, Japan was the only one to break the top ten. But, out of these Asian states, China was ranked the highest by the “Soft Power 30” in terms of culture. Bhutto closed her speech on this point, pointing out increasing usage of the Chinese media app TikTok within the United States. Social media “is the new frontier in the culture wars, and anyone who doesn’t realize it… is going to lose,” she emphasized. Sydney Wise is a Research Assistant for the Cairo Review from Northeastern University. Her past work has been published at the Boston Consortium for Arab Region Studies.
justice and claim their rights. Nadhmi said the protests have created a new reality for youths. From late childhood to early teens, they start identifying themselves as part of the groups of people surrounding them, as well as with their geographic environment. At the age of 11, the development process continues and they become more inclined to criticize this group of people. Taya and Nadhmi share the same opinion about youth integration into a particular group at the protests. While scouting Tahrir Square, Taya saw youths cleaning the streets, fixing electricity and sewage problems, and attending seminars on legal, political and social affairs. "I guess that the children taking part in the protests are mostly getting involved in something that is beneficial for their development," she said, "except for the violence that the militias and rogue security personnel exhibited." Based on that, the protest movement has actually contributed to the development of a new national identity for all — an identity that has been absent in Iraq for decades. Lujain Elbaldawi is an Iraqi instructor who focuses on multiculturalism, national reconciliation and peace-making.
Sunday, 23 February, 2020
China virus Cases drop as foreign fears rise BEIJING
f
AGENCIES
EARS mounted on Saturday over the rise of new cases and fatalities outside China from the new coronavirus outbreak, as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of a shrinking window to stem the spread of the deadly disease. The warning came as the first European died from the new COVID-19 strain, which first emerged in December in central China but has now spread to over 25 countries and caused more than a dozen deaths outside the country. A 78-year old Italian man died after testing positive for the virus, with the death toll reaching four in Iran, and a number of cases reported across the Middle East, including the first infections in Israel and Lebanon. A second person died in South Korea, authorities reported on Saturday, as the number of cases in the country spiked. Italy has locked down ten towns and asked over 50,000 people to stay home — a move with echoes of China’s lockdown of entire cities in Hubei province at the centre of the outbreak. In China, the number of cases outside Hubei, where millions remain under quarantine, has been generally declining, although new hot spots were found in several prisons and hos-
pitals on Friday. But just 31 new cases were reported outside the central province on Saturday, as the national number of cases rose past 76,000. The outbreak has now claimed 2,345 lives in China. Concerns have also risen about the reliability of the official data, however, after Hubei officials changed methods of counting cases and amended their figures again. A WHO-led team of experts are set to visit Wuhan, the capital of the province, on Saturday. Meanwhile WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the
“window of opportunity” to contain the international spread of the outbreak was “narrowing”, as cases surged across the Middle East and in South Korea. He warned that if countries did not quickly mobilise to fight the spread of the virus, “this outbreak could go in any direction. It could even be messy.” INTERNATIONAL SPREAD: Cases of the deadly virus were reported in a range of countries in the Middle East on Friday, with the first cases in Israel and Lebanon. Iran said four people there had died and 18 been infected from the outbreak. Iraq and Kuwait, which share bor-
FOREIGN NEWS 07
ders with Iran, were on high alert for a potential outbreak after banning travel to and from the Islamic republic, although they have not confirmed any cases domestically. Nearly 350 people have been infected in South Korea, including two deaths, making it the hardest-hit country outside China. The US advised citizens to avoid travelling by cruise liner in Asia because it said the vessels acted as amplifiers of the virus. Several Australians and an Israeli evacuated earlier this week from the stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship tested positive for coronavirus on returning to their home countries. They were previously cleared in Japan. The cases will fuel questions about Tokyo’s policy of allowing former passengers to return home after testing negative. Two former passengers, both Japanese and in their 80s, died in Japan on Thursday. The British government confirmed on Twitter that an evacuation flight left Japan on Saturday, with 32 British and European passengers on board. Tokyo 2020 Olympic organisers on Saturday postponed training for their army of volunteers due to the coronavirus outbreak, but said that there was “no consideration” of cancelling the Games.
Assange's fate hangs in balance as UK court considers US extradition bid LONDON AGENCIES
Almost a decade after his WikiLeaks website enraged Washington by leaking secret US documents, a London court will begin hearings on Monday to decide whether or not Julian Assange should be extradited to the United States. A hero to admirers who say he has exposed abuses of power; Assange is cast by critics as a dangerous enemy of the state who has undermined Western security. He says the extradition is politically motivated by those embarrassed by his revelations. The 48-year-old is wanted by the United States on 18 criminal counts of conspiring to hack government computers and violating an espionage law and could spend decades in prison if convicted. Now, some 10 months after he was dragged from London’s Ecuadorean embassy where he had been holed up for seven years, Judge Vanessa Baraitser will hear arguments as to why he should or should not be sent to the
United States. Jennifer Robinson, Assange’s lawyer, says his case could lead to criminalising activities crucial to investigative journalists and his work has shed an unprecedented light on how the United States conducted its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “We are talking about collateral murder, evidence of war crimes,” she said. “They are a remarkable resource for those of us seeking to hold governments to account for abuses.” WikiLeaks angered Washington by publishing hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables that laid bare critical U.S. appraisals of world leaders, from Russian President Vladimir Putin to members of the Saudi royal family. Assange made international headlines in 2010 when WikiLeaks published a classified U.S. military video showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff. PARDON DEAL?
The hearing at London’s Woolwich Crown Court will not decide if Assange is guilty of any wrongdoing, but whether the extradition request meets the requirements set out under a 2003 UK-U.S. treaty, which critics say is stacked in favor of the United States. Baraitser has agreed that the case will get under way next week before being postponed until May 18 when it will resume again for a further three
weeks to allow both sides more time to gather evidence. Assange’s lawyers have said in preliminary hearings that they would argue he was being sought for political offences and that the treaty banned extradition on these grounds. Trump offered to pardon Assange if he said that Russia had nothing to do with WikiLeaks’ publication of Democratic Party emails in 2016, his lawyer told a London court this week.
sanders warns russia, Trump scoffs as new meddling charges hit us election WASHINGTON: Bernie Sanders on Friday warned Russia not to meddle in the Democratic presidential race, as Donald Trump angrily dismissed assertions that Moscow was again seeking to boost his election chances. Trump has come under fresh fire for removing US intelligence chief Joseph Maguire, replacing him with a loyal partisan with no direct experience in the field, days after Maguire’s staff told lawmakers that Russia was again interfering in a US election to support Trump. Sanders, a self-described socialist who is leading the race for the Democratic nomination to challenge Trump in November, told reporters that US officials briefed him “about a month ago” of efforts to interfere in the 2020 race. “Unlike Donald Trump, I do not consider (Russian President) Vladimir Putin a good friend. He is an autocratic thug who is attempting to destroy democracy and crush dissent in Russia,” Sanders said in a statement. “I don’t care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president,” he added. “My message to Putin is clear: stay out of American elections, and as president, I will make sure that you do.” His comments came moments after The Washington Post reported that US intelligence told Sanders that Russia was seeking to help his campaign. The form of assistance was unclear but Sanders has suggested that Russia could be behind belligerent online remarks by his professed supporters that have drawn condemnation from other candidates. “They’re trying to cause chaos, they’re trying to cause hatred in America,” Sanders told reporters in California. An exhaustive report by former FBI chief Robert Mueller found that Russia backed Trump’s 2016 campaign, including by manipulating social media, but did not find that the campaign colluded with Moscow. Trump has showed irritation at any suggestions he won because of Russia. Speaking at a rally in Las Vegas, Trump said he had heard a “rumor” that “Putin wants to make sure I get elected.” “Wouldn’t he rather have, let’s say, Bernie?” he said. He earlier tweeted that accounts of Russian support were a “hoax” and “misinformation campaign” by Democrats “who still have been unable to, after two weeks, count their votes in Iowa,” which held the first contest among candidates. AGENCIES
UN says it fears 'bloodbath' in northwest Syria fighting GENEVA/MOSCOW AGENCIES
The United Nations warned on Friday that fighting in northwest Syria could “end in a bloodbath” and called again for a ceasefire, while Moscow denied reports of a mass flight of civilians from a Russian-led Syrian government offensive. Syrian troops backed by Russian air power have been battling since December to eliminate the last rebel strongholds in the region in a war that has killed an estimated 400,000 Syrians, displaced millions more and left much of the country in ruins. The latest offensive in the regions of Aleppo and Idlib has uprooted nearly 1 million people – most of them women and children – who have fled clashes to seek sanctuary further north, near the Turkish border. The UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA said 60% of the 900,000 people trapped in a shrinking space after fleeing are children. “We call for an immediate ceasefire to prevent further suffering and what we
fear may end in a bloodbath,” OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke told a news briefing in Geneva. “The front lines and relentless violence continue to move closer to these areas which are packed with displaced people, with bombardments increasingly affecting displacement sites and their vicinity.” At a university building in the town of Azaz in northwest Syria, people fleeing Idlib have poured in every day to shelter from the violence and bitter cold. Souad Saleh, 58, is staying in a room with her family and dozens of other people. “We want to go back home but we can’t. We left things behind because the warplanes were above us and houses were collapsing,” she said. The escape was exhausting. “Everyone was crying,” the grandmother recalled, bursting into tears. Hayat al-Fayad, 50, said her village in Idlib had emptied out since her family ran from the bombing some two weeks ago. “The entire village fled,” she said. Other families are sleeping outside by
roads and in olive groves, burning garbage to stay warm. Some children have died from the cold, while some families have at least reached tent camps for displaced people. Turkey, which currently hosts 3.7 million Syrian refugees, has said it cannot handle a new influx and has warned that it will use military power to repel Syrian advances in Idlib and ease a humanitarian crisis. RUSSIA DENIES HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCY: Russia’s Defense Ministry said reports of hundreds of thousands of Syrians fleeing from Idlib towards the Turkish border – in an area where Turkish forces maintain forward observation posts – were false, urging Ankara to enable Idlib residents to enter other parts of Syria. Turkey and Russia back opposing sides in Syria’s conflict, but have collaborated towards a political solution. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s onslaught in the northwest has upset this fragile cooperation, causing Ankara and Moscow to accuse each other of flouting de-escalation
agreements in the region. Turkish and Russian officials have failed to find a solution to the clashes in several rounds of talks, and a flare-up on the ground on Thursday which killed two Turkish soldiers brought the total Turkish fatalities in
Idlib this month to 15 troops. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan emphasized the necessity to control Syrian government forces and to ease a humanitarian crisis in Syria’s Idlib region during a phone call with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Sunday, 23 February, 2020
08 COMMENT
Portraying a soft image
PM torn between two extremes
A long way to go
An exercise in unaffordable populism
P
RIMe Minister Imran Khan is caught between two stools. As a staunch admirer of Ayub Khan’s economic model, based on the trickledown theory, he has consistently advocated capital formation first, and people’s welfare later. This encouraged his economic team to mechanically implement the policies dictated by the IMF, causing misery to all sections of the population. But Mr Khan also has an eye on the next elections too. Unless he can provide relief to the common voter, his party could not only be routed during the elections, but might even be sent home without completing its term. He needs therefore to keep the voters sweet. This requires an exercise in populism. Some of the claims that the PM made during his address in Layyah were a not in consonance with his economic team’s policies. He said for instance that Pakistan was no more in the woods, that 2020 would be the year of economic rehabilitation and that he was trying to make Pakistan a welfare state. He made the claims at a time when the country has failed to meet its revenue collection target while the FBR chief has gone on long leave. Meanwhile the PM’s Finance Advisor has warned the government that it would also fail like its predecessors if “correct economic decisions are not taken”, implying further measures to raise revenues. Promising a pie in the sky at a time when his economic advisers are calling for avoiding populist policies. is nothing short of chicanery. Mr Khan’s Leiah address had the ambience of a TV quiz show where prizes to be distributed were heaped in a corner for public display. Under the PM’s ehsas Aamdan programme, ten beneficaries selected on the basis of poverty cards were awarded agricultural equipment, retail shop inputs and livestock worth Rs60,000. If the programme was to be uniformly implemented in the 154 districts of Pakistan, a total of 1540 people out of a population of over 219 million will receive uplift funds. This is like irrigating a hundred acres of land with a glass of water. Politically this could cause frustration among millions of poor who get nothing. Keeping in mind the financial crunch faced by the government, one wonders if loans for 80.000 people every month and 50,000 scholarships every year would be sustainable.
Peace at last? Hopefully yes
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‘PARTIAL truce’ has been reached between US forces and the Afghan Taliban for a week long “reduction in violence” guaranteeing that there will be no ‘major offensive operations’ from either side. If successfully executed, a peace deal will be signed, paving the way for an eventual end to an almost twodecade long brutal conflict. Getting to this point has not been easy; over 18 months of bilateral and multilateral negotiations between major stakeholders have taken place starting from the dialogues in Qatar. experts are understandably skeptical as many ceasefire agreements have been violated by the Afghan Taliban side during the course of the talks resulting in increased violence. US President Donald Trump had at one point last year completely abandoned the peace process when a US soldier was killed by the Taliban. But that was then, at the moment he is running for reelection and one of the key deliverables that he is banking on is a comfortable US exit from Afghanistan. Sirajuddin Haqqani, deputy leader of the Taliban, in an uncharacteristically, optimistically positive op-ed with his byline no less, published in The new York Times three days ago, wrote that the Taliban are “committed to working with other parties in a consultative manner of genuine respect to agree on a new, inclusive political system in which the voice of every Afghan is reflected and where no Afghan feels excluded.” It goes on to say that these equal rights will extend to women in terms of education and the right to work as well. One thing seems to be clear in all of this: both sides have left something on the table to reach a consensus that is workable. This is however just a first step with some immediate challenges that may threaten progress, the contested Afghanistan presidential election result being one of them. Although Ashraf Ghani has been declared a winner with 50 percent of the vote, his rival who came in second with 39 percent of the vote, Abdullah Abdullah, has rejected the result, vowing to form his own parallel government. Going forward, President Ghani will have to address this political uncertainty to make sure the peace deal is not compromised. It is hoped that all sides make good on the terms agreed in the deal to finally bring long lasting peace to Afghanistan and neighbouring countries.
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aRif Nizami
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n the foreign policy front, things are ostensibly looking up. Pakistan internationally is not as isolated as it was perhaps a year ago. The country is not a strictly no-go destination for foreigners as it previously was. Islamabad is not considered a hardship post where diplomats were not allowed or simply discouraged to bring in their families. Only a few days back the Un secretary general Antonio Gutterres came on a four-day visit. He said nice things about Pakistan including lauding its role in hosting Afghan refugees for a protracted period. He even urged peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue, offering mediation provided India also agreed. Partly owing to Pakistan’s role in bringing the Afghan Taliban to the table, a US-Taliban peace deal will be signed after a week of ‘partial ceasefire’. An end to the 18-year old Afghan imbroglio hopefully will bring some respite for the people on both sides of the afghan border. Pakistan can boast better relations with the US on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s watch. PM Khan can take solace from the fact that he has developed some kind of a rapport with president Trump in his various meetings with him. even cricket teams have slowly but surely started coming back to play in Pakistan after a long hiatus. The PSL (Pakistan Super League) is being held in the country rather than in Dubai that had become the de facto home ground for foreign cricket fixtures that could not be played in Pakistan owing to serious security concerns. Our security agencies and successive civilian governments of the past decade or so deserve full credit for bringing down terrorist incidents to a bare minimum. This is no mean feat. Only a few countries have been able to successfully combat terrorism solely through their own efforts. Another hurdle that Islamabad is yet to cross is to avoid being blacklisted by the FATF (Financial Action Task Force). The international anti money laundering organization wants full compliance of its 27-point benchmarks in order to let
Pakistan off the hook. Despite having the will, why Islamabad has been unable to fully comply, remains a conundrum. Despite the optimistic musings on the foreign policy front, relations with narendra Modi’s India remain at an all-time low. Revoking the special status of the Indian occupied Kashmir by scrapping Article 370 of the Indian constitution in August last year, the Valley has been under a constant lockdown. The Kashmiri people are up in revolt and Islamabad has given them full moral and diplomatic support. Khan has also left no stone unturned to project the Kashmir cause on the international fora. nonetheless, Modi and his Hindutva hardliners are bent upon pursuing their xenophobic antiMuslim agenda. The unkindest cut for the 201 million Indian Muslims was the CAA (Citizen Amendment Act) that became a law last December. Apart from Muslims, many liberal Indians are up in revolt against this Muslim specific law virtually making them second class citizens. In the process, India that successfully used to sell its secular democratic credentials in the West is drawing sharp criticism for quashing civil liberties, stifling dissent and muzzling the media. The ruling BJP (Bhartiya Janata party) thugs routinely beat up those protesting against this discriminatory law. Institutions like Jawaharlal University and Jamia e Millia in Delhi have become a cauldron of protest and dissent. The BJP’s strong-arm tactics backfired in the Indian capital where it lost badly to the incumbent AAP (Aam Aadmi Party). Its ultra-liberal leader Arvind Kejriwal is an antithesis of Modi. In the process of perusing his hate agenda, Modi and his minions have badly tarnished India’s ‘soft image’ that had been so carefully nurtured over the years. Axiomatically this provides a window of opportunity for Pakistan to change negative perceptions about its own democratic credentials. Unfortunately, a relentless campaign against a free media and political opposition is being spearheaded by the prime minister himself. Instead of burnishing its democratic credentials, a diametrically opposite perception is being unwittingly created. Despite being a parliamentary democracy, an increasingly authoritarian bent of mind is becoming more and more pervasive. A widely held negative impression about a perennial economic downturn coupled with general malfeasance is conveniently blamed on the errant media. While admonishing the media, the prime minister openly advises his supporters not to read
newspapers nor watch television news shows. Instead of engaging the media, a bevy of about 70 odd spokespersons are frequently tutored by none other than the prime minister himself on how to project his government’s real or perceived achievements. If Khan spends half of this time instead in directly engaging the media, he will achieve better results. The ‘my way or the highway’ attitude has permeated the prime minister’s mindset to such an extent that need for engaging the opposition perhaps simply does not occur to him. The other day when the prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Raja Farooq Haider Khan had the temerity to publicly suggest to him to engage the opposition for the Kashmir cause, he was badly rebuffed. Khan simply refuses to directly talk to the opposition including the parliamentarians on the facile plea that they are a corrupt lot. As a direct result the parliament is hardly functional. It has not been able to perform its primary job description to legislate. Instead of meaningful debate, any serious discussion deteriorates into a verbal slugfest between the treasury benches and the opposition. Perhaps Khan feels with the milt-establishment firmly behind him, he has nothing to fear from neither the opposition nor his coalition partners threatening to abandon him. The nAB (the national Accountability Bureau) has become the cat paw of the government to victimize the opposition in the name of socalled accountability. Publicly a need is expressed both by the government as well as the opposition to tweak the nAB law to make it more even-handed and transparent. But practically it seems that the government takes a vicarious pleasure to see opposition leaders behind bars in nAB custody. Had it been not for the independent judiciary, most opposition figures would still have been rotting in the slammer. In this context the gains in the domain of foreign policy will prove to be ephemeral unless based upon a robust domestic base. Unfortunately, the effort is to turn everything topsy-turvy in the name of ‘tabdeeli’ (change). In the process instead of any real change Pakistan is witnessing a chimerical system. Despite being a democracy on paper we are considered a hybrid authoritarian state where its leadership is unable or simply unwilling to govern effectively. Arif Nizami is Editor, Pakistan Today. He can be contacted at arifn51@hotmail.com.
The failure of institutions
Depending on the outcome of this event he may even win support in society at large as a consequence of standing up to the authorities, something that few people manage to do but many aspire to, because they recognize the injustice that stems from it. After all, if a man such as ehsanullah ehsan could escape the security authorities and leave the country taking his family with him, of colonial masters who left this country just why can’t Maulana Aziz get what he asks for? over 72 years ago. That psyche has now become ehsan was after all actually in custody, he was the so ingrained that people cannot see injustice for spokesperson for the banned groups TTP and JuA what it is, instead they view it as the rightful ex- which were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of persons both civilian and military. Which inercise of authority. They have little choice in many cases. Poverty stitution worked in his case? Intelligence authorities were silent regarding and the threat of further loss the event which was in fact of income is one of the first publicized by an Indian strongest motivations in any newspaper around a week human being’s life. Whereas after his escape. His escape for those who are more afThe Prime Minister, if he was a discredit to the law enfluent it is the threat of loss forcement authorities who of power that leads them genuinely wishes to do had custody of the man and down unwise paths. If either anything for this country, allowed him to escape. Most of these segments of society of all the very existence of were truly subject to the law would do well to strengthen the groups he belonged to, without taking into account and their continued existheir financial powers, they its institutions, to provide tence, is a slap in the face of would receive justice. the authorities who appear security and economic The latter seems to be unable to control either the how it is with Maulana imprisonment of a known Aziz who refuses to give up well-being to its people so or the defiance of his position as the khateeb they may have a stake in amurderer man who brazenly deof Lal Masjid in Islamabad mands the restoration of his and has holed himself up in life as citizens. job and the allotment of land the mosque with some at the point of a gun. armed supporters. The Prime Minister, if In a country where instihe genuinely wishes to do tutions worked, someone anything for this country, like this Maulana would probably have had a much greater respect for the would do well to strengthen its institutions, to repercussions of his actions, and he would have had provide security and economic well-being to its little support in society. Maulana Aziz however is people so they may have a stake in life as citirelying on force and the strength of his armed sup- zens. The way to do the latter is not to dole out porters to win his argument, and to get him out of cash via programmes worth billions but to make his tight corner at the end of the day. He might even sure that the citizens’ ventures are protected by succeed so long as he does not shave off his beard the law, and that they have the education to see and gives vent to statements liberally sprinkled with what is right and wrong for themselves. Arabic. That would be his ‘power-speak’, like the Rabia Ahmed is a freelance columnist. leaders the ultra-right aspire to. In the public’s eyes he will then represent a member of the inviolate Read more by her at http://rabiaahmed.blogspot.com/ clergy, a ‘anti-Hindu’ hero.
Institutions are the basis of the rule of law
Rabia ahmed
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ne of the most convincing theories regarding why nations prosper or fail places the credit (or blame) squarely on the institutions belonging to the country, on whether or not they function as they should, and whether or not they cater to the population without discrimination. All other factors aside, this best explains why countries like Pakistan have failed as spectacularly as they have done. It is a lingering legacy of our colonial past that we insist on being colonized by segments of our own society, being ruled by persons whose have little or no interest in doing their job. We still possess cantonments which were originally garrisons for an occupying army, a total of 56 in the entire country of which 27 are in the Punjab alone. Government departments throughout the country are headed by a ‘bara sahab’ to replace the ‘gora sahab’ who must be obeyed. He ‘rules’ without reference to rules, and rarely for the good of the public he is supposed to serve. Democracy has not as yet filtered into the psyche of the people, who still follow whatever smacks Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9
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Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk
Sunday, 23 February, 2020
COMMENT 09 Editor’s mail
Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively
Sports Facilities Needed at Tump TUMP is a tehsil of Turbat. At least twenty villages are situated in tehsil Tump. Unfortunately, the people of tehsil Tump are deprived of sports facilities. They don't have sporting equipment such as bats and wickets. Furthermore, people there are poor so they are unable to buy these things. Sports are necessary to direct the energies of the youth to constructive ends, preventing them from indulging in bad things such as drugs. I actually have seen many youngsters involved in drug usage. When asked why, they replied that they could not play any sport so they turned to drugs. They are confused about their lives. I request the Government of Pakistan as soon as resolve this issue. Yahya Ijaz Khosa Turbat.
Tree Felling in District Washuk
Many a mile to go Enveloped in ambiguities, difficult is the path to peace
Candid Corner Raoof Hasan “If only there were evil people out there insidiously committing evil deeds, and if it were just simple, we could separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But, the line dividing good from evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who among us is willing to destroy a piece of their own heart?” — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
T
here may be a lot of of trumpeting about peace, but it is nowhere to be seen yet. Much has transpired since the USA scuttled the deal its Special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation had concluded with the Taliban back in September, 2019. The fact that the talks recommenced after the setback and, understandably, we now have a new, conditions-based agreement to help the reconciliation process move forward, is no small wonder. Whether this initial consensus can be transformed into a momentum towards achieving composite peace in Afghanistan in the foreseeable future is the haunting question that the parties to the conflict and the world are faced with. According to information available so far, if the observance of a seven-day ceasefire which started on February 22 holds, the USA and Taliban will sign a deal on February 29. This will be followed by further cessation of hostilities for nine days leading to the commencement of an intra-Afghan Dialogue in Oslo. It is hoped that representatives of all stakeholders in Afghanistan would be able to sit around a table to thrash out their differences and come up with a broad agreement to move towards reconciliation in the war-ravaged country. While this is the preferred course to take, it remains embedded with challenges some of which may be insurmountable over a short period of time. At the core of it lies a deep mistrust among the parties with each one vying for garnering a leading role in managing the country to the subservience of others. The Taliban remain the main suspect in the emerging paradigm and their intentions will be closely scrutinised. They have fought their way to recognition over the last two decades and they remain convinced that time is on their side. If need be, they could wait further to place themselves in an impregnable position. That is what the others are wary of
and, without the US presence and support, they he has issues with that as he would only like to include people who agree with his appraisal and are afraid they would be simply run over. The fear is not without substance, more so roadmap for the future, principally his continubecause of the inherent mindset that the Taliban ation as the President for another term. This are notorious to persist with. Their insistence on would provide an opportunity for the Taliban to doing things only if sanctioned by the Shari’a exploit the divisions within the opposite camp also raises serious doubts about their intentions to their advantage. The long-term US intentions are also not with regard to maintaining the democratic ethos of the country and ensuring compatible human clear yet. While there is considerable clarity rerights for women and other communities as is garding withdrawal of some troops from stated in the existent constitution of the repub- Afghanistan depending on the terms of the lic of Afghanistan. This is a serious matter agreement which is yet to be announced, the which will require intensive and extensive par- same is lacking in the context of the number of leys between the stakeholders in an effort to ar- troops that would remain stationed in the country. Also, what would be the fate of the US bases rive at a broad consensus. Then is the case of President Ashraf Ghani there? In the presence of an increasingly domiwho, in spite of advice to the contrary by the US nant Taliban, leaving everything for the Afghans and other parties, insisted on holding the elec- to settle would be a real-time danger. There is tions last September, results of which have now absolutely no ambiguity regarding their inherent been announced declaring him to be the outright desire to rule the country as they have always been eager to re-acquire the winner. This has been sumde facto status alongside marily rejected by Abdulthe de jure one which they lah-Abdullah and his claim they have always associates and they have threatened to constitute a There is also this fear that a had. One understands that it parallel government in the second coming of the is going to be a conditionscountry. If that may be the based deal where every case, it is bound to compliTaliban would take new step would be dependcate matters further. These ent upon successfully acschisms would, inter alia, Afghanistan back to the complishing the ones work to the advantage of the Taliban and to the detri- days when they were last in leading up to that. But, there is no clarity regardment of the long-term command – the days of ing what may happen in prospects for reconciliacase the parties cannot tion. In fact, President obscurantism and move beyond a certain Ghani may emerge as the retrogression. A chill runs point and there is a deadone jeopardising the Who plays the refchance of reaching underthrough one’s being just lock. eree? Who would nudge standing among the warring factions in the country. thinking of that prospect. them further? May be, a simple nudge would not be Let’s face it: this deal, But, then, who would stop enough. It may require a if it is signed as expected, push. Who would take that does not provide a secure pathway to peace in that in the event the Taliban responsibility? An irrefutable commitAfghanistan. It’s a misare actually able to gain ment to peace and a willingnomer. It is barely a passage to facilitate a control to the exclusion of ness to work together are the essential constituents for recphased-out withdrawal of the US troops from the war other stakeholders? Are we onciliation in Afghanistan. I believe that both are missing zone leaving the stakeheaded back to the at this juncture. While the holders to forge an underformer is a state of mind standing to share the spoils days of darkness? which is found rarely in a of ruling the country. In tribal and combative society, that equation, it is the Talthe latter is hard to get in iban who have a preponview of the divisions which derant hold in terms of the number of committed fighters they have, the have only deepened in the last two decades. There is also this fear that a second coming area they control and the power that they command. This is a formidable superiority which of the Taliban would take Afghanistan back to other stakeholders will find difficult to eclipse the days when they were last in command – the once the USA has retreated from the country. days of obscurantism and retrogression. A chill Given the Taliban’s traditional reluctance to runs through one’s being just thinking of that share power, it does not bode well for the prospect. But, then, who would stop that in the process of reconciliation and would inevitably event the Taliban are actually able to gain conlead to an effort on their part to assume a posi- trol to the exclusion of other stakeholders? Are we headed back to the days of darkness? tion of ascendance to the exclusion of others. The path to peace is not clear. Not yet! A threat also looms over the formation of the delegation by President Ghani to negotiate Raoof Hasan is a political and security with the Taliban in Oslo. The broad advice given to him is to constitute an inclusive dele- strategist, and heads the Regional Peace gation comprising all stakeholders, leaving Institute – an Islamabad-based think tank. He none out, so that the agreement that is negoti- can be reached at: raoofhasan@hotmail.com; ated would also be sustainable. Understandably, Twitter: @RaoofHasan
The incumbent government came with a vision to make Pakistan green. Instead of doing that, in one of the districts of Balochistan, Washuk, trees are being cut excessively. Furthermore, a famous tree named "Tagaz" which grows naturally in desert is being cut in District Washuk. The pickups load this kind of tree and sell them in nearby districts. According to a report the whole area of the world is 126 billion acres and of this just 4 billion acres is occupied by forests. According to scientists where there are trees there is life, but unfortunately in district Washuk people are cutting the trees in order to get money. I appeal the DC of Washuk Agha Nabeel Akther and the concerned authorities please stop people from felling trees. Let’s make Pakistan green. MoHAMMAd JAAn QAdIR TuRBAT, BoLAn
Life Hard in Turbat TUrBAT is the second largest city of Balochistan but unfortunately the people of Turbat do not have access to their basic needs. These include education, electricity, and economic prospects. We are about to die due to these problems but no one is listening to us. If they were to listen to our voice, we will be ready to offer our support. We are getting only six hours of electricity every day which makes life unbearable. It is my humbly request to the C. M. of Balochistan to please provide these basic necessities and save us from these troubles. L. B BALocH, TuRBAT
HIV/AIDS in Larkana. The staggering surge in hIV/AIDS cases has not abated as yet in ratodero, Larkana. Within three months, 33 lives have been lost. 997 were tested as hIV positive when thousands of people were screened recently. Not only is the government’s preparedness poor, but it is also insufficient and insignificant. The patients are now at the mercy of circumstances. Nearly, 1 204 drug addicts, 1 130 transgender, 1 612 sex workers, and the re-use of syringes are behind the outbreak of this deadly virus in the affected area. Overall, around 95,000 individuals are said to be spreading the virus in Sindh, and there are 10,000 hIV/AIDS patients in the whole province.At last, what else does the Sindh Government want to transpire that could awake it from its hibernation to act, and avoid cosmetic measures and perfunctory planning to face this full-blown fatal disease? RIAz AHMEd SooMRo SHIKARPuR
Mainstreaming Seminaries MAINSTreAMING seminaries to the national education system would enable pupils of seminaries to excel in contemporary career streams and would also enable them to contribute in the development and progress of the country, urged the COAS. Thirteen pupils including four girls have achieved top positions in intermediate examination and got prizes and souvenirs. It should be hailed that seminaries have come towards national education system and their pupils have achieved top positions in intermediate examinations. National education system's curriculum should also incorporate some of the seminaries curriculum so that the gap between students from both streams is bridged. There is a need to educate our young generation about the teachings and history of Islam. Moreover, identical curriculum should also be taught/followed in all seminaries so that sectarian differences might be reduced in the society. FAISAL AnSAR KARAcHI
Sunday, 23 February, 2020
10 FOREIGN NEWS
Taj Mahal buT no TraDe Deal for TruMp in inDia NEW DELHI
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AGENCIES
S President Donald Trump will open the world’s biggest cricket stadium and watch the sun set at the famed Taj Mahal during a lightning visit to India starting Monday, but behind the spectacular optics he is expected to face a protectionist counter-punch on trade. Trump’s blossoming bromance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that will be on show again belies prickly relations, particularly over commerce, with both men ramping up protectionist measures. Experts say this has hurt US efforts to make India a strategic counterweight to China, while Trump’s mediation offer in the long-running Kashmir dispute with Pakistan has annoyed New Delhi. “We’re not treated very well by India, but I happen to like Prime Minister Modi a lot,” Trump, 73, said before his maiden official visit to the nation of 1.3 billion with First Lady Melania, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The US president arrives in the western state of Gujarat where Modi’s record while chief minister as a re-
former and flag-bearer of Hindu nationalism catapulted him to the national stage in 2014. Trump told a rally on Thursday that “six to 10 million people” would be along the route of his motorcade, but this appears to be a misunderstanding. Organisers said there will be tens of thousands. A 700-metre (-yard) wall has been built, allegedly to hide a slum, while construction workers have been rushing to complete the Sardar Patel Stadium. It will be rammed with around 100,000 people for an event dubbed “Namaste Trump”, payback for a “Howdy, Modi” rally in Houston last
year in front of some of America’s vast Indian diaspora. PIZZA CHEESE: The Trumps will then fly to the Taj Mahal, the white marble “jewel of Muslim art” according to UNESCO, but afterwards it will be down to business in New Delhi on Tuesday Reports suggest Trump and Modi may agree a modest trade pact covering items including imports of HarleyDavidson motorcycles and US dairy products such as pizza cheese, as well as a number of defence and other deals. But this will fall short of the comprehensive agreement the world’s largest economy and the planet’s biggest democracy have been seeking
for years. Tanvi Madan from the Brookings Institution said the lack of progress on trade was the “big missing deliverable”, forcing both sides to focus more on the “great optics” of the visit. Trade relations have worsened as Trump’s “America First” strategy to reduce the US trade deficit bumps up against Modi’s “Make in India” drive as Asia’s third-largest economy flags. Although small fry compared to his trade war with China, Trump in 2018 levelled tariffs on steel and aluminium from India — and elsewhere — and in June stripped India of its preferential trade status. Delhi responded with hiked duties on a raft of US agricultural goods such as almonds, and restricted imports of certain medical devices. More tariffs were announced in the recent budget. “We’re doing a very big trade deal with India,” Trump said before the visit but conceded it may not be done before US elections in November. This was echoed on Thursday by India’s foreign ministry which said it did not want to “rush into a deal”. And there are other sources of mutual irritation.Trump and Modi may ink a $2.4billion deal for US helicopters, but overall when it comes to arms, Russia remains India’s biggest supplier.
EU budget summit ends with no deal BRUSSELS AGENCIES
An EU summit called to set the bloc’s next seven-year budget ended in impasse late Friday, riven by competing groups among the 27 member states and pressure to fill a funding gap left by Brexit. Differences were “still too great to reach an agreement,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters at the end of the two days of talks in Brussels. No date had yet been set for another summit to try again, but Merkel added that “we are going to have to return to the subject”. The trillion-euro-plus budget, the multiannual financial framework, is meant to be operational from next year and run to the end of 2027. But the summit revealed stubborn differences between a handful of wealthy “frugal” states and a larger group wanting more money to meet both big European ambitions and to fill the 75-billion-euro shortfall left by Britain’s exit from the EU last month. “Unfortunately we have observed it was not possible to reach an agreement, we observed we need more time,” said European Council President Charles Michel, who had called the extraordinary summit and stewarded the talks. He said, however, he was right to make the effort: “As my grandmother said, to succeed you first have to try.” GOUP VS GROUP: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is counting on a big enough budget to meet her executive’s “geopolitical” ambitions, said the EU discord was sign of “democracy”. Despite Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron teaming up to back Michel in his search for an acceptable compromise, two groups of countries dug in their heels. One was the so-called “frugal four” made up of Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden,
which wanted the budget reined in to reflect the UK’s absence and to avoid them having to shoulder a bigger budgetary burden. The other was the “friends of cohesion”, 16 member states including Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Poland and Hungary that want to ringfence EU spending on things like infrastructure as well as farm subsidies. “We ended up in a situation of group versus group. That’s why it failed,” a source close to the negotiations told AFP. Germany and France stood apart from those groups but had their own interests to defend. Merkel is determined to retain a budget rebate her country has received ever since Britain wrangled one for itself while a member. Macron, who is against the rebates, is resolute that the farm subsides — from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) — not be cut. “The CAP cannot go to pay for Brexit,” Macron
said as the summit broke up. The French president was to visit a national farm show in Paris on Saturday. He has sought to push the EU to be more united and more ambitious and insisted Thursday that Britain’s departure should not clip the bloc’s wings. A BATTLE OVER PERCENTAGES: Much of the summit’s haggling focused on how much of a percentage of GDP the member states would have to cough up. The “frugals” were entrenched at paying no more than 1.0 per cent. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that position was “reasonable”, addressing inflation and economic growth. But, he said, the hole left by Brexit “is now a fact has to be reflected in the budget”. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said his rival group was working on “counter-proposition” with a vision of a “more ambitious” European Union that would require a higher GDP target.
Dozens detained as Kazakh opposition calls for protests ALMATY AGENCIES
Police in Kazakhstan detained dozens of activists Saturday after two opposition groups announced plans to hold anti-government protests in the oil-rich Central Asian country. An AFP correspondent saw police detain at least ten activists from the unregistered Democratic Party who were attempting to hold a protest in the largest city Almaty. Eyewitnesses said that police had detained up to 70 people, who were en route to the site where the group said it would hold a protest. Authoritarian Kazakhstan has long faced criticism from local and international rights groups for its restrictive laws regulating demonstrations. Zhanbolat Mamay, a filmmaker and prominent figure in the Democratic Party was arrested and sentenced to three days in administrative detention on Friday. Mamay told AFP by telephone Friday that “at least ten” members of his group had received sentences of up to five days in detention earlier this week — a measure he said was intended to prevent the Democratic Party holding a conference. He was detained later in the day. Another group, Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DCK), also announced plans to hold a rally on Saturday. A Kazakh court banned the group as extremist in 2018, and the country’s state prosecutor on Friday warned citizens not to participate in the group’s protest. DCK’s France-based leader, Mukhtar Ablyazov, thanked the state prosecutor for giving the group “an advert” ahead of the demonstration. Ablyazov, a former energy minister, banker and long-time opponent of Kazakhstan’s regime has said the court ruling is simply a pretext to crack down on the group. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pledged to reform laws governing freedom of assembly shortly after succeeding long-ruling Nursultan Nazarbayev as president last year. But civil society groups in the Central Asian state have expressed dissatisfaction with a new draft law, which they argue would entail fresh restrictions. Currently activists risk arrest if they hold demonstrations without permission from the authorities, which is almost never given for political demonstrations. Nazarbayev, 79, who became Kazakhstan’s president the year before its formal independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, is still widely viewed as dominating policymaking in the vast republic of 18 million people.
Exiled Dalai Lama marks 80 years as Tibet's spiritual leader MUMBAI AGENCIES
The Dalai Lama on Saturday marked the 80th anniversary of his enthronement as the spiritual leader of Tibet, a position held almost entirely in exile and as a target of constant vilification by the Chinese state. Hundreds of miles from Lhasa’s imposing 1,000-room Potala Palace, the sandal-wearing monk now ministers to his fellow Tibetan exiles from Dharamsala in the foothills of the Indian Himalaya. He remains the universally recognised face of the movement for Tibetan autonomy, but the global spotlight he enjoyed after winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 has dimmed and the deluge of invitations to hobnob with world leaders and Hollywood stars has slowed.
Partly because the ageing leader has cut back on his punishing travel schedule, but also due to China’s growing economic and political clout. Beijing accuses the 84-year-old Dalai Lama of wanting to split China, and regularly refers to him as a “wolf in a monk’s robe”. His office said there would be no commemoration of the anniversary and a teaching event scheduled for March — that usually would attract devotees from across the world — has been cancelled over coronavirus fears. Born into a peasant family in the Tibetan village of Taksar on July 6, 1935, he was identified as the incarnation of Tibetan Buddhism’s supreme religious leader at the age of two after picking out objects that belonged to his predecessor. He was given the name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin
Gyatso — Holy Lord, Gentle Glory, Compassionate Defender of the Faith and Ocean of Wisdom — and two years later arrived in Lhasa where he was formally enthroned as the 14th Dalai Lama. In 1950, aged 15, he was hastily enthroned as head of state after the Chinese army invaded Tibet. For the next nine years he tried to keep Tibetans out of harm’s way. But the effort failed in 1959 when China crushed a popular uprising. Fearing for his life, the young monk trekked through the Himalayas accompanied by a 37-strong entourage, and crossed into exile in India. There he set up a government-inexile and launched a campaign to reclaim Tibet that gradually evolved into an appeal for greater autonomy — the socalled “middle way” approach.
Sunday, 23 February, 2020
BUSINESS 11 Weekly inflation dips 0.14pc
APTMA TAkeS LeSCO TO COurT fOr ChArging ArreArS reTrOSPeCTiveLy LAHORE
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ISLAMABAD APP
The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI)-based weekly inflation for the week ended on February 20 decreased by 0.14pc as compared to the previous week. The SPI for the week under review in the combined consumption group was recorded at 130.67 points, as against 130.85 points registered in the previous week, according to latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The weekly SPI was 100 collected with base 2015-16, covering 17 urban centres and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups. The SPI for the lowest consumption group, up to Rs17,732, also witnessed 0.03pc reduction as it went down from 134.07 points in the last week to 134.03 points during the week under review. As compared to the corresponding week of last year, the SPI for the combined consumption group in the week under review witnessed an increase of 15.97pc, while for the lowest group, it increased by 14.39pc. Meanwhile, the SPI for the consumption groups from Rs17,733 to Rs22,888, from Rs22,889 to Rs29,517, Rs29,518 to Rs44,175 and above Rs44,175 per month also decreased by 0.08pc, 0.11pc, 0.14pc and 0.16pc, respectively. During the week under review, average prices of 13 items registered a decrease, while that of nine items increased with prices of 29 items remaining unchanged. The prices of the commodities that recorded a decrease in their prices during the week under review included tomatoes, eggs (farm), chicken, potatoes, gur, garlic, wheat flour bag, LPG cylinder (11.67kg), sugar and pulses (mash, gram, masoor, moong). The items which recorded an increase in their average prices included onions, bananas, rice basmati, mutton, beef, curd, rice (irri-6), vegetable ghee and mustard oil. The commodities that observed no change in their prices during the week under review included bread, milk fresh, powder milk, cooking oil, vegetable ghee, salt powder, chilli powder, tea, cooked beef, cooked daal, tea (prepared), cigarettes, long cloth, shirting, lawn, georgette, gents sandal, gents sponge, ladies sandal, electricity charges, gas charges, firewood, energy charges, washing soap, matchbox, hi-speed diesel, telephone calls and toilet soap.
HASSAN NAQVI
ROM the platform of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), more than 50 textile exporters have filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), Profit has learnt. As per details, around 20 textile exporters on Friday moved to the LHC, seeking a stay order against LESCO, which had sent arrears-laden bills to the export-oriented sector with retrospective effect from Jan 1, 2019. Appearing before the single bench of Justice Ayesha A. Malik, APTMA's counsel Salman Akram Raja had argued that the power distribution companies "cannot charge arrears to the export-oriented sector (over and above the notified rate of 7.5cents/kWh) with retrospective effect, as it was against the country's law". Following the proceedings on Friday, Justice Ayesha A Malik had reserved the verdict till Monday. However, on Saturday, another 30 exporters moved to the court against LESCO after which LHC decided to take up APTMA petitions (on behalf of exporters) on Monday as well. It may be noted that the Power Division, in
contrast to the federal cabinet's decisions, had increased electricity tariff to almost 13cents/Kwh for the export-oriented sector through inefficiency surcharges, including financial cost (FC) surcharge, Neelum Jhelum (NJ) surcharge, taxes, fixed charges and positive fuel adjustments (PFA) etc., applied retrospectively from January 1, 2019. Agreeing with APTMA's perspective, leading tax consultant and lawyer Dr Ikramul Haq told this scribe that imposition of any liability with retrospective effect was the sole prerogative of the parliament and that too by not offending any fundamental right guaranteed in the constitution. "No other authors can raise/demand past or closed transactions. Any such act is against the law as well as a violation of fundamental rights," Dr Haq said. A textile miller from Lahore, who was also one of the petitioners, said if the power distribution companies wanted to charge the export sector over and above 7.5cents/kWh, then they could do it only with prospective effect, but it was unlawful to charge the same with retrospective effect. "Unjustified billing of arrears on already closed transactions will result in industry closures, massive unemployment and large-scale bankruptcies," he feared. SOFTWARE FOR DISCOS: Meanwhile,
ISLAMABAD: A watch mechanic repairs the battery of a malfunctioned clock at his workplace. ONLINE
Let's come together to tax tech giants, say G20 officials eyeing $100bn boost RIYADH AGENCIES
Leading world economies must show unity in dealing with aggressive “tax optimisation” by global digital giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook, G20 officials said on Saturday. Global rules are being developed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to make digital companies pay tax where they do business, rather than where they register subsidiaries. The OECD says this could boost national tax revenues by a total of $100 billion a year. The call for unity appeared mainly directed at the United States, home to the biggest tech companies, in an attempt to head off any stalling on the rules until after the US presidential election in November. “There is no time to wait for elections,” German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told a tax seminar on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers. “This needs leadership in certain countries,” Scholz said, looking directly at US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, sitting next to him at the seminar. The taxing of digital firms and the effect of the coronavirus outbreak on the global economy are among the hot topics being debated by G20 financial leaders, from the world’s 20 largest economies, during their talks in Riyadh this weekend. The OECD wants to set a mini-
mum effective level at which such companies would be taxed and seeks agreement by the start of July, with an endorsement by the G20 by the end of the year. “A coordinated answer is not the better way forward, but, given the alternatives, the only way forward,” OECD head Angel Gurria told the seminar. But the OECD efforts were stalled late last year by last-minute changes demanded by Washington, which many G20 officials view as reluctant to deal with a potentially politically tricky matter before the presidential election. Mnuchin said OECD countries were close to an agreement on the minimum tax level, which he said would also go a long way to resolving the issue of where tax is payed.
“I think we all want to get this done by the end of the year, and that’s the objective,” Mnuchin told the seminar. Mnuchin sought to reassure G20 delegates that a US proposal to add a “safe harbour” regime to the tax reform effort — which has drawn criticism from France and other countries - would not let companies simply opt out of paying taxes. “It’s not an optional tax,” he said. “You pay the safe harbor as opposed to paying something else. People may pay a little bit more in a safe harbor knowing they have tax certainty.” US officials say their proposal would allow a multinational enterprise to elect to pay more foreign tax in exchange for enhanced tax dispute resolution benefits and administrative
relief. But many questions remain. MORE CLARITY NEEDED: French Finance Minster Bruno Le Maire told reporters it remained unclear exactly what the US proposal would entail. “We’re still in the process of assessing what it really means,” he said, adding, “It’s not a non-starter for the French government. It’s fair and useful to give all the attention to this new proposal.” European Union Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni told Reuters there was still hard work ahead. “It’s good that there is a commitment to find a solution, but ... it’s not there,” he said, adding that he would meet with Mnuchin for bilateral talks later Saturday. Scholz told reporters Germany remained sceptical. “I think we shouldn’t start with letting companies choose which taxes they want to pay. This is leading to nowhere,” he said. Several European countries, including France, Spain, Austria, Italy, Britain and Hungary either already have a plan for a digital tax or are working on one, creating the risk of a highly fragmented global system. “You cannot have in a global economy different national tax systems that conflict with each other,” Mnuchin said. Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Feb. 14 he would be ready to pay more tax in Europe and would welcome a global OECD solution that would make the levies uniform.
sources have informed that the Power Information Technology Company (PITC), which recently developed a designated software to charge arrears to the export-oriented sector, has provided the said software to the distribution companies, instructing them to charge arrears retrospectively. As LESCO bills are circulated before other DISCOs, it is expected that other distribution companies, including MEPCO, FESCO, GEPCO and IESCO, would also start charging arrears over and above 7.5cents/kWh with retrospective effect from January 1, 2019, in 12 equal instalments, from next month. An official of the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO), who wished not to be named, said if the DISCOs do not charge these arrears, they would not be able to survive. He said the federal government had agreed to provide gas at $6.5/mmBtu and electricity at 7.5cents/kWh to the export-oriented sector and the Finance Division had provided around Rs24billion to SNGPL and SSGC to cover the costs in this regard. "But when the Power Division asked the Finance Division to provide funds of around Rs100 billion to compensate for the subsidy being provided to the export sector, the latter had refused, citing lack of funds."
Pakistan Auto Show hosts symposium on industry’s future BUSINESS DESK The second day of Pakistan Auto Show 2020 hosted a symposium on the "Future of Automotive Industry" in the country. The motive of the symposium was to provide a platform for key industry stakeholders as well as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to come together and share their insights for sustainable growth and suggestions for policy realignments. The experts on the occasion deliberated upon the prevalent challenges and opportunities in the auto engineering industry. The symposium's chief organizer Iftikhar Ahmed said, "The event focuses on the industry-government-academia linkage…to engage the stakeholders, engineers, OEMs, auto-parts manufacturers and the endusers to understand the evolving needs of this industry and devise more suitable policies for sustainable development of our sector and enhance its contributions to the national economy." Atlas Honda Limited Corporate Head Aamir H Shirazi, Millat Tractors Limited Chairman Sikandar Mustafa Khan, Hyundai Nishat Chairman Mian Mohammad Mansha, Engineering Development Board Chairman Almas Hyder and Feroz Khan, founder of Pakistan's first indigenously built automobile, were among the prominent speakers at the symposium. The three-day Pakistan Auto Show 2020 is expected to attract over 100,000 visitors. It is the largest exhibition of automobiles in the country, being held at the Expo Centre in Lahore. This initiative of the Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts & Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) represents over 3,000 large, medium and small industries from all over Pakistan. The theme of this year's event is "Make in Pakistan". Renowned companies from Japan, Germany, Korea, China, France, Turkey, Thailand, Taiwan, England USA, UAE and Sri Lanka are displaying their products and services, while over 400 international visitors, including 150 global buyers and delegations are also participating in the expo. Among the 100 exhibitors, there are 10 international enterprises and 90 domestic companies.
Sunday, 23 February, 2020
12 BUSINESS
SignificanT ProgrESS MadE on faTf acTion Plan: MiniSTEr
CORPORATE CORNER
LAHORE: Bahria Town International’s liver transplant team, in collaboration with Nishtar Medical University, organised a seminar regarding liver-related diseases. prESS rElEASE
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Serena Hotel, in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey, will organise a 10-day Culinary Art Turkish Food Festival at the grand Zamana Restaurant from 21st Feb till March 1st. p r E S S r E l E A S E
BUSINESS DESK
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CoNoMIC Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar said on Saturday that Pakistan has made significant progress on the implementation of the Financial Action Task Force’s 27-point action plan during the past one year. “14 out of 27 action items of the ICRGA Action Plan carry ‘largely complete’ status now,” the minister twitted on Saturday. The federal minister said an overwhelming majority of FATF member countries have positively acknowledged the significant progress made by Pakistan with regard to the action plan.
Pakistan earned $ 264.254 million by providing different travel services in various countries during the first half of current financial year 201920, data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) revealed. This shows a growth of 29.49pc as compared to $204.070 million earned during the corresponding period of fiscal year 2018-19. During the period under review, the personal travel services grew by 29.91pc,
from $201.220 million last year to $261.404 million during July-December FY20. Among these personal services, the exports of educationrelated expenditure and personal expenditure decreased by 32.19pc and 70.10pc, respectively. on the other hand, the exports of business services remained the same at $2.850 million during July-December FY20. It is pertinent to mention that the services trade deficit of the country during the first
half of the current financial year decreased by 17.46pc as compared the corresponding period of the last year. During the July-December 2019-20 period, services exports grew by 6.11pc, whereas imports reduced by 4.67pc. Services’ exports clocked in at $2.738 billion during the period under review as compared $2.580 billion during the same period of last year, whereas services’ imports were recorded at $4.533 billion as against the imports of $4.755 billion last year.
LAHORE: AkzoNobel, in a ceremony held at the Punjab Public Library, announced ‘Tranquil Dawn’ as its ‘Color of the Year for 2020’. prESS rElEASE
LAHORE: Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, Sports Minister Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti and Aspire Group of Colleges Chairman Syed Omer Nazar Shah host a reception to honour Pakistan Kabaddi Team, which recently won the World Cup by beating India in the final. pr ESS rE lE AS E
KARACHI: Activists of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) protest the economic policies of the incumbent government outside press club. ONlINE
100 companies responsible for Pakistan’s 40pc exports LAHORE HASSAN NAQVI
The top 100 exporters of the country exported goods worth $9,558 million in FY19 (July 1, 2018June 30, 2019), which was 40pc of the total exports ($24,251 million). According to figures available with this scribe, textile exporters carried out exports worth $7,342 million during the period under review, which was 77pc of the total exports carried out by the top 100 exporters ($9,558 million). TOP EXPORTERS: Nishat Mills Limited, the tex-
tile conglomerate owned by the Mansha family emerged led the FY19 list with exports worth $353 million (3.7pc of the total exports carried out by the top 100 exporters). Style Textile Private Limited, another leading textile and apparel manufacturer, was next in line with exports worth $294 million during FY19. Their clients include Nike, Adidas, Calvin Klein, Zara, Tommy Hilfiger, Levi’s, Haggar, JCPenney, GAP and others. Artistic Milliners Pvt Ltd stood at the 3rd position with exports worth $273 million, followed by Soorty Enterprises with exports worth $248 million.
Musadaq Zulqarnain’s Interloop Ltd was among the country’s top 10 exporters with exports of socks, denim and other products worth $238 million during the said period. United Energy Pakistan Ltd, the largest foreign oil and gas exploration and (E&P) company in Pakistan, remained 9th on the list with exports worth $227 million, while Masood Textile Mills Limited, one of the country’s largest garments manufacturers, also made it to the list with exports worth $219 million during FY19. Their clients include Puma, Jockey, Reebok, Adidas, JC Penney, Macy’s, Pull and Bear, Amazon and others.
India says discovers fields with over 3,000 tonnes of gold ore LUCKNOW AGENCIES
India, the world’s second-biggest gold consumer, has discovered gold fields with reserves of over 3,000 tonnes in Uttar Pradesh, a government official said on Saturday. India mines between 2 to 3 tonnes of gold annually, relying on expensive imports to fulfil nearly all of its demand, which averaged 843 tonnes per
ering on the remaining points related to terror financing risk management. Following the FATF meeting, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang had stated, “Pakistan has made enormous efforts in improving its counter-terror financing system, which has been recognized by the vast majority of FATF members at its latest plenary meeting concluded on February 20 in Paris.” The FATF decision might have come as a huge disappointment for India, which has consistently lobbied for ‘blacklisting’ Pakistan by the global financial watchdog. Geng was specifically asked about the Indian media reports which said Beijing was shifting its stance at FATF.
Pakistan earns $264m from travel services’ exports BUSINESS DESK
ISLAMABAD: Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC) Deputy Chairman and former British parliamentarian Sir Hugo Swire has successfully completed his two-day trip to Pakistan. He was personally invited by Bestway Group Chief Executive and Conservative Friends of Pakistan Chairman Lord Zameer M Choudrey. p rE SS r El EA SE
“Pakistan is undergoing dual scrutiny at FATF platform. Pak authorities are aiming to complete the ICRG action plan during 2020. And also working in parallel on the deficiencies of the APG MER for which we are currently in the observation period,” he explained. The global financial watchdog had announced on Friday that its plenary has decided not to blacklist Pakistan after the country showed progress on majority of the actionable points and demonstrated its serious political commitment to curb terror financing and money laundering. Pakistan’s status would be retained on FATF’s Compliance Document, normally referred to as the “grey list”, for four more months, setting June 2020 as the new deadline for deliv-
year over the past 10 years. Its hunger for gold - used extensively in jewellery, as offerings to Gods and in lavish weddings - cost India more than $31 billion on imports last year, making the metal its second-biggest import item after crude oil. Central and state departments have discovered traces of gold in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district after surveying the area for more than 10 years,
said Roshan Jacob, the head of the mining department in Uttar Pradesh. “In Son Pahadi we have found 2,940 tonnes... in the Hardi Pahadi area 646 kilogram of ore has been traced,” Jacob told Reuters, referring to the two areas where gold ore had been discovered. The state is now seeking forest and environment clearances after which it will open up the reserves for bidding, Jacob said.
The concentration level of gold in the area is about 3 grams per tonne of ore and the state is working with the Geological Survey of India to determine how much gold can be extracted from the fields, she added. India has time and again considered a plan to revive a cluster of colonial-era gold mines in Karnataka but the project has failed to take off due to predictions of low output and high costs involved.
Turkey’s Pegasus announces flights to Pakistan BUSINESS DESK After Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Pakistan, a private Turkish aviation company 'Pegasus Airlines' has decided to launch flights to Pakistan. According to media reports, Pegasus Airlines would initiate flights to Pakistan from March 28. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has also issued a notification in this regard. According to CAA, the Turkish airline would fly between Karachi and Istanbul four times a week. The move is expected to increase tourism and trade between Pakistan and Istanbul besides facilitating passengers. FURNITURE FACTORY: Meanwhile, keeping in view the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan for bringing foreign direct investment (FDI), a Turkish woodworking Brand Mooi Atolye has launched its factory in Pakistan. The Turkey ambassador inaugurated the newly built factory, which would produce kitchens doors and wardrobes in Pakistan as per the European standards. Turkey has a vast experience of developing home interiors on European standards due to its expertise in furniture varieties. In addition to the investment, the company would also shift its technology and human resources to Pakistan.
Elon Musk's SpaceX to raise $250m Elon Musk’s SpaceX is looking to raise about $250 million, taking the private rocket company’s valuation to about $36 billion, CNBC reported, citing people familiar with the financing. The company plans to raise the amount at a price of $220 per share and the latest funding round is not expected to close until the second week of March, according to the report. SpaceX did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. SpaceX has been launching Starlink satellites in batches of 60 since May and currently has roughly 300 orbiting Earth in a sprint to make the broadband internet service operational in the United States and Canada by the end of 2020. Chief Executive Musk plans to use the Starlink revenue to help fund development of its next-generation rocket dubbed Starship, which is designed to lift defense payloads to space and eventually send humans to the moon. The company has long-term plans to spin Starlink off as a publicly traded company in the next several years, a company official told Reuters earlier this month. The funding round reported by CNBC would come months ahead of SpaceX’s first manned mission to space under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The company’s Crew Dragon space taxi is being developed alongside rival Boeing Co’s Starliner capsule, both of which have suffered cost overruns and schedule delays in the space program. AGENCIES
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Sunday, 23 February, 2020
She Found Carson McCullers’s Love Letters. They Taught Her Something About Herself.
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BY megaN o’gradY
N Carson McCullers’s 1946 novel “The Member of the Wedding,” 12-year-old Frankie Addams, a motherless girl growing up in small-town Georgia, is jolted by news of her older brother’s engagement. Hoping to join his wedding as something a great deal more than a spectator or bridesmaid, she plans to accompany the bride and groom on their honeymoon. McCullers’s third and best-known novel tends to be misremembered as a sweeter affair than it is. A lonely misfit in shorts and a sombrero, precocious yet naïve, Frankie is grappling with a self she doesn’t quite know and longings she can’t name. She spends her days largely alone, shunned by other girls, but at the circus she avoids “the Freaks, for it seemed to her that they had looked at her in a secret way.” Part of the novel’s emotional undertow is the sense that Frankie’s isolation, her desire to belong — to someone, to someplace — is unlikely to end with adolescence. “I suppose this book is my autobiography,” McCullers wrote to a lover after she completed it. Outsiderness was McCullers’s great theme, one that’s inextricable from the quest for identity and selfdefinition, and while none of her protagonists were out of the closet, it’s hard to read her work now and not see queerness as a central part. It was her identification with people ill at ease in themselves that made them so relatable to so many. It is also what led some critics to write that McCullers was “before her time,” that most banal and patronizing of descriptors. In fact, she was very much of her time, often painfully so. As Jenn Shapland recounts in her rousing and tautly written new book, “My Autobiography of Carson McCullers,” McCullers struggled with the novel for years trying to
understand Frankie. It was surely a similar craving for socially sanctioned love that drove McCullers to marry — disastrously, twice — the same troubled man, Reeves McCullers. Only in the last decade of the author’s life (she died at 50), when she began therapy and fell in love with her psychologist, Mary Mercer, was she able to call herself a lesbian. Shapland’s nonfiction debut isn’t a biography of McCullers, with whom she feels a powerful kinship, though it fills in key absences in the record left by McCullers’s biographers, who downplayed her affairs with women. It is, instead, a hard-won inquiry into how we seek out the truth of ourselves and others in ways that often, by necessity, aren’t straightforward, that arrive in our lives in glimmering bits and shards. Shapland’s quest is echoed in the book’s form: Short chapters detailing her search for clues to McCullers’s relationships with women mix with meditations on her own struggle for self-knowledge — the very scaffolding that literary history, and to some extent, our selves, depends on. Shapland was an intern at the Harry Ransom Center, a writers’ and artists’ archive at the University of Texas at Austin, when she discovered love letters written to McCullers from Annemarie ClaracSchwarzenbach, a Swiss heiress with whom McCullers had an affair. Within a week of discovering the letters, Shapland cut her hair short; within a year, she was calling herself a lesbian “more or less comfortably.” A chronicle of literary possession ensues: At the Ransom Center, Shapland cataloged McCullers’s kimonos and vibrantly hued coats; on a monthlong writing residency, she lived in McCullers’s childhood home in Columbus, Ga., bathing in her tub and making biscuits in her kitchen. For a brief period in her 20s, Shapland took to wearing a silk robe
with magenta polka dots over her clothes. Asking herself, “What would Carson do?,” she drank half a bottle of bourbon on the first night of another residency and spent the next day in fetal position. Obsession can feel a lot like coming of age — exhilarating, a little awkward, even, at times, absurd. McCullers, too, seemed always to be seeking a kind of confirmation of self or mentorship in older women she admired. In 1958, when Richard Avedon took her picture, she told him, “I just want to look like Greta Garbo.” During one of her stays at Yaddo, the writers’ colony, legend has it that McCullers lay at the threshold of Katherine Anne Porter’s room, waiting for the older, established writer to emerge at dinnertime. (When she finally did, Porter simply stepped over McCullers’s prone body.) In matters of self-presentation, McCullers — a literary it girl from the time she published her first novel,
“The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter,” at 23 — was on point. Fashion was a more coded form of expression: McCullers’s embroidered vests and bluejeans spoke the things she couldn’t say aloud. even after she was too ill to wear much more than nightgowns — a bout of rheumatic fever damaged her heart, leading to a series of strokes that left her partially paralyzed — she had them specially made by a French seamstress. The difficulty in overcoming this instinct to code and conceal is what gives Shapland’s book its considerable stakes. In an early, quietly drawn scene, she recalls the time she brought her girlfriend — officially, her freshman roommate — home from college to visit her family. Over dinner, her mother confronted them about their relationship, giving a dramatic reading of tender passages she found while snooping in Shapland’s notebooks. After this episode, Shapland stopped writing for years. But just as
dehumanizing as being forcibly outed is being written out of the story entirely. In a mini-chapter titled “euphemisms,” Shapland lists the ways biographers referred to McCullers’s lovers as “traveling companions,” “special friends” and so on. “I took it personally,” Shapland writes. “I began to feel unreal, deranged. If Carson was not a lesbian, if none of these women were lesbians, according to history, if indeed there hardly is a lesbian history, do I exist?” To be perpetually unnamed, to be constantly having to read between the lines of a straight narrative — to be subtext and never text — points to a pernicious cultural hegemony: the assumption that girls will relate to male heroes and that queer readers will imagine themselves into heterosexual love stories. It’s as if art’s ability to induce empathy runs only one way, when of course empathy is, as Shapland so simply and beautifully puts it, “a choice a person makes, moment to moment, in how they approach other people. On the page and off.” Is traditional literary biography equipped to address its own historical bias? Shapland is skeptical. “Biographers broke into the house and rearranged the furniture to their liking,” she writes, objecting to the kind of facile-seeming connections made by literary scholars between an author’s life and her writing. Shapland’s book is the kind of stateof-the-form reckoning that makes one wish there were more like it. The truth is, doing the work of retrospective, corrective rearranging (pretty much the job description of any critic or academic working today) is never without risk. Surely, the more transparently we acknowledge the stakes, the more likely we are to arrive at a payoff. After all, it’s often by looking back that we move the conversation forward, and by inhabiting the lives of others that we might glimpse pieces of our own. g
NONFICTION
Tiger, Snowplow, Helicopter and Free-Range Parents, Listen Up! The New York Times
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By Cathi hanauer
e are living, for anyone who’s been hiding in a cave (without Wi-Fi), in an age of uncertainty and anxiety, courtesy of incidents both real — melting planet, rampant shootings, polarization — and manufactured by a clickbait-fueled, 24-hour news cycle and pervasive social media. The San Francisco author and psychologist Madeline Levine understands this anxiety. Having practiced in Marin County for more than 25 years, she’s worked to tackle the increasing mental health problems of the affluent. Her 2006 cri de coeur and advice book, “The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids,” was a best seller, as was her 2012 follow-up, “Teach Your Children Well: Why Values and Coping Skills Matter More Than Grades, Trophies, or ‘Fat envelopes.’” Now comes “Ready or Not: Preparing Our Kids to Thrive in an Uncertain and Rapidly Changing World,” in which Levine continues her basic theme — that the way the wealthy raise their kids today is destructive — while turning the lens outward: In our fast-changing world, the epidemic anxiety of contemporary parents, especially mothers, causes them to both shelter and overmanage their children, which leads those children toward depression and likely failure in a future that will require different skills, preparations and even morals
from those of the past. Anxiety, Levine tells us, is now the No. 1 mental health disorder for both kids and adults — and parents’ urge to soothe our own stress can push us to shield our kids from the mistakes and failures that would teach them to conquer their fears. We create “accumulated disability” in our children — “impairment of life skills and the ability to cope, adapt and function” — which is especially damaging in today’s “volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous”
world. “If we know anything about the next 20 or 30 years,” Levine writes, “we know that essential skills will include self-sufficiency, equanimity in the face of change and enthusiasm for challenge.” Precisely what neurotic parenting stifles. Levine advocates a “squiggly” path through life — taking risks, failing, changing course — along the lines of what she’s seen in more than 90 percent of the successful workers she encounters. She prefers “interactive” education
to advanced placement courses; finds college trigger warnings counterproductive; and says that developing skills such as curiosity, creativity, optimism, flexibility, and the ability to collaborate and communicate is as crucial for today’s children as learning “hard skills” (biology, economics, the law). After all, some 65 percent of them will likely end up in jobs that currently don’t even exist. So let your babies pursue their interests, rather than forcing them on a narrow, rigid, elite academic path. She cites a bank executive whose employees are now as likely to come from state schools as from “prestige schools,” and stresses the importance of cultivating in our offspring “a strong moral compass and an appreciation for the common good.” These are all smart, sensible ideas, if (to me, at least) sometimes obvious; as the mother of two younger 20-somethings, I found this book alternately interesting, important and a bit wistful or idealistic. I appreciate and share Levine’s claim that in our rush to “keep striving, keep moving,” we’ve “lost the capacity for introspection.” (I hate that “success” for today’s sleep-deprived teenagers demands cramming ever more activities into their manic days and bloated résumés.) But I disagree that contemporary mothers with meaningful careers suffer when our children leave home because we “haven’t built a scaffolding to take us from one phase of our lives to the next”; my “scaffolding” was my work, and I appreciate now having time for it, and for myself, in ways I didn’t for decades. g
Sunday, 23 February, 2020
14 SPORTS
IndIa fIght back wIth late strIkes, but new Zealand ahead Wellington
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Agencies
SHAnT Sharma's persistence kept India in the contest but new Zealand remained ahead in the Basin Reserve Test after they took India's last five wickets for 43 runs on day two, and finished with a 51-run lead with five wickets of their own in hand. Kane Williamson was the only half-centurion in the match after Tim Southee's early strikes did the damage in the morning. But India kept scrapping, taking three late wickets after the hosts had gone into the lead with only two wickets lost. What will encourage India is that this didn't appear to be a typical new Zealand pitch, which begins to lose life after the first day. There was evidence of uneven bounce deep into day two, and also turn and bounce for R Ashwin, who could be a handful if India can ask new Zealand to chase a decent score in the final innings. India will be reminded of the Bengaluru Test against Australia where they were bundled out cheaply on day one, but Sharma kept them alive with a giant effort with the ball in the first innings before a miraculous recovery in the second dig. However, at stumps on day two, despite the late reverses, new Zealand held the advantage after a phenomenal morning and afternoon. In bright sunshine on the second morning, Ajinkya Rahane and India had a strange half session of Test cricket. Rahane first ran Rishabh Pant out, and then got out caught at the wicket when leaving the ball. Bowling into the wind, Southee complemented Kyle Jamieson's good work on day one with three wickets in the morning session.
lewandowski double edges bayern past bottom side Paderborn Berlin Agencies
New Zealand 216 for 5 (Williamson 89, Taylor 44, Sharma 3In the fourth over of the day, Rahane looked for a 31) lead India 165 typical quick single after (Rahane 46, Jamieson 4- hitting to point. It should have been Pant's call, but Ra39, Southee 4-49) by hane kept on running, which 51 runs meant the lesser batsmen of the two had to risk his wicket by running as well. Unfortunately for Pant, Ajaz Patel's shy from point hit the only stump visible just about hard enough to nudge the bail off. One will do well to cut Rahane some slack: this was the first time he was ever involved in a run-out in Test cricket. The next ball was a perfect outswinger from Southee, hitting that same stump to send R Ashwin back. This was a repeat of the Prithvi Shaw dismissal; neither of these batsmen likes a big front-foot movement.
Rahane had been serene in defence on the first day, often presenting a dead bat and playing the ball late, but now he had to open up a little since he had the tail for company. A top edge off Trent Boult fell just short of fine leg before Southee went wide on the crease to create confusion. Rahane knew he had to cover for the scrambled-seam inswinger too, which meant he was late in withdrawing the bat as he left an outswinger alone. It was enough for the ball to kiss the inside edge and dismiss Rahane four short of a fifty. Mohammed Shami went on to frustrate Southee for a bit, but in the end the last two were split by Jamieson and Southee on either side of the drinks break.When new Zealand came out to bat, India either realised the ball was not swinging enough or they were still stuck with the lengths they bowl elsewhere.
Italian police in early morning drugs raid on Russian biathletes' hotel
rasen-antholz Agencies
Italian police carried out an earlymorning anti-doping raid Saturday on the Russian team's hotel at the biathlon world championships, a po-
lice spokesperson confirmed to AFP. Two Russians were targeted, biathlete Alexander Loginov, who won 10 kilometre sprint gold on February 15, and his personal coach Alexander Kasperovich, the head of Russia's biathlon federation Vladimir
Drachev told Russian news agencies. "Today police came to the hotel at 5:50 am... The police visit was on the request of a member of the IBU," Drachev told Interfax news agency, referring to the International Biathlon Union. Drachev said the search was "linked to the fact that...Kasperovich was using another person's accreditation". He said he had gone to a police station with Kasperovich. Loginov served a two-year ban for using the banned blood booster EPO from november 2014 to november 2016. "This could be a repeat case. They (the police) searched his things for one and half hours and confiscated his devices," Drachev said. An Italian police spokesperson told AFP the raid had been requested by "prosecutors in Bolzano". COnFISCATED COMPUTER "The alleged offence comes under article 586 bis of the penal code (use or administration of doping products)," the spokesperson said.
"Two people are concerned, both of them are Russian nationals, an athlete and his coach." Loginov has already won gold in the sprint and bronze in the pursuit, and is due to compete in Saturday's relay. Loginov told Match TV channel that police woke him and fellow biathlete Evgeniy Garanichev by bursting into their room. "They were only interested in my things," Loginov said, confirming that the search had been requested by the IBU and saying that he had not been charged with anything. Loginov could be unable to compete Saturday, the head trainer for the male biathletes, Sergei Belozerov told TASS news agency. "I'm worried the police, after confiscating his computer and phone, could say before lunch that they need further information and pull him out," Belozerov said, while adding that Garanichev will compete.Russia's sports ministry announced that it had been informed of the search.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich squeezed past bottom side Paderborn 3-2 on Friday as Robert Lewandowski netted twice to spare goalkeeper Manuel neuer's blushes in their final game before facing Chelsea in the Champions League. Lewandowski now has a leagueleading tally of 25 goals in the top flight, illustrating his importance to the team ahead of Tuesday's last 16, first-leg tie in London. Bayern twice surrendered the lead in Munich before securing the win which leaves them four points clear. With Bayern leading 1-0 thanks to Serge Gnabry's early goal, neuer mistimed a clearance outside his area, allowing Paderborn midfielder Dennis Srbeny to fire into an empty net just before half-time. "I was worried about knocking into him, because that would have been a red card," neuer explained. "I had the feeling he would get to the ball before me. That's why it looks that way. It's part of my game and it happens." However, Lewandowski then struck in the 70th minute to make it 2-1, only for Paderborn to draw level again after poor defending allowed Sven Michel a simple tap in 15 minutes from time. However, there was still time for Lewandowski to fire home the winner, thanks to Gnabry's superb cross. In the build-up, Bayern coach Hansi Flick warned his team had to focus on strugglers Paderborn, but the Bavarian giants seemed to have one eye on Chelsea. "Paderborn absolutely challenged us to the very last," admitted Flick. Paderborn had the ball in Bayern's net after four minutes when their striker Streli Mamba slid the ball under neuer, but the effort was flagged offside. As expected, Bayern took an early at the Allianz Arena when Gnabry celebrated his 100th Bundesliga appearance by turning and hitting into the bottom corner on 26 minutes. Paderborn drew level after neuer mistimed a clearance outside the box. The Germany captain had twice previously cleared the danger by dealing with long-distance chances intended for Paderborn's forwards. However, the tactic backfired a third time when he failed to clear a ball over the defence meant for Srbeny, who kept his cool and slotted into the empty Bayern net on 44 minutes. With the scores locked at 1-1 and time ticking down, Lewandowski restored the hosts' lead when Gnabry set him up for a lethal shot on 70 minutes. Paderborn, however, came back again and Michel gave them a second equaliser by tapping home a rebound after neuer had saved a shot by replacement left-back Dennis Jastrzembski. However, it was Gnabry again who provided the assist with an inch-perfect cross which Lewandowski swept home two minutes from time to settle the matter.
DAS the way to do it: Mercedes celebrate as Bottas sets fastest time Barcelona Agencies
Valtteri Bottas clocked the fastest time of the week as the opening session of pre-season Formula One testing ended on Friday giving world champions Mercedes an early psychological edge and leaving rivals mystified by their revolutionary steering device.Bottas, the 2019 runner-up to six-time champion and teammate Lewis Hamilton, timed 1min 15.732sec off a total of 65 laps. Hamilton, who had been fastest on Wednesday's opening day, was second on Friday, also dipping below the 1min 17sec mark. Although pre-season testing is no guarantee of what will eventually play out in the 21-race season, Mercedes will be delighted in already having the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull pondering the impact of their DAS (Dual Axis Steering).
The device, which was spotted in Hamilton's car on Thursday and used by Bottas on Friday, allows the driver to pull the steering wheel towards him on the straights and push it back on the corners. Its purpose is to improve grip and stability. Bottas said Friday that the DAS has been in development for a year and was used for the first time on track in Barcelona after being tested in a simulator. It could give the German outfit a decisive advantage before a change of regulations which come into effect in 2021. "What we've learnt from running with that now is, yes, we think we are happy to have it in the car and we wouldn't run anything like this if we didn't think there would be a performance gain," the Finn told Sky Sports. "We're still learning about it, in which kinds of sessions, areas, conditions the gains are actually going to be. And if it's going to be in qualifying, in the race etc.
CMYK
Sunday, 23 February, 2020
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vintage Kamran Akmal century made light work of a modest target set by Quetta Gladiators, chasing down 149 with nine balls to spare. Jason Roy paced the Gladiators' innings with a 40-ball half-century, but struggled to get into third gear in the waning overs in the face of some excellent death bowling led by Wahab Riaz. Roy's half-century looked pedestrian by the time Kamran got going in the Zalmi Powerplay. Whereas Roy finally reached his fifty in the 15th over with a two off Darren Sammy, Kamran needed just 20 balls, reaching the milestone two deliveries into the fifth over of the Powerplay when he drove Mohammad Hasnain through mid-on for his eighth four. That matched the number of dot balls he had faced while he'd also driven two sixes over wide long-off and swept another over square leg. By the end of the Powerplay, the required rate was already under a run a ball. Kamran adjusted in kind, waltzing his way to three figures off a subsequent 34 deliveries as he brought up the landmark top-edging a sweep to deep fine leg. He fell next ball middling another sweep to Roy at deep midwicket in the 17th over to gift Fawad Ahmed his second wicket in the space of three balls, but by that stage the target was down to single digits. The scorecard might show that Zalmi only reached the target halfway through the 19th over, but that flattered Gladiators' limp effort
PESHAWAR ZALMI 153 FOR 4 (KAMRAN AKMAL 101, FAWAD 2-40) BEAT QUETTA GLADIATORS 148 FOR 5 (ROY 73, WAHAB 2-21) BY SIX WICKETS
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in the field in what was a very onesided contest. Jonty Rhodes remarked on TV commentary that Tom Banton played the best shot of the opening over of the chase, taking a single first ball to get off strike so that Kamran could run wild on Mohammad Nawaz. Kamran charged the left-arm spinner immediately to clear him over midoff for six, then followed with a sweep over the man at deep square leg. After a dot, he drove him again over mid-off for a one-bounce four
before ending the first over pulling a half-tracker over midwicket. Gladiators were left shellshocked and never recovered. It was Kamran's day virtually from the moment he walked out. He slowed down after crossing fifty mainly because he could afford to. His confidence and aggression sucked the life out of the Gladiators, who were always going to struggle to defend when taking into consideration that a target of 203 on the same ground a day earlier went
down to the penultimate ball. He ended with 13 fours and four sixes, having done the bulk of the dirty work in the first six overs. Nawaz had a chance to exact revenge on Kamran after being victimised in that 21-run first over. After Kamran had pulled Sohail Khan over square leg midway through the second over for another four, the batsman punched Sohail to extra cover off his next ball, where Nawaz made a brilliant diving stop as Kamran took off impetuously for a single.
Ronchi helps United beat Sultans SportS DeSk
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test in balance after ervine ton, Nayeem strikes Dhaka Agencies
Luke Ronchi's blistering 74-run knock helped Islamabad United defeat Multan Sultans by eight wickets in their 2020 Pakistan Super League match at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday. United, who were chasing a target of 165 runs set for them by the Sultans, reached their goal comfortably with 20 balls to spare. Their two losses were Colin Munro (50 off 32), who was bowled out by Shahid Afridi, and player of the match Ronchi, who stumbled only in the 17th over after taking his side to just runs away from victory with his brilliant 45-ball 74. Earlier, after being sent in to bat, the Sultans finished with a score of 1648 at the end of their allotted 20 overs. The Shan Masood-led team had started off its batting strong, amassing 31 runs at the end of five overs without any losses. In the sixth over, however, skipper Shan was caught by Muhammad Musa off Faheem Ashraf. The 10th over brought more trouble for the Sultans, with Amad Butt dismissing both Moeen Ali and Rilee Rossouw. Butt went on to also claim the wickets of JM Vince and Sohail Tanvir.
On an attritional first day's play in Mirpur, two men stood head and shoulders above everyone else on the field as Zimbabwe compiled 228 for 6. Craig Ervine was the glue in Zimbabwe's middle order, compiling the fourth hundred by a visiting captain at this ground, and one that mixed studied defence with some exotic strokeplay. For Bangladesh, Nayeem Hasan twirled tirelessly through 36 overs to take 4 for 68, repeatedly pegging Zimbabwe back whenever they threatened to take control. Both men were somewhat fortunate to find themselves in their respective positions: Ervine is captaining Zimbabwe for the first time in this game only because regular skipper Sean Williams stayed at home to be present for the birth of his daughter, while an out-of-sorts Mehidy Hasan's absence from the playing XI opened the door for Nayeem to seize his opportunity. Mehidy has been off-colour since taking 15 wickets against West Indies at home in 2018, after which he took six wickets in four Tests last year. He missed the Rawalpindi Test earlier this month due to an injury, and was subsequently dropped for the first time in a home Test since he made his debut against England in 2016. This gave, Nayeem, who took 13 wickets last week in a firstclass match, his chance. His second delivery dipped and gripped to beat a groping Ervine's outside edge.
Darren Sammy to become honorary citizen of Pakistan Lahore Agencies
Darren Sammy has played a major role in the return of top-flight cricket to Pakistan, and the country has decided to express its gratitude in style, by extending an honorary citizenship to the former West Indies captain. Arif Alvi, the Pakistan president, has signed off on the same, and Sammy will also receive the Nishan-e-Pakistan, the country's top civilian award, on March 23 in Islamabad. The idea of the honorary citizenship was initiated by Javed Afridi, the owner of Peshawar Zalmi, the team Sammy has represented since the start of the PSL in 2016. The PCB followed up on it with the federal government in light of Sammy's "invaluable contribution to cricket in Pakistan". St Lucian Sammy, 36, has been Zalmi's premier marquee player from the beginning of the PSL. Ahead of the second edition, Shahid Afridi,
who led the team in the first season, stepped down and handed the reins to Sammy, and he has led them since - they won the title in 2017 and were the losing finalists in 2018 and 2019. More than that, though, it's Sammy's support to the Pakistan cause that has endeared him to people in the country. He was the first to agree to tour Pakistan when the PCB wanted to bring the PSL final to the country. Then, when an ICC World XI was lined up tour Pakistan for three T20Is in September 2017, Sammy - a part of that squad - spoke to the other tourists as part of a security briefing. At the time, he had said, "I did brief them quickly about my experience in Lahore for the PSL final. We've had the best security team, who have also briefed them. Like I said before, it's important. I get to play in front of my fans in St Lucia and around the world and we see how passionate they are, and to get an opportunity after so long, they are all happy to be part of that process.
CMYK
Sunday, 23 February, 2020
NEWS
Pakistan constructed roadmaP to afghan Peace, says Qureshi FM SAYS BRINGING TALIBAN TO TALKS TABLE WAS TOUGH JOB, A FACT ACKNOWLEDGED BY US AND WORLD islaMaBaD
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AKING credit for the imminent peace deal between the United States and Afghan Taliban, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday said Islamabad was “closely involved in the process that led to the announcement of the peace deal between the two parties”. The remarks by the foreign minister came amid the start of week-long ceasefire between the Taliban and the Afghanistan government and report of the potential signing of the deal on Feb 29. In a statement released by the Foreign Office, the minister termed the deal a “historic breakthrough” and added there was no military solution to the Afghanistan conflict. He said: “When US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad visited Islamabad recently, both the prime minister and I held detailed meetings with him regarding the peace process. We
constructed a roadmap to peace.” “I also told Khalilzad that the US and its allies around the region must remain wary of certain elements who benefit from continued fighting [in Afghanistan]. I warned him that these elements are bent on destroying the progress of our peace efforts,” Qureshi said. In a statement released by the Foreign Office, Qureshi pointed out that the Afghan peace process was a complex one and that there was no military solution to the conflict. “The world must understand that the solution to Afghan conflict will only come through a political settlement based on diplomatic negotiations,” the foreign minister said. He also noted in his statement that when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came to Pakistan for his maiden visit last year, relations between the two countries were at its lowest ebb. “Pompeo told me that the pathway to fixing relations between Pakistan and the US came through Kabul. Now I would like to remind him that we have fulfilled all our promises. Not only did we build a peace team but we also played
SAYS THERE’S NO MILITARY SOLUTION TO CONFLICT, URGES AFGHANS TO‘SHUN PARTISAN DOMESTIC POLITICS TO ENSURE LASTING PEACE’ our role in ensuring that the negotiations were successful,” said Qureshi. The foreign minister said that the Afghan government should think about the future of its country and double its efforts to restore peace. Qureshi also urged the Afghan government to shun partisan domestic politics to ensure lasting peace in the country. “The deal will be signed in the presence of Pakistan because it was impossible for the deal to come through without our efforts. After February, we will try to build a delegation to promote intra-Afghan peace process and we have also decided when and how those talks will take place. Pakistan has played its role in the peace process with wholeheartedness and honesty and it is now incumbent upon the Afghan government to do the same,” Qureshi said. FM Qureshi added it was not easy to bring the Taliban to the table for negotiations, “Which is why the entire world, including the US, is appreciating Pakistan’s role in the Afghan peace process.” Speaking about the abrupt end-
ing of the peace talks by US President Donald Trump last year, he said Pakistan convinced the US to restart the dialogue. The US and Taliban are on the verge of the signing of a peace deal to end the 17-year-long bloodshed. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday that upon successful implementation of this agreement, the US would move to sign a peace deal with the Taliban on February 29. Soon after Pompeo’s announcement, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the development and said both sides will invite senior representatives to take part in the peace deal “signing ceremony”. The Taliban’s statement also said the signing of the peace deal would be followed by intra-Afghan talks with various political parties in the country. The Afghan armed group, which was removed from power in a US-led invasion in 2001, has previously refused to speak directly to the Kabul government, which it denounces as a “US puppet”.
Justice Isa says PM owns offshore properties News Desk Supreme Court judge Justice Faez Isa, who is facing a presidential reference in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) for possessing alleged offshore properties in the name of his wife, has accused Prime Minister Imran Khan and other politicians of holding offshore properties in his reply to the court. The 116-page response submitted to the apex court by his counsel Munir A Malik on Saturday pointed out that several personalities had concealed their assets abroad through offshore companies, and PM Imran was prominent among them. Justice Isa maintained that his wife and children had never concealed any assets abroad using offshore companies, and the properties they own were bought in their own names.
The defense counsel further observed that the government had hired a private company in the UK to gather information about his client’s family but could not present any evidence of money laundering. He also questioned the legality of the Assets Recovery Unit headed by PM’s aide on Accountability Shehzad Akbar as it was mentioned in any of the provisions of the government’s gazette or the rules of the federal government. It may be noted here that the attorney general, Anwar Mansoor, representing the federal government in the case lost his job after he accused the Supreme Court bench of bias in the Justice Isa case. After his resignation, the government had sought a three-week adjournment in the case. The bench is headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, comprising Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice
Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed heard the case regarding proceedings of the SJC against Justice Isa. In May, President Arif Alvi authorised the filing of references with the SJC against Justice Isa and Sindh High Court’s Justice KK Agha for allegedly not disclosing their foreign properties in their wealth statements. The reference filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa alleges that he acquired three properties in London on lease in the name of his wife and children between 2011 and 2015, but did not disclose them in wealth returns. The reference was subsequently challenged by the judge in the Supreme Court and full-court bench was formed to take up various plea filed against the reference.
10 killed as marble mine caves in in Buner peshawar: At least 10 people were killed and five others injured when a landslide hit a marble excavation site in Salarzai area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Buner district on Saturday. A heavy rock of marble suddenly broken down and trapped the labourers working at the site underneath, said the officials of Rescue 1122. Soon after the incident, both police and rescue officials, along with the local residents, rushed to the spot and started rescue and relief works. They recovered 14 labourers trapped under the rubble. However, 10 could not survive the incident with five also sustaining serious injuries. The bodies and injured were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital Daggar. Doctors confirmed that out of the five injured four were in critical condition while one received minor injuries. The four critically injured were later shifted to Peshawar in Rescue 1122 ambulances. Three rescue vehicles along with as many ambulances also reached on the spot and started rescue operation to recover the remaining workers trapped under the rubble. Several vehicles, which were also trapped under heavy rocks, caught fire due to battery explosions. K-P Chief Minister Mehmood Khan, taking notice of the incident, directed one of his aides, Riyaz Khan to visit the site at the earliest. “We stand with the affected families in this hour of grief,” he said in a statement. The chief minister also directed the officials concerned to expedite the rescue efforts and use all resources available to ensure swift recovery of those still trapped in the rubble. staff report
Ten new cases of coronavirus in Iran, one dead DUBaI: Authorities in Iran said on Saturday that they had detected 10 new cases of coronavirus, one of whom has died, deepening a sense of public unease over the handling of the spread of the disease. Speaking on state TV on Saturday, health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur did not say where the latest death had occurred but the new numbers bring the total number of cases of the new coronavirus in the country to 28, with five of the total having died. The disease has spread to several Iranian cities, a health ministry official said on Friday. Most of the cases, including eight of the new infections, have been in Qom, a Shi’ite Muslim holy city 120 km (75 miles) south of the capital Tehran. Health officials called on Thursday for the suspension of all religious gatherings in Qom. agencies
SITUATIONAR: Voice from Kashmir – where war seems like the only hope QuDssia akhlaQue “We are still in a state of shock,” says a Kashmiri woman with a remote look in her eyes as we begin to talk about the situation inside Indian Occupied Kashmir. Visiting from Srinagar, she is one of the eight-million Kashmiris who are under a military siege since the Modi government unilaterally revoked Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, ending autonomy of the Muslim-majority territory. The bombshell dropped on August 5 last year in blatant violation of all UN Security Council Resolutions on the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Since then the region, with the deployment of thousands of additional troops, has been under complete lockdown resulting in widespread trampling of basic human rights including denial of healthcare, education and communications blackout. “We feel terribly violated and extremely humiliated,” went on Zainab (not her real name), echoing sentiments of fellow Kashmiris who have been unjustly and illegally stripped of their special status. Her tone conveyed a deep sense of pain and betrayal as she recapped the atrocities that followed. In the Occupied Valley torturing, maiming, blinding with pellet guns, detaining and killing of Kashmiris continues with impunity by the Indian security forces. Zainab whom I met at a friend’s house in Islamabad last week recalled how at one stage Kashmiris were frantically rationing and preparing for war. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s powerful address at the UN General Assembly last year in Sep-
tember in which he emphatically advocated Kashmir’s case was widely celebrated in the Valley. It had rekindled hope for them. Kashmiris were mentally prepared for war and actually quite ready for it given the most oppressive conditions to which they were condemned. Modi government’s war-mongering and heavy troop movement in the valley were signs that they took for an impending war. People started buying food rations etc. and gearing up for what many thought would be a decisive war. But then it dawned on them it was a great strategic deception by the Indians. That the Indian troops were actually moving towards the cities instead of Line of Control. When nothing happened they realized it was all a charade, a tactical move to buy time to consolidate Indian control in the occupied valley. That it was a war on Kashmiri Muslims. To kill their spirit of resistance and cripple them in every possible way. The disappointment on Zainab’ face was quite evident. Listening to her it was clear that Kashmiris expected more from Pakistan. With the international community’s muted response to the revocation of Article 370, it is not surprising that Kashmiris look to war as the only hope. After 200 days of lockdown and blackout what keeps them going is their faith and that perhaps one day Pakistan will practically come to their aid. In passing, Zainab mentioned that Kashmiris who want to visit their families in Pakistan were now facing visa delays. Apparently Pakistani visas were simpler to obtain until the condition of a notarized invite from the host in Pakistan was
added to the process. For a minute she mournfully wondered if this new requirement was prompted by Islamabad’s concern that Kashmiris might start seeking refuge in Pakistan. She hoped this condition would be waived to expedite visas for Kashmiris looking for some respite in such trying times. The question is when Islamabad has a liberal visa policy regime on Kartarpur, why should it be made difficult for Kashmiris. “Many people are now suffering from acute depression and it is written all over their faces especially the younger lot,” observes Zainab. They find themselves in a no-exit situation in the ongoing crackdown, lockdown and unprecedented communications blackout. Shops, schools, colleges, hospitals, businesses are all closed. Tourism and handicraft industries, the mainstay of the Occupied Valley’s economy, have hit the rock bottom. Food and medicine supplies are dwindling as are hopes of Kashmiri people regarding their future. But even in such dire need and deprivation, Kashmiris have not lost their dignity and grace. “You will not see any beggars there,” Zainab notes with a sense of pride. “People share their rations with those they see in need,” she adds, underlining the spirit of accommodation that prevails in the Occupied Valley even in such adversity. Of giving by those who themselves are left with little. Zainab says with all key Kashmiri resistance leaders in preventive detention and thousands of young Kashmiri men, teen-aged boys and students arrested, today there are more young Kashmiri
widows and women to be seen outside. “They’ve been left alone with small children to fend for themselves…far more Kashmiri women are visible outside than men,” she observes. Many of those who can afford have left the Valley, but those who cannot are beginning to despair. Some have the option of selling their land and sending children abroad but they don’t want to exercise this option as they fear nonKashmiris will buy the land and move in. There have been reports that in a bid to change the demographics of the disputed territory, the anti-Muslim Modi government is giving special incentives to lure Hindu investors to come from outside and settle there. In several cases land has also been forcibly grabbed. According to a Reuters report a business summit is to being planned for April or May to convince investors to bring their money to the region where the Indian state plans to allocate 6,000 acres for the purpose. “No one wants to sell their land now because they are afraid Hindus will start buying it,” Zainab notes, adding: “mountains around the valley have already been taken over by the Indian forces and nonKashmiris. While lip-service for the Kashmir cause continues at the political level across the board with strong support from Turkey, Malaysia and Iran, regretfully it has not translated into any relief for Kashmiris so far. Kashmiris at one level feel let down, if not abandoned as they face the worst ever reign of terror and oppression. Last year in September at a highly charged rally in London condemning In-
Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad. Ph: 051-2204545. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk
CMYK
dian atrocities in the Occupied Kashmir, there were placards captioned: ‘Courage above Fear: Kashmir is Rising’. However, after hearing Zainab’s account one wonders if that courage has now turned into a major disappointment for Kashmiri people. Will the Kashmiri suffering end anytime soon? For how long will the world’s self-proclaimed champions of human rights from the powers that be keep looking the other way. While the international media think tanks and world human rights bodies have repeatedly highlighted the plight of Kashmiris, the veto-wielding members of the UNSC have largely opted to remain silent. Clearly, economic pragmatism has prevailed over its principles and pledges of human rights! Words alone will give no respite to Kashmiris from the incessant sufferings. Concrete measures are required to blunt Indian aggression. When surgery is required painkillers do not work. Kashmiris have been subjected to such extreme humiliation and brutality by the Indian security forces that for them now war seems to be the only hope. The only hope if leading world powers do not step in to give them relief from the choking and shameful Indian occupation. It should be a wake-up call for the UN Security Council to honour its long pending commitment of holding an impartial plebiscite in the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir. The world body’s failure to do so thus far has undoubtedly paved the way for this horrific tale of misery and bloody conflict that has plagued the region for decades.