EpaperISB_21-04-14

Wednesday, 14 April, 2021 I 1 Ramzan-ul-Mubarak, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 286 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

4 killed, scores injured in clashes between police, tlp g

g

InTeRIOR MInISTeR ORDeRS ACTIOn AgAInST lAW-BReAKeRS, SUSPenSIOn OF CellUlAR SeRvICeS

g

fiqah-e-hanfia lahore sehr: 4:10 am iftar: 6:32 pm

islamabad sehr: 4:11 am iftar: 6:39 pm

karachi sehr: 4:51 am iftar: 6:55 pm

fiqah-e-jafaria lahore sehr: 4:00 am iftar: 6:42 pm

islamabad sehr: 4:01 am iftar: 6:49 pm

karachi sehr: 4:41 am iftar: 7:05 pm

COAS BAJWA CAllS On PM IMRAn TO DISCUSS lAW AnD ORDeR SITUATIOn

SAPM SAYS ISlAM DOeS nOT PeRMIT vIOlenCe

photo: zubair mehfooz

LAHORE staff report

a

T least three people and a policeman were killed while 40 other personnel injured as clashes between protesters and police continued in multiple cities of the country for a second day on Tuesday against the arrest of Tehreek-e-labbaik Pakistan (TlP) Chief Saad Hussain Rizvi.

The police, on Tuesday, also registered an FIR against Rizvi and other TlP leaders under terrorism and other charges.

The policeman was killed in overnight clashes with the protesters, lahore police chief ghulam Mahmood Dogar said. 10 policemen were wounded in these clashes in

the Shahadra neighbourhood. Two members of the TlP were also reported dead in Punjab.

As the protests spilled over into other cities, the police arrested more than 100 supporters of the party.

The violence began late on Monday after the police arrested Rizvi in lahore.

According to Dogar, the arrest was aimed at maintaining law and order. But Rizvi’s detention quickly sparked violent protests in cities around the country. The protesters blocked highways and roads in several cities.

The deadly clashes come two days after Rizvi in a statement asked the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to “honour” a commitment it made in February to his party to expel French ambassador, Marc Baréty, before April 20.

coronavirus in

pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

729,920

LAST UPDATED AT 7:28 AM ON APRIL 13, 2021

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

118

4,318

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

638,267 15,619 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

269,474

252,974

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

100,275 AJK/GB: 14,687/5,130

20,397 ISLAMABAD:

66,983

However, the government has said it only committed to discussing the matter in the national Assembly.

The reaction from Rizvi’s supporters against his arrest was so swift that police in lahore could not clear a main highway and roads. Thousands of people were stranded in their vehicles.

Monday’s clashes initially erupted in lahore. The protesters later clashed with police in Karachi and they continued rallying on the outskirts of Islamabad, which caused travelling issues for the residents.

On Tuesday, the protesters clashed with police in Karachi and set ablaze several vehicles after law enforcement agencies launched a crackdown and dispersed protesters from Star gate to allow the flow of traffic to return to normal.

As per details, a clash between the police and protesters was reported near the Star gate area of Karachi. The protesters burnt several motorcycles, cars. Clash also erupted at Baldia Town no 4 between police and protesters. As a result, one person identified as Tariq died.

Amid sporadic violent clashes between protesters and law enforcement agencies, a significant number of the country’s major arteries remained blocked on Tuesday. The blockades have paralysed business in almost all major cities.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 03

Cabinet wants PM Imran to take firm action against TLP protests STORY ON PAGE 03

Ramadan moon sighted; first day of fasting today ISLAMABAD staff report

The moon for the holy month of Ramazan has been sighted in Pakistan and fasting across the country will commence on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, Ruet-e-Hilal Committee (RHC) announced.

A meeting of the RHC to sight the crescent moon for the holy month was held in Peshawar on Tuesday.

The meeting was also attended by Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), and the Ministry of Science and Technology while zonal committees joined the meeting virtually.

President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated the nation and the Muslim community on the advent of the holy month of Ramadan.

Justice Isa’s request for livestreaming of proceedings rejected ISLAMABAD staff report

The Supreme Court (SC) rejected on Tuesday a petition filed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa seeking a live coverage of proceedings in a set of his review petitions.

The petitions were filed last year against a short order and a subsequent detailed judgement on the filing of presidential reference against the judge that accused him of being in possession of foreign assets in the United Kingdom.

On June 19, seven judges of the 10-member larger bench quashed the reference but ordered the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to conduct an inquiry into the assets and submit a report to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).

Pleading his own case before the bench, Justice Isa had requested a live transmission of the proceedings in the case.

On Tuesday, the bench rejected the request 6-4. It further said a detailed ruling on the petition will be issued later. The verdict was reserved on March 18.

During the proceedings, Justice Umar Ata Bandial acknowledged the right of the people to have access to infor-

mation in matters of public importance under Article 19-A but said the details and modalities of which are yet to be decided by the full court.

The dissenting note observed that the aforementioned article created an obligation on state institutions to take the necessary measures to ensure the realisation of the fundamental rights of people to have access to information in matters of public importance.

“Cases under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, including review petitions and other matters arising therein, are matters of

public importance, and the public has a right to know and see how proceedings in these cases are conducted and concluded by the Court,” it read.

“We, therefore, hold that live streaming of court hearings of these cases should be made available for the information of the public through a link on the official website of this court.”

CONTEMPT CLAIM AGAINST MINISTER: In March, Justice Isa’s spouse, Sarina Isa, requested the Supreme Court to initiate contempt proceedings against Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry over a “highly offensive” tweet.

Fawad, in his tweet, had said that he had been “listening to the speeches of an undertrial judge [Justice Isa] of the Supreme Court for a week. If [I] answer, then lectures will start [ranging from] ‘we are saddened’ to ‘we have been insulted’.”

“Sir, if you too are fond of politics like your godfather Iftikhar Chaudhry [former chief justice], then resign and contest elections for the councilor. You will get to know about both [your] popularity and acceptance.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 02

In their messages on the occasion, they said that Allah Almighty has provided the people with an opportunity to fully benefit from His blessings in this holy month. The president said that purification and obedience to commandments of Allah Almighty are objectives of fasting.

The prime minister said that it is the individual and collective responsibility of the people to ensure compliance with standard operating procedures (SOPs) to curb the spread of coronavirus during the holy month. “We have to combat this critical situation with unity,” he said. last week, RHC chief Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad told a press conference that Popalzai, who headed the unofficial moon-sighting body at the historic Qasim Ali Khan Mosque in Peshawar, would extend full cooperation to the central Ruet body.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 02

more inside

Daily Covid-19 death toll hits 10-month high STORY ON PAGE 02

PDM chief Fazl asks PPP, AnP to revisit separation decision STORY ON PAGE 03

Another precondition: PPP asks Fazl to eat his words STORY ON PAGE 03

TTP militant killed in S Waziristan: ISPR STORY ON PAGE 03

02

Wednesday, 14 April, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

daily covid-19 dEath toll hits 10-month high iSLamaBaD

t

stAff RepoRt

HE country on Tuesday registered 118 deaths from coronavirusrelated complications, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said, this highest since June last. Pakistan had reported 153 fatalities from the contagion disease on June 19 during the first peak of the pandemic. With the new deaths, the toll rose to 15,619, the statement said.

In the 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases climbed to 729,920 after the portal reported 4,318 new cases. Meanwhile, recoveries increased by 3,432 to 638,267, or 87.4 percent of total infections.

There are currently 76,034 active cases of Covid-19 in the country, with 4,198 in critical condition, the NCOC said.

The statistics suggest most deaths occurred in Punjab, 74, followed by KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP), 32.

To counter a third wave of the pandemic, the authorities have taken several measures by banning all kinds of both indoor and outdoor mass gatherings, closing educational institutions in some areas of the country, and suspending inter-provincial transport two days a week from April 10 to 25.

Last week, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, who also heads the NCOC, said that increased restrictions, broader lockdowns, and strong enforcement of standard operating procedures (SOPs) have started to show give dividends.

The rising trend of positivity rate has been flattened, but the number of critical patients and mortality will stay at high levels for some time due to the momentum of the last two weeks, he had said.

TLP PROTESTS DISRUPT OXYGEN

TLP PROTESTS DISRUPT OXYGEN SUPPLIES FOR CRITICAL COVID-19 PATIENTS SUPPLIES: Meanwhile, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) supporters who blocked major roads to protest the arrest of their leader, Saad Rizvi, also disrupted critical oxygen supplies for Covid-19 patients, health officials said.

Major intersections remained closed in Lahore after the arrest on Monday evening of Rizvi whose hardline party led calls for the expulsion of the French ambassador after President Emmanuel Macron expressed support for a magazine’s right to republish blasphemous caricatures depicting Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).

Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said the disruption of oxygen supplies during protests Monday night had been a “crisis”.

“Please do not block roads for ambulances and for visitors to the hospitals.

Some ambulances are carrying oxygen cylinders, which are extremely essential for Covid patients,” she said.

Punjab pandemic point person Asad Aslam said several hospitals had faced oxygen shortages Monday night, but the situation had stabilised after roads were cleared by authorities.

1.3MN PEOPLE VACCINATED: Separately, Asad said that 1.3 million people have been vaccinated against the coronavirus nationwide and the vaccination drive will be expedited after the Eidul Fitr.

Addressing a press conference, he said Pakistan has the availability of 0.9 million vaccines until Monday night and 60,000 to 70,000 nationals are being vaccinated on a

Explosion during football match in balochistan’s hub injurEs 12 NEWS DESK An explosion during a football match at a ground in Allahbad Town in Balochistan’s industrial town of Hub on Tuesday injured at least 12 people. Quoting Hub Assistant Commissioner retired Lt Mohammad Ahmed Zaheer, a local news outlet reported that the injured persons were rushed to the nearby Jam Ghulam Qadir Hospital for first aid, from where they were shifted to Karachi.

Two of the injured were in critical condition but they were said to be out of danger, the assistant commissioner said. Lasbela SSP Tariq Ilahi, who inspected the site of the explosion, told the media that it was caused by a locally manufactured improvised explosive device (IED) that had been planted in the ground. According to the SSP, the football tournament was dedicated to police martyrs. "The explosion occurred while the final match was being played," he said, adding that police were investigating further into the nature of the blast and a possible motive.

justice isa’s request for live-streaming of proceedings rejected

daily basis.

The government has continued its efforts to make Covid-19 vaccines available in the country, said Umar.

He, however, observed that countries the world over were facing vaccine shortages. It is impossible to administer vaccines to billions of people at the same time, he added.

Umar said that all countries were trying to procure maximum doses for their citizens.

Umar further said that 1.3 million people were given vaccines free-of-cost and only 13,000 people got their jabs privately.

Elderly citizens are most vulnerable to the disease, however, the vaccines would be made available for all people after Eidul Fitr.

He also urged citizens to keep registering themselves for the vaccination.

He admitted that out-of-turn use of the vaccines was witnessed in some cases, especially in Sindh.

He said that the authorities had witnessed a hike in fresh cases a month ago and started tracking Covid-19 trends and predicting hotspots for detection of the UK variant.

After a thorough investigation, the spread of the British variant was confirmed by the health authorities, he recounted. Umar said the highly contagious strain spread across the region and became the most common strain in the South Asian nations.

However, a study — published Monday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, a medical journal — suggested the mutation, known as B.1.1.7, does not cause more severe disease in hospitalised patients.

Akram extends Ramadan greetings NEW YorK stAff RepoRt

Pakistan Ambassador at the UN Munir Akram greeted Muslims around the world on Tuesday as they marked the start of Ramadan a month that “teaches us patience and tolerance”.

People in Pakistan will begin fasting a day later, on Wednesday, due to a slight difference in moonsighting in which some countries declare the start of Ramadan a day or two apart.

“Ramadan is a month of reflection, self-purification, and submission,” he said in a message released on Monday. “It’s a time when we thank Allah for his countless blessings and pledge to live our lives in a manner ordained by Him. Ramadan is also a month of sacrifice and charity-giving.”

Noting that this was the second Ramadan during the Covid-19 pandemic, Akram said that his thoughts and prayers were with those “who have faced a difficult situation because of this deadly disease”.

“I express my deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives in this battle, unfortunately.

May Allah rest their souls in peace and grant fortitude to the families and loved ones of the bereaved,” the

NEWS DESK Pakistan will receive 500,000 doses of Sinopharm's coronavirus vaccine from China this month, said the Parliamentary Secretary on Health Dr Nosheen Hamid.

Nosheen was speaking to the media on Tuesday where she revealed that the vaccine doses will be donated by China.

provincial subject after the 18th amendment.

CHINA SAYS SHOTS’ EFFECTIVENESS LOW: The government launched the vaccination for the general public in March, starting with older people. It is currently offering free doses to frontline healthcare workers and people over the age of 50, but the drive has thus far been slow. The authorities are also grappling with a high degree of vaccination hesitancy among the people, even among health workers.

The government has so far relied on donations and purchases from China.

However, in a rare admission of the weakness of its vaccines, a top Chinese disease control official last week said that their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to give them a boost.

Chinese vaccines “don’t have very high protection rates,” said the director of the China Centres for Disease Control (CCDC), Gao Fu, at a conference Saturday in the southwestern city of Chengdu.

Beijing has distributed hundreds of millions of doses in other countries, including Pakistan. “It’s now under formal consideration whether we should use different vaccines from different technical lines for the immunisation process,” Gao said.

The effectiveness rate of a coronavirus vaccine from Sinovac, a Chinese developer that produced the CanSino vaccine, at preventing symptomatic infections has been found to be as low as 50.4 percent by researchers in Brazil. By comparison, the vaccine made by Pfizer has been reported to be 97 percent effective.

Beijing has yet to approve any foreign vaccines for use in China, where the coronavirus emerged in late 2019.

ramadan moon sighted; first day of fasting tomorrow CoNtiNuED from pagE 01

ambassador said.

“On this day,” he said, “I also pay homage to our Kashmiri brothers and sisters who are passing through the yoke of the occupation.”

“During this Month we seek His blessings, and protection and commit ourselves to remain steadfast against hardships and calamities,” Akram said, adding: “I am sure that by His Grace, we will overcome this difficult time and be able to return to normal lives.”

China to gift 0.5m more Covid-19 vaccine doses to Pakistan

CoNtiNuED from pagE 01 After the verdict was announced, Sarina lamented that no action was taken against Chaudry. “Yousuf Raza Gilani and others were sentenced for contempt of court but the registrar did not fix the contempt case against Chaudhry for hearing,” she said.

Justice Isa also questioned why the contempt petitions against the minister and another government official were not fixed for hearing. “It is a matter of the court’s honour,” he asserted. Justice Bandial replied that the contempt appeals would also be fixed for hearing “once Justice Isa was mentally prepared for the arguments”.

The hearing was adjourned until Wednesday.

The study analysed a group of 496 Covid-19 patients who were admitted to British hospitals in November and December, comparing outcomes in patients infected with B.1.1.7 or other variants. The researchers found no difference in risks of severe disease, death, or other clinical outcomes in patients with British and other variants.

During his presser, Umar also praised the media for playing an important role in raising awareness and leading people to maintain social distancing and wearing face coverings since the outbreak in Pakistan in February last.

The NCOC chief clarified that reports claiming a high infection rate among children during the ongoing wave were incorrect.

He expressed disappointment that the standard operating procedures (SOPs) were not being followed. He said that district administrations across the country were now adopting tougher measures to curtail the virus.

He said that the infection rate has come down due to the recent preventive steps and asked people to adopt precautions over the next two to three weeks. He added that the positivity rate could be increased due to crowded markets.

The minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had contracted coronavirus before being administered the vaccine. The vaccine is effective against all variants discovered to date. He clarified that the vaccines are being used according to their initial results and the final results will emerge within five to six months.

The federal government has allocated $350 million for the procurement of the vaccine and $150 million have been spent so far. He further said that the health sector is a

“China has already donated 1.5mn doses of the coronavirus vaccine to Pakistan,” she said, adding that the 500,000 doses from Beijing will be delivered to Pakistan this month.

Speaking about the pandemic and the government’s vaccination process, Dr Hamid lamented that people were not getting themselves registered for the coronavirus vaccine jab. “As of now, a little over 2mn people have gotten themselves registered [for the vaccine],” she said.

“Out of these, 650,000 are healthcare workers.”

Nosheen said that the government will initiate a campaign that would encourage the masses to get vaccinated against the virus. Apart from the donated vaccine doses from China, the health secretary confirmed Pakistan will also receive the shipment of coronavirus vaccine doses from China that the country has purchased.

A few days ago, a Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) official had said that the company provided its safety and efficacy data to the expert committee and on its recommendations, the approval for another Chinese vaccine was given.

He said that the meeting would be held in Peshawar to develop consensus about the start of Ramadan across the country the same day and ensure that no one complains about the sighting of the moon. The start of the month is determined by the lunar calendar that, unlike the Gregorian calendar, follows a 29- or 30-day cycle determined by the cycle of the moon. This will be the first Ramadan moon sighting under the new chairman — Azad who is also Khateeb of Badshahi Masjid in Lahore — who was appointed by the government in December last, in place of Mufti Muneebur Rehman who was removed following a 23-year stint. Meanwhile, the government has decided to ensure uninterrupted power supply of power across the country during Sehar, Iftar and Taraweeh hours. Provision of electricity during Sehar, Iftar and Taraweeh hours will be ensured on all feeders, Power Division said. In this regard, any complaint can be lodged by sending message at 8118 or call at 118.

phc grants bail to activist pESHaWar Agencies

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday granted bail to a rights activist more than two months after he was arrested on charges of terror financing and sedition, his lawyer said. Lawyer Fazal Elahi said that he was preparing the papers for Muhammad Ismail’s release from jail.

Ismail’s daughter, Gulalai Ismail, tweeted that her father had been behind the bars for more than two months. Ismail was taken into custody in 2019 after authorities accused him, his wife, and his daughter of financing terrorists. The family have denied the allegations. The same year, Gulalai — who was wanted by law enforcement agencies for her alleged involvement in anti-state activities — fled to the United States. Although Ismail was later freed, he was again arrested in February in Peshawar.

Wednesday, 14 April, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

CabineT WanTS Pm imran To Take firm aCTion againST TlP ProTeSTS ISLaMaBaD

T

Mian abRaR

HE federal cabinet on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to take firm action against rioters.

Briefing the media on the cabinet meeting, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said that the cabinet viewed that demands can be discussed but dictation is not in favour of the state in any case.

“Decisions of the state cannot be left to any group,” said the minister referring to the countrywide protests by workers of Tehreeke-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) to press for their demand to send back the French ambassador.

A government source told Pakistan Today that the federal cabinet viewed that the prime minister has presented the case of Muslims’ love and respect for Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) effectively at international and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) levels, asking all to understand the deep love Muslims have for Holy Prophet (PBUH).

The source said that the cabinet members believed that Pakistan has just started its journey on the path of economic recovery after battling the menace of terrorism and losing over 70,000 lives.

“Multiple efforts have been made by the enemies of Pakistan to de-track Pakistan from its new journey through religious and sectarian agitations and protests. TLP has been protesting in the past on account of various cases relating to blasphemy. As per the last agreement signed with the TLP, the government had to initiate steps towards ousting of French ambassador through tabling a bill in the parliament by April

TTP miliTanT killed in S WaziriSTan: iSPr ISLAMABAD: Security forces killed a Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist during an exchange of fire in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said on Tuesday.

The statement said that security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the Ladha area of South Waziristan district on the reported presence of terrorists. During intense exchange of fire, one terrorist was killed. The killed terrorist was an active member of the TTP, who remained involved in terrorist activities against security forces, according to the statement. The army has conducted a series of military operations against terrorist groups in South Waziristan that borders war-torn Afghanistan. Although the area has mostly been pacified, remnants of terrorist groups still manage to launch attacks on security forces sporadically. Staff RepoRt

20, 2021,” the source said. The source said that pre-empting likely law and order situation following the announcement of TLP leader to march on Islamabad, the federal government has taken Saad Rizvi in protective custody in Lahore on April 12 sparking protests and blockade across country.

“The cabinet feels that in the garb of this respect, gangs of people cannot be allowed to take the laws in their hands and dictate terms to the government. Pakistan must stand in the comity of the nations with respect, thus demonstrating sane and lawbase actions,” the source added.

PDM chief Fazl asks PPP, ANP to revisit separation decision Staff RepoRt Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) President Maulana Fazlur Rehman asked the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) to revisit resignations from the opposition alliance.

Addressing a press conference after chairing an important meeting of the opposition alliance in Islamabad after resignations from PPP and ANP, Fazl said that both the parties still have time to reconsider their decision and contact the PDM. The PDM chief said that PDM is an alliance of the 11 opposition parties, where decisions are made with the consensus and if any party found

violating the consensus then it must be made answerable.

Both the parties had the opportunity to summon PDM meeting to give an explanation on the matter, but they decided to part ways with the alliance, he added.

Fazl asked the PDM allied parties to avoid getting involved in any baseless discussion. “Alliances to remain intact irrespective of who comes in and goes out,” he added.

Earlier, it emerged that the PPP submitted its resignations to the PDM on Tuesday, a day after a meeting of the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) directed all its stalwarts to resign from their positions in the opposition alliance.

4 killed, scores injured in clashes between police, TLP ContInueD fRoM page 01 In a statement, the spokesperson for the party, Tayyab Rizvi, said that the protests will not be called off till the “French ambassador is deported”. He added that more party workers are arriving at areas from where other supporters were earlier arrested by law enforcement officials.

An important meeting of Punjab’s Provincial Committee on Home Affairs was also held under the chairmanship of Law Minister Raja Basharat. The meeting also ordered the deployment of Rangers along with police at 16 sensitive locations of the provincial capital.

It was decided in the meeting that whoever takes the law into his hands will be arrested immediately and a case will be registered against him. The deployment of the Pakistan Army was also discussed during the meeting.

The paramilitary troops have also been deployed in Islamabad for the security of the Red Zone, diplomatic enclave and all important government buildings in the federal capital. As the protests continued, the federal government also deployed the paramilitary Rangers at Islamabad’s Faizabad Bridge, IJP Road and Dhokri Chowk. In Islamabad, Murree Road is closed to all types of traffic and Bara Kahu is also blocked as the protesters have barricaded it with trucks.

In Karachi, traffic flow remained suspended due to sit-ins as well.

According to the traffic police spokesperson, the protesters have staged a sit-in at Orangi No 5, Baldia Hub River Road, Korangi No. 2. The traffic police have requested the citizens to take an alternative route. In Lahore, the areas of Lahore Ring Road, Droghawala Chowk, Karol Ghati and Bhatta Chowk.

Similarly, Shanghai Bridge, Ferozepur

Road, Battery Stop, Yateem Khana and Imamia Colony Phatak are closed due to protests. Motorways were reopened at 5:00am and normal traffic flow resumed.

Rizvi emerged as the leader of the party in November after the sudden death of his father, Khadim Hussain Rizvi. His supporters have previously held rallies to ask the government not to repeal the blasphemy laws.

Blasphemy is punishable with a mandatory death sentence. The TLP wants the government to boycott French products and expel the French ambassador under an agreement signed by the government with Rizvi’s party in November.

TLP and other religious parties have denounced French President Emmanuel Macron since October last year, saying he tried to defend blasphemous caricatures of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) as freedom of expression.

Macron’s comments came after a young Muslim beheaded a French school teacher who had shown the blasphemous caricatures in class. The images had been republished by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to mark the opening of the trial over the 2015 attack against the publication for the original caricatures.

That enraged many Muslims in Pakistan and across the world who believed those depictions were blasphemous.

In November 2017, Rizvi’s followers staged a 21-day protest and sit-in after a reference to the sanctity of Holy Prophet (PBUH) was removed from the text of a government form.

GOVT ORDERS ACTION AGAINST LAW-BREAKERS: Meanwhile, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed ordered action against law-breakers and necessary measures to reopen several road and entry and exit points due to countrywide protests of a religio-political party.

The interior minister chaired a highlevel session to review the law and order of the country following the protests that erupted in multiple cities being organised by a religio-political party. The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, and Interfaith Harmony Noorul Haq Qadri, chief commissioner, inspector general (IG) of Islamabad police, whereas the Punjab chief secretary and IG joined the session via video-link.

Rasheed decided to take strict action against those creating law and order situation, as well as ordered to suspend cellular and internet services in affected areas. It has been decided by the interior ministry to take strict action against the protesters who are violating the law and necessary steps to reopen the routes for traffic. Moreover, the cellular and internet services will be suspended in affected areas for 24 hours where the law and order situation persists.

COAS CALLS ON PM: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa called on Prime Minister Imran to discuss the ongoing protests by TLP in the country.

According to media reports, the meeting between the top military and civilian leadership discussed the ongoing situation in the country. Regional situation and national security issues were also discussed during the meeting.

‘ISLAM DOES NOT PERMIT VIOLENCE’: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Interfaith Harmony Maulana Tahir Ashrafi appealed to the religious organisation to shun their protests, saying that Islam does not permit intolerance in the name of religion.

Speaking to a local news outlet, he regretted the incident in Dera Ghazi Khan where a police officer was subjected to torture.

“This police officer is also a member

The source said that the cabinet was informed that few quarters are trying to baselessly implicate armed forces in these protests. “The cabinet believed that infighting between the masses and the forces is never advisable and should be avoided to the utmost. However, the will of the gangs cannot be implemented as per their wish,” the source said. The sources said the cabinet said that the TLP leadership and members should play wisdom and patience. The source said that cabinet urged the prime minister that the authorities should show strength wisely tackling the issue preferably without confrontation. The issue should be debated in the parliament and clear course of action should be devised to tackle the situation politically, the source added.

CABINET RESHUFFLE IN FINAL STAGES: Fawad told media that the cabinet reshuffle was in its final stage and the decisions would be shared soon.

PDM – AN ALLIANCE WITHOUT A FOUNDATION: Referring to PDM, Fawad said that PDM also expelled Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) from WhatsApp group,

“Today, we submitted the resignations of our party leaders, Sherry Rehman, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Qamar Zaman Kaira, to [PDM president] Maulana Fazlur Rehman,” PPP leader Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, told a television channel.

PPP Chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari, during a press conference on Monday, had said that the party had taken the decision to quit the multiparty alliance to protest the issuance of a show-cause notice to it and ANP. The CEC meeting also rejected what Bilawal said was the “so-called show-cause notice”. “It has directed all its office bearers in the PDM to submit their resignations with immediate effect in protest to the attitude, conduct, and actions of other office-bearers within the alliance,” he had said. On Tuesday, Bukhari, when asked if PDM leadership could remove the PPP from the alliance, said that the PPP had “laid the foundation for the PDM”.

of the Holy Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) Ummah. It is not as if he is not a human being,” said Ashrafi.

He said that the incumbent government had raised the issue of Islamophobia and blasphemy at the global stage, adding that Pakistan had “led the Islamic world” in its fight against blasphemy.

Ashrafi appealed to protesters to think of the people who were at danger from the clashes and the women and children who were stranded since the past 24 hours. “As the chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) I would like to appeal the protesters to realise the danger that the people in need of oxygen are in,” he said.

“Whoever it is, whether it is a police officer or a common man or the worker of a religious party, at the end of the day, the blood of a Pakistani is being shed,” he said. He called upon the leadership of religious parties to restrain their workers from committing acts of violence.

“Neither does Islam nor any other religion permit such acts of violence,” he said.

Ashrafi said the Holy Prophet (PBUH) had declared it unlawful for a Muslim to cause pain or injury to others, adding that the government was the “gatekeeper of Khatam-e-Nabuwwat” issue and was also the defender of the honour of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had defended the honour of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in front of the entire world and had spoken out against Islamophobia. Ashrafi said that Pakistan led the Islamic world in its fight against Islamophobia and also, when incidents such as the burning of the Holy Quran took place in some countries, Pakistan was the first to condemn them in the strongest manner. He urged the protesters to keep in mind the situation of Muslims in Pakistan who were preparing for Sehri for the following day.

He said that in front of Allah, all those who were responsible for bloodshed will be held accountable.

03

and this is a symbol of childish politics. It is a quarrel between them, he asserted.

“PDM is an alliance without a foundation cannot last long, as we have already predicted. It is a vehicle whose brakes are in one hand and the engine is in the other’s control,” he said. He said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) should reconsider their attitudes. “We have already given suggestions regarding electoral reforms. The politics of resignations is over, and these people are not ready to back down from their ego,” the federal minister said, adding that the government is ready to hold separate talks with PML-N, JUI-F and PPP on electoral reforms.

CRITICAL DECISIONS: The federal minister said that a briefing was given to the cabinet regarding two projects in Lahore. A new 318-acre commercial center will be set up in Walton in the next 18 months. Mangoes and precious stones will be registered, he added. Fawad said that the cabinet proceedings have been digitised and all cabinet members will be given tablets from next week. Rs510 million were spent annually on paperwork of the cabinet meeting which would be saved in future, he added. Giving an overview over the government’s efforts to control coronavirus pandemic, Fawad said that Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar briefed the cabinet on the current situation of Covid-19 and its spread.

another precondition: PPP asks fazl to eat his words ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira on Tuesday termed the words of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, head of the opposition alliance – Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – as inappropriate and urged the Maulana to take his words back. Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Kaira said that Fazl’s words that the "PPP should not have regarded BAP (Balochistan Awami Party) as its father" were inappropriate. He said that Fazl has said inappropriate things and the PPP expected him to take back his words. The PPP leader further said that the PPP stands by every word of the PDM agreements, guarding every word included in the agreement. He said that PPP has not deviated from the PDM agreement. "What consensus have we broken?

Show-cause notice is never given to anyone in the alliances," he said referring to the show-cause notices issued by PDM to the PPP and Awami National Party (ANP). Qamar Zaman Kaira also said that PDM is not a party, but rather an alliance and those who sent showcause notices should apologise to the PPP and ANP. He said that he respected Fazl and other parties. "Before the summit, it was said in the media that there was no point in a long march without resignations," said Kaira.

The PPP leader said that the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) has 17 votes in the Senate and the PPP has 21 votes. The facts should not be distorted, he urged. He said that bitter words have been uttered by both PML-N and PPP, not by the PPP. Mian abRaR

04

Wednesday, 14 April, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

PunjaB extendS locKdownS in covid-19 hotSPotS till 26th LAHORE

t

TLTP

He government of Punjab on Tuesday announced the extension of smart lockdowns enforced in Covid-19 hotspots till April 26 amid rising coronavirus cases, while the coronavirus vaccination centres in the province will operate in two shifts during the holy month of Ramadan.

According to the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, cities with a positivity ratio of more than 8 per cent would have a complete ban on outdoor weddings and all

VACCINATION CENTRES TO OPERATE IN TWO SHIFTS DURING RAMADAN celebrations whereas shrines would also remain closed to visitors.

“Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Chiniot, Hafizabad, Kasur, Nankana Sahib, Pakpattan, Toba Tek Singh and Sheikhupura are among the cities with the positivity ratio of more than 8 per cent,” the department said.

It added that train service across the province would continue with 70 per cent capacity.

Furthermore, all business centres across the province would be closed at 6:00 pm while they would remain closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

“All entertainment venues across the province will be completely closed,” the health department stated. The SOPs by the

provincial health department also stated that 50 per cent of staff in all government and private offices would be required to work from home. All medical services, pharmacies, medical stores, laboratories, collection points, hospitals and clinics would remain open 24 hours a day.

“Chicken and meat, fish shops, bakeries, general stores, flour mills, fruit and vegetable shops, bread ovens and petrol pumps would also remain open,” the provincial health department added.

The health department also urged the people to strictly follow the Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) and

maintain social distancing to limit the spread of the virus.

The health department said that coronavirus vaccination centres in the province will operate in two shifts during the holy month of Ramadan. According to a spokesperson of the health department, the first shift at coronavirus vaccination centres will be from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and the second from 9:00 pm to 1:00 am.

These timings will be followed across the province.

The health department said that the two shifts will begin on the first of Ramadan and the new working hours will apply to all vaccination centres across the province.

At least 2,021 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Punjab during the past 24 hours, taking the provincial tally to 252,974. According to the provincial health care department, at least 74 more patients succumbed to the pandemic as the total reached 7,062. The department added that at least 205,912 patients had recovered from the deadly virus as of yet.

Sindh extends ban on wedding functions till May 16 KARACHI: The Sindh government on Tuesday announced to extend coronavirus restrictions in the province, including a complete ban on wedding functions, till May 16, 2021. According to the latest notification from the Home Department of the Government of Sindh, "broader lockdowns" will be imposed in areas with 8 per cent coronavirus positivity ratios. The provincial government has also said the ban on indoor dining will continue to be observed while outdoor dining will be allowed but till 10:00 pm. It said that all business and commercial activities will begin at 6:00 am and will close by 8:00 pm, in light of the surging cases of the coronavirus.

According to the notification, broader lockdowns will be imposed in areas with more than 8 percent positivity ratio. All commercial/ business timings e.g. markets, shopping malls, marriage halls, etc. will remain open from 06:00 to 20:00 hours with observance of two safe days (Friday and Sunday) per week (except essential services). All gatherings (indoor as well as outdoor), including social, cultural, political, sports, religious events, are completely banned. There will be complete closure of shrines, amusement parks and cinemas. There will be a complete ban on marriage functions, both indoor and outdoor. The provincial government had sprung into action as the third wave of the coronavirus intensified and over 4,000 cases were reported on a daily basis across the country. TLTP

5.4 magnitude earthquake jolts parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa A 5.4-magnitude earthquake jolted several parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Tuesday. As per reports, tremors shook Swat, Mangora and adjoining areas in the region. According to the National Seismic Monitoring Centre Islamabad, the epicenter of the moderate-intensity quake was the mountain range of Hindukush at a depth of 169 kilometres. People, after feeling tremors, came out of their homes in panic reciting verses from the Holy Quran. As per initial reports, no loss of life and property happened due to the earthquake. Another earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale had jolted Peshawar and different parts of KPon January 17. The tremor was also felt in Peshawar, Swat, Lower and Upper Dir, Hangu, Malakand and their adjoining areas. According to the National Seismic Monitoring Centre, Islamabad, the epicenter of the earthquake was in Afghanistan and its depth was 198 kilometres. NEWS DESK

Four terrorists killed in Bolan operation Four terrorists of a banned outfit were killed after Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) conducted an intelligence-based operation in Bolan district on Tuesday. A major operation was carried out in Abe-Gum area of Bolan district of Balochistan, the CTD sources said, adding that the operation was carried out on a tip-off while the terrorists were preparing to attack security forces in Quetta. Four terrorists were killed in the exchange of fire while three others escaped. A large quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered from the possession of the terrorists. The weapons seized included SMGs, pistols, 5kg of explosives and other items. CTD sources said that the killed terrorists were identified as Akram Zehri, Ahmadullah, Sikandar and Shadi Khan. A case into the incident was registered at the CTD police station. NEWS DESK

PESHAWAR: A citizen purchases dates from a stall as the holy month of Ramadan begins across country. PPI

Naval chief confers military awards on PN personnel EXPRESSES SATISFACTION OVER ADHERENCE TO SAFETY CULTURE IN NAVY KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Pakistan Navy's officers, chief petty officers, sailors and civilians were conferred with military awards at a ceremony on Tuesday. Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi was the

chief guest on the occasion.

Nine officers of the Pakistan Navy were awarded with Sitara Imtiaz (Military) and twenty officers were awarded with Tamgha Imtiaz (Military). In recognition of their valiance and bravery, eleven sailors were conferred with

Tamgha-e-Basalat. One hundred and sixteen chief petty officers and sailors were conferred with Tamgha Khidmat Military Class One, Two and Three. Ninety-nine officers, chief petty officers, sailors and civilians were also given commendation letters by the chief of the naval staff.

Meanwhile, Chief of the Naval Staff Niazi said that each individual of Pakistan Navy bears the responsibility of safeguarding not only his life but also the expensive, state of the art assets with which he has been entrusted with, by the government, through inculcation of robust safety culture. The same can only be ensured through strict adherence to safe practices and standard operating procedures (SOPs), the naval chief added while addressing the Pakistan Navy Annual Safety Review 2019-20.

He advised the audience that the concept of safety must draw its impetus from an honest retrospection of previous years.

The naval chief expressed his satisfaction over adherence to safety culture in Pakistan Navy and said that safety review is actually a process of self-accountability which helps to evaluate and gauge the safety standards in the light of previous occurrences.

The admiral appreciated the field commands for maintaining high standards of work and personal safety particularly under the challenging Covid-19 environment. The safety review is held annually with an aim to create safety awareness and inculcate safety culture among naval personnel which provides a road map to further enhance a safe working environment. At the end, the chief of the naval staff gave away the safety trophies and awards to the winners of Pakistan Navy Annual Safety Review. The event was attended by officers, sailors and navy civilians from the field commands.

Wednesday, 14 April, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

PM, Uzbek president to review trade, connectivity projects online islamabad staff report

Prime Minister Imran Khan and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev will review the entire spectrum of bilateral relations including political, trade, economic, security, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges during a virtual summit on Wednesday. The two sides would focus on enhancing political and strategic linkages, fast tracking transit and trade cooperation, and building educational and cultural collaboration. The TransAfghan Railway Project, agreed between Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan earlier this year, is a key area of focus. Besides bilateral matters, the two leaders will exchange views on key regional and international issues. They will also deliberate on enhancing mutual cooperation and coordination at international and regional fora. The virtual summit will provide an opportunity to further build on existing bilateral cooperation in all areas of common interest. Relations between Pakistan and Uzbekistan are rooted deep in common faith, shared history, and cultural affinities providing a firm foundation for increased cooperation.

The two countries have increased interaction at all levels over the past two years. The two countries have increased interaction at all levels over the past two years. The foreign minister of Uzbekistan visited Islamabad in March to hold bilateral talks with Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi. During the visit, he also met the prime Minister and delivered an invitation to attend the Central Asia South Asia Regional Connectivity Conference to be hosted by Uzbekistan in Tashkent in July 2021.

05

IslaMabaD to oPEn consUlatE In MUnIcH to taP EconoMIc PotEntIal: FM bERliN

F

INp

OREIGN Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has announced that Pakistan will soon open a consulate in Munich to tap economic potential present in Germany. while talking to the media the German capital on Tuesday, he said Pakistan and Germany had high prospects of cooperation in trade and investment and expressed confidence that the new consulate would speed up development in this regard.

Qureshi said a consul general would be appointed at the Munich mission to supplement the diplomatic efforts of embassy in Berlin, adding that Pakistan was committed to work out the Strategic Engagement Plan (SEP) of Europe.

He said Pakistan could explore cooperation with Germany particularly in areas of information technology, solar

energy and electric vehicles.

He expressed satisfaction that around 5,000 Pakistani students were currently studying at various educational institutions in Germany, adding that nation’s visionary poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal also studied at an institute in Munich.

Qureshi said efforts would be made

to expand the scope of cooperation in education sector by engaging Higher Education Commission (HEC) so that Germany could become a top destination for Pakistani students.

In a meeting with a representative delegation of the Pakistani diaspora in Germany later in the day, he said the gov-

ernment was making serious efforts to give the right of vote to the Pakistanis living abroad.

He said the option of electronic voting was under consideration to facilitate the expatriates.

Qureshi also acknowledged the services of the Pakistani community, terming it an important linkage for strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.

He mentioned that the government had launched the Roshan Digital Pakistan project for easy transfer of money through legal means.

The foreign minister also visited the Pakistan embassy in Berlin where Ambassador Dr Muhammad Faisal received him.

He inaugurated a Football Enclave at the embassy, marking the export of 50 million footballs from Pakistan to Germany annually.

Qureshi also approved appointment of an ‘Arzi Nawees’ at the embassy to aid with online application forms for those in need free of charge.

Punjab HED to introduce new market-oriented subjects in colleges laHORE staff report

The Punjab Higher Education Department has planned to introduce new market-oriented subjects in BS degree colleges of Punjab. As the department is working on improving education governance in the province under the new reforms agenda, Provincial Minister Raja Yasir Humayun Sarfraz has given nod for the introduction of new modern subjects at public sector colleges. The decision was taken to address the disparity in employment-to-population ratio in the province, which could be counted as one of the struggle areas of developing countries in the world.

The working age population of the province – which is considered as a burden – could be turned to our advantage by the said move. New subjects are being introduced in light of the population bulge utilisation strategy; which is to bring more human resource into the employable workforce while making them indispensable for the industry. This industrial consumption is only possible with the right set of skills and expertise that could be taught at college level. In this regard, department has forged a strong liaison with industrial sector to address their HR needs. Only a workforce well-versed with the relevant industrial aptitude backed by relevant education could be helpful in meeting these sectoral HR demands of the industry.

Prime Minister Imran Khan reviews a demonstration of electronic voting system during a meeting in the federal capital.

‘Ghazal vs Nazm’ IQTIDAR JAVED IS A PRODIGIOUS WRITER AND POET OF BOTH ‘GHAZAL’ AND ‘NAZM’ syEd afsaR sajid The publications, ‘Sukhan Nishani Ishq Ki’ and ‘Rang Khabeeda Paray Hain’, represent the two most important and popular genres of Urdu literature, ‘ghazal’ and ‘nazm’, respectively.

Iqtidar Javed is a prodigious writer and poet of both ‘ghazal’ and ‘nazm’. His present work, ‘Sukhan Nishani Ishq Ki’, is a collection of ‘ghazal’ in its most updated form–a mix of fine prosodic permutations lyrically homogenized in what may be termed as a post-modernistic phraseology.

On the other hand, the collection of ‘nazm’, ‘Rang Khabeeda Paray Hain’, by Dr Shahid Ashraf, a seasoned but versatile Urdu poet from Faisalabad (now based in Lahore), seeks to synthesise his creative vigour, experience and vision into an artistic whole signalling its innate contemporaneity as a literary composition.

‘SUKHAN NISHANI ISHQ KI’: This book by Iqtidar Javed carries a thought-provoking flap by reputed poet, critic and postmodernistic fiction writer, Musharraf Alam Zauqi, from Delhi, India. He thinks that a poet, of course a genuine one, is a ‘sculptor of pain’ in its divers forms. One would readily endorse his opinion that Iqtidar is fo-

cussed on ‘man’ as an organic entity of body (the extraneous form) and soul (the intrinsic substance). Iqtidar’s perception of ‘man’ seems to be partly experiential and partly metaphysical. The flap writer conceives a triangular colligation of science, universe and humanity in Iqtidar’s work, specifically his ‘ghazal’ that in his view could form a viable substructure for the modern day literature, too. Iqtidar has discovered a ‘new man’ in this perspective by representing the aforementioned three-dimensional subjects (science, universe and humanity) on a two-dimensional surface.

In his flap, Dr Saadat Saeed, another literary celebrity, also has viewed Iqtidar’s ‘ghazal’ in an ultra-modernistic perspective closer to post-modernism. He visualizes an amazing aura of imagism in Iqtidar’s work, which tends to refine and reinvigorate the modern sensibility on understanding and interpreting literature. He opines that Iqtidar Javed has quarantined his work against the onslaught of avarice, egotism, and fear and thus enthused it with values which transcend time and space and lend it a perennial worthiness.

Gratefully the book is dedicated to this scribe perhaps owing to our enduring relationship, based on mutual respect and trust, spanning a period of over two decades.

Noted writer and poet Ilyas Babar Awan’s preface to the book is a veritable demonstration of his post-modernistic erudition, classic equivocation, and critical evaluation. He connects Iqtidar’s poetics to the renowned poet Zafar Iqbal’s who has admittedly invested ‘ghazal’ with a new outlook conflated with an empirical intertextuality bearing on a vast but varied range of existentialistic re-

CmyK

alities. Iqtidar consciously or unconsciously seems to tread Zafar Iqbal’s path of creativity in his ‘ghazal’. Mehr Afroze’s ‘preview’ of the book from Karnatka, India, is also laudatory though based on an objective appraisal of the poet’s work.

The title of the book is symbolic in that it conforms to the kernel of the poet’s ‘ghazal’, that is love in its pristine chastity.

The metrical scheme (‘bah’r’) of the ‘ghazal’ in this collection bears a variegated but innovative texture testifying to the poet’s grasp of the art of versification, prosody inclusive.

The diction is commensurate with the implied meaning underlying each couplet in a ‘ghazal’. Themes touched in the collection vary from internal commotion to the humdrum in the environment, the fear of the pandemic, the doubts and uncertainties of the thinking souls, the agony of the downtrodden mass of humanity, the yearnings of unrequited love, and the hallucinations of a poetic imagination prognosticative of a ‘spring’ emanating from the ashes of an unceremonious ‘autumn’, are the staple themes of Iqtidar’s ‘ghazal’ contained in the instant collection. This assessment would lead one to predict a warm welcome of the book by discreet readers nay lovers of poetry in Urdu.

‘RANG KHABEEDA PARAY HAIN’: Shahid Ashraf is a well-known Urdu poet, academic, and literary analyst. The present book comprises a collection of his ‘nazm’.

Dr Najeeb Jamal and Dr Akhtar Shumar have contributed searching forewords to the book. The former terms Shahid Ashraf’s ‘nazm’ as an extension of a literary tradition encompassing the limitations of the individual’s physical capacity, possibilities of being, and the gyrating void between belief and conjecture. The dramatic element in his ‘nazm’ could also be ascribed to this phenomenon.

Dr Akhtar Shumar traces the presence of the supernatural, missing individuals, likes of a beggar, a coffin-bearing procession, and a private security guard in Shahid Ashraf’s poems besides soft feelings and a deeply observant eye envisioning ‘fructuous’ reveries of the coming events. The book contains some seventy poems on subjects, common and uncommon, like a stream, shawl, examination hall, tsunami, fog, the somnolence of colours, vestiges of time, fear of the pandemic, encroachments, the new year night, in the name of witches, an interview, the inbox, Manto remembered et al.

As a poet, Shahid Ashraf surveys life from a kaleidoscopic angle. He is thoughtful as well as feelingful. In his poems, generally he gives ‘powerful expression to the division in the modern consciousness caused by the contrast between the development of the moral sense and the dehumanized world picture’ provided by the discoveries of science and technology.

Wednesday, 14 April, 2021

06 COMMENT

India’s Achilles’ heel

In democracy, no freedom to use force

What if China supports the Naxalbari movement?

TLP should be made to behave

a

CTInG like an extremist network, the Tehrik Labbaik Pakistan used violence to enforce a countrywide gridlock on monday and partly on Tuesday. TLP’s baton-wielding workers stopped traffic at numerous points on the national Highway and the GT Road while roads within the provinces were also blocked. ambulances carrying those in urgent need of treatment had to wait for hours. Trucks carrying oxygen cylinders faced delays in reaching hospitals. The violent protests have projected a negative image of the country abroad. It was an irony that while Foreign minister Shah mehmood Qureshi was in Germany seeking an enhancement of economic ties, at home the TLP was demanding the expulsion of the ambassador of France.

The TLP has been mollycoddled too long in return for performing dubious functions. In 2017, despite being a miniscule network of zealots, it was allowed to besiege Islamabad while speeches delivered at the TLP’s sit-in highlighted the PmL(n)’s perceived deviation from Islamic principles. In the 2018 elections the extremist network nominated its candidates in key constituencies to wean away religious voters from the PmL(n).

In 2018 the PTI government released asia Bibi, who had been accused of blasphemy, on the Supreme Court’s orders. This led an overconfident TLP to take recourse to agitation. The government launched a countrywide crackdown on the TLP, cutting the network down to size.

It was a blunder by the PTI government to let the TLP march on Islamabad in november 2020, followed by another blunder when it agreed to hold talks with the extremist organisation that demanded severing diplomatic ties with France and expelling its ambassador. The TLP chief should have been told that he had no business issuing ultimatums to an elected government. Instead the government agreed to hold talks with the TLP and sought two months to get Parliament’s approval. at the expiry of the time limit, the PTI government held another session of talks with the extremist network where it promised to get Parliament’s permission by October 20.

It is time for the government to take a firm stand. The Prime minister needs to assert that he does not take dictation from mobs and that policy decisions are taken by the elected government as and when needed. Hopefully, none is using the TLP this time as a thin edge of the wedge.

Amjed jAAved

O

n april3, 2021, there was a pitched battle between a naxalite (or maoist) group (called “rebels”) by Indian government) and government forces of over 1500 “jawan”, equipped with state-of-the art weapons and helicopters at the Bijapur-Sukma border in Chhatisgarh state. The naxals armed with machine guns gunned down 22 members of the government forces and injured 31 others, excluding missing personnel. Eight of the dead jawans were from the CRPF, seven from the elite Cobra (Commando Battalion for Resolute action) while the others were part of the Bastariya Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the District Reserve Guard (DRG). Two of the dead CRPF jawans were from assam, where assembly polls are on.

The naxalite decamped with forces’ weapons, uniforms and shoes. The government claims that they killed 10 naxalites, but could only produce the corpse of a dead woman as a “rebel”. The government claims that the naxalites take along their dead and injured. media described the “counter-insurgency operation” as an “intelligence failure and poor leadership by the CRPF commanders and drew parallels with the February 2019 Pulwama massacre of 40 personnel in the run-up to the general election”. Earlier in april 2017, the naxal had killed 25 CRPF personnel near Burkapal in Sukma. The media blames the home minister and the government for being preoccupied in winning elections in some state assemblies through turncoats. It is alleged that “five teams totaling 2,000-plus security personnel had on Friday night launched a concerted operation in the maoist-hit Bi-

PDM breaks up An important alliance collapses under the weight of individual egos

F

OLLOWInG the PPP and anP’s decision to resign from all offices of the PDm, a new dimension to opposition politics in the country has been added, one which does not bode well for any of the parties involved. That the deterioration in relations between the PPP and PmL(n) began solely due to a disagreement over strategy was easily resolvable had it not been for the overinflated egos of the leadership involved. The PmL(n) and JuI(F), who are still working together, wanted to adopt a more aggressive approach to send the government packing by resigning from assemblies and hitting the streets. The PPP on the other hand favoured the parliamentary route, that of winning elections and bringing a vote of no-confidence against the Pm in the Lower House. Had cooler heads prevailed, a middle ground could have been found, where a combination of well attended rallies, supporting each other in elections while keeping the threat of resigning from assemblies dangling over the government’s head, would have been an effective approach.

Tears in the alliance began to show when harsh words were exchanged in meetings and phone calls from senior leaders were not taken by counterparts. The final blow was dealt by the PDm itself when it issued a show-cause notice to the PPP and anP for seeking the support of BaP, a government ally, in the recent Senate elections. It would have been better if the same was discussed in a private meeting with all present rather than through a public display of superiority that was bound to receive the response it did with Bilawal Bhutto tearing up the notice during his party’s CEC meeting.

This breakup of PDm is bound to hurt all involved in the medium to long term. The government that was visibly feeling the pressure of the opposition alliance gaining momentum now looks relatively at ease. Through the PDm, the PPP had a good opportunity to perhaps once again establish itself as a prominent player in Punjab’s politics as the joint rallies held with the audience supplied by the PmL(n) proved to be a beneficial platform that will no longer be available. JuI(F) chief maulana Fazlur Rehman has asked both the PPP and anP to review their decision to resign from the PDm, but given what has transpired so far, any reconciliation seems quite unlikely.

ShAziA CheemA

H

uman rights violations and freedom of press are intertwined. During the last decade, the Indian mainstream media is on survival mode with a bleak choice, either they have to say whatever BJP wants them to say or they are out of the business.

Indian media rights organisations, including the Editors Guild of India, have expressed their concerns that political pressures have placed Indian media in a compromising position, resulting in the current credibility crises Indian mainstream media is facing. The concept of “Shudh Bharat” (Pure India) is also bullying the Indian urdu media, which are already diminishing on the media scene.

Human rights atrocities, based on caste, religion and political affiliations are not being brought to the surface as they deserve. Parallel media (mainly social media) is trying to fill the gap but the cost and manpower that is required to travel to far-flung areas right on time, is too high, so that even after immense efforts, incidents get withered before they are documented. Law enforcing agencies compromising or held hostage, have created a situation where a new term “Godi media” (media in the lap of powerful groups) has emerged on the horizon of journalism and the Godi Media is busy in fabricating the ground re-

Arif Nizami Editor Managing Editor

Joint Editor

Umar Aziz Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

national Security: annual Review 2004).

With the merger of pro-naxalite revolutionary bodies, the naxalites are the sole arbiters of justice in rural areas.

The term “naxalite” is rooted in naxalbari village (West Bengal) where Kanhu Sanyal presented the concept of “forcible protest against the social order relating to holding of property and sharing of social benefits”. The naxal movement started on 3 march 1 967 at naxalbari village, near Siliguri sub-division in West Bengal. It is 30 to 50 miles from Sikkim. Tibet and Bhutan are in the north, nepal in the West and Bangladesh in the east. To Sanyal the purpose of the protest was “organizing peasants to bring about land reform through radical means including violence”.

The naxalite movement in India is viewed as an internal security problem. However, the populist appeal of the movement’s ideology reflects that it could soon assume international dimensions if China supports it. India’s Lieutenant General K.m. Seth laments, ‘unfortunately, the threat to internal security from naxalites has acquired dangerous proportions and can no longer be wished away. …they are also developing links with Turkish and Philippino terrorist organisations…We have suffered and bled patiently and have taken huge human casualties, which could exceed 13,000, uniformed personnel and 53,000 civilians during the last 25 years… as of today, their overall strength could be put at approximately 20, 000 undergrounds, 50,000 overgrounds and more than a lakh in frontal organisations. Their armoury is reported to comprise approximately 900 aK-47 rifles, 200 light machine guns, 100 grenade firing rifles, 2 inch mortars, thousands of .303 rifles, self-loading rifles and 12-bore guns with a huge quantity of explosives at their disposal’. (“Naxalite Problem”, u S I Journal , January-march 2005).

India may blame Pakistan for the freedom movement (‘insurgency’ or ‘militancy’) in occupied Kashmir. But, who shall she blame for the naxalite insurgency in andhra Pradesh and other Indian states? This is a movement against economic deprivation and brutality of the state or central government’s law-enforcing agencies.

Indian media has now begun to report that the counter-insurgency forces are fearful of grappling the naxalite. In Guntur (andhra Pradesh), the naxalite announced a cash reward of Rs 500,000 per policeman.

IG (Guntur Range) Rajwant Singh admitted, ‘my men are removing the posters and convincing the villagers to inform them about the activities of naxalites The writer is a freelance journalist, has served in the Pakistan government for 39 years and holds degrees in economics, business administration, and law. He can be reached at amjedjaaved@gmail.com

American Muslim Council, Biden team and Shudh Bharat

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Yousaf Nizami Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

japur and Sukma districts after learning that rebels led by the dreaded madvi Hidma were hiding in the forest. a CRPF officer admitted, `The operation was launched from five places Tarrem, usoor and Pamed in Bijapur, and minpa and narsapuram in Sukma.

While a team was advancing through the forests near Jonaguda, around 500km from state capital Raipur, it was ambushed by some 250 maoists on Saturday afternoon,’ he said. He said the forces were scattered and trapped along a two-kilometre stretch of forest.

The patrolling team from Tarrem came under heavy fire, prompting some of them to move to what appeared a deserted village, where the maoists lay in wait for them. The maoists fled with the weapons, bullet-proof jackets and the shoes of the dead troops.

The recent encounter belies government claim that it has wiped out naxalism from its stronghold of Bastar. Bastar division of Chhattisgarh has a population of 23, 48,808 persons. It is spread over 40,000 square kilometers. Bastar division has a security-personnel-to-civilian-population ratio of 1:22 with the deployment of 58,772 central paramilitary force personnel and another 50,000 of state armed-police personnel. Security forces occasionally conduct “search and destroy” operations in the area, killing or arresting innocent people for “naxal offence”. . The jails are overcrowded to the extent of three times the prison capacity, filled with adivasis (tribals). The report of a High Level Committee headed by Virginius Xaxa, submitted to the government in may 2014, highlighted this fact.

Even expression of sympathy with naxals is now a heinous offence.

In the Bhim Koregaon planted letters case, several intellectuals and rights activists including navalakha were declared “traitors” by the government. They were even accused of having links with Kashmiri militants. It was claimed that they were in communication with Ghulam nabi Fai, a Kashmiri leader who has served two-year imprisonment in the uSa for having illegally received funds from the ISI. Despite repression under draconian laws, the naxalbari uprising has still been alive since may 1967. according to India’s Home ministry “more than two-thirds of maoist related violence is now restricted to only 10 districts of the country. However, media reports reflect maoists are well entrenched in at least 68 districts.” The movement could not be quelled despite tall claims by Indian authorities over the past 53 years. Indian Home ministry has a whole division dedicated to dealing with the movement.

In naxalite-influenced rural areas, there is no trace of India’s judicial system. There, the naxalite organisations act ‘virtually like policemen, arresting, meeting out “justice” and in some cases even executing the guilty’ (“Internal security situation”, India’s

I

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

I

alities by portraying a picture of all being well.

There is a long list which concerns every sensible person including the rape cases of scheduled caste girls, the Citizenship act amendment, the repeal of article 370 which ended Kashmir’s special status, the anti-farmer laws, delusional coronavirus management policy during elections and orchestrated terrorist attacks. an important point not to be missed is BJP’s manifesto that includes promise for Shudh Bharat (Pure India) and the promise that this would be achieved in 2024. The concept of Shudh Bharat represents an India without impurities, such as lower caste Hindus, muslims, Christians, Sikhs, including all minorities. upcoming three years are crucial for international human rights watchdogs to keep an eye on the events of India where the BJP has promised its voters religious cleansing for providing them a Shudh Bharat.

India is already in the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) of the uSa. The CPC list represents countries that are engaged in severe violations of religious freedom under International Religious Freedom act of 1998 (IRFa). The IRFa defines particularly severe violations of religious freedom as systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom, including violations such as torture, degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges, abduction or clandestine detention, or other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of persons.

The Review of the list is due in 2021. The Indian american muslim Council (IamC) has registered its reservations that India must be put on this list because of ongoing human rights atrocities.

This year the uS State Department’s report on India, released on 30 march, exposed the worst kind of human rights situation in India, where millions of social and religious minorities, including muslims, Christians, Dalits, and adivasis, as well as the eight million residents of Kashmir, are facing ongoing brutal State repression.

The reasons for designating India as a CPC are more compelling now by an order of magnitude than ever before, and the situation is set to get worse without significant international pressure. uS muslims and human rights organizations fear that the Indian american team sitting in the

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

I

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

I

White House can influence States Department to drop India from the list of CPC because the Human Rights and South asian Desks of the Biden administration are headed by Indian americans and both the Desks are very important for shaping uS Policy towards human rights issues and the situation of South asia generally.

The nominee for undersecretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy & Human Rights uzra Zeya is an Indian american who belongs to Indian Occupied Kashmir. Being an Indian american from Indian Occupied Kashmir, she can consider that Indian Occupied Kashmir is a legal part of India, therefore any action against Kashmiris conducted by the Indian State is appropriate to maintain law and order, but we must remember that unSC resolutions say that Indian Occupied Kashmir is a disputed region whose future would be determined by the plebiscite under unSC supervision.

We also know that Indian american Sumona Guha is Senior Director for South asia at the national Security Council, and she has held many important positions in the past that have placed her in a key position to shape uS foreign policy towards South asia.

We also know that Indian american Shanthi Kalathil is Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights of the uS national Security Council. She can also have a soft position in favour of the Indian government over the human rights abuses going on in India. all those Indian americans inside the White House, including the Vice President, cannot get away from the phenomenon of belonging because this simply is not possible. It will be naïve to consider them americans and anticipate an unbiased attitude.

The Foreign Office of Pakistan and the Pakistani media should keep an eye on the situation. Rather, it must be the topic of discussion that India, due to Indian americans being on key posts in the White House, can influence the humanity to ignore Indian abuses.

The writer Shazia Cheema is an analyst writing for national and international media and heads the DND Thought Center. She did her MA in Cognitive Semiotics from Aarhus University Denmark and is currently registered as a Ph.D. Scholar of Semiotics and Philosophy of Communication at Charles University Prague. She can be reached on Twitter @ShaziaAnwerCh and at shaziaanwer@yahoo.com

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Wednesday, 14 April, 2021

COMMENT 07 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

Covid 19 and elected representatives HISTORy is evident that nations have defeated calamities and crisis through the support of their leaders. We like other countries of the world are facing the challenge of covid19. Pm Imran Khan and Cm Sindh during their speeches urged the nation to face this state of affairs with courage and boldness, but here my question is who will provide us courage to face this pandemic?. Poor masses are finding it increasingly difficult to have access to elected representatives of their consituencies mainly in Sindh. The feebles who have lost their source of earning as a result of lockdown are facing starvation. In most areas of Sindh none of the elected representatives have arrived to gain first hand knowledge about the hectic situation Bieng faced by the people.

Kamran KhamiSo Khowaja Sujawal

Poverty and coronavirus aCCORDInG to the report, nearly 39 percent of Pakistanis live in multidimensional poverty, with the highest rates of poverty in FaTa and Balochistan and now coronavirus is the biggest challenge for Pakistan which can be the cause of unemployment of thousands of people, it will be difficult for the country to survive the people who were already suffering from poverty. moreover, the virus is increasing due to the slapdash people, as well as the challenges of government. additionally, Balochistan is the biggest province of Pakistan by land area and it is famous for its natural mineralogy but still, the people of the province are not being supported that much they need while the majority of the COVID-19 cases confirmed in Taftan border.

Khudadad Baloch Karachi

Healing the scars The opposition must do what is needed

mAlik muhAmmAd AShrAf

D

ynaSTIC politics and the archaic colonial system of governance, with inbuilt avenues of corruption, have been the bane of socio-economic development and strengthening of democracy in the country. military dictators are also equally responsible for this state of affairs and pushing the country away from the path the Quaid envisioned for it to pursue.

The result is that the country finds itself among the countries which have failed to deliver to the masses, and only the elitist and vested interests have thrived at the expense of the teeming millions. This detour from the vision of the founding fathers has also created formidable social fault-lines which have vitiated the soul of the nation.

The situation demanded path-correction, reverting to the drawing board to rediscover the real national moorings and ethos, to avert the impending precipice. People expressed their desire for change and resurrection of the soul of the nation by electing Imran Khan as Prime minister of Pakistan. He won the franchise of the people for his unswerving commitment to accountability of those who had taken the nation for a ride, to let loose a system of governance geared to delivery to the masses and putting the country back on the rails.

Staying true to his electoral manifesto, which was overwhelmingly endorsed by the people of Pakistan, the PTI government under his stewardship lost no time in initiating the process of accountability and improving the system of governance. But his agenda is being fiercely resisted by the vested interests and those who built fortunes through corrupt practices. They have joined forces to pressurize the government to abandon the accountability process and to protect the status quo. The history of the world is a story of continued battle between proponents of the status quo and those vying for change; a change promising a better and inclusive culture of governance purported to promote the well-being of the masses rather than serving the interests of the elite. The PDm represents the resistance for continuing the status quo. History also proves that the winds of change have invariably prevailed over the

forces representing the status quo.

The mind boggling revelations about corruption, money laundering and benami properties of the stalwarts of the previous regimes justify the continuation of the process of accountability. It is indeed heartening to note that Prime minister Imran Khan has refused to blink and surrender before the blackmail of the alliance of the corrupt. It is for the first time in the history of the country that those who considered themselves beyond the purview of law and relished the culture of graft and entitlement, have been made to account for their misdeeds.

The process is however slow due to the flaws in the existing administrative and legal structures which the Prime minister has repeatedly pointed out. He is right to point out that change does not come with the pressing of a button. It is an arduous and challenging task which needs dismantling the vestiges of corruption, their supporting lifelines and rebuilding an unblemished system of governance. I am sure that the determination and resolve shown by him to take the process of accountability to its logical end and catapulting the country on the path of good governance, will ultimately embrace success.

The PDm, which without doubt was fighting for an illegitimate cause to sabotage the process of accountability and to destabilize the government, seems to have lost its way as is evident from the cracks that have appeared between its two major components.

Though the PPP has not formally announced its departure from the alliance but there are strong portents suggesting the inevitable, which has been formalized by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Since the very beginning I have maintained that the PDm stood no chance to destabilize the government or have the process of accountability abandoned. apart from the illegitimacy of their cause, the other reason for their predicted failure was that their movement was not supported by the establishment.

It is a defining moment for the country in regards to healing the scars on its body politic, which requires the political leadership to work collectively for changing the archaic system of governance and plugging the avenues of corruption. The opposition parties are obliged to prove their claimed credentials to defend democracy and give a corruption-free system of governance to the country. Their future and relevance to the political landscape is also inextricably linked to the purported change.

If the opposition claims that the government is treading the path of witch-hunt against

them, it must have faith in the judiciary and have their leaders’ names cleared through a legitimate legal process rather than stoking it into a political issue and trying to create instability in the country which it can ill afford at the present juncture. It is better advised to use the forum of Parliament to debate the challenges confronting the country and firming up plausible strategies to tackle them, instead of wasting the time of the entire nation for the preservation of their vested interests.

The government has repeatedly made an offer for dialogue to the opposition parties on all national issues and reforms in the political system except accountability. I think nobody in his right mind can condone the conduct of the parties in the PDm to destabilize the country only to get away with their corruption unless proven otherwise in the courts of law. The situation also provides them a good opportunity to prove their claimed innocence. Political movements are unfurled for national causes and not to hedge corruption.

There is a national consensus on getting rid of the scourge of corruption. Political leaders and parties therefore must respect this consensus and make their contribution to the process of course correction. One thing is certain that the change set in motion has gained momentum and cannot be forestalled through pressure tactics. under the prevailing circumstances, the only way the opposition parties can salvage their prestige and image as national entities working for the common good is to abandon their agitation and allow the process of accountability to run its course. It will separate the wheat from the chaff, and if they have not committed any wrong as claimed by them, they will stand vindicated. The other better option for them is to engage the government in a dialogue for carrying out the required reforms which in certain cases would also require amendments to the Constitution. Because engagement is the name of the game. If they are really well wishers of the masses and aim at their good as vociferously professed by them, then they must support the process of change.

In a democratic dispensation it is a collective responsibility of the government and the opposition to ensure political stability in the country and contribute their bit to promoting the wellbeing of the masses. The path adopted by the PDm is decidedly inimical to national interests.

It needs serious rethinking.

In a democratic dispensation it is a collective responsibility of the government and the opposition to ensure political stability in the country and contribute their bit to promoting the well-being of the masses.

The path adopted by the PDM is decidedly inimical to national interests. It needs serious rethinking

Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic.

He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail.com.

Degrading dull students aS you know in today’s world there are many students who are not so bright in studies. They don’t participate much because they are not motivated by anyone. Their teachers think they cannot do anything in actual they want just a little ray of hope , a little motivation and a helping hand which would lead them to their future. But due to their less contribution in their studies people think they are not capable to do anything, although they have skills in other things. These students get more dull because people degrade them. When we start degrading them saying “you cannot do anything” they develop this thinking in their minds and don’t bother to do anything. But a little help of someone it can be anyone their teacher, parents or siblings can prepare them for future to tell them no one is worthless. alEEna Khurram rawalpindi

Street crime STREET crime is any criminal offense done in public place. It includes kidnapping, open illegal drug trade, pickpocketing, extortion etc.

Open Illegal drug trade is the lowest level of drug distribution network. They operate in geographically areas so buyers and sellers can locate one another at any time, without any difficulty. most commonly sold drugs are heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Dealing with open-air drug markets presents a challenge for the police because the dealers need to be tackled effectively to reduce the harms that illicit drug use can inflict on local community. Poverty, unemployment and parent neglect are the major reasons of increasing street crimes day by day in our society. mostly, the culprit usually does such act in desolate place so that they can easily run and escape from being caught by the police. To reduce street crimes, public places should be monitored with cameras and the victim must know some self-defence techniques so that at-least they can save their lives.

Zill-E-huma rawalpindi

Airport SOPs THE Government of Pakistan has decided to modify the SOPs under implementation for airports at international arrivals for better control of the spread of Coronavirus.

The SOPs shall be applicable on all passengers and flight crew with immediate effect. upon arrival from International flights, everyone will be screened as per practice. The swab sample shall not, however, be collected at the airport. all passengers and flight crew shall be quarantined for 24 hours at a location decided by the authorities. after 24 hours swab sample shall be collected for test at the designated facility.anyone with positive test result shall be retained at the quarantine or other relevant location.Those with negative test result shall be allowed to leave with strict instructions and guidance for home quarantine. iBaad haSSan Karachi

Unemployment during corona unEmPLOymEnT is one of the biggest problem of Pakistan. That person is unemployed who has ability to work and is willing to do work but is unable to do job opportunity. In the current situation more than 30 lac people are unemployed in Pakistan and unemployment is more than 12 percent. unemployment is one of a major issue in our country. Because when unemployment is high resources are wasted and people’s incomes are depressed. Even different development countries are also facing it, but in Pakistan, the situation is more serious. Each year there are about eight lac new job candidates are added into the labor force in Pakistan. main problem is generate employment opportunities for this new candidate.

During unemployment, economic distress also affects the people’s emotions and family lives. arEEBa Shahid Karachi

Wednesday, 14 April, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

israel awaits iraN’s respoNse: terrifyiNg Days aheaD for ZioNist eNtity!

PrEssTV Julia M K

t

hE Zionist entity confirmed its role behind its cyber-attack on the Natanz nuclear reactor Sunday evening. The cyber operation, in cooperation with Mossad, was a disruption in the electrical power supply system of the Shahid Ahmadi Roshan facility in Natanz.

The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akber Salehi, said that “the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its right to act against the perpetrators of this heinous move,” while pointing to the attack as evidence of Iran’s enemies’ frustrations over their ability to curtail its industrial and nuclear developments.

Iran has made great strides in innovating its nuclear technology, adding centrifuges, and attaining 20% uranium enrichment stock higher than the pre-JCPOA era, cutting its major import bill by $10 billion while expected to raise science and technology exports to an estimated $1 billion this year, continuing to make major strides in nuclear and industrial development and capabilities – not for ‘nuclear weapons’ acquisition as the West accuses, but for economic, industrial as well as defense purposes. In addition, these expansive developments to its nuclear energy have worked alongside its efforts to alleviate the disastrous effects sanctions have had on the Islamic Republic.

Iran has continued to build international and economic bridges eastward, entailed in the recent Iran-China agreement that would provide it with the necessary economic support to not have it chained on economic, financial, or import-dependent terms of the West.

The attack came amidst indirect talks between the US and Iran in Vienna, where efforts by the current Iranian administration to return Iran to the JCPOA have been taking place.

THE ATTACK WAS CLEARLY “A BOLD ACT OF NUCLEAR TERRORISM ON THE IRANIAN SOIL” The talks appeared to fall apart following the US’s constant demands to renegotiate. The US, showing a refusal to remove all nuclear-related, as well as non-nuclear sanctions, proves that Biden’s statement last month extending Executive Order 12957, is a commitment that overrides any supposed intent of sanctions removal both demanded by the Iranian leadership and outlined in the JCPOA as a necessary precondition of even considering a return to the nuclear deal.

With the US constantly reneging and equivocating the terms of the deal, knowing fully well that it does not want to lift the sanctions, the most recent talks have been a process of just “going through the motions,” according to Iranian analyst Dr. Sam Torabi in comments to PressTV Sunday, that have shown how cooperative Iran has been throughout the process.

But the clear inability for the US to hold up its end has pushed it and its allies to resort to renewed attacks on old sites of interest. While the Natanz plant is one of several nuclear energy producing facilities in Iran, it is one of the most targeted by the Zionist entity as the focus of accusations of a nuclear weapons program by it and the MEK back in 2002.

Even the talks to revive the deal, aimed at giving the US the final benefit in conjuring a last-ditch effort to curb Iran’s economic and productive development, have found themselves amounting to no progress.

The US, having appeared to concede to Iran’s demands to remove all sanctions, later backtracked on its commitment to removing Trump-era “maximum pressure” measures instilled in 2018.

Iranian officials also reminded the US that an at least 3-month long verification process was necessary to en-

Moscow, New Delhi iN a chaNgiNg worlD

sure sanctions were lifted before Iran would comply with its end of the deal.

IRAN: NO INCENTIVE TO COMPLY: Israeli collaborators within the IAEA, and alongside American and various European intelligence agencies, have repeatedly been the cause of many previous attacks on nuclear facilities and assassinations of Iranian scientists, often reacting to Iran’s development or progression of nuclear energy where ‘diplomatic’ negotiations and sanctions have failed to produce quick-enough outcomes.

In 2019, Dutch intelligence aided the CIA and Mossad in a similar cyberattack on the same nuclear facility, waged through a Stuxnet virus.

This strain of cyber warfare, developed in the mid2000s by the CIA and Mossad, was delivered to the reactor in 2007, when the Dutch mole posing under a construction firm successfully installed it into the plant.

This left the Natanz plant vulnerable to the US’s attacks via “Operation Olympic Games,” a series of cyber covert attacks by the US and Dutch, French, German, UK and Israeli intelligence that became accelerated in the US Obama administration.

With Iran remaining steadfast in the face of these attacks, the Obama administration introduced the JCPOA three years later, which, along with China, Russia, France, the UK, Germany, and the rest of the European Union, was tasked with curbing Iran’s nuclear enrichment in exchange for the US’s steps, in ‘good faith’ to remove the sanctions.

Though the US’s 2018 introduction of maximum pressure sanctions clearly annulled any reason for Iran to comply under the deal’s terms, Israel’s repeated illegal and rogue military and cyber warfare against Iranian nu-

clear facilities – which have been proven to comply with the so-called international community’s own standards –undoubtedly ensure Iran’s right to resist.

The US and its European allies, supportive of the Zionist entity’s military and intelligence-based cooperation, have been the perfect enablers and facilitators of cyber warfare attacks against Iran. Thanks to Operation Olympic Games, getting access to Iran’s nuclear sites by means of European intermediaries proved a success in 2007-2012: so why not push legislation that would make “international inspection” the vehicle, by international law, for more surveillance, intel-gathering, and sabotage?

Likewise, the Zionist entity has used its impunity towards its favor as it has continued to launch such attacks, assisted by its European and American allies who, as they exchange information and coordinate under the table, present themselves to the Islamic Republic with the pretext of “compromise” and “negotiation.” Barbara Slavin, a director at the US based Atlantic Council, tweeted today that the “best response” for Iran was to return to the table in Vienna with the US to “coordinate a rapid return to compromise.”

Yet, as is the case with all negotiations, as two-step efforts, if the Zionist entity continues to have the nerve, and permission, to attack, Iran will reserve the right to defend itself against attacks. As Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, the attack was clearly “a bold act of nuclear terrorism on the Iranian soil.”

Julia M.K. is a Beirut-based analyst, writer, and political commentator. Along with regular appearances on PressTV. Her work has also appeared in Al-Mayadeen, Al-Akhbar, Mirat al-Jazeera, Counterpunch, and elsewhere.

Afghanistan: Can Biden dodge failure and forge his own peace?

India has stood its ground against US pressure, to drop, for example, India’s purchase of the S-400 missile defence system

CAN THIS WHITE HOUSE MAKE ITS OWN PEACE WITH THE TALIBAN?

Economic TimEs

chrisTian sciEncE moniTor

The wolves are full and the sheep, intact — that Russian saying about reconciling seemingly contradictory goals fits the foreign policy challenge before India and Russia, as they renew tried and tested bilateral relations, even as India meshes into the Quad, along with the US, Japan and Australia, to keep the Indo-Pacific tranquil, and Russia draws closer to China.

The challenge is less daunting than it might appear at first blush. As India’s policy shifts from non-aligned to multi-aligned, traditional ties will have to be recast. The past should inform policy, not block its evolution. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s two-day visit to India is part of the evolution of what has been a long and time-tested relationship.

That Lavrov’s visit overlapped with that of former US Secretary of State and now Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry encapsulates the transition of India’s foreign policy. The IndiaRussia relationship must be able to factor in the changing context and requirements of both countries. Russia’s reservations about India participation in the Quad, or India’s concerns about Russia’s cosiness with China, must be understood in context.

Moscow must understand that the changing geopolitical dynamics of the region will find expression in India’s strategic choices.

Likewise, New Delhi, too, must factor in the narrowing of choices for Moscow in the face of financial pressures from the West. Yet, the basic fabric of the relationship has not changed. India has stood its ground against US pressure, to drop, for example, India’s purchase of the S-400 missile defence system.

Strategic relationships are not zero-sum games; rather, they are partnerships for, rather than against, something. Strategic partnerships with other countries must not be seen as undermining the time-tested IndiaRussia relationship. The two countries must deepen their partnerships in existing areas of nuclear and space technologies, defence, and add new areas arising out of challenges such as climate change.

hEN American forces ousted the Taliban from power nearly 20 years ago in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, then-President George W. Bush vowed to break the curse of the so-called graveyard of empires. The history of military conflicts in Afghanistan, Mr. Bush noted, was “one of initial success, followed by long years of floundering and ultimate failure.” “We’re not going to repeat that mistake,” he said.

Yet today, just weeks away from an inherited May 1 deadline to withdraw U.S. troops, President Joe Biden is scrambling to avoid precisely that verdict, with plans to convene multilateral peace talks in Turkey meant to jump-start last-ditch diplomacy.

The president is torn between the desires to quickly end America’s longest-ever war, and also – in light of Taliban battlefield advances, and a recent Taliban-driven assassination campaign – to leave Afghanistan “responsibly,” preserving both U.S. strategic interests and Afghanistan’s hard-won civil society and democratic gains.

Yet pointedly, after a more than $2 trillion investment in the war and nation building that has cost thousands of American and tens of thousands of Afghan lives, the question remains: What, if anything, can Mr. Biden do now to avert catastrophe? Can this White house make its own peace with the Taliban?

The Taliban have been loudly declaring victory over a superpower, ever since agreeing to a deal with President Donald Trump in February 2020. That deal spelled out hard U.S. and NATO pullout deadlines, but imposed few restraints on Taliban attacks against other Afghans, which have continued unabated, or required few concrete moves toward peace. The Taliban have promised a violent “reaction” if the 3,500 remaining American and roughly 8,000 NATO troops do not leave by May 1, a deadline that President Biden said would be “tough” to meet. At the same time, U.S. intelligence agencies also warn of a Taliban takeover and collapse of the U.S.-backed government in Kabul, if foreign forces leave precipitously.

Chances of a diplomatic success are so small that even U.S. officials liken to a “moonshot” their bid to jump-start intra-Afghan peace talks – starting with the conference in Turkey slated for later this month – that would lead to an interim “peace government” as laid out in an eight-page plan leaked last month.

“The administration has a moonshot idea, but it is also matching that moonshot idea with some major effort,” says Asfandyar Mir, an expert in political violence

w

Scott PeterSon

at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. “This plan is ambitious. Getting this intra-Afghan agreement is going to be very, very tough.

But the good news is that they are literally throwing everything they can at the problem.”

“EVERYTHING HAS TO WORK OUT” As the United States plans to convene the Turkey meeting under United Nations auspices, it has called on the Russians, Iranians, and other regional stakeholders like India, and has “energized” communication with the Pakistanis, notes Mr. Mir. “There are a lot of moving parts. For this to work out, everything has to work out,” he says. That means convincing the Taliban to agree to a temporary, monthslong extension of the foreign troop presence – a critical step the Islamist movement has so far rejected. An initial power-sharing arrangement may also be possible, but the price of Taliban buy-in may be that the “final settlement will be extremely favorable to the Taliban,” says Mr. Mir. “It’s not perfect. I’m not saying that this is fixable,” he adds. “We’re trying to window-dress a failed mission at this point. ... It should really go without saying that the main objective here is to ensure a U.S. withdrawal which is not embarrassing. Any grand goal of major peace, or victory for one side or the other, is just not realistic.”

Still, the White house is attempting to recalibrate a deal that in many ways left the Taliban in the driver’s seat.

In recent days, U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad presented both sides with a new set of nine principles reportedly meant to guide the upcoming Turkey conference.

They include a permanent cease-fire – long an upfront demand of the government, but rejected by the Taliban – and commitments to equality, human rights, and free elections. The Americans also hope for a 90-day reduction in violence, aiming to prevent a Taliban spring offensive.

HARD LINES: The Taliban, meanwhile, have not yet agreed to go to Turkey, much less accept measures that go far beyond their deal with Mr. Trump, who analysts say rushed to end America’s so-called forever war with little apparent regard for consequences.

And Afghan media report that the Taliban, in exchange for permitting U.S. forces to stay 45 to 90 days beyond May 1, are demanding the release of 7,000 more prisoners – on top of some 5,500 reluctantly set free by the government last year – and the removal of leaders’ names from a U.N. sanctions blacklist.

The Kabul government is also hewing to a hard line.

Afghanistan’s first vice president, Amrullah Saleh, said Sunday that the Turkey agenda affirms civil society “achievements” since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, emphasizing that the Taliban “must accept that Afghanistan will not become Taliban.” Are “the Taliban seeking to come and lash people and we will stay silent?

Never,” he said. But getting the Taliban to make any new compromises won’t be easy, after they gave up so little in

negotiations with Mr. Trump, says Rahmatullah Amiri, an independent analyst based in Kabul. “It’s wishful thinking that this Turkey conference will produce something,” says Mr. Amiri. “The Taliban will be there, if they are wanted.

They will sit there, but it won’t produce anything. The Taliban want nothing less or more than complete power.

“They know that the golden era of Trump is never coming back. It is like, at this crucial moment, God revealed this gift [Mr. Trump] to them, and the guy gave them literally every key to the padlock,” he says. “What can Biden do? It’s too late, because now the Taliban have already tasted victory.”

The result is a series of bad choices for the Biden administration, as it tries to weigh the risks and benefits of delaying the withdrawal of U.S. forces. The draft U.S. peace agreement points to American aspirations of preserving gains in women’s rights, free speech, and elections to choose leaders, all to be enshrined in a new constitution.

But it also ambitiously calls for creation of a new “transitional Peace Government” at the start of the process, jointly formed by the Taliban and the U.S.-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani, who would have to step down. In addition to the cease-fire, it calls for the Taliban moving “military structures” from neighboring countries, such as Pakistan – also unacceptable to the Taliban so far.

AFTER THE US LEAVES, THEN WHAT? Yet analysts note that, even if agreement is reached, it might not last beyond a U.S. departure. “It’s highly unlikely that a peace process will survive an American military withdrawal,” Laurel Miller, a former top State Department official in charge of Afghanistan and Pakistan diplomacy, who is now director of the Asia program at the International Crisis Group, said in a recent webinar. “Therefore, to protect American interests, you would have to consider what it is you want to leave behind when you pull out.”

Creating a joint transitional government first puts both Afghanistan and the U.S. “in a much worse position,” she said, “because that weak, fragile, power-sharing artifact would perish with the peace process and you’d be left with nothing.”

Mr. Biden must be “very careful” further thinning the low current level of U.S. and NATO troops, says Mr. Mir at Stanford, noting that the “best case” for the Taliban is a “political meltdown, a total fragmentation of the Afghan security forces and Afghan government.”

Western forces are “not putting any meaningful pressure on the Taliban, [but] once you pull these troops out, then you are likely to see things like defections, wholesale splintering, a total collapse of command and control, and that’s the situation you want to avoid,” he says.

“Given that the American empire has survived, we gloss over the fact that the U.S. war in Afghanistan has been a failure,” he says. “For now, the U.S. strategy has to be to make sure the Afghan government stays in the fight.”

Wednesday, 14 April, 2021

BUSINESS 09

ISLAMABAD SECP launches digital certified true copies ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

KP govt to SEll ElECtriCity from malaKaNd hydroPowEr PlaNt to iNduStriES

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), in its pursuit of end-to-end digitisation of regulatory processes, has launched the online facility for issuance of digitally certified true copies of statutory returns and mortgage register. The new initiative is in line with the government's vision of Digital Pakistan to create an enabling business-friendly environment and improve user experience through the use of technology. Issuance of digitally certified copies will replace the decades-old practice of manually obtaining certified true copies of the company’s statutory returns on physical paper. The application for digital certified copies and mortgage register can simply be made online through SECP’s eService portal.

After submission of online application and verification of payment, the applicant would instantly receive certified copies of the desired company on the registered email address. The copies can be verified through scanning QR code or by clicking the link available on each document.

HE Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has decided to sell the power generated from Malakand III directly to industries instead of providing it to the federal government. Officials privy to the development told this scribe that the move will reduce the province’s dependence on the central government whereas Islamabad has been informed about the decision.

Advisor to the Chief Minister on Energy, Hamayatullah Khan, said that the provincial government will sell 300MW of electricity from Balakot power generation projects to various industrial zones in KP, which

KP excise dept decides to extend tax net

SBP announces banking hours for Ramzan

PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control department has decided to expand tax net by adding new rating areas, instead of putting more burden on existing tax payers. In view of the situation arising out of coronavirus pandemic in the province, the Excise Department held a high level meeting to review the performance of the first nine months of the current fiscal year (9MFY21) and the ongoing reforms in the department. According to sources, the KP Excise Department, instead of imposing additional tax burden on existing taxpayers, has directed ETOs to expand tax net by adding new rating areas to tax net and ensure better recovery. Special Assistants to the Chief Minister for Excise, Syed Ghazi Ghazan Jamal and Syed Haider Iqbal, secretary Excise, Directorate General of Excise attended the online meeting. The meeting commended the performance of the directors and ETOs who performed well and directed others to meet the 15-day timeline and set targets to improve revenue recovery. The meeting was informed that in view of transparency and public convenience in the department, work on centralised computer software system with modern facilities for motor registration and other taxes should be expedited.

The officials said that immediate action will be taken on complaints received against the department on Pakistan Citizen Portal.

PESHAWAR

t

AZIZ BUNERI

will bring an annual income of Rs15 billion for the provincial exchequer.

Khan said that four more new projects are currently underway and will generate enough revenue to meet the budget allocated for the KP’s annual development programme (ADP).

The adviser said that at present power generation in Malakand III costs Rs2.5 per unit and they have been selling it to the federation at the same price for 10 years but on return WAPDA is providing electricity to KP at Rs18 per unit. Similarly, he said KP sells the electricity of Pehore Power Project at Rs4 per unit to the federal government but in return the province has to purchase it at Rs18 per unit.

Therefore, it was decided that instead of giving

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced on Tuesday office timings for all banks, development finance institutions and microfinance banks during Ramzan. According to a notification issued by the central bank, from Monday to Thursday office timings will be from 10 am to 4 pm with a prayer break from 2pm to 2:15pm whereas on Fridays banks will remain open from 10 am to 1 pm without any break. The SBP suggested that banks may observe the following business hours for public dealings: Monday to Thursday from 10 am to 1:30 pm without any break. On Fridays banking hours for public dealings will be from 10 am to 1 pm without break. INP

the electricity to center government, the province will directly sell to the industries in KP. He said that this will provide cheaper electricity to the local industries and will reduce the cost of production. He said that this will also boost the local industrial production and will generate more employment opportunities.

The minister said that the federal government has yet to pay arrears worth billions of rupees. He said that due to non-payment of the arrears, the province is facing severe financial crises and most its developmental projects are stopped due to the unavailability of funds.

He said that even now, the federal government has to provide Rs45 billion in term of hydropower and Rs6 billion in PEDO

PHC issues notices to DRAP, others over price of Covid-19 vaccine PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday issued notices to the secretary Health, D.G. Health and the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) over the price of the coronavirus vaccine in the country.

A high court bench comprising Chief Justice Qaisar Rasheed Khan and Justice Muhammad Naeem Anwar heard the petition challenging inflated price of the coronavirus vaccine.

“The Covid-19 vaccine’s per dose price has been 10 dollars in the international market but it is being sold at over Rs8,000 here,”

according to the petitioner.

“People are used to minting easy money in such situations in this country. Our problems won’t be resolved until we don’t think as a nation,” the bench remarked.

“Lawyers should also be provided the vaccine with other essential workers,” the lawyer pleaded. However, the chief justice said that doctors and paramedics are on the frontline against the pandemic and they are the most essential workers. “Every person is precious for his or her family, the vaccine should be made available for everyone,” the court further observed. INP

Bitcoin hits record before landmark Coinbase listing on Nasdaq LONDON AGENCIES

Bitcoin hit a record of $62,741 on Tuesday, extending its 2021 rally to new heights a day before the listing of Coinbase shares in the United States. The largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange’s listing on the Nasdaq on Wednesday is considered a landmark victory for cryptocurrency advocates. Bitcoin is the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, with growing mainstream acceptance as an investment and a means of payment. It rose as much as 5% on Tuesday. Smaller rival Ethereum also reached a record high of $2,205. The overall cryptocurrency market capitalization hit an all-time peak of $2 trillion earlier this month, according to data and market trackers CoinGecko and Blockfolio. Major firms including BNY Mellon, Mastercard Inc and Tesla Inc are among those to have embraced or invested in cryptocurrencies.

The reflection of the Suez logo is seen on the company headquarters at La Defense business and financial district in Courbevoie near Paris, France.

Biden's chip dreams face reality check of supply chain complexity SAN FRANCISCO AGENCIES

To understand President Joe Biden’s challenge in taming a semiconductor shortage bedeviling automakers and other industries, consider a chip supplied by a U.S. firm for Hyundai Motor Co’s new electric vehicle, the IONIQ 5.

Production of the chip, a camera image sensor designed by On Semiconductor, begins at a factory in Italy, where raw silicon wafers are imprinted with complex circuitry.

The wafers are then sent first to Taiwan for packaging and testing, then to Singapore for storage, then on to China for assembly into a camera unit, and finally to a Hyundai component supplier in Korea before reaching Hyundai’s auto factories.

A shortage of that image sensor has led to the idling of Hyundai Motor’s plant in South Korea, making it the latest automaker to suffer from global supply woes that crip-

pled production at most automakers including General Motors Co and Ford Motors Co and Volkswagen.

And the winding journey of the image sensor shows just how complicated it will be for the chip industry to both ramp up capacity to address the current shortage and re-invigorate U.S. chip manufacturing.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday convened semiconductor industry executives in Washington to discuss solutions to the chip crisis, the latest move in a broader effort to bolster the domestic chip industry. He’s also proposed $50 billion to support chip manufacturing and research as part of his $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, which he said would help the United States win the global competition with China.

Much of that money will likely go towards the construction of multi-billion-dollar advanced chip plants by Intel, Samsung and TSMC. But industry executives say addressing the broader supply chain is crucial, and

the Biden administration faces complicated choices on which elements of it to subsidize.

“Trying to reconstruct an entire supply chain from upstream to downstream in a single given location just isn’t a possibility,” David Somo, senior vice president at ON Semiconductor, told Reuters. “It would be prohibitively expensive.”

The United States now only accounts for about 12% of worldwide semiconductor manufacturing capacity, down from 37% in 1990. More than 80% of global chip production now happens in Asia, according to industry data.

1,000 STEPS, 70 BORDERS: Producing a single computer chip can involve more than 1,000 steps, 70 separate border crossings and a host of specialized companies, most of them in Asia and largely unknown to the public.

The process starts with plate-size discs of raw silicon. At chip factories known as ‘fabs,’ circuits are etched into the silicon and built up on its surface through a series of

CMYK

complicated chemical processes.

The next step - packaging - offers a good illustration of the supply chain challenges.

Wafers emerge from fabs with hundreds or even thousands of fingernail-sized chips on each disc. They must be cut up into individual chips and put into a package.

Traditionally that meant placing each chip onto a “lead frame” and soldering it to a circuit board. The entire assembly would then be packaged in a resin case to protect it.

That process is very labor intensive, leading chip companies to outsource it decades ago to countries including Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and China.

The packaging step itself has its own supply chain: South Korea’s Haesung DS, for example, makes packaging components for automotive chips, exporting them to Malaysia or Thailand for customers including Infineon and NXP. These companies, or in some cases a sub-contractor, then assemble and package chips for automotive sup-

pliers like Bosch and Continental, which in turn supply final products to automakers.

“If they (the Biden administration) are going to be successful with this, they are going to have to help rebuild the package industry here in the United States,” said Dick Otte, CEO of Promex, a California-based chip packaging firm.

“Otherwise it is a waste of time. It is like building a car and not having a body to put on it.”

But newer chip packaging processes are far less labor intensive, leading some U.S. chipmakers to believe they can be brought back from abroad.

In October, Minnesota-based chip foundry, SkyWater Technology took over a facility in Florida where it plans to build out advanced packaging lines.

“There’s kind of an industry-wide agreement that all this needs to happen here,” Thomas Sonderman, chief executive, SkyWater Technology, said.

Wednesday, 14 April, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

ISLAMABAD

PolICe shootIng death of BlaCk man near mInneaPolIs sParks seCond nIght of unrest In us WASHINGTON

C

Agencies

IVIL unrest gripped a Minneapolis suburb for a second night on Monday after the city’s police chief said a fatal police shooting of a young Black man appeared to result from an officer mistakenly opening fire with her gun instead of a Taser during a traffic stop.

Hundreds of protesters braving a steady downpour and defying a curfew ordered by Governor Tim Walz clashed with police in riot gear as darkness fell outside police headquarters in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.

Many of the demonstrators had arrived from an outdoor vigil for family, friends and supporters of the slain motorist, Daunte Wright, 20, whose death on Sunday after being pulled over for an expired vehicle registration roiled a region already on edge.

Wright was killed just 10 miles from the courthouse where a former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, has stood trial over the past two weeks on murder charges in the deadly arrest last May of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man.

Floyd’s death, captured by an onlooker’s

cellphone video showing his neck pinned under Chauvin’s knee, unleashed months of nationwide protests and civil strife over US racial injustice and police violence in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

During Monday’s memorial gathering at the spot where Wright was killed, relatives remembered him as a good-natured father who worked multiple jobs to support his 2-year-old son, and they rejected the notion that an accidental shooting was to blame for his death.

“My brother lost his life because they were trigger happy,” his older half-sibling, Dallas Wright, told the crowd as the rain began to fall.

“My heart is broken in a thousand pieces… I miss him so much, and it’s only been a day,” his mother, Katie Wright, said as she wept. “He was my life, he was my son and I can never get that back. Because of a mistake? Because of an accident?”

Sunday’s shooting immediately sparked a night of street skirmishes between police and protesters in Brooklyn Center. Local news media reported looting and burglaries of about 20 businesses at a nearby shopping center. On Monday, Walz ordered a dusk-todawn curfew for the greater Twin Cities area

India, overwhelmed by Covid surge, fast-tracks approval for foreign vaccines NEW DELHI: India is to fast-track emergency approvals for Covid-19 vaccines that have been authorised by Western countries and Japan, paving the way for possible imports of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax and Moderna shots. The move, which will drop the need for companies to do small, local safety trials for their vaccines before seeking emergency approval, came following the world’s biggest surge in cases in the country this month. Vaccines authorised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) or authorities in the US, Europe, the United Kingdom and Japan “may be granted emergency use approval in India, mandating the requirement of post-approval parallel bridging clinical trial”, the health ministry said in a statement. “The first 100 beneficiaries of such foreign vaccines shall be assessed for seven days for safety outcomes before they are rolled out,” it said. India, the world’s biggest maker of vaccines, has so far administered more than 106 million doses of Covid-19 shots, but many states are now running short of supplies as inoculations expand due to surging cases. India is currently using the AstraZeneca shot and a homegrown vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech. Since April 2, India has reported the world’s highest daily tallies of infections, reaching more than 100,000 a day in the last week, compared with fewer than 10,000 a day earlier in the year. Agencies

around Minneapolis and St. Paul, but disturbances flared anew following the vigil as the curfew went into effect.

A crowd outside police headquarters surged against a makeshift fence erected to keep protesters at bay, some hurling bottles and other projectiles as police responded by firing volleys of tear gas and what appeared to be non-lethal plastic rounds.

Brooklyn Center mayor Mike Elliott said police had orders to disperse the crowd.

“I’m calling and asking for people to go home,” Mayor Mike Elliott said on CNN as the turmoil unfolded.

‘I JUST SHOT HIM’: Police Chief Tim Gannon told a news briefing earlier in the day that a routine traffic stop of Wright had escalated into a deadly confrontation when officers ran a check on his expired vehicle registration and found an outstanding warrant for him.

Police video footage presented at the briefing showed an officer trying to handcuff Wright next to the car, before Wright broke free and got back inside his car. At that point, a second officer yells, “Taser, Taser, Taser,” before firing a single shot from her handgun, the video shows.

“Holy shit, I just shot him,” the police-

woman is heard to shout as the car rolls away with Wright still in the driver’s seat. The car traveled several blocks before striking another vehicle and coming to a stop.

Gannon said the investigation was in its early stages, but the shooting seemed to be unintentional.

“This appears to me, from what I viewed and the officers’ reaction and distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Wright,” he said.

The Hennepin County medical examiner confirmed in its autopsy that Wright died of a gunshot wound to the chest and called the manner of death a homicide.

The officer who shot Wright was placed on administrative leave, though Mayor Elliott called for her to be dismissed. She was later identified as Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center department.

Hours after the police chief’s briefing, Elliott said the city council had approved a motion to shift control over the police department to his office, saying on Twitter the move “would streamline things and establish a chain of command and leadership.”

The killing in Brooklyn Center, like several other recent high-profile fatal police

shootings of Black men, originated with the kind of traffic stop that civil rights activists say has often been used by law enforcement as a form of harassment of minority motorists.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota cited a public defenders finding that 54 percent of drivers stopped for minor equipment violations between January and September in 2018 in Minneapolis were Black, though African Americans represent just 19 percent of the city’s population.

Ben Crump, the attorney who helped win a $27 million civil settlement for the Floyd family from the city of Minneapolis, said he was also representing the Wrights. “Daunte Wright is yet another young Black man killed at the hands of those who have sworn to protect and serve all of us – not just the whitest among us,” Crump said in a statement.

Wright’s mother told reporters on Sunday she had received a call from her son telling her police had pulled him over for having air fresheners dangling from his rear-view mirror, which is illegal in Minnesota. She could hear police tell him to get out of the vehicle, she said.

Gannon said “a hanging item from the rear-view mirror” was discovered when police pulled Wright over.

Wright’s father, Aubrey, told the Washington Post his son had dropped out of high school a few years earlier due to a learning disability and had been working various jobs to help support his young son.

Myanmar activists vow week of protests during new year holidays YANGON Agencies

Myanmar pro-democracy activists pledged on Tuesday to hold a series of protests this week to maintain pressure on military rulers during the country’s most important holiday of the year.

The five-day New Year holidays, known as Thingyan, are usually celebrated with prayers, ritual cleaning of Buddha images in temples, and high-spirited water-throwing on the streets.

Activists urged people this year to stage symbolic protests from the start of the holiday on Tuesday, including by painting a three-finger salute used by demonstrators on traditional Thingyan pots filled with flowers, which are typically displayed at this time.

“The military council doesn’t own Thingyan. The power of people is in the hands of people,” Ei Thinzar Maung, a leader of the General Strike Collaboration Committee protest group, wrote on Facebook.

Ei Thinzar Maung said other planned holiday protests against the junta included the splattering of

red paint on sidewalks and the blasting of car horns.

Activists also called for a day of silence to commemorate the victims of the violence and for a day of religious observance on Saturday, with Buddhists urged to wear religious attire and recite prayers together and Christian communities to wear white and read psalms. Followers of other religions in the predominantly Buddhist country were urged to follow the call of their leaders.

It will be the second consecutive disrupted new year holiday after the coronavirus pandemic all but cancelled last year’s celebrations.

The February 1 coup has plunged Myanmar into crisis after 10 years of tentative steps towards democracy as the military stepped back from politics and allowed Aung San Suu Kyi to form a government after her party swept a 2015 election.

The military says it had to overthrow her government because a November election again won by her National League for Democracy was rigged. The election commission dismissed the accusation.

The coup has triggered daily protests by those op-

posed to military rule, but at a heavy price, with security forces killing 710 protesters, according to a tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) activist group.

That included 82 people killed in the town of Bago, about 70 km (45 miles) northeast of Yangon, on Friday.

Details of the violence were difficult to verify because of the junta’s curbs on broadband internet and mobile data services. A spokesman for the junta could not be reached for comment.

Suu Kyi, 75, who has led Myanmar’s struggle against the military rule for decades and who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has been detained since the coup and charged with various offences. These include violating a colonial-era official secrets act that could see her jailed for 14 years.

“We do not celebrate Myanmar Thingyan this year since over 700 of our innocent brave souls are killed by inhumane junta forces unlawfully. We believe we will win this revolution,” said one Twitter user identified as Shwe Ei.

Chinese premier calls for more communication between China, US BEIJING Agencies

China and the United States should step up their communication while managing their differences and respecting each other’s core interests, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told a group of senior U.S. executives on Tuesday.

China hopes the United States could work with China to meet each other halfway, said Li at a virtual conference with presidents and chief executives from more than 20 large U.S. companies. “(We need to) step up dialogue and communication, and expand practical cooperation, properly manage differences, and push Sino-U.S. relations towards the direction of overall stability,” Li was quoted as saying by state television. Bilateral ties had sunk to the lowest level in decades under the Trump administration, which accused China of committing a range of misdeeds from intellectual property theft to the spread of the novel coronavirus.

High-level talks in Alaska last month, the first since U.S. President Joe Biden took office, yielded no breakthrough. The need for communication was echoed by China’s state planner also on Tuesday when it told China representatives from over 40 U.S. firms at a roundtable that it welcomed conversations with U.S. firms on any complaint, including forced technology transfers and intellectual property rights.

“If you believe you’ve been harmed or bullied in China, tell us first,” Zhang Huanteng, vice director of the Department of Na-

tional Economy at the NDRC. “We’d feel very wronged if we aren’t aware of things and the U.S. government tells us first,” said Zhang, adding that Chinese regulators were baffled when they first read the U.S. Section 301 Report, which set off the Sino-U.S. trade war.

NDRC Officials also briefed the firms present, including Intel, Johnson & Johnson and IBM, on China’s 2021-2025 development plan, saying there is huge potential to

collaborate on electric vehicles, carbon neutrality and the digital economy.

“We hope the U.S. business circle could work together with NDRC to push the great ship of Sino-U.S. relations back to the track of healthy development as soon as possible,” said Gao Jian, vice director at the NDRC International Department.

Tao Lin, a vice president at Tesla, told reporters that she welcomed NDRC’s invitation to more dialogue.

“Officials at the NDRC are quite blunt – if we have any issues we can talk to them, so there’s no need for us to go to U.S. headquarters, foreign governments and then back to China,” she said.

‘DON’T PLAY WITH FIRE ON TAIWAN’: China told the United States on Tuesday to stop playing with fire over Taiwan and lodged a complaint after Washington issued guidelines that will enable U.S. officials to meet more freely with officials from the island that China claims as its own. The U.S. State Department’s Friday decision to deepen relations with self-ruled Taiwan came amid stepped-up Chinese military activity around the island, including almost daily air force incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters they had lodged “stern representations” with the United States.

China urges the United States “not to play with fire on the Taiwan issue, immediately stop any form of U.S.-Taiwan official contacts, cautiously and appropriately handle the matter, and not send wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces so as not to subversively influence and damage Sino-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”, he said.

Washington has watched with alarm the uptick in tensions, and on Sunday U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was concerned about China’s aggressive actions against Taiwan.

In a written response to Reuters on Blinken’s remarks, China’s Foreign Ministry

said the government had the absolute determination to protect the country’s sovereignty.

“Don’t stand on the opposite side of 1.4 billion Chinese people,” it added. Taiwan’s Defence Ministry on Tuesday reported a further intrusion by Chinese jets into its air defence identification zone (ADIZ) – four J-16 fighters and an anti-submarine warfare aircraft.

On Monday, Taiwan said 25 Chinese air force aircraft including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers entered its ADIZ, the largest reported incursion to date.

Taiwan is China’s most sensitive territorial and diplomatic issue, and a regular source of Sino-U.S. friction. China has never renounced the use of force to bring the democratically ruled island under its control.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced days before the end of former President Donald Trump’s presidency in January that he was lifting restrictions on contacts between U.S. officials and their Taiwanese counterparts. While Washington officially recognises Beijing rather than Taipei, like most countries, the United States is Taiwan’s most important international supporter and arms seller. The United States is required by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

China believes the United States is colluding with Taiwan to challenge Beijing and giving support to those who want the island to declare formal independence.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen says the island is an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name, and that she will defend its freedom and security.

Wednesday, 14 April, 2021

ISLAMABAD

Pakistan, south africa clash in third t20i today CENTURION

M

Agencies

ATCH one went down to the penultimate ball. Match two was as one-sided as they come.

What are these two teams really about?

South Africa have been rebuilding for much of the last six years and still don't seem to have much beyond the outlines of a foundation. They know they have a host of decent players - so much so that even with seven first-choice ones missing, they have packed a decent punch against Pakistan in the two T20Is. The next question is how best to make use of the wealth of talent at their disposal.

While their combinations are dictated largely by player availability, batting is one area they may want to address. Though they have gone into both matches with a surplus

of bowlers, their batting line-up appears short of at least one batsman. Calls for Kyle Verreynne - the second-highest run-scorer in the 2018-19 one-day cup - to be included have abounded among public and pundits alike, and it is difficult to see the rest of this series playing out without him making an appearance - whether at the expense of another batsman or as an addition to the line-up.

Pakistan are at full strength but their strongest suit - their bowling - did not look at their best in the first match while they did not have enough to defend in the second.

Mohammad Nawaz has been their most threatening presence, but they would be hoping for more incision from legspinner Usman Qadir and left-arm quick Shaheen Shah Afridi.

The second T20I aside, Pakistan's lineup has shown they can post big totals albeit with only one or two players coming good.

Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam and Moham-

mad Rizwan lead their run-charge and they will want to see more from the middle-order to develop a complete performance.

Both teams appear to still have plenty of work to do before they are ready for the T20 World Cup, a task for later in the year.

With this being a four-match series, whoever wins the next match will have one hand on the trophy.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Andile Phehlukwayo had the lightest workload in the second T20I, where he neither bowled a ball nor was he required to bat. While the latter suggests the top order did the job it is supposed to, South Africa's many bowling options means Phehlukwayo is finding himself surplus to requirement at the death despite that being his specialty. Sisanda Magala and Lizaad Williams did a sterling job in giving away just 30 runs besides taking four wickets in the last four overs, and South Africa may have to find a different way to use Phehluk-

wayo in the middle period.

He earned his 100th cap in the first T20I but Mohammad Hafeez has not made the kind of impression he may have wanted to in this series. With scores of 13 and 32 - and dismissals against the spinners in both innings - Hafeez has some unfinished business against what must be his last tour to southern Africa. He has two previous fifties in South Africa - including his joint secondhighest score of 86 - so perhaps a return to a happy hunting ground could bring out the best in him. Pakistan need that, especially as they seek to avoid an over-reliance on their top three.

South Africa won't want to tinker too much with the combination that won on Monday. But the continued absence of Verreynne and the difficulties Wihan Lubbe has had in building an innings may mean a change in the top five. There is also the possibility of Rassie van der Dussen, if fit, get-

SPORTS 11 ting the nod ahead of Verreynne or displacing Pite van Biljon.

If Fakhar Zaman has not recovered from the rash that kept him out of the second match, Pakistan would have to give Sharjeel Khan another opportunity and would want their line-up to give the attack more to work with.

The series moves back to Centurion for the final two matches, which may suit Pakistan just fine. They won both ODIs here on this tour, chasing in the first match and defending in the second. With the match starting in the afternoon, there shouldn't be any early moisture. Conditions are expected to be more even irrespective of the teams batting first or second even if the pitch is slightly slower than at the Wanderers. Temperatures have gone up this week, so expect a scorcher at close to 30 degrees.

SQUADS: SOUTH AfrIcA (POSSIbLE): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Janneman Malan, 3 Rassie van der Dussen/Kyle Verreynne, 4 Pite van Biljon, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (captain), 6 George Linde, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo 8 Sisanda Magala, 9 Beuran Hendricks, 10 Lizaad Williams, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi.

PAkISTAN (POSSIbLE): 1 Mohammad Rizwan, 2 Fakhar Zaman/Sharjeel Khan, 3 Babar Azam (captain), 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Haidar Ali, 6 Faheem Ashraf, 7 Hasan Ali, 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Usman Qadir, 11 Mohammad Hasnain.

Jofra Archer cleared to West Brom thump Southampton, Brighton resume training after hold Everton in Premier League hand surgery LONDON

Agencies

LONDON Agencies

Jofra Archer cleared to resume training after hand surgery but IPL stint remains uncertain File image of Jofra Archer | Sportzpics / IPL media England fast bowler Jofra Archer has been cleared to return to training, it was announced Tuesday, after he had surgery to remove a fragment of glass from his finger last month.

But just how much of a part the Sussex quick will play in this year’s edition of the Indian Premier League remains uncertain. Archer, 26, suffered the injury when he smashed a fish tank while trying to clean it. He played two Tests and all five Twenty20s during England’s recent tour of India but was ruled out of the oneday series because of a problem with his right elbow.

Both those injuries led to Archer’s absence from the early stages of the IPL, where he is reigning most valuable player, and on an £800,000 ($1.1 million) contract with Rajasthan Royals.

England, however, hope the multi-format star will be able to up his bowling “intensity” from next week.

An England and Wales Cricket Board statement said: “England and Sussex bowler Jofra Archer has been given the

all-clear by his hand consultant to resume training after his right hand continues to heal following his operation on Monday 29 March.

“He will return to light training this week, working closely with the Sussex and England men’s medical teams. It is hoped that he will be able to up his intensity with his bowling from next week.

“A further update on his elbow injury will be provided once he has returned to bowling to assess the effectiveness of his recent injection. No decision has been made as yet on when Archer is due to return to playing.”

Kumar Sangakkara, the Royals’ director of cricket and a former Sri Lanka captain, said recently the franchise would not risk Archer’s fitness in a year where England will want him playing in both the T20 World Cup and the Ashes.

“His value to world cricket and to England cricket is always part of our decision-making process and we are always guided by the experts in English cricket who look after Jofra to guide us on how we could support that journey,” insisted Sangakkara.

“It’s not something we look at selfishly in terms of playing in the IPL. “We understand the value of Jofra and we take a holistic view of how important Jofra is not just to our cause but to England cricket and world cricket as well.”

Medvedev positive for Covid-19, withdraws from Monte Carlo Masters PARIS Agencies

Daniil Medvedev has withdrawn from the Monte Carlo Masters after testing positive for Covid-19, the ATP Tour announced on Tuesday.

“It’s a big disappointment not to play in Monte-Carlo. My focus is now on recovery and I look forward to getting back out on Tour as soon and as safely as possible,” the Russian world No 2 said in an ATP statement.

Medvedev, who practised with Rafael Nadal on Monday, the day of his positive test, has been placed in quarantine, “and continues to be monitored by the Tournament Physician and ATP Medical Team”,

the statement added.

Medvedev, a finalist in Monte Carlo in 2019, had a first round bye and has been replaced in the singles second round where he was due to play either Fili or Nikoloz Basilashvili on Wednesday.

As a Monaco resident the 25-year-old was allowed to reside at his home, in contrast to other players who are living in strict bio-secure bubble accommodation.

Runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open this year, he took over the number two ATP ranking with his victory at Marseille in March.

He was due on court in Monte Carlo following his upset quarter-final defeat to Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in the Miami Open at the start of the month.

West Bromwich Albion improved their slender hopes of avoiding relegation from the Premier League as they survived VAR controversy to beat Southampton 3-0, while Everton’s fading top four bid was damaged by a 0-0 draw at Brighton on Monday.

Albion saw Mbaye Diagne’s goal questionably ruled out by VAR early in the first half at the Hawthorns.

But Sam Allardyce’s side recovered from that blow to sweep into a two-goal lead by half-time thanks to Matheus Pereira’s penalty and a Matt Phillips strike.

Callum Robinson sealed West Brom’s second successive win after the interval as the Baggies built on their stunning 5-2 victory at Chelsea. Second bottom Albion move within eight points of fourth bottom Newcastle with seven games left. The Baggies have scored eight goals in their last two games, two more than they had netted in their previous 11 combined, but their unexpected revival might have come too late to save them from slipping into the Championship. “We have had two very important wins that are pricking up people’s ears but unfortunately we have to rely on other peo-

ple losing,” Allardyce said.

The latest VAR row in a season of problems with the technology drew a scathing response from Allardyce.

“I’m afraid so,” he said when asked if VAR is a laughing stock. “There are too many of us not being given an opportunity to express how to make it better.”

IcE-cOOL PErEIrA: Southampton’s limp display was the worst possible preparation for next weekend’s FA Cup semi-final against Leicester.

After just four minutes it looked like being a frustrating evening for Albion.

Diagne nodded in from close-range and was flagged offside, with VAR backing the onfield call because television cameras could not get the right angle to conclusively prove the striker was on or offside.

But Pereira was brought down by Saints keeper Fraser Forster in the 32nd minute and the Brazilian picked himself up to dispatch the spot-kick. Phillips got the second three minutes later when he converted Diagne’s cross at the far post. Robinson put the result beyond doubt in the 69th minute when he drilled in from Okay Yokuslu’s pass.

Adding to Southampton’s woes, Johnstone saved James Ward-Prowse’s stoppagetime penalty after Conor Townsend’s foul on

Moussa Djenepo. At the Amex Stadium, Everton were hoping to close the gap on fourth placed West Ham in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

But Carlo Ancelotti’s team managed only one shot on target as their winless run extended to five games in all competitions.

Brighton dominated for long periods and Neal Maupay and Yves Bissouma, with a spectacular overhead kick, both went close in the first half. Lewis Dunk’s goalbound flick brought a fine save from Everton keeper Robin Olsen after the break. Maupay and Jakub Moder were narrowly off target as Brighton pressed for a winner.

But Alex Iwobi nearly snatched the points for Everton when he flashed his shot wide in the last minute. Everton, in eighth place, are seven points behind West Ham with a game in hand, while Brighton moved seven points clear of the relegation zone.

“The attitude of the team was good, the quality of the play was not so good,” said Ancelotti, who was without injured England striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

“The last four games were not good. We have difficulties in this moment but we need to move on. “We are still in the fight. It is more difficult but we will not give up. It is a strange season with unpredictable results.”

Japan Olympic adviser urges Covid-19 vaccine option for athletes TOKYO Agencies

A health adviser to Japan’s Olympic committee said on Tuesday athletes should have the option of getting Covid-19 vaccines, days after a public outcry led the government to deny it was making them a priority.

Japan on Thursday had dismissed a media report that it was considering vaccinating all its Olympians by the end of June after the idea sparked a social media uproar amid a slow vaccine rollout for the rest of the population.

But on Tuesday, the adviser, Nobuhiko Okabe, told Reuters that although vaccines should not be an obligation, they should be available to the athletes who want them.

Okabe is an infectious disease expert who helped guide Japan’s response to the H1N1 outbreak in 2009 and advises on its Covid19 response.

“I think the recommendation should be to be immunized, particularly for the athletes,” said Okabe, who has held leadership roles in the World Health Organisation (WHO).

He said choices by individual athletes to refuse the vaccine for health or religious reasons “should be respected.”

About 1.1 million health care workers in Japan have received at least their first dose of Pfizer Inc-BioNTech’s vaccine.

Inoculations of the country’s sizable elderly population began on Monday, but some

CMYK

experts caution that shots for the general populace may not be available until late summer or even winter because of constrained supplies.

Okabe, who heads the Kawasaki City Institute for Public Health, also said Japan’s commercialisation and licensing hurdles involving drugs and medical products remain

a “big problem,” as they could slow its response to health crises such as pandemics.

Japan has approved only one Covid-19 vaccine so far and about 0.9% of its population of 126 million has gotten at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, compared with 2.2% in South Korea or 36% in the United States, according to a Reuters tracker.

wednesday, 14 April, 2021

Prayer Timings

news

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

4:19

12:05

4:38

5:43

6:27

7:50

MusliMs beGin RaMadan with socially-distanced pRayeRs, vaccines JAKARTA

M

agencies

USLIMS began marking Ramadan with communal prayers Tuesday in a socially distanced contrast to the empty mosques of a year ago when Islam’s holiest month coincided with the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Covid-19 cases are spiking in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, but vaccines are being administered and the government is loosening restrictions. Mosques were allowed to open for Ramadan prayers with strict health protocols in place, and with malls and cafes open, passers-by could again see curtains shielding the sight of food from people fasting.

Neighboring Muslim-majority Malaysia also eased its restrictions, including last year’s ban on Taraweeh prayers and allowing popular open-air bazaars selling food, drinks and clothes to open.

Indonesia’s Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas announced in a televised address Monday evening that the new Ramadan moon had been spotted. The holy month is marked by intense prayer,

dawn-to-dusk fasting, and nightly feasts.

Last year, authorities shuttered all mosques and clerics issued a fatwa, or edict, urging Muslims to pray at home over the holy month rather than congregate in crowded spaces and risk spreading the virus.

Muslims this year are expecting a virus resurgence but all mosques will be continuing to adhere to social distancing and other precautions, which will significantly reduce crowds, said Nasaruddin Umar, imam of Jakarta’s Istiqlal grand mosque.

“I miss everything of Ramadan already,” Umar said, “The heart of faithful Muslims is tied to the mosque […] the longing for Ramadan lovers has finally been relieved today although the pandemic has not yet ended.”

In the capital, Jakarta, authorities disinfected 317 mosques on Sunday in preparation for Ramadan, said Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan. Social distancing markers have been installed and soap and hand sanitizers have been prepared.

The government also will allow people to hold Iftar gatherings during Ramadan in restaurants, malls and cafes, which can serve customers up to 50 per cent of their capacity and follow strict health guidelines.

seven youngsters arrested in cordon, search operations in ioK The occupation forces in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) on Tuesday arrested seven youth in Baramulla and Kupwara districts. According to details, the personnel of Indian army, paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force and police, during cordon and search operations, arrested five youngsters, including Mohammad Yaseen, Showkat Ahmad and Ghulam Nabi Rather, at Kachloo crossing on BaramullaHandwara Highway and Baderkali in Handwara. In another operation, the troops arrested Bashir Ahmed and Waseem Ahmed in Keeri area of Baramulla district. Vice chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Young Men’s League (JKYML), Zahid Ashraf, came down hard on the Modi regime for its inhuman and colonial conduct in the occupied region and blasted it for its continuation of bloodletting and persecution of the fettered Kashmiri population. Terming the Indian conduct in the occupied territory as barbaric, he said that the Hindutva psyche of Modi and his henchmen is perpetrating only death and destruction and fuelling violence across the valley. Meanwhile, it has been resolved through posters appeared in the territory that the Kashmiris will continue their struggle for the implementation of the United Nations resolutions and restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s identity and integrity. The posters pasted by JKYML, Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Justice Party, Kashmir Resistance Movement, Kashmir Hurriyat Youth Forum, Jammu and Kashmir Justice League and Jammu and Kashmir Justice Peace Initiative also called for preserving the disputed nature of Jammu and Kashmir. The posters while demanding the restoration of the special status of IOK said that India cannot change the disputed status of the territory through its unilateral measures. news desk

Iftar occurs at sunset, the time Muslims break their fast and usually the prime time for people to have dinner together with friends and family members before the night prayer.

“Easing restrictions is like a breath of fresh air for us who are tired by this Covid19 outbreak,” said Anna Mardyastuti, a resident in Jakarta. “Yes, they should act to stop the virus, but not block the door to worship or to change our tradition of Ramadan entirely,” she said.

In Malaysia, Wan Noradriana Balqis, 21, welcomed the return of community prayers in mosques but said she will avoid Ramadan bazaars that are often packed with people.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to reopen the bazaars. The rules are there but many people don’t follow them,” the database administrative officer said.

Malaysia’s coronavirus cases have more than tripled since January to more than 362,000, with daily increases exceeding 1,000. Indonesia is the worst-hit country in Southeast Asia with over 1.5 million infections as of Monday and more than 42,600 deaths.

Indonesia will maintain its vaccine

rollout through Ramadan as officials tried to ease worries over the Islamic teaching that Muslims should refrain “from anything entering the body” between sunrise and sunset.

Indonesia’s top Muslim clerical body said Muslims eligible for vaccinations are not only allowed but “required” to get them during Ramadan.

Although Muslims abstain from all food and drink in daylight hours during Ramadan, the vaccine enters muscle rather than the bloodstream and is not nutrition, so it does not invalidate fasting, said Asrorun Niam Sholeh, the head of fatwas for the Indonesian Ulema Council.

“If we carry on taking our vaccines, we can ensure that next Ramadan we do return to some normality,” Sholeh said.

Some vaccine sites in Jakarta are extending their opening hours so Muslims can come after they have broken their fast.

Indonesia plans to vaccinate two-thirds of its population of about 270 million people — or just over 180 million people by the end of next year. The current priorities are health care workers, the elderly, and other at-risk populations, and the two-dose vaccine will be free for all Indonesians.

Iran’s Javad Zarif warns against US ‘sabotage’ and sanctions TEHRAN agencies

The latest attack at the Natanz nuclear facilities and sanctions will not give the United States leverage in talks to restore Iran’s nuclear deal, foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned on Tuesday.

Standing next to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Iranian capital Tehran, the diplomat said Iran is ready to come back into full compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) after it verifies the US has lifted all its unilateral sanctions.

“But the Americans should know that neither sanctions nor acts of sabotage will give them negotiation tools and these acts will only make the situation more difficult for them,” he said during the joint press conference.

The nuclear enrichment and centrifuge assembly facilities at Natanz in Isfahan were hit with a widespread power blackout on Sunday that Iran said was an act of “nuclear terrorism” by Israel and amounted to a “crime against humanity” since it could turn into a disaster.

Israeli and American media

have openly reported that Israel and its spy agency Mossad were behind the attack in an effort to halt Iran’s enrichment activities and derail JCPOA talks in Vienna that are slated to continue on Wednesday.

Iran says enrichment activity has not stopped as emergency power was restored on Monday, and has vowed to replace the decommissioned centrifuges – which it said were first-generation IR1 machines – with more advanced versions.

Zarif wrote a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday, saying: “If the US wants to avert consequences of this foolish gamble, it must cease to consider economic terrorism perpetrated by Trump or recent nuclear terrorism as negotiating leverage and remove all sanctions.”

The US has said it had no role in the attack on the Natanz nuclear facilities.

‘EUROPE CANNOT PREACH’: The Iranian foreign minister also railed against European countries for their performance on the nuclear deal and their blacklisting of several Iranian of-

ficials and entities.

According to Zarif, the fact that Europe stopped its economic dealings with Iran under US pressure shows it is increasingly losing its relevance in international relations.

Coupled with what Zarif called “very soft” European Union reactions to the Natanz incident and the humanitarian impact of sanctions on average Iranians, he said that means Europe is now following “the most extreme groups within the US, and Israel”.

He also slammed Europe for its Monday blacklisting of eight Iranian officials – including Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – and three prisons.

“Europe must know that it does not hold the ethical high ground. Europe cannot preach to the world. The Europe where xenophobia and Islamophobia have created horrific conditions for Muslims has neither reputation nor standing to sanction Iranian officials,” he said.

The EU imposed sanctions for the crackdown on Iranian protesters in 2019 when the UN says at least 304 protesters died during a near-complete internet blackout.

120m fell into extreme poverty, 255m lost jobs during pandemic: Guterres United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, while addressing the Financing for Development (FfD) Forum, said that a paradigm shift aligning the private sector with the global goals is needed to address the challenges of the future, including those triggered by Covid-19. He painted a grim picture of the past year during which more than three million have died of the virus.

Around 120 million have fallen into extreme poverty and the equivalent of 255 million fulltime jobs have been lost. He noted that as the speed of infections is increasing, “the crisis is far from over”. “An enormous push at the highest political level” is needed, said Guterres, to reverse these dangerous trends, prevent successive waves of infection, avoid a lengthy global recession and get back on track to fulfil the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. Advancing an equitable global response to recover from the pandemic is “putting multilateralism to the test”, the UN chief said, adding, “so far, we have failed”. To illustrate this, he pointed out that just 10 countries globally account for around 75 percent of Covid vaccinations given, noting that some estimates put the global cost of unequal access and vaccine hoarding at more than $9 trillion. Guterres underscored the need for “unity and solidarity” to save lives and prevent catastrophic debt and dysfunction. To set the course for a sustainable and resilient Covid response and recovery, the UN chief called for urgent action in six areas, beginning with closing the funding gap of the UNbacked vaccine initiative, COVAX. “To end the pandemic for good, we need equitable access to vaccines for everyone, everywhere”, he said. He also called for development assistance, to go primarily where it is most needed. The debt crisis needed to be properly addressed, he said, including “debt suspension, relief, and liquidity”. “But we need to go beyond debt relief”, he continued, urging a strengthened “international debt architecture to end the deadly cycles of debt waves, global debt crises and lost decades”. Investing in a new social contract, based on solidarity in education, green jobs, social protection, and health systems was the UN chief’s fifth priority action, which he maintained was “the foundation for sustainable and inclusive development”. “This Forum must provide ambition and momentum, to finance a resilient, inclusive, equitable and sustainable future for all”, the secretary-general concluded. agencies

India reels amid virus surge, affecting world vaccine supply NEW DELHI agencies

The Indian city of Pune is running out of ventilators as gasping coronavirus patients crowd its hospitals. Social media is full of people searching for beds, while relatives throng pharmacies looking for antiviral medicines that hospitals ran out of long ago.

The surge, which can be seen across India, is particularly alarming because the country is a major vaccine producer and a critical supplier to the UN-backed COVAX initiative.

That program aims to bring shots to some of the world’s poorest countries. Already the rise in cases has forced India to focus on satisfying its domestic demand — and delay deliveries to COVAX and elsewhere, including the United Kingdom and Canada.

India’s decision “means there is very little, if anything, left for COVAX and everybody else,” said Brook Baker, a vaccines expert at Northeastern University.

Pune is India’s hardest-hit city, but other major metropolises are also in crisis, as daily new infections hit record levels, and experts say that missteps stemming from the belief

that the pandemic was “over” are coming back to haunt the country.

When infections began plummeting in India in September, many concluded the worst had passed. Masks and social distancing were abandoned, while the government gave mixed signals about the level of risk.

When cases began rising again in February, authorities were left scrambling.

“Nobody took a long-term view of the pandemic,” said Dr. Vineeta Bal, who studies immune systems at the city’s Indian Institute of Science Education and Research.

She noted, for instance, that instead of strengthening existing hospitals, temporary sites were created. In Pune, authorities are resurrecting one of those makeshift facilities, which was crucial to the city’s fight against the virus last year.

India is not alone. Many countries in Europe that saw declines in cases are experiencing new surges, and infection rates have been climbing in every global region, partially driven by new virus variants.

Over the past week, India had averaged more than 130,000 cases per day. It has now reported 13.5 million virus cases since the pan-

demic began — pushing its toll past Brazil’s and making it second only to the United States’, though both countries have much smaller populations. Deaths are also rising and have crossed the 170,000 mark. Even those figures, experts say, are likely an undercount.

Nearly all states are showing an uptick in infections, and Pune — home to 4 million people — is now left with just 28 unused ventilators Monday night for its more than 110,000 Covid-19 patients.

The country now faces the mammoth challenge of vaccinating millions of people, while also contact-tracing the tens of thousands getting infected every day and keeping the health system from collapsing.

Dilnaz Boga has been in and out of hospitals in recent months to visit a sick relative and witnessed the shift firsthand as cases began to rise. Beds were suddenly unavailable. Nurses warned visitors to be careful.

Posters that advised proper mask-wearing sprang up everywhere.

And then, earlier this month, Boga and her 80-year-old mother tested positive. Doctors suggested that her mother be hospitalized, but there weren’t any beds available initially.

Both she and her mother are now recovering.

Compounding concerns about rising cases is the fact that the country’s vaccination drive could also be headed for trouble: Several Indian states have reported a shortage of doses even as the federal government has insisted there’s enough in stock.

After a sluggish start, India recently overtook the United States in the number of shots it’s giving every day and is now averaging 3.6 million. But with more than four times the number of people and that later start, it has given at least one dose to around just 7% of its population. India’s western Maharashtra state, home to Pune and financial capital Mumbai, has recorded nearly half of the country’s new infections in the past week. Some vaccination centers in the state turned away people due to shortages.

At least half a dozen Indian states are reporting similarly low stocks, but Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has called these concerns “deplorable attempts by some state governments to distract attention from their failures.”

Worries about vaccine supplies have led to criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which has exported 64.5 million

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 051-2204545. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

doses to other nations. Rahul Gandhi, the face of the main opposition Congress party, asked Modi in a letter whether the government’s export strategy was “an effort to garner publicity at the cost of our own citizens.”

Now, India has reversed course. Last month, COVAX said shipments of up to 90 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines were delayed because the Serum Institute of India decided to prioritize domestic needs.

The institute, which is based in Pune and is the world’s largest vaccine maker, told The Associated Press earlier this month that it could restart exports of the vaccine by June — if new coronavirus infections subside. But a continued surge could result in more delays.

And experts warn that India could be looking at just that. They suspect the most likely cause behind the widespread surge is the presence of more infectious variants.

Health officials confirmed last month that 80% of infections in the northern state of Punjab were due to the version of the virus first detected in the United Kingdom.

There’s also increasing concern about another new and potentially troublesome variant that was first detected in India itself.