EpaperISB_21-04-18

CMYK

18 April, 2021 I 5 Ramzan-ul-Mubarak, 1442 I Rs 25.00 I Vol XI No 290 I 32 Pages I Islamabad Edition

Covid-19 death toll Crosses 16,000 as Cases Continue to surge g

More than 100 deaths reported for 5th consecutive day

ISLAMABAD staff report

s

truggling to contain the third wave of covid-19, pakistan reported 112 new deaths over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 16,094, the national command and operation centre (ncoc) said saturday. the government portal registered 4,976 new infections of the coronavirus after conducting 65,279 tests, receiving back a positivity ratio of 7.6 per cent. the new cases

brought the total number of confirmed cases to 750,158. there are currently 79,108 active cases of covid-19 in the country, with 4,149 in critical condition, the ncoc said. sindh has been the worst hit with 271,524 cases followed by punjab, where 264,010 people have been tested positive, the ncoc said in a statement. the statistics suggest most deaths occurred in punjab, 62, followed by Khyberpakhtunkhwa (Kp), 36.

Meanwhile, the government has decided to start vaccination of people in the age

Coronavirus in

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

750,158

LAST UPDATED AT 8:45 AM ON APRIL 17, 2021

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

112

4,976

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

654,956 16,094 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

271,524

264,010

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

104,480

20,760

AJK/GB: ISLAMABAD: 15,304/5,174 68,906

group of 50 to 59 from Wednesday. a decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the ncoc chaired by Minister for planning and development asad umar. in a tweet, the minister for planning, who also heads ncoc, once again asked the people to register themselves for the vaccination. last week, asad had said that increased restrictions, broader lockdowns, and strong enforcement of standard operating procedures (sops) have started to 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. so far, more than 1 million people have been vaccinated, and the total number of people who have registered themselves for vaccination is now over 2 million, according to umar. private hospitals in major cities have also started inoculation with russia’s sputnik v vaccine imported by a private pharmaceutical company. health experts believe that the variant of covid-19 initially discovered in the united Kingdom has been behind the surge in the number of infections in the country. “the new variant seemed to be more contagious and deadly, and the only way we can control it is to shut all kinds of activities that may play role in the spread of the disease,” ejaz ahmad Khan, an infectious disease specialist at the shifa international hospital in islamabad, told xinhua. he said that the government is trying hard to control the situation, but the cooperation of the pakistani people is also very important. “solely, the government cannot take control of this fatal disease without our help.”

Imran calls for outlawing blasphemy on lines of Holocaust ISLAMABAD staff report

prime Minister imran Khan on saturday urged the Western countries to outlaw rising instances of blasphemy, just as some countries restrict antisemitic speech or holocaust denial. in a series of tweets, the prime minister condemned “extreme right politicians” in the West who “deliberately indulge” in willful and intentional provocations under the “guise of freedom of speech”. imran further observed that “Muslims have the greatest love and respect” for prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who “lives in our hearts”. “We cannot tolerate any such disrespect and abuse.”

“We demand an apology from these extremists.”, he said, adding that these people “clearly lack moral sense and courage to apologise” to the 1.3 billion Muslims living across the globe “for causing this hurt”. his tweet comes days after the federal cabinet approved a summary from the Ministry of interior proposing a ban on the hardline tehreeke-labbaik pakistan (tlp) under

Several PTI lawmakers offer support to Jahangir Tareen g

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more inside

pre-arrest bail of tareen, son extended in fia case LAHORE staff report

several pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (pti) lawmakers have offered to quit the assemblies in support of party stalwart Jahangir tareen during a meeting held at his lahore residence on saturday, according to a news outlet. according to the report, more than 30 members of the national and provincial assemblies attended the gathering and discussed the roadmap ahead for the party while a majority of lawmakers offered to resign. however, the strategy of resignations was not agreed upon unanimously for the time being by all the lawmakers. they were of the opinion that if “injustices” against tareen continue, then the option of resignations from the assemblies must be exercised. the report said that the lawmakers also decided to contact others from the party. it added that another meeting has been called on april 21 at the same venue to discuss prime Minister imran Khan’s silence over a letter sent by party members expressing dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs as well as

the provision of the anti-terrorism act (ata).

TLP BANNED AS NO ONE CAN BE ABOVE LAW: the premier made it clear that the government took action against tlp under the anti-terrorism law when it challenged the writ of the state and used street violence, as no one can be above the law and the country’s constitution. “let me make [it] clear to people here and abroad [that] our government only took action against tlp under our antiterrorist law when they challenged the writ of the state, used street violence and attacked the public and law enforcers. no one can be above the law and the constitution,” the premier said in his tweets. on Monday last, in nationwide protests that paralysed the country for days, thousands of tlp workers agitated against the arrest of their chief ahead of planned countrywide rallies to denounce the publication of caricatures in france. the protests, which choked entry and exit points to major cities, ended in hundreds of arrests, injuries and the deaths of tlp workers as well as police officials.

Queen Elizabeth lays to rest her husband Prince Philip STORY ON BACK PAGE

faraz, tarin sworn in as federal ministers STORY ON BACK PAGE

State’s writ cannot be challenged: Fawad tareen’s court notices. earlier in the day, a banking court in lahore extended until May 3 the pre-arrest bail period of tareen and his son ali tareen in three cases lodged by the federal investigation agency (fia) in the sugar scam, which also carries charges of money laundering and corporate fraud. the two appeared before the presiding judge of the special court, ameer Muhammad Khan, as defence, salman safdar, told the court that the fia had sent notices to his clients on

april 14 and summoned all record of their businesses. safdar maintained it was not possible to submit the mammoth record on a day’s notice, particularly due to the law and order situation. he further informed the court that tareen and his son will appear again before the agency on april 19. at this, the court adjourned the hearing until May 3 before extending their bail periods.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

STORY ON PAGE 02 in today’s issue

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Sunday, 18 April, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

STaTe’S wriT CannoT be Challenged: Fawad ISLAMABAD

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STAff RePORT

SSERTING that the writ of the state cannot be challenged, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday said the situation in the country has returned to normal after days of protests launched by the now-proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

Earlier, the protestors had sought the release of Saad Rizvi, the chief of the hardline religious group, and denounced the publication of blasphemous caricatures in France. The violent demonstrations had left two police officers dead and at least 340 wounded. Rizvi was later charged with instigating murder.

While speaking to the media in Rawalpindi after visiting injured police officers at District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, Chaudhry said that he congratulated the ministries of interior and religious affairs and provincial governments for jointly reigning on the protestors.

“It was once again established that the writ of the state cannot be challenged,” he said.

Pakistan is the world’s fifth-biggest country [by population] and nuclear power, Chaudhry said, questioning how anyone can undermine it and its government.

On Thursday, the government had outlawed the hardline group under antiterrorism provisions. “We don’t want to be

MINISTER SAYS GOVERNMENT HAS DECIDED TO BOOK RANA SANAULLAH UNDER TERRORISM LAWS FOR THREATENING CIVIL SERVANTS known as an extremist nation at the international level,” Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed had told reporters.

On Saturday, Chaudhry said proscribing the party was “purely” an internal decision and there was no foreign pressure on the government to do so.

The government handled the protestors in the best possible manner and the nationwide situation has now normalised.

Regretting the language employed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah Khan to threaten Punjab chief secretary and Lahore commissioner and deputy commissioner, the minister said the government has decided to book the politician under provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).

“Nobody can be allowed to threaten the state institutions and civil servants.”

The minister said people threatening the government meet a fate same as of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain. “If some persons blackmail institutions, he said, they will have to face action.”

“Pakistan’s state is not a weak state at all and no one should make the mistake of misunderstanding this,” he said, adding that Pakistan also has the “biggest defence

system and army” in the Muslim world.

“So those who wanted to undermine Pakistan should remove that misunderstanding of theirs,” he said.

He said that in a “functional

democracy”, there are different points of view and they are listened to but no one can attempts to blackmail the government or thinks he can exert power over it.

“The situation in all of Pakistan at this

time has become normal,” said Chaudhry and further expressed his regret for Friday’s social media ban for three-four hours, saying it was “necessary”.

He alleged that prior investigations on sectarian riots and organisations had found the involvement of the Indian intelligence agency, RAW, so “here too there are parties who are used and many times they don’t even know whose hands they are playing into.”

When asked about the future of TLP, Chaudhry said the party has finished. While the minister predicted the fate of the group in no uncertain terms, TLP is backed by a majority Sunni sect with a following of tens of thousands that will likely make it difficult to enforce any ban.

Domestic groups in Pakistan have a history of popping up with different names after being outlawed.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood also spoke to the media about the TLP in Lahore on Saturday.

Speaking about the protests by the group, he said police officers were tortured and the private property was damaged.

He opined that the matter could have been resolved through negotiations. He said more than 600 police personnel were injured in the protests.

Last year, the TLP group had ended a similar protest only after the government had signed a deal agreeing to endorse a boycott of French products and making a move in parliament to expel the French ambassador.

Cabinet to discuss 13-point agenda on Tuesday ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has summoned a federal cabinet meeting on Tuesday to discuss a 13-point agenda. According to details, the federal cabinet will take several important decisions on matters ranging from the approval of a database for record-keeping of essential commodities to a summary seeking permission regarding UN vehicles to move through Kabul from Karachi. Matters pertaining to the appointment of the board of governors under the Federal Medical Teaching Ordinance, board of governors for joint investment companies and appointment of CEO National Insurance Company will be discussed in the meeting. The members are also expected to approve decisions of the Cabinet Committee on Institutional Reforms and the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC). During the meeting, Dr Ishrat Hussain will brief the cabinet about the restructuring of PIA while SAPM on Power Tabish Gohar will present a plan in the cabinet regarding reducing circular debt. In the last cabinet meeting held on April 13, Fawad Chaudhry had announced to digitalise the cabinet proceedings including summaries and law-making content in order to save Rs510 million from the national exchequer. “The summaries and law-making affairs in the cabinet will be digitised,” he had announced adding that the cabinet members would be provided with a tablet from the next week and the step would help in saving Rs510 million. TLTP

3 passengers offloaded from plane on fake Covid-19 reports PESHAWAR: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Saturday arrested three people, including a woman, for attempting to travel abroad on fake Covid-19 certificates from Bacha Khan International Airport Peshawar.

According to details, three passengers tried to dodge the airport officials and travel abroad from the Peshawar airport while using fake Covid-19 test reports. However, when the CAA officials counter-checked the test reports, it emerged that they were fake. To this, the passengers were offloaded from the plane and handed over to the FIA immigration officials. They were later shifted to the Hayatabad Cell of the FIA for further interrogation into the matter. In February 2021, two Saudi-bound passengers were taken into custody from Bacha Khan International Airport Peshawar for trying to travel while presenting fake Covid-19 test reports. Meanwhile, the Corona Experts Advisory Group (CEAG) submitted recommendations to authorities to stop the spread of the virus on Saturday. The British and South African variants of the virus are the main cause of the spike in virus cases, according to the experts group. The group made some vital recommendations to the government including making the quarantine centres operational again. “The government should enforce strict protocols at airports again,” Dr Javed Hayat Khan, a member of the CEAG said. “The number of tests should also be enhanced at airports,” he added.

“The people arriving from the UK and South Africa should be kept in quarantine till arrival of their test reports,” the experts group suggested. It is to be mentioned here that the experts group had earlier recommended province-wide lockdown for another two weeks period to stop the spread of the virus and screening of the general population to further check the impact of the disease. The 12-member CEAG had also strongly recommended closure of the out-patient departments (OPDs) of the government hospitals across the province. TLTP

RAWALPINDI: A view of a closed market at City Saddar Road due to smart lockdown in the city. OnLine

KP CM accepts resignations of three aides, includes three new faces to his cabinet ISLAMABAD MiAn ABRAR

In an important reshuffle, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Mehmood Khan on Saturday accepted resignations of his three aides and introduced three new faces to help improve performance and transparency in the provincial cabinet.

The new faces include Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, Aaquibullah Khan and Ibrahim Khattak.

Saif is former Senator, who recently joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Aaquibullah is younger brother of Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaisar and Ibrahim is son of defence minister Pervez Khattak.

Those, who had resigned from the cabinet, were Ziaullah Bangash, advisor to the CM on information technology, Hamitaullah, advisor to the CM on

energy, and CM’s special assistant Ghazan Jamal.

Bangash had resigned from his post and sent his resignation to the CM. “I am

resigning from my post as adviser to the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa because I have a lot of responsibilities and I want to focus more on my constituency,” Bangash had said in a statement on Twitter.

Ghazan had also sent his resignation to the CM and said that he is resigning due to some unavoidable reasons.

The CM accepted the resignations.

Sources said, “It has been decided to include four new faces in the provincial cabinet and the new ministers or advisers may take oath of their ministries on Tuesday.”

They added that the cabinet members, who were shown the door, are those who did not perform well or were involved in wrongdoings.

It merits mentioning that Atif Khan and Shakeel Khan have been re-inducted into the cabinet while Fazal Shakoor and Faisal have also been inducted.

Sunday, 18 April, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

03

BuSineSSmen uRge Sindh govt to Revoke BuSineSS timing notiFiCation KARACHI

t

TLTP

HE Sindh government has been urged to revoke business timing notification and allow all types of businesses to operate at full capacity throughout Ramazan.

In a statement on Saturday, Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) Zubair Motiwala and President Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Shariq Vohra expressed sheer dismay over the Sindh government’s decision to allow limited business timings from Sehri to 6:00pm and complete closure of businesses on Saturdays and Sundays.

They said that they have been urging the Sindh government through letters to avoid imposing such unpopular decisions at a very crucial time as this is the peak season and if businesses are disallowed to carry out activities for two consecutive days and compelled to observe limited business

timings during the remaining working days, it will prove to be disastrous for them throughout next year.

They said they have sent letters to the chief minister Sindh, local government minister, chief secretary and commissioner Karachi and also dropped messages from

time to time but have not received any response which is a bit disappointing, adding, “We were not expecting this kind of response from the Sindh government which has always responded to KCCI’s pleas.”

Referring to large number of complaints being received from the shopkeepers of

almost all the commercial markets of Karachi who were constantly seeking KCCI’s assistance, the chairman BMG stressed that the government has to come up with some other feasible solution which could save everyone from the pandemic and also ensure zero damage to the poor shopkeepers and small traders who cannot afford any further shocks.

“In this regard, the business and industrial community is ready to fully comply with all the SOPs but closure would bring much more difficulties and miseries than opening and controlling the pandemic through the implementation of SOPs”, he added.

He further said, “These are challenging times and every member of the civil society is facing problems due to Covid-19 crises.

Perhaps, it is time when the government should think about extending monetary help to citizens, especially the small shopkeepers who are now in a net debt position and even paying rents to owners of their business

Ram Pyari Museum set to be inaugurated tomorrow GUJRAT

premises has really become difficult.”

“It is the finding of our research department that many shopkeepers have already gone bankrupt and they are running their businesses in anticipation that this season of Ramazan will pull them out of crises. Hence, it is imperative that the government should understand the real situation faced by the trading community”, he added.

President KCCI Shariq Vohra cautioned that shutting down shops for two days and limited business hours would lead to creating a chaotic situation as the people would find no other option but to come out on streets to protest due to rising unemployment and poverty.

Keeping in view the overall situation and grievances suffered by the business and industrial community, he hoped that the Sindh government would look into this serious issue and take steps to save businesses and the economy from further disaster.

FBR alerts taxpayers about fake, harmful emails

TLTP

ISLAMABAD

Masterpiece of Victorian era in Gujrat, Ram Pyari Museum, is set to be inaugurated on Monday (tomorrow).

According to historical accounts, Hindu contractor of Gujrat Sundar Das Choppra constructed this building in 1918 in his wife's name Ram Pyari.

The road where this Ram Pyari Mahal is situated was also known as Ram Pyari Road, which is now called Circular Road.

After 1947, when Ram Pyari left for India, the building was used for school purposes. This heritage site had also been used as a girls college hostel till 2002.

When the University of Gujrat was established, it was again used as a female students’ hostel for UOG. Later on it was used as a hostel for girl students of a college.

The Archaeology Directorate has arranged artefacts in newly renovated showcases. In the upper portion of the building, three galleries have been set up. Gujrat Gallery has information about heroes of the city (poets, sports persons, Nishan-e-Haider holders, writers etc).

One gallery is reserved for kids’ information through interesting decors. Outside a long room is being renovated as an auditorium for documentaries, extension lectures, and discussions on heritage, history and culture. Illumination at night has also been completed. Adviser to Chief Minister on Tourism and Archaeology Asif Mehmood will be the chief guest of the inaugural ceremony of the museum which has been renovated by experts from Punjab Archaeology Directorate.

According to Mehmood, "The unfortunate

TLTP

Street criminals shoot cricketer dead in Chaman

administrative decisions caused severe blows to Ram Pyari building." He said that in 2017, it was handed over to the Archaeology Directorate to make it a museum.

"However, no solid work was started to achieve the target. From 2017 till 2020, it remained an empty building," said the Adviser. He said that on directions by Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, renovation work started on solid steps. Now it has been renovated from outside and inside, he added.

‘Simple Photoshop’: how a Pakistani counterfeiter may have aided Russian trolls KARACHI

CHAMAN

Agencies

TLTP

Amid the cascade of US sanctions imposed Thursday on Russian cybersecurity companies and officials alleged to be operating on behalf of the Kremlin’s intelligence services, one company stood out: the Fresh Air Farm House in Karachi.

The Farm House, whose Facebook page shows a waterpark-equipped holiday rental, is run by 34-year-old Mohsin Raza, one of two founders of an online fake ID business that prosecutors say helped Russian operatives get a toehold in the United States.

According to a US Treasury statement and an indictment issued this week by federal prosecutors in New Jersey, Raza operated a digital fake ID mill, churning out images of doctored drivers’ licenses, bogus passports, and forged utility bills to help rogue clients pass verification checks at US payment companies and tech firms. The six-

A first-class cricketer was shot dead on offering resistance during a robbery bid in Chaman district on Saturday.

According to details, the incident reported in the Kali Haji Akbar Salehzai area of Chaman when a young boy identified as Mohammad Naeem was shot dead while resisting a robbery. He was a first-class cricketer.

According to police, Mohammad Naeem was on his way home on a motorcycle from the local market when he was shot dead during a robbery bid. The heirs of the victim, staged a protest by placing the body in front of the deputy commissioner’s office while angry people burnt tires and closed the Mall Road to traffic.

The protesters have demanded the provincial government to immediately arrest the killers. Police have launched an operation for the search of suspects.

Secretary Tourism Punjab Ehsan Bhutta said that beautiful architecture is mesmerising and attractive for visitors. He said that this will be a gift for Gujrat's people as previously there was no museum in this whole region. He thanked Brigadier Ehsan of Pakistan Army who presented a gift of portraits of Nishan-e-Haider holders including Maj Aziz Bhatti Shaheed, Maj Shabeer Sharif and Maj Akram, all from district Gujrat.

count indictment charges Raza with making false documents and aggravated identity theft.

Reuters reached Raza in Pakistan at a telephone number provided by the US Treasury’s sanctions list. He confirmed his identity and acknowledged being a digital counterfeiter, saying he used “simple Photoshop” to alter ID cards, bills, and other documents to order.

Raza — who said he’s also dabbled in graphic design, e-commerce and cryptocurrency — denied any wrongdoing, saying he was merely helping people access accounts that they’d been frozen out of.

Among his customers, the New Jersey indictment alleges, was an employee of the Internet Research Agency — an infamous Russian troll farm implicated by US investigators, media reports, leaked documents, and former insiders in efforts to interfere in US elections.

The IRA employee used Raza’s services in 2017 to procure forged drivers’ licenses to support the identity

of fake accounts on Facebook, according to the indictment.

Facebook Inc. did not immediately offer any comment. Raza said he didn’t track who used his service.

He said the inspiration for his business came several years ago when a PayPal account which he had opened under an alias was locked, trapping hundreds of dollars he’d received for optimising online search results.

Unwilling to forgo what he described as “hard-earned real money,” he Photoshopped an identity document under his alias’ name. Once PayPal unfroze his account, he realised he had stumbled on a good idea and the business took off from there. His site, Second Eye Solutions, boasted of “6,000 & more satisfied clients” before Raza pulled it down Thursday morning.

The old website featured scores of customer reviews thanking Second Eye for providing bogus identity documents used to verify accounts — mostly with PayPal. PayPal Holdings Inc. had no immediate comment.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has said it has received complaints from taxpayers and other users that emails are being sent to them regarding income tax defaulters list. In a statement on Saturday, the FBR has denied any connection with these emails which are being sent from a fake email address, alert@fbr.news. These fake emails instruct the targeted taxpayers to check the attached Income Tax Defaulters List for their details. Likewise, some emails pretending to contain the password for the attached defaulter list are also being sent to the taxpayers. FBR has warned that the attachments with such fake emails are infected by harmful viruses and malware. The FBR said that this nefarious activity apparently by some hackers is a type of spamming used to send viruses and malwares to the taxpayers and other users. The FBR has advised that such fake emails may be ignored and immediately be reported to the authorities concerned. To assist taxpayers how to tackle such fake emails, the FBR has also provided guidance to the taxpayers which can be seen on www.fbr.gov.pk, said the statement.

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Sunday, 18 April, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

AJK presIdent seeKs releAse oF KAshmIrI prIsoners ISLAMABAD

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tLtP

zAD Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has called for immediate and unconditional release of Kashmiri leaders and thousands of political activists languishing in Indian jails, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmad Shah and Asiya Andrabi.

In a statement on Saturday, he said that these guiltless detainees should be released during the holy month of Ramazan and before the Eid-ul-Fitr so that they could celebrate the holy festival with their families and relatives.

The AJK president said, “It is a matter of grave concern for us that after abolishing Kashmir's special status on August 5, 2019, thousands of innocent Kashmiris were detained and they have not been released even after two years.” He said the majority of those arrested were youths who had been imprisoned simply because the Indian government feared they would rise up against its illegal actions and will oppose their antiKashmir measures.

The state president said that during the notorious military operation in the name of house-to-house searches in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK), military officers and personnel mistreat women, elders and children in an unethical manner.

“The young people are killed, wounded or arrested and put in prisons and concentration camps where they are subjected to the worst inhumane treatment so that they would give up their support for the freedom and right to self-determination movement and mentally accept Indian slavery.

Khan said that despite this cruelty, oppression and inhumane treatment by India, the people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir are not ready to compromise on their right to freedom or to show any weakness. The president appealed to the people of the entire Jammu and Kashmir to unite to snatch the right of freedom from their common enemy India and turn their differences towards India instead of targeting each other.

Judge admonishes FIA over ‘poor performance’ in harassment cases KARACHI: A court in Karachi on Saturday admonished the officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) investigating cases of harassment of women on social media for their poor performance and directed them to submit a report on the next hearing. Raged, Karachi East District and Sessions Judge Khalid Hussain Shahani made one of the investigating officers (IOs) to stand in the suspects’ dock as punishment. On the occasion, Judge Shahani remarked that not a single officer of Cyber Crime Circle appeared in the court fully prepared. “I have been sitting here since morning. And all IOs have told me that they have left their one or two documents at home,” he regretted. “If you have not brought case files with you, then why have you come to the court then?” the judge asked. He expressed the surprise that whenever he inquired about progress on cases of harassment, these officers told him that parties to the case were close to reaching a settlement. “What is this?” Judge Shahani said and added: “I don’t know on what criterion these people have been recruited as investigation officers. They don’t even look like officers.” “It appears they have been recruited only to mint money,” he wondered. INP

LAHORE: People buy vegetables at a Ramazan bazaar in the provincial capital. ZUBaIR MeHfooZ

KP issues updated restrictions to combat third Covid-19 wave PESHAWAR INP

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Home Department on Saturday issued fresh restrictions ordering the closure of markets and bazaars across the province by 6:00 pm. The notification said that the timing will not apply to take away medical stores, petrol pumps, and hotels and restaurants.

Markets and other economic activities across the province will remain suspended and closed on weekends, the notification said.

The medical services, bakery, groceries, milk, meat, fruit, vegetable shops, and other essential services will be exempted from the weekend ban, the notification further said. All kinds of indoor and outdoor cultural programs and sports will be banned in the province, the order said. The shrines and cinemas across the province will remain closed, the notification said. It said that the use of masks in public places is made mandatory while the Taraweeh prayers should be offered in open places. In the notification, Home Secretary Ikramullah Khan also appealed to religious scholars for extending cooperation for the safety of the people.

Mobile internet remains suspended for second day in several Lahore neighbourhoods LAHORE Staff RePoRt

Mobile internet services remained suspended in several neighbourhoods of Lahore for a second day on Saturday as the government reigned in on Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

While the service was resumed in affluent neighbourhoods including Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and other cantonment neighbourhoods, users in several areas including Ferozpur Road near Samanabad, Johar Town, Hall Road, Walton Road and Canal Bank Road near Punjab University were unable to access the internet.

The services were suspended on Thursday in view of violent protests launched by supporters and activists of the hardline religious party to get their leader, Saad Rizvi, released from police custody.

Rizvi was arrested late on Monday after he threatened the government with violent demonstrations if it did not expel the French ambassador over blasphemous caricatures published last year.

In a related development, Pakistan Telecommunication Au-

thority (PTA) temporarily blocked Facebook, Twitter and several other social media applications on security grounds on Friday.

“In order to maintain public order and safety, access to certain social media applications has been restricted temporarily,” a senior telecoms regulator official had said.

The block lasted until 3:00 pm and applied to YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Telegram and Tiktok.

A security official had said that the block was linked to an operation underway against the group that the government banned on Thursday. “As the government announced earlier […] wherever we need we will be blocking social media to crack down against TLP,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Some rights activists criticised Friday’s social media blackout, warning it could lead to more severe curbs on freedoms.

“These arbitrary decisions of blocking and banning have never done any good (and) instead opened ways to blanket bans,” said Nighat Dad, head of the Digital Rights Foundation on Twitter, shortly before the site became inaccessible.

Sunday, 18 april, 2021

iSlaMaBad

Border markets to provide legal trade facilities to people: ZuBaida

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TURBAT

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TLTP

InISTER for Defence Production Zubaida Jalal has said that steps would be taken to provide relief to the residents of Pakistan-Iran border areas of Balochistan.

Talking to a delegation of local elders in Turbat, Zubaida Jalal said that the government has decided to establish border markets at PakistanIran border for legal start of trade at the places adjacent to the border.

The minister said the government is paying Rs1.5 million per acre for acquiring the land for establishing a border market at the places adjacent to the border corridors of Gabad area.

Zubaida Jalal said with the establishment of the border market, the people of the border areas would avail trade facilities in a legal manner. She said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved the Southern Balochistan Package to alleviate the sense of deprivation of the people of the area and provide basic infrastructure facilities to them.

imran calls for outlawing blasphemy on lines of Holocaust conTinUED fRom PAgE 01

Substandard tea confiscated in Peshawar PESHAWAR AZIZ BUNERI

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Food Safety and Halaal Food Authority (FS&HFA) has seized over 15,000 kg of substandard tea from a local factory on Ashraf road area of Peshawar. The fake tea processing unit was using non-food grade colours and other unhealthy items in the tea leaves. The raid was carried out on the directions of KP FS&HFA Director General Shah Rukh Ali Khan.

According to the food safety authority, the fake tea

leaves from the unit were seized and a sample was sent to the laboratory for further analysis.

The statement from the authority said that the FS&HFA had also seized over 1,200 kg of substandard and adulterated spices in Mirch Mandi area of Peshawar, whereas the processing unit was sealed over mixing bran and maize flour in the spices. Moreover, the production premises were also extremely unhygienic.

According to the Food Safety Authority, during the operation, FIR was lodged against the culprits.

Shah Rukh Ali Khan said that all the field Inspec-

tions teams in the province were proactively working against the adulteration mafia, and have carried out a number of mega operations in the last few days. He said that the authority’s mission was to ensure provision of safe and quality food to the people and no one would be spared if found indulged in harming humans lives through use of substandard edible items.

He further asked the food outlets to comply with the SOPs of the authority, and refrain from production and sale of substandard items, otherwise, strict action would be taken against them.

Five people killed as police fire at protesting workers in Bangladesh

DHAKA AgENcIEs

At least five people were killed and dozens injured in Bangladesh on Saturday after police opened fire on a

crowd of workers protesting to demand unpaid wages and a pay rise at a Chinese-backed power plant, officials and police said.

Police opened fire after about 2,000 of the protesters began hurling bricks and stones at officers at the con-

Balochistan placed under smart lockdown till May 1: Shawani QUETTA TLTP

The Balochistan government imposed broader smart lockdown in the province from Saturday till May 1 to ensure precautionary measures against Covid-19.

Spokesman of the Balochistan government, Liaquat Shawani, said that all shops, markets and business activities will remain closed on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the province.

He said that in the remaining days, markets, shops and other business activities will remain open from Sehri to 6:00pm. Similarly, all kinds of indoor and outdoor activities are banned including social, political and sports events while essential services will remain open all the time. Shawani said that 50 per cent work from home policy will continue in public and private offices.

He said that, under the government's broader smart lockdown policy, all borders of the province will remain completely closed.

Restaurants will be allowed to serve outdoor meals beginning from the time of Iftar till midnight, he said. He said the people will be allowed to offer taraweeh prayers in open spaces only, while there will also be a complete ban on pilgrimage to Iran.

He said that parks and amusement parks will also remain completely closed until further notice, adding that inter-provincial public transport will remain suspended on Saturdays and Sundays.

Shahwani requested the business community, shopkeepers, and transport owners to cooperate with the government for the sake of everyone's safety and well-being. "Strict action will be taken against violators," he said.

cmYK

struction site of the coal-fired plant in the southeastern city of Chittagong, local police official Azizul Islam told Reuters.

Four protesters died at the scene and another died in hospital, he said.

“We’re trying to control the situation,” Islam said, adding that at least six police officers were among those injured.

The workers attacked and set fire to several structures at the 1,320-megawatt power plant, located 265 km (165 miles) southeast of the capital, Dhaka, he added.

Local government official Saiduzzaman Chowdhury said the workers were protesting over unpaid wages and to press demands for a pay rise and reduced hours during the holy month of Ramadan, which started this week, when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.

Several of the injured workers had gunshot wounds and were taken to a hospital in Chittagong, he said, adding that the five people who were killed had all been shot.

The $2.4-billion power plant is a major source of foreign investment into Bangladesh, and one of a series of projects that Beijing is pushing to cultivate closer ties with Dhaka.

In 2016, China’s SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction signed a deal with S Alam Group, a Bangladeshi conglomerate responsible for construction work at the site.

During that year, four protesters opposed to its construction were killed when police opened fire during clashes between villagers who were demonstrating both for and against the project.

In October last year, protests had broken out in several Muslim countries over France’s response to a deadly attack on a teacher who showed caricatures during a civics lesson. During similar protests in Pakistan, the government had then negotiated with the TLP and said it would make a move in parliament to fulfill their key demand: the expulsion of the French ambassador. A deadline to make that parliamentary move expires on April 20. Following the quelling of the TLP protests by law enforcement agencies over the better part of the week, the government ban will move to the Supreme Court to ascertain its legality.

several pti lawmakers offer support to Jahangir tareen conTinUED fRom PAgE 01 Talking to reporters outside the court, Tareen said that he doesn’t know who is running the character assassination campaigns against him but he will find those responsible. In all three cases, there are no claims or allegations of inflated prices of the commodity during the period covered in the sugar inquiry committee’s report. He recalled that he started his business decades before entering politics, adding that “baseless and false reports” were being made and spread against him. Tareen further said that there is no relation to sugar prices in the FIRs lodged against him and his son. “I don’t know who is behind registering FIR against me,” said Tareen, who was accompanied by at least a dozen parliamentarians of PTI.

scale of china's privately offered funds hit 17.22tn yuan BEiJing AgENcIEs

China's privately offered funds managed a total of 17.22 trillion yuan (about 2.64 trillion US dollars) by the end of March, industry association data showed. The figure went up 58.8 billion yuan or 0.34 percent from the end of the previous month, according to the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC), an industry body supervised by China's securities regulator. China had 102,852 privately offered funds at the end of March, up 2,084 or 2.07 percent from the end of February, according to the AMAC. By the end of March, the number of institutions that managed these funds dipped 0.37 percent month on month to 24,533, AMAC data showed.

Sunday, 18 April, 2021

06 COMMENT

A game of musical chairs

Violent extremism And questions raised by lawmakers

T

Latest cabinet reshuffle makes the government look clueless

he government had struck a new deal with the Tehrik Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in February and the PM wanted to take the agreement to Parliament before April 20, the new deadline set for the implementation of the TLP’s demands. Being suspicious about the government’s intentions the TLP’s youthful leader communicated an action plan to its branches in case the promise was not fulfilled. his arrest triggered a countrywide three-day violence by the extremist organisation’s activists. Finally, the state decided to bring an end to the mayhem. Law enforcers restored normality in the country uprooting almost all TLP strongholds. To avoid any backlash after Friday prayers, Interior Ministry ordered the suspension of social media services for three hours.

The TLP chief is under arrest. The situation is under control. The government has banned the TLP and has decided to seek its dissolution through the Supreme Court.

The lesson: if the state decides to bring to heel a welloiled extremist network, it can do it.

This raises questions. What explains the continuous policy of appeasement towards TLP? Right from Day One, the TLP leadership made no secret of resorting to violence if its extremist demands were not accepted. Despite this the TLP was allowed to hold a nearly three-week-long sit-in at Faizabad Interchange where it forcibly blocked traffic between Rawalpindi and Islamabad? Instead of nipping the evil in the bud, the violent extremist organisation was allowed to spread itself all over the country and contest national elections. Again, why didn’t security agencies advise the PM against entering into deals with the TLP, first over placing Asia Bibi’s name on eCL after the Supreme Court order to release her and again over the expulsion of the French ambassador?

On Friday Opposition MNAs raised several questions in the National Assembly about the TLP. It was asked why an agreement was signed with the TLP despite knowing that the government could not sever bilateral relations with France? It was demanded that a committee be set up to deliberate on the objectives of establishing the TLP and those behind the move. The Interior Minister was asked to inform the house on details of the banned organisations and what action, if any, had been taken against them. A senior parliamentarian observed why a genie is created that later becomes a headache for its creators.

aRif Nizami

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he maestro seems to have started enjoying the game of musical chairs. he is playing the game much too often with his cabinet members – the fourth reshuffle in PTI’s (Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf) government’s almost three years tenure.

In the latest cabinet reshuffle Shaukat Tarin been inducted as the new economic czar, replacing Dr Abdul hafeez Sheikh, the erstwhile blue-eyed boy of the prime minister. Only less than a fortnight ago according to Imran Khan the economy was doing very well- better than his expectations. he was generous enough to give due credit to his ‘brilliant’ finance minister.

What happened in the interregnum that the PM made another of his U-turns (ones that he is famous for) and unceremoniously sacked hafeez? Perhaps while convalescing from Covid 19- that he had contracted only a few days ago- in a rare fit of retrospection he belatedly realised that nothing was right with the economy and that Pakistan was heading for a disaster if nothing was done to stem the rot.

Perhaps he had started believing the canards spread by his various spokespersons on his own instructions and directions. Nevertheless, replacing Sheikh with Tarin is not merely a change of face but a completely new direction will be set.

Unlike his predecessor, Tarin is not an IMF / World Bank man. This does not however mean that

Normalising ties Cricket diplomacy has worked before

P

AKISTAN’S cricket team has been granted visas

by India to compete in the T20 World Cup to be held in India in October this year. however, there is still no clarity over how many additional visas will be issued to allow journalists and spectators to travel.

Nonetheless, considering the recent heightened tensions between the two nuclear armed countries, a complete denial from India to accommodate Pakistan’s team was very much in the cards a few months back. Thankfully, relations have somewhat normalized with both sides ceding part of their hardline positions to allow the ice to break. A meaningful ceasefire along the LoC through a meeting of both countries’ DGMOs remains intact, without any violation from either side for over a month.

COAS Qamar Bajwa’s invitation to normalize ties in a speech at a security moot showed intent on Pakistan’s part and Indian PM Modi in a letter to PM Khan on the occasions of Pakistan Day was uncharacteristically welcome to the idea of friendship, calling for ‘cordial relations with the Pakistani people’.

Cricket diplomacy has worked, although partially, in attaining stability within the two countries in the past as well. During the Musharraf years, when talks were ongoing between the two countries to settle pending issues, both sides toured each other between 2005 and 2007.

This sudden simmering down of tensions is the result of intervention and mediation by a common friend, the UAe, which was initially reported by foreign publication and only recently confirmed by the country’s ambassador to the US. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s ongoing 3-day visit to the UAe is therefore quite important as India will most likely be an unannounced agenda item. There are however some skeptics, which is to be expected. Two independent reports emanating from the US suggest that there could be a serious escalation between India and Pakistan soon, one going as far as to say that India would strike first. One hopes that these fresh efforts to bring two longtime foes to the negotiation table succeed with either side doing its part to avoid any misunderstandings or displays of unwarranted undiplomatic aggression.

How about the government doing its job and defending the Constitution which is the manifesto by which we are supposed to lead our lives as a nation?

Rabia ahmed

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he government has declared the TLP a terrorist group and banned it. Just as it has said that people are not supposed to leave their homes without masks, rightly so, only that injunction has resulted in nothing but most people ignoring the injunction as they ignore all injunctions, followed by the authorities ignoring the ignoring. Therefore so much for declaring groups ‘banned outfits’, ill thought out, kneejerk, look -good measures, like blocking roads during lockdowns, something that makes no sense. And that is just one example.

As a society we are not in the habit of tracking a problem to its deeper source. There are reasons why groups such as the TLP and others exist and have the massive support they enjoy. One of which is that anyone and everyone is free to teach whatever they wish to the country’s youth, many of whom have no education at all to counter that misinformation. Among the things they are taught is the blasphemous idea that killing and violence are jus-

Arif Nizami Editor Managing Editor

Joint Editor

Umar Aziz Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

The difference between Tarin and Sheikh is like apples and oranges. Tarin despite being a former Citibank man is basically homespun, in sharp contrast to the Hafeez and Raza Baqir (governor state bank), the former working for the World Bank and the latter for the IMF

Arif Nizami is Editor, Pakistan Today. He can be contacted at arifn51@hotmail.com.

Isn’t the constitution worth defending?

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Yousaf Nizami Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

he is averse to an IMF programme or dealing with the IFIs (international financial institutions) like perhaps Asad Umar who as finance minister opposed the proposed IMF facility when PTI had just assumed power. his candour cost him his job.

Those were the heady days when carpet beggar businessman and hedge fund owner Arif Naqvi was advising Khan on key appointments. Naqvi introduced hafeez Sheikh as a buddy since both studied at the London school of economics (LSe).

The difference between Tarin and Sheikh is like apples and oranges. Tarin despite being a former Citibank man is basically homespun, in sharp contrast to the hafeez and Raza Baqir (governor state bank), the former working for the World Bank and the latter for the IMF. Nonetheless, Tarin as finance minister faces the same challenges to be overcome by anyone holding the job. A bankrupt economy resulting in a negative growth rate coupled with the rising expectations of the masses are major headaches for any political government ultimately heading for elections.

Tarin has an inventive mind credited with bringing the PPP government political capital of its own.

NFC National Finance Commission) was a result of his travails. It’s another matter that Khan and his original backers curse the eighteenth amendment in the Constitution for diverting financial resources to tether provinces, thereby rendering the federation virtually bankrupt. Apart from the economy there are major governance problems – mostly of its own makingfaced by the PTI government.

Primarily it has neither clear direction nor the prime minister a vision. Initially Khan thought (perhaps a little bit naively) that painting the political opposition as a corrupt lot and a bunch of dacoits, hounded by the NAB (National Accountability Bureau), will easily buckle under pressure.

But conversely the opposition has shown much more resilience than Khan and his backers assumed it will be able to withstand. Thanks to lack of any performance the opposition is giving a tough time to the

government.

The recently formed opposition alliance (PDM) is having problems of its own. Its major components the PML-N and the PPP are publicly squabbling. Despite this handicap both the PML-N and the PPP remain a formidable force to challenge the ruling party in the next elections. As was evident from Daska- a small town near Sialkot in Punjab- by elections, the manner in which the PTI candidate was trounced does not auger well for the ruling coalition.

Another ‘enfant terrible’ is the federal ministry for information. It has had four changes at the top during the present government’s less than three years tenure. Intially the sharp and acerbic Fawad Chaudhry was inducted as minister for information. he was doing fine but soon fell victim to intrigue and backstabbing rampant in PTI’s corridors of power and replaced by Firdous Ashiq Awan. Found too abrasive for the job she was shown the door in a few months.

Then a perfect gentleman, Shibli faraz, was ushered in as the ministry’s head. Shibli, the scion of the respected poet Ahmed Faraz was perhaps too refined a person to fit in the role he was assigned. So now back to square one in the form of Fawad Chaudhry.

Part a new experiment, a bevy of spokespersons have been personally selected by the prime minister who in person regularly briefs them what message to put across and the spin it has to be given mostly at the talk shows held every evening on various news channels. having Geobblean connotations, the idea is plainly out of tune with the times. But Khan thinks as in the case of his most predecessors that the government is doing just fine. Its media mangers are somehow are not up to their jobs as compared to the opposition.

Khan has a point. But this is how the cookie crumbles in a democratic polity: the opposition get the better of it in the media as compared to the government.

But the prime minister needs to do a contemplation of his own. What vision does he have for the country and what road-map does he want to take?

Merely doing a running commentary on the so- called mafias running amok in the country and how things were done in ‘Riasat e Madina’ will get him nowhere.

I

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

I

tified to gain their mostly unjustified demands. In ignorant minds these demands become justifiable so long as they appear to encompass what they have been taught is religion.

Banning the TLP as a terrorist organisation should rightly constitute only one of the many accusations brought against leaders of such organisations, if the authorities have the guts.

Article 2 of the Pakistan Constitution states that Islam is the state religion of Pakistan. The exact words are: “the Injunctions of Islam as laid down in the holy Quran and Sunnah shall be the supreme law and source of guidance for legislation to be administered through laws enacted by the Parliament and Provincial Assemblies, and for policy making by Government."

Article 31 of the Constitution states that it is the country’s responsibility to foster the Islamic way of life. The exact words are: “Steps shall be taken to enable the Muslims of Pakistan, individually and collectively, to order their lives in accordance with the fundamental principles and basic concepts of Islam and to provide facilities whereby they may be enabled to understand the meaning of life according to the holy Quran and Sunnah.”

Keeping the above in mind where does the TLP’s violence over the last few days fit in? Are their actions in accordance with Islam? Or do they foster the values of Islam?

It was TLP violence which left four persons and one policeman dead, a young man who yet had much to do in life . More than 300 police personnel were injured in the Punjab, many of them seriously when they were attacked by TLP supporters by ‘clubs, bricks and firearms.’

The TLP is an extreme rightwing party, that calls itself a religious party and invokes the name of Allah and the Prophet (PUh) to justify its existence and actions. For rational followers of Islam this is as much blasphemy as blasphemy can get. And yet after all its actions all the TLP gets is a ‘ban’ which, judging by precedent with reference to other rightwing parties, will be ignored. has banning other rightwing parties made an iota of difference? Why to start with are they allowed to exist? Also, why this discrimination of

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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such scanty charges?

Any group that claims to base its existence on the teachings of the Quran, and then acts in complete opposition to Quranic teachings thereby demeaning those teachings, the religion and its prominent figures and giving them a terrible image, is committing blasphemy. And we all know what the constitutional amendments in Pakistan’s least glorious era prescribe for that.

Instead of which some 505 Ahmedis, 229 Christians and 30 hindus have been accused under various clauses of the blasphemy law from 1987 until 2018, as a result of accusations that rate from false to trivial.

Such contravention of the Constitution is common.

Article 31 of the constitution also says that “Steps shall be taken to ensure full participation of women in all spheres of national life.”

And yet in the news today we find that yesterday the police in Peshawar booked organisers and participants of the recent Aurat March in Islamabad on the charge of committing blasphemy. This was on the orders of a local court.

Aside from the curious fact that the case was booked in KP against a march taking place in Islamabad, it is also worth noting what participants of the Aurat March were protesting against.

In a society where women are routinely abused, taunted, raped, beaten, forced into marriage and rarely get their rights, the Aurat March places women’s experience of sexual and domestic abuse and violence on the table and asks for justice and change. It calls for better health and reproductive care for women, underage marriage and other such matters. Last year male participants of a rival march named 'haya March' made up of various religious parties threw stones at participants of the Aurat March in Islamabad. At least one person was injured then. This year one of those who protested against the Aurat march was the Sunni Rabita Council, another ‘religious’ group.

So whither full participation of women in all spheres of national life? how about the government doing its job and defending the Constitution which is the manifesto by which we are supposed to lead our lives as a nation?

Rabia Ahmed is a freelance columnist. Read more by her at http://rabia-ahmed.blogspot.com

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Sunday, 18 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

Still, We Can Do More

Rise of the state Entities purporting to use violence as an instrument must be eliminated

Candid Corner Raoof hasaN “The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

A

–Martin Luther King, Jr.

FTeR a spate of violence unleashed by this extremism-stricken outfit, government’s decision to ban the Tehreeke-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 was inevitable. Their resolve to approach the Supreme Court to seek a verdict for its dissolution is also understandable.

Tension had been brewing for quite some time. Since the TLP used Tahafuz-e-Namoos-eRasalat as the principal rationale for their protests, it was erroneously construed as much too challenging to be confronted head-on. Consequently, even when they blocked the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi on a few occasions in the past, a policy of appeasement was adopted. That may have served some immediate purpose, but brought no permanent relief. In fact it emboldened them further to become more daring in their subsequent ventures. But when they unleashed unprovoked violence throughout the country resulting in the death of four people, including two policemen, it was no longer possible for the government to remain silent. It had to move quickly to restore its writ. As a result, TLP stands proscribed and the petition before the Supreme Court praying for its dissolution is expected to be moved soon.

Will these steps be enough to eliminate the monster of TLP and the contagious effects it may have left behind? Born as a reaction to the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri for the murder of a former governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who was accused of having committed blasphemy, the party has played with the raw sentiments of the people in the name of religion. Worse still, it has been allowed to do so.Its past ventures to block the capital for days, even weeks together, went unpunished. This resulted in the evolving of an aura of fear and most of the people, suffering from latent germs of violence and extremism, augmented further by lack of pragmatic thinking, became captive meat to be used to advance its myopic agenda.

A miniscule manifestation of that was on display throughout the country for three days

running, including rampant acts of bludgeoning police personnel to death. I am sure if they had been left to themselves, they would have perpetrated further violence and moved in to block the cycle of life throughout the country.

Under the circumstances, and knowing full well the possible reaction by the miscreants, the steps that the government has taken are praiseworthy. The immediate need is to follow through with these actions and ensure that no space is left for these demons to exploit for advancing their violent agenda. But the matter cannot be addressed permanently only by taking some shortterm measures.

Substantive changes will have to be made in the long run to accomplish that, including enactment of laws to stop the use of religion for political gains. Let’s not forget that the TLP, besides being a violent outfit, is also registered as a political party with the election Commission of Pakistan (eCP).

There are other similar parties whose politics is based on exploitation of religion as a vehicle. So the cardinal question that will be debated in the Supreme Court when the matter is taken there relates to the state’s bona fide authority to ban a political party. The government team, comprising legal and constitutional experts, will have to work hard to prove it in the court. There will be no room for faltering.

Much disservice has been done to this country.

Pakistan’s unnecessary involvement in wars, which were none of our business, has been the fundamental flaw in the formulation of our foreign policy in the recent past.

Consequently, these wars, dubbed as believersfighting-infidels, resulted in importing militancy within the national frontiers. We suffered incessantly as a consequence of these policies and it was only on account of a long and heroic struggle by our armed forces, and after suffering astronomical human, material and financial losses, that we were able to bring relative peace back to the country. It cannot be endangered by allowing these demons of militancy to spread their wings again.

But it should not be forgotten that, because of a history of prolonged association, these demons continue to reside in our midst, particularly among the impoverished and marginalised segments of society. It is absolutely imperative to weed out these germs by taking all possible measures which may be considered necessary.

This would require some quick and tough decisions in terms of educating people and enhancing their awareness about how easily they can be held hostage in the name of religion.

Thousands of seminaries throughout the country will have to be regulated, and the ones breeding militancy and violence either taken over by the state, or shut down. Alternate arrangements will have to be made to facilitate the students to continue their education.

Action that the government has taken

against the TLP can be perceived by other entities with similar agendas as potential danger lurking over them. Camaraderie may germinate from this common fear which may lead to spread of further violence. If there is evidence that some of these seminaries or outfits are involved in provoking agitation, the state must act without any hesitation.

Simultaneously, it would be necessary to engage with others which are not involved in indoctrinating people in violence and militancy to soothe their fears. This should be without compromising the writ of the state. Their fears should be addressed not by exposing the state to their wicked machinations, but by ensuring that it is secured from any danger emanating from their actions. In fact, the potential of these entities to do so should be nullified through whatever measures are envisioned.

This action is not going to be without repercussions.

The state should be fully prepared to thwart that. In the meanwhile, policies should be rehashed for long-term cleansing of the state from these violent outfits and the not-so-latent germs of extremism and militancy which have taken roots in the last few years. The monopoly of use of physical force rests with the state. Under no circumstances should that be compromised or diluted. Any entity purporting to use it to the detriment of the state should be confronted and eliminated without exception.

We have come long and we have come far.

We can’t afford to plunge back into the cycle of violence. Pakistan’s ambition to transit from its traditional geo-strategic domain to the geoeconomic realm cannot be realised without addressing the component of militancy from its midst.

It is here that entities like TLP raise their sinister heads which must be chopped off without compromise. Those spreading disquiet, even anarchy in the country, don’t deserve sympathy.

In doing so, we should also ensure that the cause of justice is not compromised. More particularly, the state should guarantee the protection of the weak and the underprivileged communities because, for them, securing justice is an uphill task which may come at much investment of money and time, both of which are scarce commodities for these people. The state must, therefore, look inwards to see that justice is dispensed quickly and equitably among all people and it does not remain an attendant of the rich and the privileged alone. here is a chance for the state to rise. Let us celebrate that.

We have come long and we have come far. We can’t afford to plunge back into the cycle of violence. Pakistan’s ambition to transit from its traditional geo-strategic domain to the geoeconomic realm cannot be realised without addressing the component of militancy from its midst. It is here that entities like TLP raise their sinister heads which must be chopped off without compromise. Those spreading disquiet, even anarchy in the country, don’t deserve

The writer is a political and security strategist, and heads the Regional Peace Institute – an Islamabad-based think tank. Email: raoofhasan@hotmail.com.

Twitter: @RaoofHasan

eveN though the world has been slowly recovering from COvID-19, there have been unnecessary fears and panic among the people about the so-called new waves of the coronavirus. Despite many of my previous letters on the pandemic right from the start, I am writing this one with the strong intention of cutting all COvID-related rumours to zero. First up, let there be no false information about the pandemic and vaccines. The international organisations like the WhO and the media houses worldwide should still strengthen their "campaigns for ending this virus era" by means of daily updates and accurate information. Also, there have been misconceptions and wrong speculations about the corona lockdowns. Almost all the countries have started thinking of doing away with further lockdowns and instead they have been following some other protocols sans lockdown. Way forward, indeed! In fact, I have made it clear to many people in my native areas like Korkai, Tuticorin and Tiruchendur in Tamil Nadu that there is no need of further lockdowns until the people do not violate important COvID norms like wearing a mask. More to the point, the people have been the byproducts resulting from emotional burden and workload. They would react and act upon any emotional or emergency appeal. Recently my native areas like Tiruchendur, Tuticorin, Nagercoil, Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli had witnessed a spurt of people from all walks. They all had converged together to celebrate a recent annual religious event called "Panguni Uthiram" in Tamil. Similarly, people from the east and the West in general feel inclined to accept the emotional and empathetic calls.

Therefore, it is time to make the people not only stand up to the current corona challenges but also follow the COvID guidelines emotionally. each life matters. All the lives lost cannot be taken lightly. Keeping the overall wellbeing in mind, countries must work towards this direction and make the people much more empathetic with the current situation in order to fix and finish the pandemic spree permanently.

P SenthiL Saravana Durai MuMbai

The fee mafia

I want to shed light on a very serious issue which is being observed all over Pakistan. As you know due to this pandemic all educational institutions are observing summer vacations. For the ease of parents the government has announced twenty percent off on the fee for all.

Despite this official statement only few of them are following this. Schools are demanding to pay fee first and then to pick up the summer vacation homework from the school. even colleges and universities are charging a full fee which is a very high amount to pay. Students who were residing in hostels have already paid dues though they are not using resources, the fee is not refunded. Due to the lock-down there has been loss in businesses and many have lost their jobs, so it is very difficult for them to pay in such a situation as not only they have to pay tuition fee but also have to provide for their family. This is a very critical situation as most people already are living from hand to mouth. This mafia is only thinking of themselves exploiting the parents by saying “child’s future”. Poor parents pay fees forcefully because they do not want to ruin their child’s future and want the best for them.

TEHREEm TARIq Islamabad

Time to Reflect, before it is too late SIR, The events of recent 72 hours, when citizens were left at the mercy of baton carrying, stone throwing zealots, brainwashed by TLP to believe that they were waging Jihad. Two policemen were mercilessly beaten to death. This should be enough to awaken those in deep slumber, involved in petty political games, exploiting religion. Quaid-e-Azam realized the diversity in terms of faith, ethnicity, etc. of citizens and he elaborated this in his 11 August 1947 address to the First Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. Quaid expected the Muslim majority to emulate the Islamic concept of justice and equality before law of all citizens, irrespective of their caste, creed, sex etc. On 22 March 1947 MAJ quoted a letter written by a hindu nationalist Lajpat Rai in 1924 to Bengals CR Das, where he stated that hindus and Muslims are two separate nations who cannot live as one nation.

It was precisely for this reason that a hindu Dalit leader Jaganath Mandal and his party made common cause with Muslim League in favor of Pakistan to escape exploitation by hindu supremacist mindset. Today Modi has proven this if any proof was needed. Unfortunately, after Quaid’s death, those who took over, lacked both commitment and intellect and they wavered from his vision. The nobility of the holy Prophet is ordained by Almighty Allah SWT and over 1.6 Billion Muslims who follow him are willing to sacrifice their lives. It cannot be so fragile to be weakened by irresponsible acts of a cartoonist. Over the past few decades, men of average intellect assumed power and they wanted to stage manage, choice of political leaders. They exploited religion to wage a proxy war in Afghanistan, and created many groups like MQM, TLP etc. enough damage has been inflicted on our economy. It is time to follow MAJ’s vision and let the will of people prevail. tariq aLi Lahore

Karachi is dirty I want to draw your kind attention towards an important issue that is hygiene problem in Karachi.Karachi is the biggest city of Pakistan but saddened to see that Karachi is slowly transforming in to the city of darkness due to its broken roads,tons of garbage,load shedding of electricity and gas and what not?There is no one to awaken these sleeping authorities. Whenever I pass through a street,piles of garbage are growing there.Seems like we are waiting for a miracle to happen and save this city because not a single soul is ready to take a step towards this issue.I request the higher authorities to please take strict actions on it. hiba ShahzaD Karachi

Kuwait ties KUWAITI Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Naseer Al Sabah said that his country was committed to developing strong relations with Pakistan. however, he held a meeting with prime minister Imran Khan and identified education, economy, trade and investment between two countries and tried to intensify cooperation with Pakistan. The two sides are right now delivering the third round of bilateral trade. We expect Pakistan would be very loyal to Kuwait in any types of occurrence. hope the countries maintain good relations in future. barKatuLLah turbat

Sunday, 18 April, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

How Japan can lEad in asia BloomBerg

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Editorial Board

Oe Biden chose Japanese Prime Minister yoshihide Suga as his first official guest for a reason: Japan is the closest U.S. ally in the world’s most important region. Both nations hope to preserve the current order in Asia and contend with China’s rise. In this, they have work to do — and they’re likelier to succeed if they combine their efforts.

The linchpin to any successful U.S. strategy in Asia has long been Japan. The Pentagon has more troops deployed there — roughly 55,000 — than anywhere else in the world. Japan is the top holder of U.S. Treasuries, America’s largest source of foreign direct investment and its fourth-largest trading partner. Japanese companies are key players in critical technology supply chains. Along with fellow Quad members India and Australia, Japan will be central to U.S. efforts to check China’s regional ambitions.

THE US’S BEST FRIEND IN THE REGION SEEMS WILLING TO DO MORE, AND SHOULD Starting under Suga’s predecessor Shinzo Abe, Japan has also become an irreplaceable bridge between the U.S. and other Asian nations. The Quad itself was Abe’s idea, as was the “free and open Indo-Pacific” concept that the U.S. has now embraced. For many countries in Southeast Asia, Japan is more trusted as a trade and security partner than the U.S. — and certainly more so than China. While many governments in the region are reluctant to be seen as siding with Washington, they openly welcome Japanese cooperation on defense issues.

Suga’s government has already been bolder than expected. It risked Beijing’s wrath by criticizing China’s actions in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, as well as its attempts to intimidate Taiwan. Last fall, Japan struck

a formal defense pact with Australia. And, though it hasn’t followed other G-7 nations in imposing sanctions on the junta in Myanmar, it suspended new aid. Given Suga’s fragile domestic position, it might seem churlish to ask any more of the Japanese leader.

In fact, a bit more boldness is called for — and would pay dividends for both Japan and the U.S. On trade, for instance, Abe deserves credit for reviving the Trans-Pacific Partnership after the U.S. withdrew. The Biden administration isn’t likely to rejoin anytime soon, but Suga could work with other signatories to address obstacles to a U.S. re-entry. He should resist pressure to lower the deal’s standards to let in China.

And he should push for a narrower agree-

ment on digital trade, both to build confidence and to keep up momentum for further liberalization.

Japan should also work to ensure that U.S. efforts to decouple from China don’t devolve into self-defeating protectionism.

Japanese companies share the fear of American companies that they depend too much on China for critical inputs such as rare earths. They can help to establish more resilient supply chains throughout Asia. And Japan can leverage its longstanding aid and development relationships to focus both U.S. and Japanese resources on the issues that most concern other Asian countries — ramping up vaccine production, as the Quad recently pledged, post-crisis recovery and long-

term infrastructure projects.

To balance China’s increasingly capable military, Japan will need to coordinate even more closely with the U.S. The allies should cooperate on developing new long-range anti-ship cruise missiles, for instance, as well as on land-based missile defenses. They should also engage, albeit quietly, in more difficult conversations — such as whether to disperse U.S. forces to more bases around Japan, and how the Japanese military might support the U.S. in any conflict over Taiwan.

A more forthright approach to human rights is possible as well. Japanese companies are facing calls to review their relationships in Xinjiang and Myanmar, and a broad range of lawmakers have called for Japan to develop Magnitsky-style sanctions laws. As that debate goes forward, Japan should use its influence with India and countries in Southeast Asia to bring more pressure to bear on the Burmese junta.

Japan is a valuable ally. As a leader in the region, it can be more valuable still.

Afghanistan: Too much is enough Why spy agencies say the THE IMF, WORLD BANK, COMMERCIAL RISK ANALYSTS, AND THE MEDIA MAKE IT ALL TOO CLEAR THAT THE AFGHAN ECONOMY IS IN A STATE OF COLLAPSE AND THAT AFGHANISTAN CANNOT SURVIVE WITHOUT MASSIVE OUTSIDE AID

CeNTre for sTraTegiC aNd iNTerNaTioNal sTudies

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anthony h CordEsman

Here is no good way that the U.S. can withdraw from Afghanistan. It cannot claim victory, and it cannot wait indefinitely for some cosmetic form of peace.

It is all too clear from the reports to Congress by the Special Inspector General for Afghan reconstruction (SIGAr) and the Lead Inspector General (LIG) for Operation Freedom Sentinel that it will take years to bring Afghan security forces to the point where they can stand on their own if peace fails.

It is equally clear from these official sources as well as from media reporting and reporting by Transparency International and the World Bank that the Taliban is still slowly winning and that the Afghan central government is hopelessly divided, corrupt, and ineffective. The IMF, World Bank, commercial risk analysts, and the media make it all too clear that the Afghan economy is in a state of collapse and that Afghanistan cannot survive without massive outside aid – aid that can only buy time, not development or Afghan forces that can stand on their own.

Pressing on with open-ended peace and security assistance efforts now offers little more than a forlorn hope, especially after President Ghani’s unwillingness to even try to move forward on a negotiable form of peace. Peace negotiations under his terms are little more than a way of extending Afghanistan’s misery and the fighting. Media report after media report make it clear that he clearly has no mandate from either Afghanistan’s other leaders or its public.

It will be a tragedy, but the time has come for the strategic equivalent of a mercy killing. This does not mean immediately abandoning Afghanistan. even a forlorn hope should be given for some kind of change, but it is time for an ultimatum and a ruthless, uncompromising withdrawal if Afghanistan’s leaders do not fully respond. The Biden administration has inherited a nearly hopeless mess from both Afghan leaders and President Trump. This does not mean abandoning Afghanistan if Afghan leaders do respond. It does mean setting clear conditions for any form of continued U.S. effort and a clear deadline for the compliance by the Afghan central government. It should be made clear that the U.S. will offer major financial aid if the central government and the Taliban can reach an agreement and implement it, and that the U.S. will delay its full withdrawal or sup-

port a UN peacekeeping mission.

The Biden administration should also recognize, however, that this is almost certainly going to be a “forlorn hope” in the classic sense of the term.

At this point, it is unclear that any arrangement where Ghani stays in even titular power can work, and it is equally unclear if there is any group of Afghan leaders that can act as an alternative. It is unclear that even massive U.S. aid would persuade the Taliban to compromise or that the U.S. can credibly restore an effective military assistance and combat support effort that will do more than prolong the agony. There already have been too many lies and too much “spin.”

This means actually withdrawing if there is no credible Afghan response. It means cutting off both military and civil aid as well – unless this can buy some compromises in the Taliban’s extremism and real benefits for key humanitarian concerns like education and the rights of women. It means planning to help those Afghans that actively aided U.S. forces leave Afghanistan and developing plans to accept legitimate Afghan refugees – which should conspicuously not include a single Afghan political or military leader tied to Afghanistan’s failures and corruption.

The Biden administration will have to take some blame for such actions, in spite of the fact that previous administrations will actually bear over 95 percent of the responsibility. It seems highly likely, however, that the initial wave of partisan criticism will diminish to a ripple relatively quickly once the lessons of U.S. mistakes from 2001 onward receive full public attention. More than that, as was the case with vietnam, it will probably immediately become apparent that the world has already seen the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan as a failure and that it will see the reallocation of U.S. strategic resources to far more productive areas as a rise in American influence and strength.

More broadly, a U.S. withdrawal will also have major strategic benefits. At worst, Afghanistan is only one of many potential sources of threat to U.S. and allied interests. Accordingly, the first benefit is to shift the burden of Afghanistan and the focus of any extremist activity outside its borders to China, russia, Pakistan, and Iran. The second is to free U.S. resources to deal with the many centers of instability and extremism outside the region, and ones where U.S. resources can be far more effective.

The third will be the example (and hopefully lesson) set by such U.S. withdrawal. The U.S. needs to make it clear that its aid and support will now be ruthlessly conditional on the competence and integrity with which it is used. Here, both advocates of U.S. military action and humanitarian action need to realize a grim lesson about strategic triage. The key issue in allocating U.S. aid is never how many people or nations need help. It is always what nations and how many people will actually benefit from U.S. help. Conditionality is the core tool in providing U.S. support, and it is the key way of sending the message that failed and corrupt governments will be treated accordingly.

Anthony H. Cordesman holds the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. He has served as a consultant on Afghanistan to the United States Department of Defense and the United States Department of State.

future is bleak CLIMATE CHANGE, TECHNOLOGY, DISEASE AND FINANCIAL CRISES WILL POSE BIG CHALLENGES FOR THE WORLD, AN INTELLIGENCE REPORT CONCLUDES New York Times

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Editorial Board

very four years, at the start of a new administration, American intelligence agencies put out “Global Trends,” a weighty assessment of where the world seems headed over the next two decades. In 2008, for example, the report warned about the potential emergence of a pandemic originating in east Asia and spreading rapidly around the world.

The latest report, Global Trends 2040, released last week by the National Intelligence Council, finds that the pandemic has proved to be “the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II,” with medical, political and security implications that will reverberate for years. That’s not schadenfreude. It’s the prologue to a far darker picture of what lies ahead.

The world envisioned in the 144page report, ominously subtitled “A More Contested World,” is rent by a changing climate, aging populations, disease, financial crises and technologies that divide more than they unite, all straining societies and generating “shocks that could be catastrophic.”

The gap between the challenges and the institutions meant to deal with them continues to grow, so that “politics within states are likely to grow more volatile and contentious, and no region, ideology, or governance system seems immune or to have the answers.” At the international level, it will be a world increasingly “shaped by China’s challenge to the United States and Westernled international system,” with a greater risk of conflict.

Here’s how agencies charged with watching the world see things: • “Large segments of the global population are becoming wary of institutions and governments that they see as unwilling or unable to address their needs. People are gravitating to familiar and like-minded groups for community and security, including ethnic, religious, and cultural identities as well as groupings around interests and causes, such as environmentalism.”

• “At the same time that populations are increasingly empowered and demanding more, governments are coming under greater pressure from new challenges and more limited resources. This widening gap portends more political volatility, erosion of democracy, and expanding roles for alternative providers of governance.”

• “Accelerating shifts in mili-

tary power, demographics, economic growth, environmental conditions, and technology, as well as hardening divisions over governance models, are likely to further ratchet up competition between China and a Western coalition led by the United States.”

• “At the state level, the relationships between societies and their governments in every region are likely to face persistent strains and tensions because of a growing mismatch between what publics need and expect and what governments can and will deliver.” experts in Washington who have read these reports said they do not recall a gloomier one. In past years, the future situations offered have tilted toward good ones; this year, the headings for how 2040 may look tell a different story: “Competitive Coexistence,” “Separate Silos,” “Tragedy and Mobilization” or “A World Adrift,” in which “the international system is directionless, chaotic, and volatile as international rules and institutions are largely ignored by major powers like China, regional players and non-state actors.”

There is one cheery scenario thrown in, “renaissance of Democracies,” in which the United States and its allies are leading a world of resurgent democracies, and everybody is getting happier. Its apparent purpose is to show that people could, in principle, turn things around. But nothing in the report suggests it is likely.

The gloom, however, should not come as a surprise. Most of what Global Trends provides are reminders of the dangers we know and the warnings we’ve heard. We know that the world was ill prepared for the coronavirus and that the pandemic was grievously mishandled in most parts of the world, including the United States. We know the Arctic caps are melting at a perilous rate, raising sea levels and threatening dire consequences the world over.

We know that for all the grand benefits of the internet, digital technology has also unleashed lies, conspiracies and distrust, fragmenting societies and poisoning political discourse. We know from the past four years what polarized and self-serving rule is like. We know that China is on the rise, and that it is essential to find a manageable balance between containment and cooperation.

Global Trends offers no solutions.

It can’t, by law: The 18 organizations that make up the intelligence community, including the National Security Agency and C.I.A., are sternly pro-

scribed from giving policy recommendations. yet when a large body of intelligence specialists with access to an extraordinary array of privileged information invest considerable resources into figuring out where the world is headed, and then turn on a bright, flashing red light, there is good reason to take heed.

“We have the great benefit of drawing on both the broad and deep expertise that exists across the intelligence community. There are 18 intelligence agencies that we can reach out to, as well as other federal partners,” said Maria Langan-riekhof, who as director of the National Intelligence Council’s Strategic Futures Group led the publication of “Global Trends 2040.” “We are not narrowly looking at just one issue or one domain; we’re trying to look across all those issues and asking how are they developing over time and what do they mean in aggregate.” The warnings are clear. The real question is whether we — the government, global institutions, our societies — are capable of heeding them at a time when states and societies are turning inward and political discourse has become poisonous.

Mathew Burrows, principal editor for many earlier “Global Trends” at the C.I.A. and National Intelligence Council — including the one that warned of a pandemic — believes that the initiative to take the future seriously has to come from the executive branch. “you have to have a driving force to compel agencies to engage in longer-term planning,” he said.

A decade ago, Leon Fuerth, a deputy national security adviser in the Clinton administration who directs the Project on Forward engagement at George Washington University, proposed ways to do just that. The government, he wrote, needed to create mechanisms to anticipate the frequency and complexity of crises in today’s world, “to be anticipatory rather than reactionary.” The Biden administration started well on some fronts, notably on environmental policy and infrastructure. As a leader with a unique perspective on how politics, society and the world have changed over the years, President Biden can also be the one to recognize that an increasingly complex, volatile and unpredictable world requires a serious and coherent mechanism for anticipating and preparing for what lies over that dark horizon.

The intelligence is there, and it cries out for action.

Sunday, 18 April, 2021

BUSINESS 09

ISLAMABAD

Despite an amBitious policy, impoRting anD RegisteRing electRic vehicles Remains stRenuous FoR pakistani consumeRs LAHORE

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SHAHAB OMER

AST year, the government of Pakistan (GoP) unveiled an ambitious National Electric Vehicle Policy (EVP) to promote the growth of electric vehicles in Pakistan. Under the new policy, government interventions were supposed to make imports, production and registration of electric vehicles seamless to achieve, perhaps, an overly ambitious target; one of replacing 30 per cent of passenger vehicles on the roads in Pakistan to electric vehicles by 2030.

But despite the plans and all the hard work around this policy, importing and registering electric vehicles in Pakistan remains strenuous for Pakistani consumers.

To begin with, the policy itself is being delayed for implementation, according to Shaukat Qureshi, general secretary at Pakistan Electric Vehicles and Parts Manufacturers and Traders Association (PEVPMTA).

“One reason for the delay is that the policy prepared by the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) has been set aside and the policy prepared by the Engineering Development Board (EDB) has been approved in which all the facilities provided to the manufacturers have been abolished,” Qureshi said.

According to Qureshi’s version, the policy from EBD not only abolished tax relief but also revoked the import permit that allowed 100 vehicles to be imported. Instead, the policy allowed the import of only 10 vehicles that discouraged many investors from making further investments into promoting electric vehicles in Pakistan.

Qureshi hints at a mafia-like hold of big automobile manufacturers in Pakistan that discourage the growth of electric vehicles in Pakistan. “The Engineering Development Board does not include a single person with the knowledge of electric vehicles. Instead, the board has representatives [from big automobile manufacturers in Pakistan] who will not allow EV policy to be implemented until the big auto companies start making electric vehicles,” he asserts.

“In the current situation, large-scale im-

ports and local production of electric vehicles do not seem possible for another three to four years. If the government is serious about this, it should immediately form a separate Electric Vehicles Board.”

However, a senior official from EDB denied Qureshi’s allegations, asserting that the board was, in fact, working to promote EVs. Importing inflates prices Asim Jalandhari, an aspirant for electric vehicles, told Profit that he had been waiting for a cheap and good electric car in Pakistan for a long time.

“The fact is that the availability of electric cars around the world is still not as common as that of ordinary petrol and diesel cars and because they are being developed with the latest technology, their prices are also a bit higher,” Jalandhari said.

The total number of electric vehicles on roads all over the globe was 7.2 million vehicles. 47% of these vehicles were in China.

There are many low-cost Chinese EVs on the internet such as on the Alibaba platform.

Some cars are up for sale at $6,000-7,000 (approximately Rs918,000-Rs1,071,000) on Alibaba. The problem, however, is that though the foreign companies selling on Alibaba would sell you the car, they would only deliver it to the port in Pakistan and this is where all the troubles begin.

The problems start and end with the strenuous processes of taxation, releasing and registering the vehicles at the port. “The process is complex, even if all the FBR rules and regulations and the fee structure are met,” says Jalandhari.

And by the time cars come to the enduser in Pakistan, the price has swelled many times. Take Sigma Q4 for instance, which is a Chinese electric vehicle that recently launched in Pakistan in partnership with United Auto Motorsports. The online price of the car is $6,000-7,000 whereas, in Pakistan, the price is Rs2 million.

“It is a perception that these electric cars can be easily imported into Pakistan. It is not an easy task. We had launched Chinese motorcycles in Pakistan and we faced a lot of criticism at that time but we aimed to provide a motorcycle to a low-income person as well,” says Omer Ashraf, the CEO of United

Auto Motorsports. Umer Ashraf informed Profit that this car cannot be easily imported.

“Similarly, the Sigma Q4 electric car is for a low budget consumer. Because other electric variants in the market, for instance, the BMW or Audi electric vehicles, come with a price tag of Rs200 million. Even at huge costs, these vehicles cannot be taken out of Lahore because of the lack of charging infrastructure. On the contrary, we are offering Sigma Q4 for Rs2 million only we are receiving flak because the price of these cars actually is $6,000 to 7000. The reality, however, is that imported vehicles become expensive because of the duty structure,” adds Jalandhari.

Jalandhari explained that for some electric cars he had imported last year, he had paid 25% in customs duty, 17% in sales tax, 7% in additional customs duty, 3% in additional sales tax and 5.5% in income tax, all on top of the original price of the car. All these percentage additions on top inflate the price multiple times and importing a car into Pakistan simply becomes an expensive proposition.

“It took us six months to import the car.

We had ordered these cars in July 2020 but they reached us in Pakistan in November.

The cumbersomeness of the processes at ports can be recognised from the fact and it took us two more months to get these cars released from the port. All the demurrages were also borne by us during that time,” explained Jalandhari.

As per Jalandhari’s experience, custom authorities do not have expertise when it comes to electric vehicles and they end up levying arbitrary amounts of duties that not only adds to the cost of the car but also becomes time-consuming since the error redressal process is lengthy.

“Customs authorities have no information on the electric cars. Initially, when we imported these cars, they imposed a duty of 50%. Now it is difficult to justify these to people who still believe that the price of the car is less because they saw that online,” he says.

On the other hand, multiple other charges have gone up because of the Covid19 pandemic.

“Freight charges, for instance,” says Jalandhari. Before Covid-19, single container freight would cost $600 and the rate has now gone up to $3,500 for the same container, said Jalandhari, explaining the cost component buildup on importing a car.

“We further have operational expenses relating to providing after-sale service. As more cars come in, after-sales service would become a serious component of our business. And I can tell you that we are not earning a ridiculous profit from the customer. On an Rs2 million car, our profit is only Rs50,000 rupees and from a business perspective, this is not a very good profit margin,” he adds.

Jalandhari further explains that relaxations in taxes on electric vehicles under the new policy are currently only for cars that are being manufactured or being assembled in Pakistan. Whereas the cars that are being imported have to follow the present duty structure.

On the other hand, a senior Pakistan Customs official said that the process of importing the car was seamless as long as the person importing was paying related taxes and duties “Whenever an EV is imported, we check the vehicle invoice and related data for its import from the internet. To estimate the price of the car, we also look at the actual price on the company's website. A consumer has to pay 25% in customs duty, 7% additional customs duty, 17% sales tax and 12% withholding tax to clear the import of his electric car. Documents such as vehicle invoices, taxes and duty payments will be required in this regard,” he explained.

Surprisingly, the customs official put the entire blame of the dearth of EVs in Pakistan to the difficult process of registration of these vehicles.

CumBERSOmE REGISTRATION pROCESS: Registration of EVs is indeed an onerous undertaking and a survey conducted by Profit revealed that many electric vehicles owners have expressed their concerns and complained to the government of the stressful car registration process.

Aamir Shakeel, an Audi e-Tron customer, believed that the government had

promised a lot of tax exemptions and incentives to facilitate electric vehicle users, but failed in executing them.

“Currently, the biggest problem facing EV users is registration,” Aamir said. “Under normal circumstances, vehicles have to go to the excise office for registration and depending on the car's engine, the vehicle is registered after paying various taxes, including annual or lifetime tokens. The cars can be put on the road seamlessly,” he said.

“Not electric vehicles, however,” Aamir resented.

The problem with registering electric vehicles in Pakistan is that your normal petrol or diesel cars are categorised according to engine size, also identified as ‘cc’ in technical parlance. However, electric vehicles do not have engines. They instead have motors and their power is determined based on the size of the battery and various other aspects.

It is due to these technicalities that officials that are trained to categorise cars according to their engine powers are faced with a different situation, for which they are not even trained, alleges Aamir. “Consequently, Excise, Taxation and Narcotics (ET&NC) department charge different registration amounts from different individuals. In my case, ET&NC Lahore told me that for registration of my vehicle, I was required to pay Rs975,000.”

ET&NC Additional Director General Rizwan Sherwani admitted that EV owners are facing many difficulties from the point of view of registration, told Profit that in the past, Pakistan did not have any policy or law regarding the registration of EVs. “However, three months ago, ET&NC formed a committee and I was the convener of this committee. The purpose was to provide recommendations regarding concessions on EVs registrations fee and token taxes,” he said. “However, we have recommended that the registration fee for EVs registered in the first two years be reduced by 25 to 50 per cent and token tax fees should also be reduced by 50 per cent,” he added.

“We have sent these recommendations to the government and our proposal has been incorporated in the forthcoming Punjab budget,” said Rizwan.

China’s Ant mulling ways for Jack Ma to cede control FBR to expand operation against non-tax paid products in Ramazan ISLAMABAD GHULAM ABBAS

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to expand operation against non-tax paid products in Ramazan amid increase in the sale of consumer items during the holy month.

According to details, the FBR has seized two truckloads of six million counterfeit cigarettes, that would have caused a loss of over Rs12 million to the national exchequer in terms of federal excise duty and sales tax. A team of the Regional Tax Office Rawalpindi intercepted two trucks carrying 300 packs of counterfeited brand ‘Classic’ and 300 packs of counterfeit brand ‘Kissan’ on Expressway Murree near Lower Topa. In a statement Abdul Rauf, the lawyer for Kissan and Classic brands, lauded the operation

by FBR. He highlighted that such non tax paid products were causing business loss to the industry. Rauf said that the raid by FBR was the result of complaints lodged by concerned citizens against the illegal factory owned by Babar Taj. According to the FBR documents, the driver was asked to provide evidence of payment of federal excise duty as envisaged in the Federal Excise Act 2005 and Federal Excise Rule 2005, but no legal document or federal excise invoice was available with the drivers. The FBR has started a drive against the counterfeit cigarettes across the country following directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan as these cigarettes have been causing billions of rupees loss to the national exchequer because of tax evasion.

Ant Group is exploring options for founder Jack Ma to divest his stake in the financial technology giant and give up control, as meetings with Chinese regulators signaled to the company that the move could help draw a line under Beijing’s scrutiny of its business, according to a source familiar with regulators’ thinking and two people with close ties to the company.

Reuters is for the first time reporting details of the latest round of meetings and the discussions about the future of Ma's control of Ant, exercised through a complicated structure of investment vehicles.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Ma had offered in a November meeting with regulators to hand over parts of Ant to the Chinese government.

Officials from the central bank, People’s Bank of China (PBOC), and financial regulator China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) held talks between January and March with Ma and Ant separately, where the possibility of the tycoon’s exit from the company was discussed, according to accounts provided by the source familiar with the regulators’ thinking and one of the sources with close ties to the company.

Ant denied that a divestment of Ma's stake was ever under consideration. "Divestment of Mr. Ma's stake in Ant Group has never been the subject of discussions with anyone," an Ant spokesman said in a statement.

Reuters could not determine whether Ant and Ma would proceed with a divestment option, and if so, which one. The company hoped Ma's stake, which is worth billions of dollars, could be sold to existing investors in Ant or its e-commerce affiliate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd without involving any external entity, one of the sources with company ties said.

But the second source also with company connections said that during discussions with regulators, Ma was told that he would not be allowed to sell his stake to any entity or individual close to him, and would instead have to exit completely.

Another option would be to transfer his stake to a Chinese investor affiliated with the state, the source said.

Any move would need Beijing's approval, both sources with knowledge of the company's thinking said.

The accounts provided by all the three sources are consistent in terms of the timeline for how discussions have evolved over the past few months. On the company side, one source said Ma met regulators more than once before the Chinese New Year, which was in early February.

And the second source said Ant started working on options for Ma's possible exit about a couple of months ago. The source familiar with the regulators' thinking said Ant had told officials during a meeting sometime before mid-March that it was working on options.

The source familiar with the regulators' thinking has direct knowledge of conversations between Ant and officials, while one of the sources with company ties has been briefed on Ma's interactions with regulators and Ant's plans. The other one has direct knowledge of Ant's discussions about options. They requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of

CMYK

the situation.

The Ant spokesman did not provide any comments from Ma. Alibaba referred questions to Ant. Jack Ma's office did not respond to Reuters' request for comment made via Ant. The State Council Information Office, PBOC, and CBIRC, also did not respond to requests for comment.

The high-stakes discussions come amid a revamp of Ant and a broader regulatory clampdown on China's technology sector that was set in motion after Ma's public criticism of regulators in a speech in October last year.

Ma's exit could help clear the way for Ant to revive plans to go public, which stalled after the tycoon's speech, both sources proximate to the company said.

Ant, which was about to raise an estimated $37 billion in what would have been the world's largest initial public offering, aborted plans the day after Ma's Nov. 2 meeting with regulators.

'TOO BIG FOR THEIR BRITCHES': Since then Beijing has unleashed a series of investigations and new regulations that have not only reined in Ma's empire but also swept across the country's technology sector, including other high-profile, bil-

lionaire entrepreneurs.

For Ma, 56, who also founded Alibaba and once commanded cult-like reverence in China, the consequences have been particularly severe. The tycoon completely withdrew from the public eye for about three months and has continued to keep a low profile after a brief January appearance.

China’s antitrust regulator fined Alibaba a record $2.75 billion on April 10 following an antimonopoly probe that found it had abused its dominant market position for several years. A couple of days later Ant was asked by the central bank to become a financial holding company, bringing it under the ambit of banking rules that it had managed to avoid so far and allowed it to grow rapidly.

"China still likes to promote its technology firms as global leaders just as long as they don't get too big for their britches," said Andrew Collier, managing director of Orient Capital Research.

CONTROLLING STAKE: Although Ma had previously stepped down from corporate positions, he retains effective control over Ant and significant influence over Alibaba.

While he only owns a 10% stake in Ant, Ma exercises control over the company through related entities, according to Ant's IPO prospectus.

Hangzhou Yunbo, an investment vehicle for Ma, has control over two other entities that own a combined 50.5% stake of Ant, the prospectus shows. Yunbo can decide all matters related to Ant and exercise the combined voting power of the three entities, the prospectus shows.

Ma holds a 34% equity interest in Yunbo, the prospectus shows.

One of the sources with company ties said there's "a big chance" Ma would sell his equity interest in Yunbo to exit from Ant, ultimately paving the way for the fintech major to move closer to completing its revamp and reviving its listing.

Reuters could not reach Yunbo for comment. Ant did not provide a comment on behalf of Yunbo. AGENCIES

Sunday, 18 April, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

ISLAMABAD

Iran IdentIfIeS SuSpeCt BehInd BlaSt at natanz nuClear SIte TEHRAN

I

Agencies

RAN on Saturday named a man it wants arrested in connection with a recent explosion and power outage at its main Natanz nuclear plant, as talks got underway in Vienna to try to save Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

“Reza Karimi, the perpetrator of this sabotage […] has been identified” by Iran’s intelligence ministry, state TV said. It said the suspect had fled Iran before last Sunday’s blast that the Islamic Republic has blamed on arch-foe Israel.

Officials from the remaining parties to Iran’s nuclear deal began a formal meeting in Vienna, suggesting that this round of talks which began on Thursday was wrapping up.

The television showed what it said was a photograph of the suspected perpetrator on a red card that had “Interpol Wanted” written on it. The card listed his age as 43.

“Necessary steps are underway for his arrest and return to the country through legal channels,” the report added.

State TV also aired footage of rows of what it said were centrifuges which had replaced the ones damaged in the blast at the Natanz uranium enrichment plant.

It added that “a large number” of centrifuges whose enrichment activity was disrupted by the explosion had been returned to normal service, the report said.

Iran and global powers are meeting in Vienna to try to rescue the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by Washington three years ago.

The talks are potentially complicated by Tehran’s decision to ramp up uranium en-

Biden, Japan’s Suga project unity against China TOKYO Agencies

President Joe Biden on Friday sought to present a united front with Japanese Prime Minister YoshihideSuga to counter China as the US leader held his first face-to-face White House summit since taking office. The talks offered the Democratic president, inaugurated in January, a chance to work further on his pledge to revitalise US alliances that frayed under his Republican predecessor Donald Trump.

China topped the agenda, underscoring Japan’s central role in US efforts to face down Beijing. The two leaders addressed an array of geopolitical issues, including Taiwan, with Suga saying they reaffirmed “the importance of peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait,” a slap at Beijing’s increased military pressure on the Chinese-claimed, self-ruled island. “Today Prime Minister Suga and I affirmed our ironclad support for the US-Japanese alliance and for our shared security,” Biden told a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden, calling the discussions “productive.”

“We committed to working together to take on the challenges from China and on issues like the East China Sea, the South China Sea, as well as North Korea, to ensure a future of a free and open Indo Pacific.” Other pressing concerns at the talks included China’s increased military movements near Taiwan, its tightening grip on Hong Kong, and its crackdown on Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang. Suga said he and Biden agreed on the necessity of frank discussions with China in the context of Beijing’s activities in the Indo-Pacific region. The summit – Biden’s first in-person meeting with a foreign leader as president – came just days after China sent 25 aircraft, including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers, near Taiwan, which Beijing considers a wayward province. “I refrain from mentioning details, since it pertains to diplomatic exchanges, but there is already an agreed recognition over the importance of peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait between Japan and the United States, which was reaffirmed on this occasion,” Suga said. In a joint statement, the leaders said they underscored “the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues”, similar phrasing used by the foreign and defence ministers of both countries following a meeting last month. It was the first such reference to the issue in a US-Japan leaders’ statement since 1969, before Tokyo normalized ties with Beijing. Attention had been focused on the wording on the topic, given a caution in Tokyo about the need to balance its security concerns with Japan’s deep economic ties with China.

DIGITAL COMPETITIVENESS, HUMAN RIGHTS: Taiwan’s government welcomed the show of support and called on China to act responsibly. “We hope the Beijing authorities will fulfil their responsibilities as part of the Taiwan Strait and region and jointly make positive contributions to stability and well-being,” presidential office spokesman Xavier Chang said in a statement. In another swipe at China, Biden told the news conference the United States and Japan will invest together in areas such as 5G, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, genomics and semiconductor supply chains. The joint statement said the United States had committed $2.5 billion and Japan $2 billion to strengthen digital competitiveness including in 5G and beyond 5G networks. “Japan and the United States are both deeply invested in innovation and looking to the future,” Biden said. “That includes making sure we invest in and protect technologies that will maintain and sharpen our competitive edge.”

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China has expressed solemn concern about “collusion” between Japan and the United States, and the countries should take China’s concerns seriously. Speaking later to a Washington think tank, Suga said Japan would say what is needed to be said to China and speak up on human rights, while also stressing the need to establish a stable, constructive relationship with Beijing. The leaders’ statement said they “share serious concerns” about the human rights situation in Hong Kong and China’s Xinjiang region, where Washington has claimed Beijing is perpetrating a genocide against Muslim Uighurs.

richment and what it called Israeli sabotage at the Natanz nuclear site.

Meanwhile, a source, echoing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s stance, reiterated Iran’s demand for the removal of all sanctions imposed under former President Donald Trump.

“In Tehran, nothing will be accepted but the removal of all sanctions, including those related to the JCPOA (nuclear accord), reimposed and relabeled during the Trump era,” the unnamed source told Iran’s state-run Press TV. Israeli media outlets have quoted unnamed intelligence sources as saying the country’s Mossad spy service carried out the Natanz sabotage operation. Israel — the only Middle Eastern country with a nuclear arsenal — has not formally commented on the incident.

Russia, retaliating against Washington, asks 10 US diplomats to leave MOscOw Agencies

Russia on Friday asked 10 US diplomats to leave the country in retaliation for Washington's expulsion of the same number of Russian diplomats over alleged malign activity and suggested the US ambassador return home for consultations.

The measures, part of a broader retaliatory package, were approved by President Vladimir Putin, as a response to an array of US government sanctions imposed on Moscow a day earlier, including curbs to its sovereign debt market.

Though Moscow responded swiftly and with measures designed to hurt US interests and shrink its diplomatic footprint, it left the door open for dialogue and did not kill off the idea, proposed by President Joe Biden, of a Putin-Biden summit.

"Now is the time for the United States to demonstrate good sense and to turn its back on a confrontational course," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. "Otherwise an array of painful decisions for the American side will be implemented."

It said it had options to hurt the United States economically and to shrink its diplomatic corps in Russia to just 300 people, but was holding fire for now.

Russia-US ties slumped to a new post-Cold War low last month after Biden said he thought Putin was a "killer" and Moscow recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations. The envoy has still not returned almost a month later.

The Russian foreign ministry said John Sullivan,

the US ambassador to Russia, should return home for consultations too.

Washington said its own sanctions were payback for Russia interfering in last year's US election, cyber hacking, bullying Ukraine and other alleged malign actions. Russia denies all the US allegations.

The Russian response on Friday was "escalatory and regrettable," a State Department representative said by email.

"It is not in our interest to get into an escalatory cycle, but we reserve the right to respond to any Russian retaliation against the United States."

RETALIATION: Moscow's response was mostly titfor-tat. It expelled 10 US diplomats and banned eight high-ranking current and former US officials from entering Russia for their contribution to what it called Washington's "anti-Russian course".

Those banned included FBI Director Christopher Wray, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, US Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.

Others to face an entry ban were Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons Michael Carvajal, Director of the Domestic Policy Council Susan Rice, John Bolton, the former US National Security Advisor, and ex-CIA head Robert James Woolsey.

The Russian foreign ministry said it would also end the activity in Russia of US funds and NGOs which it believes interfere in the country's internal affairs, while Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, spoke of potential "painful" measures aimed at US business in Russia. Other measures were designed

to make it harder for the US embassy to staff itself.

Biden, after imposing sanctions on Moscow, had called for a de-escalation in tensions and had said it was vital the White House and Kremlin kept communication lines open.

He has also proposed that he and Putin meet for a summit. "(Putin) has repeatedly said we're ready to develop dialogue as much as our counterparts are ready to do so. In this sense it is probably positive that the views of the two heads of state coincide," Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, told reporters before the Russian counter sanctions were unveiled.

"Their views categorically do not coincide when it comes to creating mutually beneficial relations and taking each other's interests into account," Peskov added, however.

The foreign ministry said Biden's Putin summit proposal had been initially well received, but was now being studied in the context of unfolding events.

"We would like to avoid a further escalation with the United States. We are ready for calm and professional dialogue," the ministry said.

"However the reality is that we hear one thing from Washington and in practice we see something completely different. There should be no doubt - not a single sanctions 'wave' will remain unpunished."

The Kremlin says Putin has yet to decide whether he will take part in a US-led climate summit next week. It has also said it would be hard to quickly organise a Putin-Biden summit.

Era ends as Raul Castro steps down as Communist Party chief HAVANA Agencies

Raul Castro said he is stepping down as Cuban Communist Party leader, leaving the island without a Castro guiding affairs for the first time in more than six decades and handing control of the party to a younger generation. The 89-year-old Castro made the announcement in a speech Friday at the opening of the eighth congress of the ruling party, the only one allowed on the island.

“I concluded my task as first secretary […] with the satisfaction of having fulfilled (my duty) and confidence in the future of the fatherland,” he said in a typically terse, to-the-point finale that contrasted with the impassioned verbal pyrotechnics of his brother Fidel, who died in 2016.

Castro didn’t say who he would endorse as his successor as the first secretary of the Communist Party. But he previously indicated he favours yielding control to 60-year-old Miguel Díaz-Canel, who succeeded him as president in 2018 and is the standard-bearer of a younger generation of loyalists who have been pushing an economic opening without touching Cuba’s one-party system.

“All processes have a continuity and I think Díaz-Canel should be there now,” said 58-year-old driver Miguel Rodríguez.

Castro’s retirement ends an era of formal leadership that began with his brother Fidel and the country’s 1959 revolution.

“One has to step aside for the young people,” said 64-year-old retiree Juana Busutil, for whom Castro “is going to continue being the leader.”

The transition comes at a difficult time for Cuba, with many on the island anxious about what lies

ahead.

The coronavirus pandemic, painful financial reforms and restrictions imposed by the Trump administration have battered the economy, which shrank 11 percent last year as a result of a collapse in tourism and remittances. Long food lines and shortages have brought back echoes of the “special period” that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

Discontent has been fuelled by the spread of the internet and growing inequality.

Much of the debate inside Cuba is focused on the pace of reform, with many complaining that the so-called “historic generation” represented by Castro has been too slow to open the economy.

In January, Díaz-Canel finally pulled the trigger on a plan approved two congresses ago to unify the island’s dual currency system, giving rise to fears of inflation. He also threw the doors open to a broader range of private enterprise — a category long-banned or tightly restricted — permitting Cubans to legally operate many sorts of self-run businesses from their homes.

This year’s congress is expected to focus on unfinished reforms to overhaul state-run enterprises, attract foreign investment and provide more legal protection to private business activities.

The Communist Party is made up of 700,000 activists and is tasked in Cuba’s constitution with directing the affairs of the nation and society.

Fidel Castro, who led the revolution that drove dictatorFulgencio Batista from power in 1959, formally became head of the party in 1965, about four years after officially embracing socialism.

He quickly absorbed the old party under his control and was the country’s unquestioned leader

until falling ill in 2006 and in 2008 handing over the presidency to his younger brother Raul, who had fought alongside him during the revolution.

Raul succeeded him as head of the party in 2011. Fidel Castro died in 2016 For most of his life, Raul played second-string to his brother Fidel — first as a guerrilla commander, later as a senior figure in their socialist government. But for the past decade, it’s Raul who has been the face of communist Cuba and its defiance of US efforts to oust its socialist system.

The fourth of seven children of a Spanish immigrant in eastern Cuba, Raul had joined his charismatic older brother in a nearly suicidal attack on the Moncada military barracks in the eastern city of Santiago in 1953 and survived the crackdown that followed from the forces of dictatorFulgencio Batista.

He led a major front in the ensuing guerrilla war led by Fidel that toppled Batista. And he served for the following generation or two as head of the armed forces. For many years, he was considered a more orthodox communist than his brother.

But it was Raul who reached accords with US President Barack Obama in 2014 that created the most extensive US opening to Cuba since the early 1960s — creating a surge in contacts with the United States that was largely reversed under Obama’s successor, Donald Trump.

“Nothing, nothing, nothing is forcing me to make this decision,” said Castro, part of whose speech Friday to the closed Congress was aired on state television. “As long as I live I will be ready with my foot in the stirrup to defend the homeland, the revolution, and socialism with more force than ever.”

sunday, 18 april, 2021

sporTs 11

LaHore

KanE douBlE EaRnS ToTTEnham hoTSPuR dRaW aT EvERTon, BuT SuffERS InjuRy LIVERPOOL Agencies

T

ottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane moved clear at the top of this season's Premier League scoring charts but his brace in a 2-2 draw at Everton was overshadowed by a late injury.

Kane took his tally to 21 for the season with a goal in each half but Gylfi Sigurdsson also scored twice for the hosts in a draw that did little for either side's fading top-four hopes.

Worryingly for Tottenham, and England, Kane hobbled off in stoppage time with what appeared to be an ankle injury.

India to grant visas to Pakistani players for ICC World T20 NEW DELHI Agencies

The cricket team, led by Babar Azam, will have no difficulty in travelling to India for the ICC World T20 in October as the Indian government is set to grant visas to the players. It has been learnt that BCCI secretary Jay Shah has informed the Apex Council about government's decision on giving visas to the Pakistan players.

"The visa issue of Pakistan cricket team has been sorted. However, whether the fans can travel across the border to watch matches is still not clear," an Apex Council member said. "It will be decided in due course of time. However, we had promised ICC that it will be sorted. The secretary announced during the meeting." India and Pakistan have not played bilateral series for many years now due to political tensions between two countries. The BCCI has also zeroed in on nine venues where World T20 will be held with Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium hosting the final. The other venues are Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Dharamsala.

Qatar aims to host Covid-free World Cup: foreign minister DOHA Agencies

Qatar's foreign affairs minister said on Saturday his country is ready to host the World Cup next year and has been in talks with vaccine providers to ensure all attendees are vaccinated, Qatar's state news agency QNA reported. "Right now there are programs under development to provide vaccination to all the attendees of the World Cup. We will be able, hopefully, to host a COVID-free event," said Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who is also deputy prime minister. The president of global soccer body FIFA, Gianni Infantino, said in February that World Cup matches would play to full stadiums in Qatar next year. Al-Thani said he believed it would be the first carbon-neutral world event, QNA said.

"It is too early to say something. For him to leave the pitch with a few minutes to go is obviously because he felt something," said Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho, whose side play in the League Cup final next weekend.

"Let me be optimistic and believe that he has time to recover. Let's see."

The draw left Tottenham without a win in their last three games and stuck in seventh place, five points behind fourth-placed West Ham United who have played a game less.

Everton's third successive draw left them eighth, a point behind Tottenham but with a game in hand.

Kane began the night level on 19 goals with Liver-

pool's Mohamed Salah in the race for the Golden Boot.

But he moved clear in the 27th minute when Michael Keane failed to cut out a cross and the ball arrived at Kane who took a touch before drilling a shot past Jordan Pickford.

Tottenham have struggled to hold on to leads throughout the season and this time their advantage lasted all of three minutes as Sergio Reguilon fouled James Rodriguez in the box and Sigurdsson slotted home the penalty.

Everton had good chances to go in front before halftime with Hugo Lloris twice denying Rodriguez.

Former Tottenham player Sigurdsson put Everton in front just past the hour mark when he met Seamus Cole-

man's cross with a sweetly-struck first-time shot.

But Everton's defence again blundered and a mix-up at the back allowed Kane to thump in Tottenham's leveller.

Richarlison should have won it for Everton at the death but he blazed over the bar with the goal at his mercy.

The most significant moment was still to come though as Kane was injured as he challenged for a ball in Everton's area.

He limped off and was replaced by Dele Alli but Tottenham fans will be fearing that he could miss next weekend's Wembley clash with Manchester City.

Babar hopes Pakistan will 'capitalise on this form' for T20 World Cup

a

NEWS DESK

FTER A 3-1 victory in the T20I series, captain Babar Azam will leave South Africa satisfied that his team's preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup in India is in "full steam." Babar was especially pleased that the victories were not a "one-man show" but instead a fullblown team effort that saw Pakistan win as many as two games in the last over. And to win three of the three games chasing was a huge box ticked in itself.

"We'll go back with a lot of confidence. When you win a series against South Africa in their backyard, it gives you a boost," Babar said after Pakistan's threewicket win in Centurion. "But that said, we will need to learn from our mistakes and reflect on what we need to improve on. We need to back everyone and give them confidence. Not everyone will perform in every series

but what we need to do is capitalize on the form. We go to Zimbabwe now and then there's the T20 World Cup, so our preparation is in full steam. We'll look to get everything finalised by the World Cup. "I am very happy with how the team performed on this tour," Babar added.

"It was a complete team effort instead of being a one-man show. The way we started the ODI series pointed to that.

Fakhar [Zaman] made a mark and stood out obviously, but I think we should give credit to our bowlers too."

It was indeed the bowling that made the difference for Pakistan throughout the series. Their bowlers were able to keep South Africa to scores of 188/6, 203/5 and 144 on pretty good batting surfaces in the three games they bowled first, and that cleared the deck for the likes of Fakhar and Babar to stack up the runs even as Mohammad Rizwan endured an indifferent series.

"Yes this was a series with conditions in favour of the batsmen but the bowlers also did a good job.

Need to build a bunch of pacers for T20 World Cup, other series: Waqar NEWS DESK Bowling coach Waqar Younis on Saturday said the team is looking to build a strong pool of pacers ahead of its upcoming assignments, including the T20 World Cup. The T20 World Cup is scheduled to be held in India in October-November.

"All the boys got rest after PSL postponement so fatigue is not a problem with them but we will sit down and discuss with them as we monitor every bowler. "Of course we will try out other bowlers as we need to build a bunch of pacers for upcoming series and tournaments including the World T20," Waqar said.

The fast bowling great said that winning the One-Day and T20 series in South Africa was a big achievement for the team. He said the team management would look at giving left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi a break from the coming matches in Zimbabwe. The team has faced criticism for playing Shaheen Shah without a break across formats in recent months.

Asked about the disappearance of young pacer Naseem Shah from Pakistan squad after being touted as a big find two years ago, Waqar said he

was having some injury and fitness issues.

"He is a very promising young fast bowler and we are confident that after playing some more domestic cricket he will come back stronger and better.

He is one for the future."

Waqar also defended the performance of his bowlers in the twin series in South Africa, saying they had shown a lot of energy.

"They are getting better and better."

The former Pakistan captain noted that in modern day white-ball cricket bowlers returning 8 to 10 runs per over was expected because of the flat tracks and the demanding conditions.

"The T20 format is so fast-moving and the type of tracks you get sometimes bowlers suffer. I think it's a mix and match as long as you are winning matches no need to worry."

Waqar said that if South Africa were without some of their key players for the last ODI and T20 series, this was not Pakistan's problem.

He also made it clear that he was the bowling coach and had no role in the selection of the team.

"That is not my domain, that is the head coach and captain's domain and I don't try to interfere. I give my feedback and they decide what is best for the team."

The only thing we could have done better was early wickets but the way we kept coming back into the game was commendable. There are a few areas that we need to work on and the more you work on them, the more the results will improve. They have to."

The bowlers had done the job on Friday (April 16) too but Pakistan nearly bungled up a straightforward chase of 145. Coasting at 98/2 in the tenth over, Pakistan lost the wickets of well-set Babar and Fakhar Zaman and could only score 21 runs off the next seven overs after that. It took Mohammad Nawaz's 21-ball 25 not out to bail them out.

"A couple of set batsmen got out at the wrong time and that put pressure on the middle order batsmen. We need to discuss with the players about the mistakes and rectify them. When we left Pakistan, we wanted to win the series. Fakhar played well and the bowlers bowled well too," Babar said.

Canadian tennis tournaments cancelled but Rogers Cup to go ahead MONTREAL Agencies

Tennis Canada cancelled six Challenger events on Friday due to Covid-19 but said this year's Rogers Cup in Montreal and Toronto would go ahead as scheduled in August. A statement from Tennis Canada said Challenger events in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Granby, Vancouver, Calgary and Fredericton had all been scrapped due to "repercussions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic." "Challenger events such as these that involve international participants are a complex and expensive undertaking and this weighed heavily in the decision to cancel, a decision that was difficult for Tennis Canada and the respective organizing committees to come to," said Tennis Canada's Eugene Lapierre, adding that the events would return in 2022. Tennis Canada managing director Gavin Ziv meanwhile said the Canadian Open WTA/ATP events were not affected by the decision. "The cancellation of these events has no bearing on the 2021 National Bank Open presented by Rogers, which Tennis Canada remains fully focused on hosting in Toronto and Montreal respectively this August," Ziv said. "With four months until the National Bank Open, we are hopeful the improving vaccination situation in Canada will bode well for our tournaments. "The National Bank Open is the engine of tennis in Canada and therefore our top priority at the moment is to stage these events successfully to ensure we can continue to develop the sport across the country." The Canadian Open, commonly known as the Rogers Cup, was cancelled last year due to Covid-19.

England cricket star Ben Stokes out for up to 12 weeks

Leipzig hand Bayern Munich title edge after Hoffenheim BERLIN Agencies

Leipzig had a last-minute goal ruled out and were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Hoffenheim on Friday to hand the Bundesliga title initiative back to Bayern Munich.

Second-placed Leipzig have 61 points but Bayern can stretch their lead to seven points with victory at third-placed Wolfsburg on Saturday with five games left.

Bayern, smarting from their Champions League exit at the hands of PSG in midweek, are seeking a ninth consecutive German title.

Leipzig thought they had won the game at the death when Yussuf Poulsen headed in but he was penalised for handball after the referee consulted the pitchside monitor.

Friday's result was a fair outcome with Julian Nagelsmann's

side taking until the 53rd minute to have an attempt on target with Christopher Nkunku failing to trouble the Hoffenheim keeper.

"We had a lot of good situations that we didn't use well enough," said Nagelsmann.

"We also had a lot of bad luck with the goal at the end, which was ruled out. It wasn't our best game, but we played well. We were the better team, but we didn't have enough scoring chances."

Nagelsmann went into the game with speculation linking him as Hansi Flick's successor at Bayern next season.

Flick, meanwhile, seen as the

man to replace Joachim Loew as national team coach after the European Championship, has yet to confirm he will stay at Munich where he has a contract until 2024.

LONDON: England allrounder Ben Stokes will be sidelined for up to 12 weeks with a broken finger, the team said, ruling him out of a test series against New Zealand and possibly limited-overs series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Stokes will undergo surgery on Monday after scans showed he has fractured his left index finger, the England and Wales Cricket Board said. He will fly back to Britain from India, where he is currently with Rajasthan Royals in the India Premier League, for the operation in Leeds. Stokes sustained the injury when completing a catch to dismiss Punjab Kings batsman Chris Gayle in the teams’ opening IPL match on Monday. Agencies

Sunday, 18 April, 2021

prayer timings

NEWS

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

4:19

12:05

4:38

5:43

6:27

7:50

QUEEn ElizAbEth lAys to rEst hEr hUsbAnd PrincE PhiliP LONDON

Q

agencies

ueen elizabeth II on Saturday bid farewell to her late husband, Prince Philip, at a royal funeral like no other, restricted by coronavirus rules but reflecting his long life of military and public service.

The Duke of edinburgh, who died on April 9 at age 99, was interred in the Royal Vault at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle after a 50-minute service attended by just 30 guests.

The Queen, 94, seen for the first time since his death, sat alone dressed in mourning black, with a white-trimmed, black face mask. Close family, also masked, sat socially distanced in the historic 15th-century Gothic chapel.

Philip — described by royals as “the grandfather of the nation” — was Britain’s longest-serving royal consort and was married to the Queen for 73 years.

He was an almost constant presence at her side during her record-breaking reign that began in 1952 as Britain rebuilt from World War II, and as its global empire began to unravel.

His death, which the family said had left a “huge void” in the Queen’s life, has robbed of her of the man she called her “strength and stay” and closes a remarkable chapter for Britain’s most famous family, and in the country’s history.

The last high profile funeral of a senior royal was for the Queen’s mother, who died in 2002, aged 101.

But unlike then, when more than one million people thronged outside Westminster Abbey in central London to watch the

sombre pageant, the public was noticeably absent from Saturday’s ceremony.

The coronavirus pandemic forced hasty revisions to the well-rehearsed plans for the duke’s death, code-named “Operation Forth Bridge”, stripping back public elements to prevent large crowds from gathering.

Government guidelines limited the number of mourners and a quartet performed hymns the duke chose himself in a barren nave stripped of seating.

Bottles of hand sanitiser was seen among the floral tributes inside.

MARK OF RESPECT: The intimate, ceremonial funeral from behind the stately castle walls was broadcast live on television to millions across Britain and the world.

A military gun was fired to signal a

minute’s silence when his coffin arrived at the chapel on a bespoke Land Rover he designed himself.

The coffin was draped in his standard and topped by a wreath of white roses and lilies from the Queen as well as his naval cap and ceremonial sword.

Across Britain — on the streets, in shops, railway stations and at sporting events — people bowed their heads with respect. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, dressed in black, observed the silence at his country retreat, Chequers.

Flights in an out of nearby Heathrow Airport were stopped for the duration of the ceremony.

Ieuan Jones, 37, travelled to Windsor from his home in the Welsh capital, Cardiff, and called Philip “a strong man, a

true hero (who) did so much for this country and the royal family”.

“It’s really a shame that because of the pandemic we can’t pay a wider tribute to the exceptional man he was,” he told AFP. Despite the restrictions, the strippeddown sendoff for the former Royal navy commander still combined centuries of royal protocol with pomp, pageantry — and military precision.

Members of the British armed forces, in formal dress, lined the procession route, heads bowed, as the cortege passed, as a minute gun rang out across the grounds and a bell tolled.

Philip’s grandsons William, 38, and Harry, 36, joined the procession, in their first public meeting since a reported falling out about Harry’s shock move to California, and his stinging criticism of royal life, including racism in the family.

Harry had to quarantine when he arrived back in Britain for the first time since his move to the united States with his wife, Meghan, last year.

LAST POST: The pair, who as young boys walked behind the coffin of their mother, princess Diana, in 1997, were separated by their cousin, Anne’s son Peter Phillips, 43.

They were later seen chatting as they left the chapel with William’s wife, Kate.

The religious service was a simple affair, reflecting the wishes of the straighttalking duke, who was known for his aversion to “fuss”.

In keeping with his wishes, there was no sermon, but the service reflected his love of the sea, and long association with the Royal navy, including hymns and Bible readings.

Faraz, Tarin sworn in as federal ministers ISLAMABAD tLtp

Senator Shibli Faraz and Shaukat Tarin were sworn in as federal ministers by President Arif Alvi in a small ceremony at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Saturday. Faraz will take up the mantle of minister for science and technology, whereas Tarin will henceforth be minister for finance.

On Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan appointed Tarin as the finance minister in yet another cabinet reshuffle during the third year of the PTI-led government. Tarin had also served as the finance minister in former premier Yousaf Raza Gilani’s cabinet from 2009 to 2010. Tarin replaced PTI’s recently appointed finance minister Hammad Azhar, who has now been given the portfolio of energy. Before Hammad’s short stint, PPP’s ex-financial czar Abdul Hafeez Shaikh had served as the finance minister before being unceremoniously sacked last month – that too when the prime minister had claimed the economy was on course to recovery.

In other major changes, the prime minister swapped the portfolios of science and information ministries between Fawad Chaudhry and Faraz. Fawad has been appointed the government’s spokesperson for the second time. Meanwhile, cabinet division on Saturday issued notification for the appointment of Tarin as federal minister for finance and revenue and Faraz as minister for science and technology.

The notification issued by the cabinet division read that in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 92 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the president, on the advice of the prime minister, has been pleased to appoint Shaukat Fayaz Ahmed Tarin as minister for finance and revenue and Senator Shibli Faraz as minister for science and technology.

“In terms of rule 3(4) of the Rules of Business, 1973, the prime minister has also been pleased to allocate/re-allocate the portfolios to the federal ministers with immediate effect,” the notification read.

Federal Minister Power Division

Omar Ayub Khan has been reallocated as minister for economic affairs division (eAD), while Hammad Azhar as federal minister for industries and production has

now been made minister for energy. eAD Minister Makhdoom Khusro Bukhtiar has been reallocated to the ministry of industries and production.

Qureshi leaves for UAE on three-day visit ISLAMABAD/ABU DHABI staff report

Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi left on Saturday for an official visit to the united Arab emirates (uAe) with a focus on trade, employment opportunities, and regional security situation, Radio Pakistan reported. During the three-day visit, Qureshi will call on his emirati counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al nahyan and other dignitaries.

The foreign minister will also hold meetings with the emirati leadership on all segments of bilateral cooperation, including trade and investment, regional and global developments, job opportunities for Pakistan nationals and the welfare of the Pakistani diaspora residing in the sheikhdom. He will also meet members of the diaspora community and interact with domestic and international media organisations. The emirates is home to the second-largest Pakistani community abroad.

The two countries enjoy strong fraternal ties, rooted deep in common faith and shared history and values, a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said.

Regular high-level interactions and visits between the two nations have played a pivotal role in providing further impetus to strengthening bilateral cooperation and collaboration on a wide range of issues, it added. Abu Dhabi is Islamabad’s largest trading partner in the Middle east and has supported Pakistan in the areas of education, health, energy and infrastructure development under the uAe-Pakistan Assistance Programme (uAe-PAP) launched in 2011 by President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al nahyan.

UAE MEDIATING BETWEEN PAKISTAN, INDIA: The visit comes on the heels of reports of the uAe playing a role in getting Pakistan and India to agree to a ceasefire amid tensions over the disputed region of Kashmir. The comments by uAe ambassador in Washington Yousef al-Otaiba came on Wednesday. Speaking in a video released by Stanford university’s Hoover Institution, alOtaiba acknowledged an emirati role “in bringing the Kashmir escalation down” between the two nations. “We try to be helpful where we have influence with two different countries,” al-Otaiba told H.R. McMaster, a former national security adviser to former uS president Donald Trump. “India and Pakistan was the most recent one.” Al-Otaiba acknowledged in his remarks that Pakistan and India “might not sort of become best friends,” but that such communication is important. “At least we want to get it to a level where it’s functional, where it’s operational, where they are speaking to each other, where there’s lines of communication,” he said. “That’s our goal.”

French nationals in Pakistan refuse embassy call to leave ISLAMABAD agencies

The French community in Pakistan is torn between disbelief, fear, and annoyance in reaction to their embassy’s call for them to leave the country after violent protests this week by a hardline political party.

Most, it seems, have decided to stay put.

In a terse three-line email, accompanied by the words “urgent,” the embassy in Islamabad on Thursday recommended its nationals and French companies temporarily leave Pakistan, because of “serious threats.”

The email, which did not specify the nature of the risks, caused shock and consternation among the few hundred-strong French community.

Jean-Michel Quarantotti, who has taught French at the American school in Islamabad for three years, was first alerted to the embassy advisory by a student.

“I won’t hide from you that at first, I felt a little bit of fear, panic,” he told AFP. “It’s not my first foreign country — I did a lot be-

fore arriving in Pakistan — but I was really shocked. I didn’t expect to go through this.”

His first thought was to pack up and leave, but after discussing the situation with colleagues he said reason took over from

emotion.

“The Pakistanis around me advised me to stay,” he said. “They told me that they would protect me.”

“It was very touching to see the solidar-

ity around me, from people who told me: ‘We are here for you, do not worry, we will defend you’.”

The embassy announcement came after days of violent protests by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) after the arrest in Lahore on Monday of leader Saad Rizvi, who had called for a march on the capital to demand the expulsion of the French ambassador.

Four policemen were killed in the rioting.

Many of the French people contacted by AFP questioned the timing of the embassy’s message as Islamabad had just announced the ban on the TLP and seemed to have the situation under control.

“Yes, there are a lot of risks to live here,” said Quarantotti, “but we don’t need to panic the French community with words that are badly chosen.”

“We wonder a little why France needed to publicise this message at the international level, when it could have given a much more discreet message to the (French) community.”

Fellow national Julien — an assumed name because he does not wish to divulge

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

his identity — has also chosen to stay put.

“It’s a recommendation, so I won’t leave,” he told AFP. He also refused his employer’s offer to repatriate him to europe or put armed guards outside his home.

“Anyway, since October, november, it’s been all ups and downs. So we’ll wait for it to calm down,” the Islamabad resident said.

“The watchword is vigilance,” added Laurent Cinot, a consultant for the World Bank who arrived in Islamabad less than two months ago.

He said any threat was not from ordinary Pakistanis, but only the TLP. Another Frenchman living in Lahore — who is not allowed to give his name or that of his French company for security reasons — has spent nearly ten years in Pakistan in two stints.

“Since I’ve been here a long time, I didn’t really panic,” he said.

Still, he is the only French national contacted by AFP who will leave — on the orders of his employers.