Pakistan Link - February 19, 2016

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Friday, February 19, 2016

VOL. 26/8 - 10 Jumadul-ula 1437 H

Manmohan Assails Modi’s Pakistan Policies Ideas Needed to Solve Basic Problems, Says US Envoy Islamabad:

US Ambassador David Hale has emphasized that his country and Pakistan need to generate new ideas, p ar t n e rs h ip s and innovative solutions to deal with water-energyfood security nexus.

“Water, energy, and food: three basic components of life…complex processes are at work to bring us those essential elements, and demographics and climate change are straining those processes,” Ambassador Hale said while speaking at the ‘Water, Energy, Food Security Nexus Conference’ organized by the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) here on Tuesday.

The two-day conference brought together policy experts, scientists, and members of private sector businesses to discuss the links between water, energy, and agricul

IDEAS, P28

Govt. to Split Flag Carrier into ‘Good and Bad PIA’ Karachi: Real estate, all hotels and precision engineering could be carved out of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) before offering the air carrier for privatization to prospective bidders, said a top government official on Tuesday.

In a briefing to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Privatization, Privatization Commission Secretary Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera said the shape of future PIA was gradually emerging as financial advisers had given initial recommendations.

However, he emphasized, “No formal transaction structure has yet been presented to the Privatization Commission board and the Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCOP) for consideration and approval.”

The good PIA will consist of all those assets, which will be offered for privatization while the bad PIA will comprise non-core functions and liabilities estimated at Rs320 billion.

PIA, P28

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US & Canada $1.00

Terrorists Have No Base in Pakistan to Fall Back upon

Meet the First Muslim Woman in Space

Strategic Talks Would Be Result-oriented

“This meeting is taking place against the backdrop of significant developments in Pakistan and the region,” Ambassador Jilani said

n By Anwar Iqbal Washington, DC: Both the United

States and Pakistan will attend the sixth meeting of the US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue with a result-oriented approach, says Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani.

The sixth session, which is also

the third ministerial review, will be held in Washington on Feb 29. Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and US Secretary of State John Kerry will lead their respective sides at the talks.

“This meeting is taking place against the backdrop of significant

developments in Pakistan and the region,” Ambassador Jilani said.

He said that cooperation in the fight against terrorism would figure prominently in the talks as it “forms a salient feature of the bilateral relationship”.

TALKS, P28

Pakistani Detects Einstein’s Gravitational Waves

MIT astrophysics Professor Nergis Mavalvala, center, celebrates with MIT Professor Lorna Gibson, left, following an update by MIT scientists on gravitational waves, Thursday, February 11, 2016, at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. — Courtesy AP

Washington, DC: Karachi-born quantum astrophysicist Nergis Mavalvala, Associate Department Head of Physics at MIT, is a mem-

ber of the team of scientists that announced on Thursday the scientific milestone of detecting gravitational waves, ripples in space and time hy-

pothesized by physicist Albert Einstein a century ago.

The announcement was made

WAVES, P28

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www.PakistanLink.com Pakistan Asks UN to Guarantee Right of Self-Determination United Nations: Pakistan has urged

the United Nations to guarantee the right of self-determination to people living under foreign occupation if the principles of its Charter are to have meaning.

“Unless the rule of international law is applied, people’s expectations of justice and fairness from the UN will remain unmet,” Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi said during a debate in the Security Council on Monday on UN Charter and Maintenance of Peace and Security.

She regretted that the charter’s principles were flouted in pursuit of narrow ‘national interests’ by the powerful.

She observed that member states had solemnly entered into this Covenant 70 years ago with the trust that these principles were immutable. Instead, she said, “We see unilateralism and arbitrariness in consequential decisions of war and peace.”

“We see unwarranted foreign adventures and then we also see their unforeseen and unintended

RIGHT, P28

Next 15 Days Crucial, Be Vigilant: Rabita Committee Karachi: MQM’s central coordi-

nation committee, also known as the ‘Rabita Committee’, has made a “passionate appeal to Pakistanis to remain vigilant and keep their eyes and minds open over the next 15 days, as the coming days are extremely crucial.”

The Rabita Committee statement advised citizens to stockpile medication for children, the elderly, and for those with diabetes and psychiatric concerns owing to ‘frequent earthquakes and an unstable political environment in the country’.

The statement also calls for stocking up on matches, batteries, candles, oil, wood, and coal for the next 15 days, and to fill up fuel tanks.

PASSPORT RETURNED: Meanwhile, the London Metropolitan Police have returned MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s passport, a statement on the party’s website said.

His passport was seized by

COMMITTEE, P28

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FEBRUARY 19, 2016 – PAKISTAN LINK – P3

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OPINION

P4 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 19, 2016

Pakistan Link President

Arif Zaffar Mansuri

ArifMansuri@PLpublications.org Editor

Akhtar Mahmud Faruqui afaruqui@pakistanlink.com

Editor Urdu Link & Bureau Chief (Pakistan)

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urdulink@yahoo.com Resident Editor Urdu Link & Director Video Operations

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X & Ali

n By Mowahid Hussain Shah

B

lacks complain in the US about white mistreatment and discrimination – often with verisimilitude.

Missing from the picture is black mistreatment of those blacks not approved by the dominant white Establishment.

How often does one see mainstream blacks shower praise on Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali? It is Martin Luther King who gets all the accolades.

Comes now a 2016 pathbreaking book, “Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X,” by Professors Randy Roberts and Johnny Smith. It is a gripping narrative and meticulously researched passage of the stormy ’60s, wherein the dual legacies and bond between X and Ali left an enduring imprint on American civic life and the evolution of its civil rights.

In effect, blacks were ignoring facts of their second-class status in favor of the passive comfort zone of Christian tribalism. Black elites also pounced on both X and Ali, looking at them through Establishment eyes as dangerous subversives.

Malcolm X instilled in Ali the self-belief that it was Allah’s will that he would be world boxing champion. It was Muslim

Comes now a 2016 path-breaking book, “Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X,” by Professors Randy Roberts and Johnny Smith. It is a gripping narrative and meticulously researched passage of the stormy ’60s, wherein the dual legacies and bond between X and Ali left an enduring imprint on American civic life and the evolution of its civil rights affiliation that sent Ali into the wilderness, taking away his rightfully earned heavyweight-boxing crown for 3-1/2 years during his prime time. It foretold by half a century the Islamophobia that plagues American civic life today.

Ali’s first impression of X: “He was fearless. That really attracted me.” Malcolm then said that Ali “possessed incredible potential to be something more

n By Aijaz Zaka Syed

I

Dubai

t is said that in his quest to establish a worldclass university for Muslims, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan would stop at nothing. Like all men possessed, he lived, talked and thought about his dream until he realized it. Having invested everything he had in his life mission, he went around with a begging bowl to raise funds for the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College (MAO), later, the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). He pestered everyone — Muslims, Hindus, the rich and poor, men and women — for donations, even visiting red light areas seeking financial aid.

A distinguished scholar, civil servant and reformer, Sir Syed concluded in the wake of the 1857 upheavals, which saw Muslims largely take the full blow of an angry empire’s wrath, that modern education was the only way ahead for the community.

From going hungry for days to staging plays and mushairas (Urdu poetry sessions), he traversed mountains of adversities, including fierce opposition from within the community, to reach his goal. He was even declared a kafir (apostate) for championing modern education, seen by many as a symbol of British tyranny. Nothing deterred him though. He went on to found the MAO College at Aligarh in 1875 against all odds. It was recognized as a Central University in 1920 through an Act of Central Legislative Council by the Indian government.

Today, AMU houses more than 28,000 students on its campuses and offers more than 250 programs and courses and remains one of the top 10 universities in India and one of the most recognized around the world. Not bad for an institution founded by a voiceless, dispossessed minority.

Aligarh has never stopped fighting its battle for survival though, defying adversity at every stage of its existence. However, what it faces today in the gauntlet thrown down by the Modi government, challenging its raison d’etre, the very purpose of existence, in the Supreme Court, is perhaps the greatest threat to its identity as India’s — perhaps world’s — first modern, world-class educational institution founded by Muslims.

After nearly a century and half of the university’s existence, its character as a Muslim institution is now being questioned by the BJP government. “It’s the stand of the Union of India that the AMU is not a minority university. As the executive government at

than a boxer.”

Malcolm’s own life was a tale of redemption because he had emerged from the bottom heap and was transformed by Islamic tenets, which he saw as a natural beacon of hope for the black man. When Malcolm X later went to Mecca, he grasped the transcendental inclusivity of Islam’s message when he witnessed all races as one gathered together

Save AMU, Save India

the center we cannot be seen as setting up a minority institution in a secular state,” Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi told the Supreme Court on January 11.

So a colonial power may have recognized Aligarh as a “central university” run by Muslims — such was the high benchmark that the university set that the Viceroy felt privileged to be its honorary patron and Visitor — but a government owing allegiance to the secular Constitution of free India

Aligarh has never stopped fighting its battle for survival. However, what it faces today is perhaps the greatest threat to its identity as India’s — perhaps world’s — first modern, world-class educational institution founded by Muslims promising equal rights to all cannot bring itself to do so. Of course, India is a secular state. But its secular constitution offers minorities a fundamental right to practice their religion and educate their children as they see fit. Article 30 (1) of the Constitution unambiguously promises: “All minorities whether based on religion or language shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.”

Before Independence, AMU was often tarred as the laboratory of the idea of Pakistan. Post Independence, successive governments have tried to undermine its special identity as a minority institution.

In 1965, education minister M.C. Chagla first opened the Pandora’s box when he amended the 1920 Act to reduce AMU to a government appendage, inflicting the body blow on Muslims’ proudest

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and bowing before the Almighty.

The book substantiates how “Malcolm spoke for the powerless, the downtrodden, the voiceless.” Ali, too, had defiance and “never behaved like a subservient one…. More than any other athlete, his life fused the political upheavals of the age. His entire boxing career was defined by the social and political movements of the decade.”

The friendship between X and Ali flamed hot so fast and flamed out so fast. But not before it rocked America forever.

While it lasted, it was an epic bond between two men who went on to become global icons, inspiring Mandela, Nasser, Nkrumah, and, of course, millions of Pakistanis.

According to the authors, “no one articulated black rage against American hypocrisy and the failures of democracy more strongly than Malcolm did.”

Malcolm posited: “We need to expand the civil rights struggle to a higher level – to the level of human rights…Being born here in America doesn’t make you an American.”

Reflecting back, on page 309, 40 years after the assassination of Malcolm X, Ali had this realization: “I wish I’d been able to tell Malcolm I was sorry, that he was right about so many things….

Malcolm X was a great thinker and even greater friend. I might never have become a Muslim if it hadn’t been for Malcolm.”

institution. The university court, the supreme governing body, was reduced to being a puppet of the government of the day.

When some Muslims approached the Supreme Court for help, it ruled on October 20, 1967, to their horror, that AMU was not a minority institution and that a university which was “founded” through a central law cannot claim a special status.

“It may be that the 1920 Act was passed as a result of the efforts of the Muslim minority. But that does not mean that the Aligarh University when it came into being under the 1920 Act was established by the Muslim minority,” the court ruled.

Why? Because, the judges reasoned, “It would not be possible for the Muslim minority to establish a university of the kind whose degrees were bound to be recognized by government”.

In other words, no minority can establish a university even though Article 30(1) gives it the right to do so.

The top court ignored the fact that AMU preexisted the 1920 law in the form of MAO College and that the University was entirely financed and founded by Muslims. The community had only sought the government recognition for AMU. Universities have a legal standing which only a statute can confer.

Taking the SC verdict apart, legal luminary H.M. Seervai points out that Muslims founded the university “in the only manner in which a university could be brought into existence; namely, by invoking the exercise by the sovereign authority of its legislative power. The Muslim community provided land, buildings, colleges and endowments for the university, and without these the university as a body corporate would be an unreal abstraction”.

AMU, P28

Views and opinions expressed by authors and contributors in articles, letters, opinion pieces, reports, advertisements, etc appearing in Pakistan Link and Urdu Link are their own. The paper neither shares nor endorses them and thus should not be held responsible for the views/opinions of the writers & adver-

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FEBRUARY 19, 2016 – PAKISTAN LINK – P5

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OPINION

P6 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 19, 2016

Donald Trump, National Review, and the Battle for the Conservative Mind n By Dr R.B.A. DiMuccio

T

US

he editors and writers of National Review recently did something extraordinary. They came out en masse against a Republican candidate during the primary. Their “Against Trump” symposium and accompanying “Editors introduction” offer up a barrage of attacks on Donald Trump’s surprising presidential candidacy.

For the symposium, National Review assembled an enormously diverse group of conservative thinkers, from “movement conservatives” to more “establishment” types, to “conservatarians.” Clearly, this is no monolithic bloc. Yet there they are—an eclectic bunch of odd bedfellows making the same core argument: Donald Trump is not a conservative based on any meaningful definition of the term.

The National Review’s writers make this case fearlessly, meticulously, and thoroughly. In past and current statements or actions, Trump has violated virtually every pillar of conservatism. Some of his positions defy constitutionally limited, liberty-motivated government (e.g. his support of eminent domain); contradict traditional values (e.g., his sometimes support for Planned Parenthood); and call into serious question whether he really is a foreign-affairs conservative by any measure (e.g. his protectionist proposals on trade or his willingness to contemplate Russian

hegemony in the Middle East). On whether Donald Trump is a consistent, true conservative … the case is arguably closed.

But if National Review editors’ intent was to cause Trump supporters to question their loyalties, such efforts are doomed to fail for one simple reason: Many Trump enthusiasts are not the reliable conservatives that National Review wishes them to be. Consider: One widely touted source, YouGov, reports that only 13 percent of Trump voters describe themselves as “very conservative” versus 20 percent that describe themselves as liberal or moderate.

Only 30 percent of them say that they identify with the Tea Party movement, according to a Newsweek summary of the YouGov data on Trump. In short, the “Trump is not especially conservative” refrain doesn’t work with his supporters because neither are they.

How can it be so? How can it be that the Republican currently garnering a large plurality of support in a crowded but highly qualified field of candidates (many of them unquestionably conservative) is the one with the feeblest conservative credentials and some of the most heretical statements and positions?

One plausible and compelling answer to this question is embodied in Tim Groseclose’s pathbreaking book, “Left Turn.” The book covers an awful lot of ground, beginning with a detailed demon-

stration of how to define, quantify, and trend liberal media bias; and an amazingly rich and systematic account of how liberal media bias actually happens in practice. These are, in themselves, hugely important contributions.

But the most relevant finding of the book is reflected in its subtitle: “How Liberal Media Bias Distorts the American Mind.”

Simply put, liberal media bias is exerting an independent effect on the “political quotient” of the average American and is moving it steadily and substantially leftward.

By Groseclose’s math, media bias has shifted the average American political quotient approximately 20 percent further left, to the point where it is worth about 8 points in presidential elections in favor of Democrat candidates. That is significant.

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Other widely accepted data sources validate the trend, if not the causes. According to recent data from Gallup, the percentage of Americans who identify as “conservative” outnumbers “liberals” by 37 percent to 24 percent (with 35 percent identifying as moderates).

But in 1992, that same percentage for conservatives was 43 percent versus 17 percent for liberals. A 26-point gap between conservatives and liberals has shriveled to 12 points in just over 20 years.

Is America still the “centerright nation” it is so often assumed to be? Perhaps. But it is far less so than it was, not even a generation ago. True, the fight isn’t fair.

Undoubtedly, liberal media bias forms colossal, perhaps even insurmountable headwinds for conservative ideas.

Regardless, it seems abun-

dantly clear that the conservative punditry is overestimating the conservatism of the Republican and national electorates. Just to offer a couple of examples, the current Republican front runner frequently argues against entitlement reform. Worse still, the Republican candidates (as a group) are talking less about the debt and deficits than at any other point in recent memory.

Put differently, conservatives must confront the simple reality that they are losing the argument.

This being the case, at least one truth is manifest: effectively making the case for conservative ideas is more important today than ever before. Conservatives can either take up this fight, or accept being mere enablers in the self-reinforcing “triumph” of American liberalism.

Certainly, conservatives can (and should) also debate the wisdom of their flagship journal taking such a definitive stance regarding one particular candidate this early in the cycle. But the effort to clearly define and passionately argue for true conservative ideas is really the best hope they have.

In this battle for the conservative mind, National Review’s contribution has always been and continues to be, invaluable.

(Dr R.B.A. Di Muccio is a former assistant professor and chair of the international relations program in the Political Science Department at the University of Florida)

OPINION n By Dr Syed Amir

I

Bethesda, MD

FEBRUARY 19, 2016 – PAKISTAN LINK – P7

The Pirates of North Africa

n his last State of the Union address to the US Congress on January 12, President Obama proudly proclaimed, “The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined.

Our troops are the finest fighting force in the history of the world. No nation dares to attack us or our allies because they know that’s the path to ruin.”

It may be hard to believe that two centuries ago, the US did not have a credible navy or army, and the country was so weak that it could not protect its merchant ships carrying goods to Europe from ragtag pirate ships operating from the Barbary states of North Africa - Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli.

The term, Barbary, is derived from the Berber regions of North Africa.

Nominally under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Sultans, in reality these early nineteenth century rulers of the Barbary States, variously titled as Bey, Dey or Bashaw, enjoyed almost complete autonomy. Their only obligation was to send annual tribute to the Sultan at Constantinople. In earlier times, the Ottoman Sultans used to send imperial Pashas or Governors to rules these states, but progressively the imperial influence declined and the Sultans ceased to exercise any authority over their conduct. The pirate ships freely roamed the Mediterranean Sea, attacking and robbing ships with impunity and capturing seamen, whom they enslaved, held for ransom, or sold in slave markets like commercial goods.

The fascinating story of the nascent American republic’s existential battles in the late eighteenth century with the Barbary pirates had almost been forgotten even in the West. Now a new book, Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates, by Brian Kilmeade

and Don Yaeger, recounts in exquisite detail the struggle of the new republic with North African pirates that threatened to extinguish all its mercantile and commercial ties with Southern Europe.

Relations with North African States had had an auspicious start, as Sultan Moham-

other North Africa states. Independence from Britain under the Treaty of Paris in 1783 deprived the American ships of the protection previously offered by the powerful British Navy. The French navy did not offer any help either. The last French Emperor Louis XVI, who had supported the American in-

A new book, Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates, by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger, recounts in exquisite detail the struggle of the new republic with North African pirates that threatened to extinguish all its mercantile and commercial ties with Southern Europe med III of Morocco signed a peace treaty in 1786 with the US, pledging that his country would guarantee the safety of the American merchant shipping along the Mediterranean coast. Morocco was also the first country to recognize the US independence.

However, trouble soon brewed with

dependence struggle, saw no reason to do so now as the British had been driven out of the US. Sensing their high vulnerability, insurance companies escalated rates for insuring American trade vessels.

Kilmeade and Yaeger start their narration with the year 1785, nine years after the

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US independence. The country was facing the serious problem of piracy at the time.

Algerian pirates had captured two defenseless American merchant vessels, imprisoned its sailors and officers, and were demanding a huge ransom for their release. There were only two options: payment of ransom, or the use of force. The demands of the Barbary pirates were so outrageous that they were beyond the ability of the new republic to meet.

On the other hand, lacking a navy, use of force was out of the question.

John Adams, who would later become the second president, was at the time the US ambassador in London, decided to explore if the amount of ransom money could be negotiated with the pirates. The book records a meeting in London between Ambassador Adams and Sidi Haji Abdrahaman, the ambassador of the Barbary state of Tripoli. The two got along exceedingly well, enjoying smoking together through a six-foot-long pipe and drinking bitter Turkish coffee. The meeting took place in a cordial atmosphere, leading Adams to believe that the affable Tripolian ambassador might help in brokering a deal with other Barbary states.

A second meeting was arranged with the envoy. Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (later to be the third US president, but at that time minister in Paris) participated to hammer out an agreement. This time, Sidi Abdrahaman, changed his tone, widely escalating his demands and asking for large amounts of gold, plus 10 percent gratuity for his services. Mouthing the despicable narrative propagated by the present-day Taliban or the so-called Islamic State (ISIL), he justified the vile practice of piracy by claiming that according to his religion, “All nations that had not acknowledged the prophet were sinners and whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave.” The meeting ended in failure.

Meanwhile, Algerians had captured ten PIRATES, P28

OPINION

P8 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 19, 2016 n By Dr Shahid Athar

I

Indiana

n crucial times of our lives, when a Muslim ethicist is not available, the leader of a mosque, a religious scholar, a practicing Muslim physician or an elder in the family or community can take a leadership role in ethical/medical decision-making for the patient.

God tells us: “Blessed is He in Whose hand is the Sovereignty, and He is Able to all things, Who has created Life and death that He may try you, which of you is best in conduct; and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving” (67:1-2).

However, in forming his opinion, the advisor must consult the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam): “And it becomes not a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His messenger have decided an affair (for them), that they should (after that) claim any say in their affair, - and who so is rebellious to God and His messenger, he verily goes astray in error manifest” (33:36).

The Quran’s guidance about the sanctity of life is well known, “If anyone killed a person, unless in lieu of murder or spreading mischief on earth, it would be as if he killed all of mankind. And if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the lives of all mankind” (5:32).

Muslim patients understand that illness, suffering and death are part of life and a test from God who while giving “glad tidings to those who patiently persevere,” tells us that He “shall test you with something of fear. And hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the

Ethical Decision-Making and the Muslim Patient fruits (of your toil)” (2:155).

In 2:28, He warns that death is a part of a journey and transformation from one life form to another and component of their faith. And stresses that no one can die except by His leave, “The term being fixed by writing” (3:45).

Thus, belief in God and the Hereafter establishes peace in Muslim hearts, who, when afflicted with calamity, say: “To God We be- long, and to Him is our return” (2:156). He seeks God’s help with patience and prayer (2:153).

The ethicist’s major roles in patient care area are: a) Understanding the patient and his family’s concerns and conveying them to physicians and others involved in the decision-making process; b) interpreting the scripture as it applied to the patient’s specific concerns; c) consoling and comforting the patient and his family so that they can accept the situation as a will of God and pray for a better life in the Hereafter; and d) taking care of the family’s spiritual, emotional or even financial needs after the loved one’s death.

Muslim ethicists work under the principles of preservation of faith, sanctity of life, alleviation of suffering, enjoining what is good and permitted, and forbidding what is wrong and prohibited, respecting the patients’ autonomy and couples’ marriage, while achieving medical justice without harm and always being honest and truthful in giving information. Thus, before giving a final opinion, they must consult the patient, the family, the physician and preferably another Islamic scholar.

Medical Futility – A Case Presentation: Baby K, who was born anencephalic (absence of all brain except for rudimentary brain tissue), breathes, sucks, swallows and coughs but cannot see, hear, feel or think. The mother, out of a firm Christian faith that all life should be “protected,” insists that everything should be done for her baby, including mechanical and artificial ventilation. The Muslim physicians were asked whether or not doing mechanical ventilation in this situation was permissible, prohibited or uncertain.

Questions and discussions: Does the quality of life modify decisionmaking? When the resources are scarce, who takes precedence, the individual or the community?

When the physicians and family vs. patients’ views clash, whose view should be taken into account?

How does a Muslim physician deal with his patient and the family’s In association with

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“firm Christian belief ”?

Baby K’s chances of survival without mechanical ventilation are very small. The cost of maintaining the baby on long-term ventilation, either in the hospital or at home is extremely high, and it places tremendous pressure on parents in caring for such a child without improving any quality of life. However, their emotional attachment, as well as their faith perspective, should be taken into account and respected.

Some of the principles of biomedical ethics: 1) Respect for autonomy: The right of patient self-determination is based on the principle that people are autonomous to the extent that they are able to understand and make decisions for themselves that are intentional and voluntary.

2) Beneficence: The principle of beneficence that obliges persons to benefit or help others, requires positive action: to prevent what is bad or harmful; to remove what is bad or harmful; and to do or promote what is good or

beneficial.

3) Non-maleficence, which obliges persons to refrain from harming others, including refraining from killing them or treating them cruelly, is one of non-intervention, also requires persons to exercise due care so that they do not unintentionally harm others through actions such as reckless driving or careless surgical procedures.

4) Justice requires a fair distribution of benefits and burdens, where persons receive that which they deserve or to which they are entitled.

It also involves decisions to allocate scarce health care resources. However, the specifics of how to implement this principle remain controversial in many situations.

Each patient should be discussed under these guidelines for the final conclusion. Physicians cannot remain aloof of such situations, as they are intimately involved in patient outcome.

They should know the patient’s ethical values as religion influences the patient’s decision and compliance with a prescribed treatment.

A physician is seen as a secular priest. Therefore, a patient who is indecisive about his care may seek not only the physician’s medical but also spiritual advice. Sickness precipitates questions in the patient and drives him closer to God. Therefore, he may have to reflect upon his past and make decisions based on his own spiritual growth during illness.

Finally, the physician’s own belief may influence his treatment options offered in the patient’s outcome. For example, a physician who is against abortion will never advise his patient to undergo one, or one who does not care about the sanctity of life may practice euthanasia.

DECISION, P28

OPINION

FEBRUARY 19, 2016 – PAKISTAN LINK – P9

Cool Encounters

n By Dr Akbar S. Ahmed

S

American University Washington, DC

ocieties that are confident in their identity are more accepting of difference, whether racial or religious. There is a ‘cool’ factor where the arts are freely pursued, there is an environment of openness and creativity and acceptance of religious and cultural diversity.

I saw this in my first encounter with the US in the 1980s when I arrived at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. I was struck by how civilized, welcoming and generous Americans were. Today in Europe this is happening in Germany, a vibrant, innovative and open nation with confidence and a thriving artistic spirit, notably in Berlin. It is also happening in Scotland, which has steadily become an artistic haven, recognized around the world and on the cutting edge in the fields of visual art, fashion, literature and music.

Both Germany and Scotland are increasingly comfortable in their identity — witness the response to two significant 2014 events in both countries: Germany’s World Cup victory and Scotland’s holding of its referendum on independence. Both resulted in a surge of confidence in their identity following years of self-loathing, for Germans horror and soul-searching at their culpability in the Second World War and for Scots the “Scottish Cringe: a persistent sense of inferiority, self-pity and embarrassment at overt expressions of Scottishness developed over years of English domination” (Karen Gardiner, “Is it the end of the Scottish Cringe?“ BBC News, January 25, 2016).

Societies that feel confident and are dynamic are able to integrate outsiders comfortably.

In Scotland, I saw proof of this when I met two immigrants who held important positions. Scotland had appointed a young man with a Pakistani background to an important position in the cabinet and fielded another, a woman this time, as a Member of Parliament. In Germany, Angela Merkel took in over one million refugees when the US, traditionally hospitable to immigrants,

n By Dr Basheer Ahmed Khan

A

Garden Grove, CA

llah says in the Qur’an that everyone is a hostage to his own deeds (Ch74 V38).

Whatever happens to us as individual or as a community is because of our own deeds (Ch4 V79) and it will not be changed by Allah unless we work to change it ourselves (Ch13 V11). Ignoring the teachings of the Qur’an and following our own ways we allowed deterioration in our lives and in our societies for long. We were running in vain behind mirages in the hope of water. We believed in every lie told to us. And no one could be blamed for our own inane behavior.

One thing which has harmed us most is that we allowed incompetent people to be elevated to important positions. Allah had advised believers to hand over the trust (of responsibility) to people who are capable of handling it (Ch4 V58). Capability means both competency and sincerity, and we have sacrificed one for the other or both to be where we are. We in our arrogance believed that we are better than the others to hold the position held by others and tried to take it over by hook or crook. The attitude which Satan adopted against Adam and his progeny that he is better than Adam (Ch7 V12) is being adopted by the power-hungry progeny of Adam. They are making sure that those who are holding the position fail and they get the chance to replace them even if it is over the ruins of the country they claim to love.

Some of them lure the people in the name of liberalism and others in the name of religion and thus these power mongers have divided their countries

accepted a mere 2,600 with heated debate accompanied by unpleasant abuse (a presidential candidate called Syrian refugees “rabid dogs”).

The situation in Scotland and Germany can be contrasted with that in European countries such as Greece and the nations of East Europe, where the opposite is true — they are not confident, are insecure, and unsure of themselves, thus

the taxi, I asked the driver whether he was sure this was where the First Minister lived because I did not see a single policeman outside the house or anywhere in the entire square. The driver said he was sure saying, “Not in Scotland!” and we walked toward the door. Someone was waiting inside and opened the door straightaway. We were taken upstairs to the living room which was

Both Germany and Scotland are increasingly comfortable in their identity — witness the response to two significant 2014 events in both countries: Germany’s World Cup victory and Scotland’s holding of its referendum on independence. Both resulted in a surge of confidence in their identity following years of self-loathing reverting to primordial forms of identity that resist outsiders. With the economic crisis, xenophobia, terrorism and the enormous flows of refugees, you have a perfect storm in these countries.

I saw this confidence and cool in visits to both Scotland and Germany. In 2013, I visited Alex Salmond for a private lunch in the First Minister’s residence in Edinburgh. Accompanying me were Harrison Akens, my assistant from Washington DC and Ibrahim Hoti, my grandson who had joined us from Pakistan. When we arrived in

of modest proportions and had modest furniture.

A small table had been arranged for lunch. The menu was simple and there was no dessert. We were joined by two of Salmond’s staff.

Salmond himself was the perfect host — hospitable, humorous and full of anecdotes. Harrison who was proud of his Scottish ancestry was thrilled by Salmond and so was my grandson Ibrahim who was the more difficult to please as he was a teenager and not so impressed by high office or age. As Salmond entered the room, I held

We Should Blame Ourselves - I

and the world on ideological ground.

By inviting their liberal and conservative friends in this fight these powerhungry people have plunged their country, their people and the world into chaos.

Incompetent rulers who come to power on extraneous support prefer incompetent advisers as they are afraid that competent people will replace them. They appoint only sycophants from their clans or elsewhere, and we see plenty of them in every government. Through such people they succeed in achieving their political ends and dump them later, but they fail to establish an order which is conducive for the advancement of the human civilization. This attitude, which has continued for hundreds of years, has damaged our world and damaged the image of Islam and devastated the Muslim countries. What we are seeing now is the culmination of 1400 years of this misrule in our history about which Nabi SA had forewarned and had given his recommendation to avoid in the following narrations.

Abdullah Bin Masood RA narrates that Nabi SA said: You will see after me favoritism and lot of other things you dislike. When he was asked what they should do in those times, he SA said: Give to those in authority their due and ask for your rights from Allah (Nazarath un Nayeem NN P3774). When a companion asked him as to when is the last hour, he SA said: When trust is lost. He SA explained that trust is lost when power is entrusted to incompetent people (Riyad us Saliheen1837). To the adventurists who are skeptical about this “passive” attitude and “hollow advises”, Al-

lah reminds them that He provided the Children of Israel leaders that led them at His behest because of the patience they showed in face of adversity (Ch33 V24). The problem with man is that he wants to do things which God has kept it to Himself (Ch3 V26), and is negligent of things which God wants him to do, and that is to become an honest and sincere person and His real servant. If we are honest and sincere Allah will give us honest and sincere leaders. We don’t do our part and we blame God and governments for it.

At a time when the world was ruled by emperors and local warlords, it was Muhammad SA who instituted the system of consultative government in the area under his authority. For the first time in history people were empowered as participants and were not dealt with as subjects of their governments. This participatory democracy (Consultative System) was a responsible one. Every God-fearing Muslim was afraid to accept the leadership position for the fear of responsibility that comes with it. The advisors were honest and gave genuine and selfless advice for the good of masses. People understood their limits. They believed that their Creator had created them equal in opportunity but not in their capacity. Those who were successful would succeed on their own merit and would not reach success though dubious means and would not exploit the less fortunate for their success. Those that did not succeed understood the limitation of their capacity. For them both success and failure was a test (Ch6 V165). We promoted the concept that sky is the limit for everyone who tries, not to advance their dreams but to

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out my hand to shake his hand. He reached out and embraced me.

But it was Salmond’s humility and humor that won over Ibrahim. In fact, when Salmond took pictures with him, he lent across with his elbow on Ibrahim’s shoulder and his legs crossed in a mock vaudeville comic pose as if they were old buddies. All this was cool enough; then, as we left, Salmond said to me we will meet again, inshallah.

In Berlin, I had the occasion to call on the senior German envoy in charge of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Dr Michael Koch. The meeting had been arranged by our friend Dr Heinrich Kreft who had received me at the reception. As we walked through the impressive foreign office building, I could not help but notice the vast central space at the entrance, festooned and decorated with a football motif. It was in the days leading up to the World Cup final and there was a genuine football fever in the land. There were images of footballs and young men kicking footballs, and even the cushions to sit on in the atrium resembled the colors of a football and were designed as deflated footballs. Dr Kreft explained the German passion for football and how Germans relate their pride and identity with their fortunes as a football-playing nation.

As we were ushered into the office of Dr Koch, I was struck by its simplicity. Arsallah Khan Hoti and Dr Amineh Hoti, who were with me, could not help compare the humility and simplicity of the VIP we were meeting to Pakistan’s elite.

Apart from one black and white picture, there was nothing else — no pompous-looking pictures of heads of state or the minister, no colorful calendars of the Alps, no football hero scoring goals in heroic poses while distorting his limbs, and no photographs of poised wives and scrubbed children with shiny faces which are so common in offices in the US. I was intrigued by who was in that photograph. Perhaps his father, I thought but decided it was someone else. The fact that the picture hung alone, high above us, almost as a talisman, conveyed to me that it had some deep meaning for the occupant of the office. It was Schopenhauer, the German philosopher. Wow, I thought to myself; this was German cool. (The writer is Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University, Washington, DC)

promote our leadership by becoming champions of the downtrodden without having the capacity to honor the promises. Through this farce we kept people engaged in what is impossible.

These people who were raised on high hopes and who have fallen now are bitter and are promoting class, color, cast, and religious wars which seem to be heading for Armageddon.

The just system which Nabi SA had established was derailed soon, and replaced by the old authoritative dynastic system with emperors taking up the Islamic title of Khalifa to hoodwink the masses. The history of Muslims since then has been a slippery slope. In the present-day world the influential and powerful people trump over the ordinary people. The fate of Muslim masses in their countries is more miserable than ever. The powerful manipulate the political system, both in democratic and dictatorial systems. In the democratic system the disenfranchised are exploited on the promise of empowerment, and in dictatorship it is done by suppressing the disenfranchised people through the rule by Mukhabirath (Secret Service).

The masses in the Muslim world are God-conscious and keep away from the power politics and keep themselves engaged in economic activity and raising good families. They want to succeed in their role of vicegerent in the domestic domain which is their foremost responsibility (Ch66 V6), and have no desire to be the leaders. As their leaders could not give them good leadership for the reason in the aforementioned paragraphs, Muslim countries remained backward in terms of scientific and economic

progress.

The material advancement which Europe achieved made them the leaders of the world and the entire Muslim world became their colony. While the other colonies took advantage of the colonial rule by learning material and social sciences from the colonizers, Muslim by and large wasted this opportunity by going into a confrontation mode because of the age-old hostility between their countries and the colonizers. Worse still, instead of gaining knowledge and skills from the colonizers, Muslims learnt all the wrong things from them and this cost them dearly. Europe learnt good things from the 800 years of Muslim rule in Spain to emerge out of the Dark Ages. Muslims who were exhausted by wars and regimental life engaged in enjoying life when they were rulers. Now the hatred between the Muslim rulers and the Muslim masses has led them both to look up to their colonizing masters for benevolent support which has worked for the advantage and disadvantage of all the three over a long period of history and it is still playing out.

One of the alibis which Muslims advance for their condition is that their narrative is a victim of a biased media.

True that Muslims are in the defensive against Muslim-bashing in the media to which Muslims have practically no access. It is a fact that media picks up only such Muslims and other “experts” who are ignorant of true Islamic teachings and are willing to portray Islam and Muslims negatively to strengthen their narrative. This is half-truth and the other half of the truth is that even those Muslims who claim to champion Islamic cause and appear on media do not present the true and complete picture. (Continued next week)

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P10 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 19, 2016

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PAKISTAN

FEBRUARY 19, 2016 – PAKISTAN LINK – P11

Nawaz Assures Sharmeen of Removing Stain of Honor Killings from Pakistan

A premiere of Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy’s documentary on honor killings is to be held at the PM’s Office on February 22

Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday met Oscar-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad.

“Customs and practices like honor killings have nothing to do with the divine principles of Islam,” PM Nawaz told Chinoy.

“The revolution brought by Islam in the world, manifested through the life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), was the most successful movement for change of social reforms. It altered the course of history for all time to come. It was Islam which first recognized the rights of women.”

The premier went on to add that honor killings were one of the most critical problems in the country and the government is determined to adopt all possible ways to remove this stain from our society.

“Women are the most essential part of our society and I believe in their empowerment, protection and emancipation of achieving the shared goal of a prosperous and vibrant Pak-

istan,” PM Nawaz.

During the meeting with Chinoy, the premier reaffirmed that all concerned authorities have already been directed to plug loopholes in existing laws in order to eliminate honor killings from Pakistan.

“Social evils can be overcome through an effective partnership between the government and the civil society,” said the PM. The premiere of Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy’s documentary, A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, will be held at the Prime Minister’s Office on February 22, PM Nawaz announced after the meeting.

Acknowledging Chinoy’s efforts, PM Nawaz wished her success for her film, which was nominated in the 88th Academy Awards.

Expressing gratitude, Chinoy said, “I am proud that Pakistan has a prime minister who has taken a leading role to address the issue of honor killings in the country.”

She also thanked the premier for supporting her endeavors to end honor killings in the country and

revive the progressive image of Pakistan.

The filmmaker appreciated the role of Maryam Nawaz in helping the government in achieving its goals in the sector of education. The meeting was also attended by Maryam Nawaz Sharif and SAPM Tariq Fatemi.

The talented Academy and Emmy awards winner from Pakistan, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, is once again in the race to receive an Oscar. Sharmeen has received the official Certificate of Nomination for Award at the 88th Academy Award Nominees Luncheon. Her new documentary titled, “A Girl in The River – The Price of Forgiveness”, has been nominated for Best Documentary category.

According to Voice of Journalists, ‘A Girl in The River – The Price of Forgiveness’, is one of the only five documentaries worldwide to be nominated for “Best Documentary – Short Subject” category.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has already received an Oscar for best documentary Saving Face in 2012 which made her the first Pakistani to win an Academy Award.

She also won an Emmy award for the same documentary while her first Emmy award was two years earlier in 2010 for documentary, Pakistan’s Taliban Generation.

The new documentary is produced by Tina Brown and Sheila Nevins in collaboration with HBO Documentary Films. It has been well received by critics and has earned widespread critical acclaim. The documentary is set to premier on HBO this year.

Sharmeen is an outspoken journalist and civil rights activist from Pakistan who has a strong opinion on issues such as gender equality, acid burns, honor killing, and extremism.

“A Girl in The River – The Price of Forgiveness“, touches upon the sensitive issue honor killing in Pakistan.

Manmohan Assails Modi’s Pakistan Policies Mumbai: Former Indian prime

minister Manmohan Singh criticized his successor Narendra Modi’s government in a rare interview, saying it has failed to capitalize on lower commodity prices to propel growth and is inconsistent in its policy towards Pakistan.

Speaking to the India Today magazine, he said Mr Modi should focus on improving relations with neighboring countries, adding that the government had not succeeded in making headway with Pakistan.

“Certainly relations with major powers have improved... But I would say that the real test of foreign policy is in the handling of your neighbors.

And here I would say that the Modi government’s handling of Pakistan is inconsistent,” he told the magazine.

“It has been one step forward, two steps back.”

He said the Modi government should use improving fiscal balances to raise investment in the economy and increase the availability of credit to businesses.

“In the hands of a purposeful government, this could be an opportunity to step up investment in the economy in a big way,” said Mr Singh, who left the office in 2014.

Regarded as the architect of

economic reforms that led to years of rapid growth, Mr Singh said the government had not been able to take advantage of falling oil and commodity prices that had lowered India’s import bill.

Sharp falls in import prices have reduced the trade deficit, raising hopes that it will boost economic activity. But “turbo-charged” growth figures have been criticized by many analysts for giving too flattering a view.

The economy expanded 7.3 per cent in the quarter through December, but consumer inflation inched up unexpectedly last month and capital goods production, a proxy for investments, fell nearly 20 per cent in December.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley wants to present a credible budget on Feb 29, people involved in the process say, but the government may end up breaking its budget deficit targets to stimulate demand.

In a rebuttal on his website and social media accounts, Mr Jaitley blamed Mr Singh’s administration for mismanaging the economy, adding that the opposition Congress has been unwilling to support reforms in parliament.

“Both the parliamentary affairs minister and myself have discussed the GST with every senior Congress leader in parliament,” he said, responding to Mr Singh’s criticism that the government had not consulted the opposition.

The proposed goods and services (GST) tax, India’s biggest revenue shake-up since independence, has been stuck in the upper house where it needs support from Congress to make it a law.

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US Approves Sale of 8 Lockheed F-16 Fighter Jets to Pakistan: Pentagon

The US administration is convinced that F-16s are the right aircraft to support Pakistan’s counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations

Washington, DC: The US govern-

ment said on Friday it had approved the sale to Pakistan of up to eight F-16 fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin Corp, radar and other equipment in a deal valued at $699 million.

The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign arms sales, said it had notified lawmakers about the possible deal.

The agency said the F-16s would allow Pakistan’s Air Force to operate in all-weather environments and at night, while improving its self-defense capability and bolstering its ability to conduct counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism operations.

Lawmakers have 30 days to block the sale, although such action is rare since deals are well-vetted before any formal notification.

India said it was disappointed with the US decision. “We disagree with their rationale that such arms transfers help to combat terrorism,” Vikas Swarup, a spokesman for India’s Foreign Ministry, said on Twitter.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker notified the Obama administration that he would not approve using US funds to pay for the planes through the foreign military financing (FMF) program. That means Pakistan must fund the purchase itself, instead of relying on US funds to cover about 46 percent of the cost.

Given the funds it has available, Pakistan may be able to buy only four of the F-16 Block 52 models, and the associated radar and electronic warfare equipment, said one US source familiar with the situation.

Corker told Secretary of State John Kerry in a letter that he was concerned about Pakistan’s ties to the Haqqani network, a militant group that US officials have said is behind attacks in Afghanistan.

“I may reconsider my blanket hold on US FMF assistance should the Pakistanis make progress on addressing my significant concerns about their support for the Haqqani network, but for now, if they wish to purchase this military equipment, they will do so without a subsidy from the American taxpayer,” he wrote.

One US official said the administration was convinced that F-16s were the right platform to support

Pakistan’s counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations.

“These operations reduce the ability of militants to use Pakistani territory as a safe haven for terrorism and a base of support for the insurgency in Afghanistan, which is in the national interests of both Pakistan and the United States, and in the interest of the region more broadly,” the official said.

Lockheed referred questions about the deal to the US government.

Pakistan Surprised over Indian Reaction to US F-16 Sale

Islamabad: The Foreign Office on Sunday expressed ‘surprise’ at the Indian government’s disappointment over the United States’ decision to sell eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.

A ‘disappointed’ India on Saturday summoned the US envoy in New Delhi, Richard Verma, to ‘convey its displeasure’ regarding the Obama administration’s decision to notify the sale of the aircraft to Pakistan.

Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar met the US ambassador at the ministry to convey India’s disapproval of the deal to Washington, in a meeting which lasted 45 minutes.

“Their army and arsenal stock is much larger and they are the largest importer of defense equipment,” Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria said in a statement.

“With regards to the F-16 sale, Pakistan and the United States are closely cooperating in countering terrorism efforts,” he said, adding that the US State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner had earlier announced that the purpose of the sale was the enhance Pakistan’s precision strike capability.

It is in US security interests to support Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts, Toner had said.

The $699 million deal consists of eight Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets, along with training, radar and other equipment.

The F-16 aircraft will allow the Pakistan Air Force to operate in all kinds of weather, at night, as well as “enhance Pakistan’s ability to conduct counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations,” the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which coordinates such foreign arms sales, said in a statement.

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P12 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 19, 2016

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FEBRUARY 19, 2016 – PAKISTAN LINK – P13

Terrorists Have No Base in Pakistan to Fall Back upon, Says ISPR

Islamabad: Terrorist groups don’t

have a base in Pakistan to fall back upon, according to the chief military spokesperson, who also said that sporadic attacks by frustrated terrorists could not dent the military’s resolve to eliminate the scourge of terrorism once and for all.

“We have seen how the rate of terrorist incidents declined during the past one and a half years, and how it brought dividends to the entire nation,” Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, the director general of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), told The Express Tribune in an exclusive interview.

The recent uptick in terrorist violence in the country came after a long hiatus, triggering a media guessing game about the effectiveness of the new national strategy against terrorism and extremism.

Lt Gen Bajwa, however, said the military has the upper hand in the fight against terrorism since the launch of Operation Zarb-e-Azb in mid-June, 2014. “We have dislodged them [terrorists] from their sanctuaries, from their bases, from where they carried out things without any hindrance. Their sanctuaries have been destroyed.”

He cautioned that terrorists would continue to find loopholes in the system. “Whenever we get these terrorists, we have seen they may use facilitators in society.”

Asked about an impression in the Western world that Pakistan pursues a nexus with terrorism despite the fact the country has rendered unmatchable sacrifices in the war against terrorism, the military spokesperson said it is regrettable if someone levels such wild allegations.

“This [such allegations] is absolutely unjustified and absolutely un-

Lt Gen Bajwa said the Pakistani nation and security forces would fight terrorism in the country but the world should realize that terrorism is a global threat and it needs a global response

fair. About some [terrorist] organizations still present here, I would say a strategic direction has been taken to eliminate terrorism without any discrimination,” he added.

He added that the people of Pakistan have sacrificed the most in the war against terrorism. “There is an acknowledgement here. There is also an acknowledgement when we go abroad and meet people,” he said. “Everyone who comes to Pakistan acknowledges our successes,” he added. “The world needs to study our model and learn a lot.”

Lt Gen Bajwa said the Pakistani nation and security forces would fight terrorism in the country but the world should realize that terrorism is a global threat and it needs a global response.

“All that we need now is the support of the entire world in our endeavors. And we are absolutely convinced we are heading in the right direction. We want a terrorand extremism-free Pakistan and

Pakistan Default Risk Surges as $50 Billion Debt Bill Becomes Due Bets are rising that Pakistan will default on its debt just as it starts to revive investor interest with a reduction in terrorist attacks.

Credit default swaps protecting the nation’s debt against non-payment for five years surged 56 basis points over the past week amid the global market sell-off, the steepest jump after Greece, Venezuela and Portugal among more than 50 sovereigns tracked by Bloomberg. About 42 percent of Pakistan’s outstanding debt is due to mature in 2016 -- roughly $50 billion, equivalent to the size of Slovenia’s economy.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has worked to make Pakistan more investor-friendly since winning a $6.6 billion International Monetary Fund loan in 2013 to avert an external payments crisis. The economy is forecast to grow 4.5 percent, an eight-year high, as a crackdown on militant strongholds helps reduce deaths from terrorist attacks.

“Pakistan’s high level of public debt, with a large portion financed through short-term instruments, does make the sovereign’s ability to meet their financing needs more sensitive to market conditions,” Mervyn Tang, lead analyst for Pakistan at Fitch Ratings Ltd., said by e-mail.

Since Sharif took the loan, Pakistan’s debt due by end-2016 has

jumped about 79 percent. He’s also facing resistance in meeting IMF demands to privatize state-owned companies, leading to a strike this month at national carrier Pakistan International Airlines Corp.

The bulk of this year’s debt, some $30 billion, is due between July and September, and repayments will get tougher if borrowing costs rise more. The spread between Pakistan’s 10-year sovereign bond and similar-maturity US Treasuries touched a one-year high on Thursday.

If Pakistan’s debt servicing costs rise, Sharif doesn’t have much room to maneuver. Already about 77 percent of the country’s 13 trillion rupees ($124 billion) budget for the year through June 30 is earmarked for interest and principal repayment on loans.

Right now, there’s not much reason to panic. Fitch’s Tang says Pakistan’s external liabilities are “relatively modest,” foreign-currency reserves have risen, the IMF is ready to help meet maturing loans and Chinese investment in an economic corridor is on its way.

“Improving growth prospects, lower inflation and smaller budget deficit should help to underpin investor confidence, particularly the domestic investor base,” Tang said… Courtesy Bloomberg

for that we need the world’s help,” he said.

The military spokesperson said those who had a role in the creation of the monster of terrorism should help Pakistan eliminate it. “This monster was created by everyone together. We are fighting it and we expect the whole world to stand by us and help us in eliminating this monster.”

He was asked did the Western nations and previous Pakistani governments shared the blame for creating the ‘jihadi’ groups who later turned on Pakistan and the West.

Since the establishment of military courts, scores of criminals have been convicted and hanged, triggering criticism from some rights groups and Western nations. “People just want terrorism to end in Pakistan. Now this death penalty, we have seen that it has brought dividends because it is only hardcore terrorists who are being presented before the military courts,” he said.

Pakistan Joins Major Military Manoeuvre in S. Arabia

Riyadh: Armed forces from around 20 countries, including Pakistan and Malaysia, were gathering in northern Saudi Arabia Sunday for “the most important “military manoeuvre ever staged in the region, the official news agency SPA reported.

The “Thunder of the North” exercise involving ground, air, and naval forces sends a “clear message” that Riyadh and its allies “stand united in confronting all challenges and preserving peace and stability in the region”, SPA said.

Saudi Arabia is currently leading a military campaign against Houthi rebels in its southern neighbor Yemen.

Last December, it also formed a new 35-member coalition to fight “terrorism” in Islamic countries. Sunday’s announcement also comes as the kingdom, a member of the US-led coalition targeting the Islamic State group, said it has deployed war planes to a Turkish air base in order to “intensify” its operations against IS in Syria.

SPA did not specify when the military exercise will begin or how long it will last.

However, the agency called it the “most important and largest in the region’s history” in terms of the number of nations taking part and the weaponry being used.

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Senior Members of al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Arrested

Karachi: An elaborate plot by Pakistan’s most prominent terror groups to free scores of militants from a jail using explosives smuggled inside washing machines has been foiled, the country’s military has announced.

Two vehicles loaded with explosives were among the haul of weapons and bomb-making equipment seized during a raid on a rented house in Hyderabad, which the army said was at the center of a plot that was “90% ready for execution”.

An army spokesman, MajorGeneral Asim Bajwa, said the plotters intended to hit two points of the Hyderabad central jail complex. Once inside they planned to kill 35 prisoners on a hit list and free 100 others, including Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a former London School of Economics student convicted for killing the US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.

Bajwa said 97 people had been arrested in various raids, including senior members of both al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (Aqis) and Lashkare-Jhangvi (LeJ), a Sunni supremacist group responsible for many massacres of Shias.

In a sign of the country’s everevolving militant scene, Bajwa said the two groups were working together and with the Pakistani Taliban. “Our conclusion is that all of the terrorist groups are trying to cooperate with each other in order to carry out terrorist attacks,” he told a news conference.

Among those arrested were suspects accused of involvement in some of the highest-profile terror attacks in Pakistan’s recent history. They included two military airbases, Karachi’s civilian airport, regional intelligence headquarters and police buildings.

Six people allegedly planning suicide bombings, a number of foreign na-

tionals and a prison guard who allegedly provided information to the plotters were also among those held.

Gen Bajwa said the group had used a number of methods to avoid detection. Explosives and weapons had been moved around the country hidden inside washing machines transported on freight trains. A cover business manufacturing plastic containers had been set up in the Hyderabad house to avoid attracting attention.

Dentist with Links to Safoora Attackers Arrested

Karachi: A dentist allegedly linked

to militant group Al Qaeda as well as Safoora Goth accused Saad Aziz was arrested after an encounter early Sunday night, Preedy police station officials revealed.

Preedy police booked suspect Dr Usman in two cases of attack on police and possession of illegal weapons.

Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) head Raja Umer Khattab said Dr Usman was on terms with Saad Aziz, the main accused in the Safoora Goth massacre, but played no direct role in the attack.

Khattab said Dr Usman is an Al Qaeda facilitator with links to Al Qaeda Punjab representatives Haris, who has been arrested. Another facilitator Ali Rehman is still at large.

At least 43 people were killed and 13 others wounded in a barbaric attack on members of the Ismaili community in Karachi’s Safoora Goth area on May 14, 2015. Six gunmen entered a bus carrying 60 people and executed 43 passengers at close-range, according to Sindh Police Inspector General Ghulam Haider Jamali.

MQM Begins Hunger Strike in London against Media Ban on Altaf

MQM supporters protest outside 10 Downing Street in London on February 15, 2016

Karachi: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Monday kicked off their two-day hunger strike in London against a ban on party chief Altaf Hussain’s coverage in the media.

The party has chosen the venue of the demonstration outside 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the British prime minister.

Speaking from London, MQM leader Qasim ali Raza said men, women and children had braved chilly winds and cold weather.to stage the hunger strike.

“Purpose of the strike is to highlight the unjust ban on Altaf Hussain’s pictures and speeches in the media,” Raza told The Express Tribune.

The ‘hunger strike’ will continue till Tuesday evening, he added.

“No action was taken against the prime minister and the other leaders who heavily criticized the armed forces. But only Altaf Hussain has been banned. Outfits are freely spreading hate messages despite being banned,” said the MQM leader.

MQM leader Wasay Jalil and convener Nadeem Nusrat were also seen participating in the hunger strike.

According to a Lahore High Court order released in September last year, there is a complete blackout on the coverage of Hussain in the media after his statements against state institutions.

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Bilateral Talks Not Linked to Pathankot Probe

Islamabad: The Indian High Commissioner said on Monday that resumption of talks between India and Pakistan are not linked with the progress of investigation into the Pathankot airbase attack.

On January 2, the two countries had agreed to postpone the parleys after the Indian airbase near Pakistan’s border was stormed by terrorists, killing seven Indian security personnel.

“I would not say that,” replied Gautam Bambawaly when asked whether the foreign secretarylevel talks were conditional to the outcome of investigations the Pakistani authorities were carrying out into the incident.

Talking to reporters in Islam-

Another Pakistani Part of Gravitational Research Team

abad, the newly-appointed high commissioner said the both foreign secretaries and the national security advisers are in contact, but no date has so far been finalized for the meeting.

The foreign secretaries would meet the moment the atmosphere is ripe for such talks, he added.

Bambawaly stressed the need for enhanced trade ties and visa relaxation for business communities of the two sides as well as trade fares on either side of the border.

The foreign secretaries meeting was part of the agreement reached during the visit of Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Sawaraj in December last year to resume the comprehensive bilateral dialogue.

After India claimed that Pakistan-based outfit Jaish-eMuhammed (JeM) was behind the attack, Islamabad formed an investigation team comprising officials from civil and military intelligence agencies to ascertain the claim.

Subsequently, Pakistan apprehended scores of suspects including head of JeM Maulana Masood Azhar.

However, media reports suggest Pakistani investigators have found Indian leads “inadequate” to implicate Azhar in the case.

Lahore: Islamabad: This week brought about the historic and groundbreaking discovery regarding gravitational waves by a team of scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and we are proud to report that apart from Dr Nergis Mavalvala, another Pakistani was also a part of the team.

Imran Khan – a PhD scholar in Italy – graduate of Fast National University, Peshawar, is the second Pakistani to be part of the incredible team of scientists and engineers who have managed to accomplish a huge feat. This discovery is the direct proof of the theory of one of the most brilliant minds to have ever lived on the face of the earth, Albert Einstein.

Pakistani media has confirmed that the 25-year old Imran Khan was part of the 9 early-stage researchers and co-authors of the paper on the detection of gravitational waves.

In fact, he was one of the 8 people contributed by the Gran Sasso Science Institute and one of the youngest coauthors of the PRL paper.

them for fear of public backlash,” said Head Constable Abdul Kareem. He explained that they are here to stop people from going into deep water as most people are ‘charged’ on Valentine’s Day and may venture farther than they can handle.

Win some, lose some: Muhammad Pervaiz, a balloon vendor at Schon Circle, said last year till the afternoon of February 14, he had sold 300 heart-shaped balloons but this time he could only sell 35 pieces. He was confused about the reason behind the low sales. “It could be that people have stopped loving each other,” he said.

Another balloon vendor, Muhammad Faisal, said he took a loan of Rs30,000 to buy heart-shaped balloons to sell on February 14. At around evening time, he seemed satisfied as he had sold almost all the balloons, and returned the loan after a profit of Rs4,000.

gious leaders condemned Valentine’s Day as a Western import and urged people to shun the festivities.

Religious hard-liners across the Islamic world reject the holiday honoring romance, which is named for a Christian saint, but that doesn’t usually stop people from enjoying the flowers, balloons, candies and other kitsch that go with it.

Religious groups in Pakistan inveighed against the holiday on social media and on public banners, as they do every year. A business group published a quarter-page advertisement in a major newspaper calling Valentine’s Day a Western custom that went against Islam.

But this year the authorities weighed in as well. Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain told a group of students on Friday that the holiday “has no connection to our culture” and that celebrations should be avoided. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Khan said the government would not allow any “unwanted events.”

The message seems to have gotten through. Vendors selling roses, red balloons and teddy bears said

Love Triumphs: Government Fails to Enforce Valentine’s Day Swimming Ban

Karachi: Unaware or indifferent of the government ban on swimming in the city’s beaches on Valentine’s Day, residents came out in droves to visit Sea View Beach on Sunday.

On Friday night, the provincial government had released a notification declaring the imposition of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to ban swimming on Sunday, February 14, as it feared loss of human lives from the ‘high tides’.

However, the Clifton beach was packed on Valentine’s Day, with several residents indulging in swimming without being stopped from the onduty authorities.

Despite the afternoon chill, Sohail and his friends were busy playing games inside the water. When asked about the ban, he said neither he nor his friends had any idea about the government notification. A friend of Sohail’s commented that there’s no point coming to the beach if one does not swim.

Another swimmer, Yasir Iqbal, who is visiting from Lahore, claimed he had no idea of the ban. When informed about the prohibition, he said, “How can thousands of people come to the beach and not swim in the sea?

And that, too, on a weekend?”

A lifeguard at the beach, Muhammad Jameel, also had no idea of any swimming ban. He said, “I have been performing my duty [at Tower 9] since morning and keeping a close watch on the swimmers.”

‘We don’t want to hurt them’: A policeman standing near the police mobile at the beach said they have done all they could to stop people from swimming, but most of the visitors are not listening to them. “We cannot hurt people by baton-charging

Florists heartbroken as Pakistan spurns Valentine’s Day: In Islamabad flower shops were largely empty over the weekend after officials and reli-

www.PakistanLink.com

PM Praises Scientist for Key Role in Discovery of Gravitational Waves Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has felicitated Dr Nergis Mavalvala, a Pakistani-American astrophysicist, for being part of the team of scientists who recently detected gravitational waves in space.

In a statement on Monday, the prime minister said Mavalvala, who is also a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a source of inspiration for Pakistani scientists and students aspiring to become future scientists.

The entire nation is proud of her valuable contribution, he added.

PM Nawaz has directed the Ministry of Science and Technology to devise a framework within a span of a week to facilitate Pakistani scientists in their scientific pursuits.

On Thursday, the detection confirmed a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity and opened an unprecedented new window on the cosmos.

Dr Mavalvala, 47, was born to a Parsi family in Karachi where she

did her primary schooling.

She worked with researchers at the US-based underground detectors Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) Laboratory to build sophisticated sensors to detect gravitational ripples created from the collision of two black holes some 1.3 billion years ago.

Pak Singer Dr Zafar Iqbal Wins Sufi Music Award in Cairo Cairo: A Pakistani musician and singer

Egyptian Embassy to perform in the festival.

“It’s a great honor for me that I have been given this award because the same award was announced for Allama Iqbal by the festival management in 2013,” Dr Iqbal told this reporter, adding that he was given the award for Sufi music at a festival in which some 20 countries par-

Zafar Iqbal has recently been awarded Takrim at Cairo, Eygpt, at an international Sufi music festival called ‘Sama International Festival of Spiritual Music and Chanting.’ He went there with his Marifat Band on the invitation of the

ticipated.

He said: “Every year this particular award is given to scholars and musicians for their outstanding services in their respective fields. This year in the musician/ singer category the awards have been given to Dr Zafar Iqbal and French vocalist Caroline Dumas.”

Iqbal said the festival which had the theme ‘Message of Peace’, bestowed this award on him and his band while acknowledging Marifat Band’s services to promote peace, tolerance and interfaith harmony.

Iqbal heads an eight-member Marifat Band aiming at promoting peace, tolerance and interfaith harmony by popularizing Sufi music among the youth.

“The basic focus of our band is to promote peace, tolerance, interfaith harmony and Pakistani Sufi Music,” he said.

Dr Iqbal, who did his graduation from NCA’s musicology department in 2005, underlines the need for the promotion of classical music in the country with emphasis on holding more and more classical music programs on TV channels which have become a dream now. “Such programs were shown on PTV some 20 years ago,” he added Dawn

who has won a prestigious award in Sufi singing from Cairo (same award has also been awarded to poet-philosopher Allama Iqbal) says he has an aim to root out extremism from the country through Sufi music.

National College of Arts’ musicology department former in-charge Dr

there were fewer customers than in previous years.

“Our flower business is down due to the condemnation by the president and interior minister, and the ban imposed on Valentine’s Day celebrations,” said Mohammad Arshad, a shopkeeper in the capital, Islamabad.

“That’s why there are so few customers in the market.”

A few Pakistanis nevertheless got into the spirit. Sardar Majid Khan brought his kids to a market in Islamabad to buy them flowers.

“If we have an opportunity to celebrate and enjoy this type of event with our kids and families, then I don’t think this condemnation should be given,” he said.

“But on the other hand, we should keep in mind that it is not our cultural event and this day shouldn’t be used wrongly.”

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FEBRUARY 19, 2016 – PAKISTAN LINK – P17

Community Link Friday, February 19, 2016

VOL. 26/8 PAGE 18

An Interview with Representative Mike Honda

10 Jumadul-ula 1437 H

PAGE PAGE 21 17

PAGE 19 egum PAGE

Farrah Khan: Irvine People Are Making Waves

Trump Wins New Hampshire, GOP Loses

For news, updated round the clock, visit

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Honoring Orphans & Making a Better World for Our Children

Glimpses of the fundraiser organized by Saba Homes at the Knott’s Berry Farm Hotel in Buena Park

n By Muhammad Niyaz

A

fundraiser was recently organized by Saba Homes at the Knott’s Berry Farm Hotel in Buena Park, CA. People from different walks of life attended the event. Its principal purpose was to share information on the new projects that Saba Homes has recently initiated in Pakistan and to mobilize resources for their implementation.

The projects include New Saba School and Widows Income Program whose major focus is on providing goats to widows who can make a living by raising goats.

People showed great support and generosity for the projects at the event. Among the main speakers who lauded the services of Saba Homes were: Dr Muzammil Siddiqi, Shaykh Mustafa Umar, Dr Sana Khan, Tom Thorkelson, Dr Adel El-Sahn, Mahomed Akbar

(MK) and Muhammad Niyaz (Director-Media & Communications, Saba Homes).

Aron Kader, an Arab-American comedian, performed at the event. His performance was greatly enjoyed by the guests.

Munir Shaikh, who is President of the Board at Saba Homes, acted as the MC. Among the sponsors were: Turkish Airlines, IIOC, Amana Mutual Trusts Fund, Dar El Salam

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Travels, Institute of Knowledge and Energy Saving Products (ESP).

Special thanks are due to Guidance Residential, Merit Grants for Young Women (MGYW) and Energy Saving Products.

We are grateful to our donors, supporters, board members, friends of Saba Homes, volunteers, sponsors and Mr Ismael Sindha for contributing to the , success of the event and making it truly memorable.

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P18 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 19, 2016

Responding to Fear: An Interview with Rep. Mike Honda

W

ith anti-Muslim rhetoric at unprecedented levels this election season, American Muslims are facing the growing consequences of fear. The American Muslim community can learn from the struggles of communities who have gone through this before, most notably the Japanese-American community, which was subjected to internment during World War II. In them, we have an example of a group that showed determination and constructively responded to such an egregious mistake.

Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA17) is a leader who personally experienced the internment camps, but also used that experience to contribute positively to our nation. MPAC interviewed Rep. Honda to ask for his thoughts on the past and present climates of fear and how our country can move forward: MPAC: What parallels do you see between the environment of fear that led to the internment of Japanese Americans and the rhetoric we hear today regarding American Muslims?

Rep. Honda: “Our nation widely regards the internment of Japanese-Americans as among the darkest chapters of American history, yet many of our so-called ‘political leaders’ openly proclaim that they would discard these important lessons and have history repeat itself by suggesting that Muslims should face the same type of guilt by association and collective punishment that Japanese-Americans endured. Such dangerous and bigoted rhetoric seeks to score cheap political points by preying upon the same climate of fear, hate and distrust that seized us after the Pearl Harbor attacks and, moreover, highlights a failure of political leadership in our nation.”

With six states having just celebrated “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution”, what is it that we can do to honor Mr. Korematsu’s legacy and ensure that history does not repeat itself?

“We must remember and reflect upon the story of Fred Korematsu and the case he brought before the Supreme Court. The decision in Korematsu v. United States was among the worst in

can principles that provide us with our greatest strength especially during times of great despair.

We are a nation that strives to foster openness, tolerance and equality—notions that are seemingly lost on political leaders that seek to make Muslims second-class citizens. Let us not give into hate and ignorance; rather, we must challenge such divisive ideologies in whatever public forum they appear. Let us be the country of compassion and openness. We are a multiethnic, multi-religious, multicultural nation. Our diversity is what gives us courage, and our respect for the Constitution, rule of law and American ideals is what unites us. The divisive hate mongering espoused by a select few moves America backwards and surrenders our future to the mistakes of the past. There are many challenges facing us as Muslims and non-Muslims; we need to stand together to overcome these challenges as fellow Americans.”

the Court’s over 200-year history and was among the greatest blunders in our nation’s pursuit of justice for all. It is important to understand that the tribulations of Mr Korematsu highlight the plight of a single American out of an entire population of hundreds of thousands of Americans that were unilaterally subjugated and stripped of their civil liberties. Nonetheless, Fred Korematsu serves as an important reminder of the regression we can subject our society to when we forfeit our values and fall victim to perverted agendas and rhetoric that is rooted in fear, ignorance, and personal gain. As long as we remain vigilant of such pitfalls and keep our unwavering American values at the forefront of our minds, I am confident that our nation will learn from its history and not repeat the failures of our past.”

What lessons on patience, advocacy, and perseverance can the American Muslim community gain from the Japanese American community’s struggle?

“While our nation that is far from perfect, we must stay true to our foundational Ameri-

What advice do you have to youth in your district who want to work towards ensuring civil liberties are protected for all?

“As public leaders, it is our responsibility to pass on the values of community awareness, involvement, and leadership to our youth who have come from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Whatever career and life choices our youth make I cannot more strongly stress the importance of being engaged in the national dialogue on so many important topics we are grappling with.

As the future of our nation, it is vital that our youth have a strong say in the direction we head and to not be silenced, disenfranchised, or intimidated by ideas or people that are perceived to be too powerful to challenge. Going out to the polls to vote is not enough. More than ever, we need a diverse set of leaders in public office to reflect the diversity we see in our communities. Our youth must be empowered within our communities with the understanding that one person can truly make a difference, regardless of his or her background, and to never lose focus of the important values and experiences that make up our cultural identities and histories.” - MPAC

COPAA Brings together Pakistani-American Community and Government Officials to Discuss Current Events

T

n By Dr Irfan Ahmad

he Council of Pakistan American Affairs (COPAA) organized an important townhall meeting on Jan 16 at the Marriott Hotel, Long Beach, CA to address violent extremism and rising Islamophobia in the country following the San Bernardino shooting.

Mr Abdul Jabbar Memon, Consul General of Pakistan; Dr Jenna Scott, Deputy Director, Center of Faith-baed Neighborhood Partnership and representing the White House and Department of Homeland Security; David Bowdich, Assistant Director of FBI for LA; Haroon Azar, Regional Director for Strategic Engagement, Homeland Security in Los Angeles and Michal Downing, Deputy Chief, Counter Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau were on the panel of speakers.

COPAA board members and advisors, leaders of several Pakistani-American organizations and prominent members of the community were present at this event.

Members of the panel gave the unified message of support for the Pakistani-American community and urged the community to continue to partner with the law enforcement agencies to protect our country against extremist ideology and violence.

From left: Sabrina Beg MC, Nasir Javed. President COPAA, Abdul Jabbar Memon. Consul General of Pakistan at Los Angles; Dr Jannah Scott, Deputy Director, Center for Faith-based & Neighborhood Partnerships at US Department of Homeland Security; David Bowdich, FBI Los Angeles Assistant Director in Charge; Haroon Azar, Regional Director for Strategic Engagement, US Department of Homeland Security, and Michael Downing, Deputy Chief Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau

Mr Nasir Javed, President of COPAA, opened the discussion voicing concerns of the PakistanAmerican community about rising Islamophobia and fears of bullying at schools, work place discrimination, and potential dangers of marginalization of the community.

Consul General Memon described the role played by Pakistan and the huge human and financial losses suffered by the country, in the global war against terrorism. He affirmed it was the patriotic duty of Pakistani Americans to cooperate with the law enforcement agencies to keep the nation safe.

Dr Jenna Scott reassured the

audience that there are federal laws protecting vulnerable minorities and protection of religious freedom of people all over the world is supported by our President.

Mr Haroon Azar negated the concept of vilifying members of an entire religion which endangers the country and supports the narrative of the extremists. He advocated financial support for mental health and other programs.

Mr Bowdich and Chief Downing focused on the importance of outreach and partnership with communities in establishing trust and how they have had a positive experience with the Pakistani-American

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community which came forward to help in the San Bernardino shooting as they had done in previous times of crisis. They confirmed the dangers of extremist ideology, particularly for the youth, and that could best be countered by family and community engagement.

Participants in the town Hall meeting enjoyed the quality of the program. They appreciated the role and support of the law enforcment agencies and engaged the panel with several questions and comments.

The evening concluded with a delicious buffet style dinner consisting of delectable Pakistani food.

Ali Noorani Will Be Keynote Speaker at #NCIHC2016 in Austin, Texas

Wa sh i ng ton ,

DC: Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, will be the Keynote Speaker at this year’s meeting of the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC). The 10th Annual NCIHC Membership Meeting (AMM) will be held on April 1, 2016 at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, Texas.

Enrica Ardemagni, President of the NCIHC, revealed that the choice of Noorani as speaker was “especially fitting since the theme for the 2016 meeting is ‘A Decade of Working Toward Social Justice.’ Given his experience of bringing people together to work on sometimes controversial issues, yet achieve progress on mutual goals, makes him an ideal speaker for this year’s meeting.”

Ali Noorani has more than a decade of successful leadership in public policy advocacy, non-profit management and coalition organizing across a wide range of issues. Under Noorani’s leadership since 2008, the National Immigration Forum is a powerful and key advocate on numerous immigration issues, working closely with business, law enforcement, and faith and immigrant leadership across the country to advance much needed reforms to our nation’s immigration system.

Noorani provides a principled and reasoned voice on immigration policy and politics, and has appeared on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, NBC News, ABC News, and various radio and local news programs. He has been quoted on the pages of most of the nation’s major dailies and is a regular speaker at conferences and campuses across the country.

Born in California, Noorani is the son of Pakistani immigrants.

He is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and received his Master’s in Public Health from Boston University. In 2007, Noorani received the Boston University Young Alumni Award.

NCIHC, a multidisciplinary organization whose mission is to promote and enhance language access in health care in the United States, formalized in 1998 after a series of working group meetings that began in 1994. Since then, NCIHC has organized an annual gathering of hospital administrators, policymakers, researchers, healthcare providers, language access advocates, interpreters, and interpreter educators from around the nation.

The event, which kicks off this year with a tour of Dell Children’s Medical Center and a welcome reception on Thursday, March 31, consists of interactive and structured information sharing, networking, and brainstorming discussions as well as informal focused meetings throughout the event and ending with an award ceremony for the annual Language Access Champion. For more information about NCIHC, visit http://www.ncihc.org. For continuous updates about the 10th Annual Membership Meeting, follow hashtag #NCIHC2016 on Facebook and Twitter.

Media Contact Enrica Ardemagni 202-505-1-LEP

COMMUNITY

FEBRUARY 19, 2016 – PAKISTAN LINK – P19

Lively ‘Meet a Muslim’ Events Seek to Break down Barriers

Group organizer Moina Shaiq, right, listens to a question from the audience during a “Meet a Muslim Community Conversation”, a public gathering designed to build bridges with the Muslim community, held at the Mission Coffee Roasting Company in Fremont, CA, Monday, Feb 1, 2016

n By Hamed Aleaziz Photo by Michael Short

A

familiar question emerged from the mostly white crowd of about 60 people who had gathered in a Fremont coffee shop to engage in a backand-forth with a 56-year-old mother of four wearing an orange striped hijab.

“One of the issues that I see from my vantage point — Bay Area Muslims have not taken a stand, for example, against ISIS,” said a man standing in the crowd, referring to the Islamic State group.

A woman seated nearby said, “Yes! Yes!” and clasped her hands together as the man continued: “Why is it Bay Area Muslims have not come out and said we dissociate ourselves from ISIS?” It was exactly the sort of question Moina Shaiq, the woman in the hijab, was expecting when she began organizing a community event she dubbed Meet a Muslim — a gathering she could use to separate fact from fiction, and fears, about American Muslims like herself.

Shaiq told the man in Mission Coffee that Muslim Americans had stood strongly against terrorism, re-

peatedly and publicly.

“Every single time — ISIS or not ISIS — that there is any Muslim terrorism attack anywhere in the world, all Muslims organizations from A to Z, immediately send out a press release condemning it,” she said. “The other side of the story is this: Why is it that Muslims are always expected to say sorry for something that some people are doing?”

Shaiq’s quest to change the perception of Muslim Americans, one uncomfortable question at a time, comes after mass killings in Paris and San Bernardino prompted a new wave of scrutiny of the community. Donald Trump suggested banning Muslims from entering the country, while fellow presidential candidate Ben Carson claimed Islam is not a religion but a “life organization system.”

When she launched the event, Shaiq chose local coffee shops as a neutral place and thought maybe a few people would show up. If not, she figured, she’d sit, have some coffee and get some work done.

The first night of Meet a Muslim, which she advertised on Facebook and in Bay Area newspapers, was held in January — and Shaiq’s expectations were blown away.

Around 100 people, mostly nonMuslims, came to Suju’s Coffee & Tea. Now, she plans on holding them for as long as people come. Her next event, on Monday, is at a Round Table Pizza shop in Fremont.

“I thought, how do I reach out to ordinary people on the street … who want to meet a Muslim face-toface and be able to ask any question without being judged or intimidated?” she said. “I have heard this time and time again, where people say that they have never met a Muslim.”

Surveys suggests Shaiq may be onto something. A Pew Research Center poll released last week found that nearly half of Americans do not know someone who is Muslim, and that those who did know a Muslim were more likely to have a positive opinion of Muslim Americans.

On Wednesday, President Obama referenced how many Americans had never met a Muslim when he spoke from a US mosque for the first time in his presidency.

“The Muslim American community remains relatively small — several million people in this country. And as a result, most Americans don’t necessarily know — or at least don’t know that they know — a Muslim personally,” Obama told the crowd, noting how the perception of Muslims was instead filled out by media portrayals which gave a “hugely distorted impression.”

Haroon Moghul, who is a fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, a think tank on American Muslim issues, and who attended Obama’s speech, said, “Change happens one person at a time, incrementally. Some people are so focused on the soundbites that they forgot that we have to reach hearts and minds, and that takes trust, and trust requires sincerity and patience.

“This activity isn’t just strategically savvy,” he said of Shaiq’s event.

“It’s the right thing to do.”

Shaiq is a longtime, active resident of Fremont, a diverse city with a relatively large Muslim communiBARRIERS, P22

Anaheim Council’s Approval of ‘People’s Map’ Applauded Anaheim, CA: “Today (Feb 11) the Council on American-Islamic Relations of the greater Los Angeles area (CAIR-LA) is excited to announce that the city of Anaheim approved the “people’s map” this past Tuesday, February 9th at Anaheim City Hall,” says a CAIR press release. It adds: The unanimous vote by Anaheim City Council Members and Mayor was the final decision needed to implement the map which divides the city into multiple districts allowing for more direct and meaningful representation in city council.

The map was a product of a lawsuit filed in 2012, which alleged that the city council’s at-large electoral system violated California’s Voting Rights Act. Anaheim was the largest city in California to elect its city council through “at large” elections rather than “by district.” The result was that almost all city council members elected to represent the interests of the entire city of 330,000 were coming from one part of the city.

The City agreed to move to district elections and selected a

panel of retired judges to draw up district lines and hear suggestions community members and organizations had to offer. A broad group of community organizations including CAIR-LA, IIOC, OCCORD, OCCCO and many others worked together to suggest districts that would be fair and ensure representation and interests of all communities in Anaheim.

CAIR-LA mobilized community activists through Project MUSA

(Muslims United for Solidarity and Action). The Anaheim Redistricting campaign was one of the several initiatives Project MUSA was organizing and advocating for.

You can find more information about Project MUSA and how to get involved here.

Thank you to all of our volunteers and community activists who invested time and efforts to bring about this historic victory!

www.PakistanLink.com

Three Generations of Ahmeds

Three generations of Ahmeds at screening of Professor Akbar Ahmed’s film Journey into Europe to full house at Georgetown University on 4 February co-hosted by Professor Tamara Sonn and Melody Fox of the Berkley Center

Irvine People Are Making Waves

Farrah N. Khan with Sukhee Kang who is running for State Senate in District 29

I

f you don’t already know Farrah N. Khan, now’s the time to really get to know her. She has been working behind the scenes for the past 10 years in the Irvine and Orange County area building up her credentials. In 2014, she was appointed as Community Services Commissioner for the City of Irvine which propelled her to take the next step, running for Irvine City Council.

This is a critical election for the City of Irvine to bring in new councilmembers who have worked within the community and know the city. “This election isn’t about undoing what’s been done, it’s not about one side against another, it’s about connecting. Let’s connect with developers, businesses, residents, faith groups, non-profits, students and educators to improve our quality of life at work and at home” stated Farrah. Her platform is simple: Growing with Smart Infrastructure, Being Transparent, Introducing Energy Efficiency programs for Businesses and Focusing on Family Values.

Farrah has been the recipient of awards from the State Assembly, State Senate and Congress. She was also the recipient of the 2015 Community Leader Award by the OC Human Relations Commission.

Here’s just a short list of her experience in the community:· Execu-

tive Director of the Newport Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council; Board Member of Orange County Interfaith Network; Board Member OC Sheriff ’s Interfaith Advisory Council; · Past Community Services Commissioner, City of Irvine; · CERT Volunteer (Community Emergency Response Team with Irvine Police); PTA President (Elementary), PTA Board Member (Middle School); Current Elected School Site Council Member, High School; and Elected Delegate for Assembly District 74.

She has been Endorsed by the following: Women in Leadership; Sukhee Kang, Former Irvine Mayor; Bao Nguyen, Mayor of Garden Grove; Ali Sajjad Taj, Councilman of Artesia; Lorraine Prinsky, Board of Trustees, OC Community Colleges, Valerie Amezcua, School Board Member, Santa Ana; Al Jabbar, School Board Member, Anaheim; Rev. Mark Whitlock; Pastor Jack Miranda; Rev. Sian Witshire and Ms. Felicity Figueroa Farrah can use your support; you can contribute to her campaign online, volunteer to help, and vote on November 8, 2016.

For more information, please visit www.ElectFarrah.org and follow Farrah on Facebook https:// w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / F a r r a h forIrvine

COMMUNITY

P20 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 19, 2016

My Icon, Mentor and Friend

n By Talat Masood

S

Islamabad

ahabzada Yaqub was a man of exceptional qualities who left an indelible impression on me from the first day I met him. His career spanned over a historic period, both pre- and postPartition. As aide-de-camp to both Lord Mountbatten and later to Mohammed Ali Jinnah, he experienced firsthand the evolution of Pakistan as well as the global forces at work. Fortunately, his subsequent career was also an excellent mix of military and diplomatic experience at the highest level.

The first time I came in contact with him was when he was commanding 1 Armored Division in 1961 and I was posted to 19th Lancers as the Light Aid Detachment officer. I had just returned from abroad after doing a post-graduate course. Sahabzada Yaqub’s deep fascination for technology and interest in scientific developments provided me the opportunity to interact with him at a very early stage of my military career. He had a great grasp over strategy and was aware of the close relationship between technology and strategy and its impact on the nature of conflict.

If he found any episode or conversation intellectually stimulating, then rank was not a barrier and one such experience, in 1967, illustrates the point. I had returned from China after doing a course on T-Series tanks when our paths crossed after a considerable gap at an army reception. Having learnt that I had just returned from China, he invited me to prepare a paper on my impressions of the situation there as it was undergoing the convulsions of the Cultural Revolution. I was one of the few foreigners living in China who had witnessed from the sidelines the momentous unfolding of the Revolution. In his capacity as Chief of General Staff, he sent my paper to then army chief General Yahya Khan and arranged for me to address GHQ officers on my impressions of our new strategic partner

I

n By Michael Tegos

f you ask me what my greatest dream is, I’ll probably tell you it’s going to space. It doesn’t even have to be that far out – a round trip to the International Space Station and back will do (can you tell I’m thinking small here?). Since there’s little chance of me doing that anytime soon, though, I could settle for shaking hands with someone who’s already been there.

I guess I can cross that one off the ol’ bucket list.

Anousheh Ansari is a computer scientist, an entrepreneur, and the first Muslim woman to go to space – not to mention the first woman to do so using her own funds. I caught up with her much closer to the ground, in Singapore, where she flew in to support the UN Women Singapore Committee for ending violence against women.

Going to space was Anousheh’s life-long dream, along with becoming an astrophysicist. Growing up in her homeland, Iran, she would lie in her balcony and get lost in the night skies, dreaming she would one day be among the stars. “I was fascinated by the sheer mystery of space, what’s out there, what’s it like, and how I could get there,” she says.

The stars looked pretty far away in 1984, five years after the Iranian revolution, when she and her family left the country for a better life in the United States. There she studied electrical engineering and computer science. After meeting her husband, Hamid Ansari, she went into the telecommunications business. Together, they founded telecommunications company Telecom Technologies in 1993.

The standards set by Sahabzada Yaqub (sitting extreme right) for professional competence and how an officer should conduct himself remain the benchmark even today

China, with special reference to the Cultural Revolution and the internal power struggle in the country. I was frank and honest, and must have got something right, for a mere Major (as I was then) does not normally address the

breed — honest to the core, an intellectual of a high order with an incisive mind. As a diplomat, he can be ranked among the best Pakistan has produced. His speeches at the UN and other world forums made a mark. His

President Nixon in his letter of September 27, 1985 had this to say: “General Al Haig has always told me that he considers you to be one of the world’s most outstanding strategic thinkers, and after our talks I can underline that in spades.” Henry Kissinger was a great admirer and valued his views GHQ nor was a junior officer’s written report sent to the army chief as this was clearly an unusual practice. But for him, dissemination of knowledge took precedence over trivial considerations. He knew that once China stabilizes internally, it would be a global power of great consequence.

Sahabzada Yaqub belonged to a different

brilliance and grasp of world affairs was internationally recognized and President Nixon in his letter of September 27, 1985 had this to say: “General Al Haig has always told me that he considers you to be one of the world’s most outstanding strategic thinkers, and after our talks I can underline that in spades.”

Henry Kissinger was a great admirer and val-

ued his views. World leaders across the political divide sought his analyses and advice on global and regional affairs. After retirement, the King of Morocco asked Sahabzada Yaqub to deliver a series of lectures at the Center for Strategic Studies in Rabat where he spoke on national strategy and various levels of military strategy. He was one of those rare thinkers who predicted the fall of the Shah of Iran as well as the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The bold and courageous, principled stand that he took over the insurgency of East Pakistan is a true reflection of his stature. If only the government of the time had heeded his advice, the great tragedy of violent separation could have been averted.

His contribution in the establishment of the National Defense College, which later was granted university status, will always be remembered. Even after retirement, Sahabzada Yaqub continued to promote education and was appointed chairman of the board of trustees of the Aga Khan University.

Of course, Sahabzada Yaqub had his weaknesses. His elitism kept him somewhat detached and invited criticism and allegations of being snobbish and beholden to the West. He belonged to that class of military officers for whom politicians were an anathema and politics remained disdainful. He was more comfortable in the company of military rulers, foreign dignitaries, intellectuals, and less with politicians. However, at a personal level he remained correct to a fault and gave his best while serving as Benazir Bhutto’s foreign minister and as ambassador during the senior Bhutto’s tenure.

Sahabzada Yaqub’s gracious wife, Tuba Begum, was an invaluable companion and a huge support to him in every facet of his life.

His interest in life never faded. Even during the Second World War, when he was taken prisoner in northern Africa while his formation was fighting against German-Italian troops, he learnt several foreign languages that gave him insight into other worlds and access to their literature, poetry and culture.

He believed that gaining proficiency in a foreign language gives the advantage of seeing SAHIBZADA, P28

Meet the World’s First Muslim Woman in Space To put that into context, 1993 was the year when Marc Andreessen and his team released Mosaic, the first web browser.

Telecom Technologies developed a method for enabling voice communications over the internet. In 2001, it merged with IP-based voice infrastructure products company Sonus Networks, in a US$750 million deal.

It was the middle of the US dotcom crash.

The tech business landscape is a very different world today, but some things still apply. “When we started the company, the principles of a startup were innovation and speed, which is the same now in Silicon Valley,” she says.

But she feels that back then building a business was much more of a long-term thing. “Sometimes I look at the companies that pop up every day in Silicon Valley and I question what the business model is, how they are going to ever make money, or protect their IP.” She is concerned about founders coming straight out of college and founding companies (“If Andreessen has his way, even before they’ve finished college,” she quips). At that stage, they may not have the experience and the sense of responsibility she feels is required to run a successful company.

“But it’s a different landscape, it’s hard for me to even try to compare,” she says.

Space is never far away from Anousheh’s thoughts. In 2006, she came close to fulfilling her lifetime dream, when she was asked to be a

backup for private space explorer Daisuke Enomoto on a Soyuz TMA9 flight to the ISS. She underwent the necessary six-month training in Russia’s Star City, and when the time came, Daisuke was medically disqualified – opening the airlock for Anousheh to go in his place. She stayed aboard the ISS for eight days, conducting some experiments herself and even sending the first-ever blog post from the station.

“It’s very liberating [going to space],” she says. “You become humbled by the fact that the universe is so big and you’re such a small part of it. At the same time you are empowered by seeing how small everything is because then you’re like, ‘These are

www.PakistanLink.com

the things I’m worried about? They’re nothing.’ It helps you re-prioritize your life, your relationship with the world and the people around you, with your environment, and makes you realize what’s important and what’s not.”

Her journey to our planet’s farthest outpost was the culmination of a lifetime dream, but there is much more to it. “I’m 100 per cent a proponent of space exploration,” she says. She has been involved with a lot of private sector initiatives in this regard, the foremost being a multi-million dollar donation to the X Prize, the non-profit organization that runs competitions for innovations to benefit humanity.

In 2004, the organization awarded the Ansari X Prize for Suborbital

Spaceflight, in honor of that donation. The US$10 million award went to SpaceShipOne. Anousheh sits in the organization’s Board of Trustees, along with Elon Musk, James Cameron, Larry Page, Ratan Tata, and others.

“The way we treat our planet, we’re going to destroy our environment and make it uninhabitable, unless something changes drastically,” she says. “If we want our species to survive, we need to figure out how to live in space. That’s why I think the space program is very important, not just because of all the research turning out products and ideas that help people on earth. And it’s not something we can do quickly, it will take many decades for us to figure out, so we need to start working on it now.”

As a big supporter of private ventures into space, she is excited by what industry heavyweights such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are doing in this regard. “This is what we wanted to see, a lot of competition and activity,” she says. “Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been created because of this new industry. Having people like that work on the space program gives me a lot of excitement and hope, so I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen in the next five years.”

Anousheh’s story is certainly an inspirational one, particularly for women who want to get into science, engineering, and computers. “You have to be persistent and patient,” she says.

“I look at my life, and even though I’ve always thought about going to space, I had to consider other options and build a career in something completely different. But that doesn’t WOMAN, P24

COMMENTARY

FEBRUARY 19, 2016 – PAKISTAN LINK – P21

n By Nayyer Ali MD

W

ith the votes still being counted Donald Trump, a man with no political experience and zero knowledge of foreign affairs or even most domestic issues, has won the Republican primary in New Hampshire. He not only won, he crushed the rest of the field, winning by about 18 points over the second-place finisher, Ohio governor John Kasich. While this is a great result for Donald Trump, it represents a disaster for the Republicans.

Donald Trump has run a campaign of fear, racism, and inflammatory rhetoric that appeals to the least common denominator among the Republican base. He pretends to be a practicing Christian in order to get votes, but knows less about the Bible than the vast majority of Americans. He makes absurd promises, like building a 2000-mile wall along the Mexican border, and getting the Mexican government to pay for it. He paints a picture of an America in chaos and decline, with everything under the sun going wrong, and the country in the grips of abject failure. This picture resonates with the diehard extreme right wing, but is not the reality that most of the country sees.

In real terms, President Obama has been extremely successful, guiding the country out of its worst economic downturn in 80 years, ending two wars, bringing the budget deficit under control, and expanding healthcare to 16 million people, who were uninsured, while lowering the cost of Medicare. He has made dramatic progress in fighting global warming and beginning the transition to a carbon-free energy future. There have been no major scandals and he has brought dignity and grace to the office.

Trump has a very clear path forward. He should easily win the next major primary in South Carolina, and then will come Super Tuesday on March 1 when a whole slate of states will be voting. So far no Republican has been able to come close to challenging him

Trump Wins New Hampshire, GOP Loses

in the national polls. In the last debate they spent most of their time beating up each other and leaving Trump unscathed.

What worries Republican insiders is how badly Trump would lose in November to a Democrat. Trump will likely win the White vote, but not by the large margin Mitt Romney got in 2012, when he won 60% to Obama’s

vative thinkers made the case for why Trump is unfit.

In November, Trump would likely get no more than 55% of the White vote, but then 30% of voters are minorities, and they will be almost unanimous in their opposition to Trump. He would be lucky to win 10% of minority voters. Put together, Trump would

There is a significant contingent of conservative Whites who could not bring themselves to vote for the circus act that is Donald Trump. Bill Kristol, the editor of National Review, has stated he would abstain if Trump was on the ballot 40%. There is a significant contingent of conservative Whites who could not bring themselves to vote for the circus act that is Donald Trump. Bill Kristol, the editor of National Review, has stated he would abstain if Trump was on the ballot. The National Review, which is the flagship intellectual magazine for conservatives, just ran an issue with the cover “Against Trump” in which 22 leading conser-

barely get 42% of the vote, losing by 16 points to the Democrat.

That kind of loss sends shivers up the spines of Republicans. There are 20 Republican Senators running for reelection, and it would be very hard for many of them to win when their Presidential candidate is getting smashed so badly. It is very likely that with Trump, the Democrats get control of the Sen-

ate back, and even the large Republican majority in the House would be at risk.

The stakes are even higher as four justices on the Supreme Court are 80 years old or more. The next President will decide if we have a liberal or conservative court for the next 25 years, making this election extremely important.

If Trump is the Republican candidate, will the establishment actually support him? How many people will fund his campaign, knowing that it is doomed to a massive loss? The party machinery may turn its back on Trump, writing him off as a sure loser. In that situation, will Trump actually fund his own campaign?

To run a national Presidential campaign costs several hundred million dollars or more, and I don’t see Trump spending his own money on that sort of vanity project. The November election will feature a motivated and excited Democratic base coming out to win, and a demoralized Republican base that may just stay home, costing the Republicans seats from the White House down to local city councils.

Why are the Republicans so bereft of reasonable alternatives? They had 17 candidates running this cycle, surely there must have been one decent person among them. But in fact this crop of candidates all have some fatal flaw. Ted Cruz is a religious fanatic and right-wing zealot hated by his own party leaders. Jeb Bush is crippled by being a Bush, and has shown himself to be a lousy campaigner.

Scott Walker was so vapid he gave up months ago. Ben Carson doesn’t know anything about domestic or foreign policy, and being a brain surgeon doesn’t make up for that. Chris Christie has the personality of a bully, and was fatally wounded by the Bridgegate scandal in 2014. John Kasich is the most electable candidate among the whole bunch, but he is too moderate for Republican voters and stands no chance of winning the nomination. Finally, Marco Rubio, who did better than expected in Iowa, looked to be perhaps the savior of the party, destroyed his candidacy when he showed in the debate a few days before the primary that he has no substance to him, and can only repeat canned talking points. He wilted under pressure and has no accomplishment or record to run on.

Olympic Fencer, a Muslim, Settled on a ‘Sport Without Alteration’ n By Victor Mather

A

trip to the Olympics, a meeting with the president and a potential gold medal all began at a stop sign in Maplewood, NJ.

Ibtihaj Muhammad played a lot of sports growing up, including softball, tennis, track and volleyball.

But because her Muslim faith mandated that her arms and legs be covered, her mother, Denise, regularly adjusted uniforms, adding stretch pants for track and sweatpants for volleyball.

“My parents were on a mission to find a sport without alteration,” Muhammad said.

When she was 13, and at that stop sign, her mother noticed through big windows a group of fencers working out in the cafeteria at Columbia High School. Denise had seen enough.

“They’re totally covered,” she said. “You should try that.”

Seventeen years later, Ibtihaj Muhammad is not only an accomplished fencer but also an Olympian, having clinched qualification for the Games in a meet in Athens this month. Last week, she met President Obama.

“My parents didn’t give us a choice about playing sports, just which sport to play,” said Muhammad, the middle of five children.

Her mother “saw sports as a

way of keeping an eye on us from 3 to 5,” she added.

Muhammad ended up attending Columbia High School, and fought with the épée, one of the three swords used in Olympic competition. When the team graduated its saber stars, her coach encouraged her to switch, but she was reluctant.

It turned out she was much better at saber.

The swords differ in the blade and the guard where they are

gripped. Sabers score with the edges of the blade rather than the tip, and the sword tends to be moved in more of a slashing motion. Saber competition looks closer to the fencing one would see in an old movie starring Errol Flynn.

“It’s the closest representation of who I am,” Muhammad said. “I’m very aggressive, that’s who I am.”

Saber matches often last only five minutes rather than the 15 you might see in épée. “The amount of

www.PakistanLink.com

time you have to process what’s going on is much shorter,” Muhammad said.

When she fought in épée, she said, “I had trouble staying awake.”

Muhammad went on to fence at Duke, where she majored in international relations and African studies and had a minor in Arabic.

She is believed to be the first American Olympian in any sport to compete while wearing a hijab, the head scarf that covers her hair.

Wearing it beneath her fencing uniform “is not something I’ve ever really thought about,” she said.

“I get asked about it a lot,” Muhammad added. “People ask Muslim women about it — not just athletes — all the time. Like, aren’t you hot?

On a hot day, you’d still wear a shirt and pants. I would not leave the house without it.”

Muhammad will fence in Rio de Janeiro in the individual and FENCER, P28

COMMENTARY

P22 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 19, 2016 n By Tim Craig Islamabad: Mohammad Hassan secluded

himself in a religious seminary in Pakistan’s largest city for 11 years until he memorized the more than 6,000 verses that make up the Qur’an, Islam’s holy book.

Now the 27-year-old spends his nights at a computer in Islamabad teaching Muslims in the United States, Canada and Europe how to recite the Qur’an with the same Arabic pronunciation and intonation he believes the Prophet Muhammad would have used.

“Read it correctly!” Hassan shouted at a teenager in Britain to whom he was talking over Skype, the online phone and video service. “You have been reading it for a long time now. Why aren’t you reading it correctly?”

From thousands of miles away, Hassan and other online teachers have become a lifeline for some Western Muslims interested in studying Islam just as intensively as it is taught here in Pakistan, home to more than 100,000 mosques and more than 20,000 seminaries.

With lax telecommunications laws, a large pool of potential teachers and relatively new technologies such as Skype, Pakistan has become a global hub for computerized training courses on how to become a properly observant Muslim.

And business is booming.

Pakistani entrepreneurs say this is because there are not enough mosques and Muslim seminaries in the West to meet demand.

And with the rise of the Islamic State radical group — as well as a backlash against Islam in some Western nations — Muslim parents are more closely scrutinizing how and where their children are taught religion, they say.

“People in the US, Canada and UK are

Pakistan Exports the Qur’an — via Skype

Pakistanis are cashing in on demand from North American and European Muslims for online Qur’an courses similar to those taught in Pakistan

always telling us: We do have mosques, we do have proper setups, but we can never find one-on-one lessons,” said Usman Zahoor Ahmed, 32, owner of ReadQuranOnline.com, where Hassan works. “And in this current atmosphere, they want to know what kind of teaching is being provided to their children — they want the lessons in their home, where mom or father is always watching.”

Eight years ago, Ahmed started his call center with two employees and just a few stu-

BARRIERS FROM P19

ty. She’s raised four kids and served on boards such as the Center for Civic Education. She also runs an elder support group called the Muslim Support Network and sits on the Alameda County Human Relations Commission.

Woman of the Year In 2008, then-state Sen. Ellen Corbett named her Woman of the Year — the first Muslim to win it — and the next year she was the state Democratic Party’s Volunteer of the Year. She’s charismatic, and takes time to chat with attendees both before and after her events. “This lady never sleeps,” remarked an acquaintance.

At Mission Coffee, a mostly older crowd, split evenly between men and women, huddled for an hour around Shaiq and two fellow panelists — Azam Khan, a technology content strategist from Fremont, and Jehan Hakim, a San Leandro resident and San Francisco State student. Both are in their 30s.

Shaiq began the night with an introduction and an answer to another question she gets often: Why are Muslim women oppressed in Islam?

‘Not oppressed’ “Let me tell you, women are not oppressed in Islam at all,” she said.

“In fact they have more rights — again, there is faith and then there is culture.

“We see so much oppression, and we see so many things happening,” she continued, “like in Saudi Arabia women don’t have the right to drive — but that’s one country.

There are 50 Muslim countries in the world, and we only hear about one country.”

Shaiq, Khan and Hakim didn’t have a microphone so they shouted.

The crowd extended so far back — about halfway into the big shop, where non-attendees peeked up intermittently to see what the fuss was about — that some guests hollered out that they couldn’t hear.

Group organizers Jehan Hakim, left, and Moina Shaiq listen to questions from community members

One man asked the group about Shariah, or Islamic law, in America. In recent years, a number of states have banned or attempted to ban Shariah because of fears a foreign legal system would overrun the American courts.

“Why do you think we’re worried about Shariah law supplanting the existing law in the US?” the man asked.

“I think it’s fear of the unknown,” responded Hakim, a fiery, 35-year-old mother of four. “How much do you know about Shariah law?”

“No — it makes me wonder,” the man said, “is there a section of the population that’s actually pushing to gain Shariah law to take over existing law?”

Shaiq said no, and that Shariah instructs Muslims “to obey the law of the land.”

Some audience members used the forum to loudly proclaim their support for the panelists.

“I’d like to add this to the discussion!” said an elderly man after an exchange between Khan and a guest about mentions of violence in the Qur’an. “There’s no group of human beings that’s ever been perfect with their fellow man. It’s not about us and them — it is about all of us!

You get nutjobs anywhere!”

A rousing applause broke out.

Other attendees asked how

dents. Now, he employs 22 teachers who work all night speaking to 320 students, about 40 per cent of whom live in the United States.

Ahmed’s brother Saqib, who helps run the call center, estimated that more than 50 similar centers operate in Pakistan, at least one of which has more than 1,000 students.

“I already got the education but now feel it’s my service to spread it and teach it to others,” said a teacher, Safeer Ahmed, 20.

For about $25, students get a 30-minute

things were going for young Muslim Americans in the classroom. At one point, a man asked the group about the ruling style of deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

“Is there a question in there about Islam?” replied Hakim, seemingly bewildered.

Joyce Hessler said she came to the event to learn more about Islam.

She didn’t have bad feelings about Islam before, she said, but also had never really met a Muslim American, save for a lady she once talked to about candy in a grocery store.

“I feel more open about Islam,” she said after the event. “I feel better inside, and I’ve learned a little bit here. ... It’s hard to approach someone you don’t know about, so this makes it easier to be able to approach somebody that’s Muslim.”

Some Muslim Americans attended Meet a Muslim as well — out of curiosity more than anything.

Najia Punjsheri, a 29-year-old woman who lives in San Jose, said she’s worn the hijab for around a decade. Lately, however, she’s noticed a difference in how people treat her.

They are “more scared or really jittery” when they see her on the street.

People ‘act different’ “They act different, they stare longer, and you know there’s a difference. ... Before I didn’t feel like that,” she said.

But Punjsheri thinks gatherings like the one at the coffee shop could help things, even if the questions are at times confrontational.

“Some of them can feel offensive to Muslims — we’re not all crazy, we’re not all out to go hurt people — and I feel it’s good for people to come face-to-face with what their fears are and actually put it out there and have us clarify,” she said. “It makes people less scared. It makes people more knowledgeable. It demolishes ignorance, which is sometimes where we harbor our fears.”

(Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Courtesy San Francisco Chronicle)

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lesson five days a week. Initially, the lessons focus on the proper pronunciation of Qur’anic verses. There are also pictorial lessons on daily Muslim practice — praying five times, for example, and bending over to pray in such a way that a glass of water placed on the back would not tip.

The instruction then moves to translating and interpreting the Qur’an, which requires eight years of daily lessons to fully comprehend, Ahmed said.

“If someone asks about jihad, which they rarely do, we would answer it with a strict interpretation of Islam,” he said. “Jihad is something only allowed by a state — it’s not an individual thing where someone can resort to a gun and take up weapons.”

The Ahmed brothers run their business from the basement of Usman’s house, using decade-old computers. About 11 each night, the teachers arrive, put on their headphones and begin calling students.

The Ahmeds say they pull in $6,000 to $7,000 a month from their 320 students.

They pay teachers $100 to $220 a month — or $1,200 to $2,640 annually — in a country where the average per-capita income is just $1,513 per year.

Most mornings, there are numerous classified ads in Pakistani newspapers seeking teachers for online Islamic study courses, some offering the option of working from home.

Usman Zahoor Ahmed doesn’t mind the increased competition.

“There will be 3 billion Muslims around the world (by 2100), and they are all our market,” he said. “All you need is a computer, microphone, headset and Skype.” - The Washington Post

Shura Council Resilient Leadership Award for Two Islamic Centers

CAIR-LA Expresses Solidarity with Christian Community after Racist Threat to Bishop

The Shura Council is pleased to announce its Resilient Leadership award to the Islamic Community Center of Redlands and the Islamic Society of Palm Springs, says an email message. It adds: The San Bernardino tragedy aftermath had impacted both of these communities in many diverse ways.

The Mosques received many hateful threatening phone calls and also several very angry protesters. The Islamic Society of Palm Springs was firebombed. The Mosque was red tagged by the fire department as “unusable.”

The community suddenly became Mosque-less. Friday prayers were held on a sidewalk. Children were scared and the Sunday School was closed.

Amidst all of this, the leadership of both Mosques demonstrated grace and resilience in comforting and reassuring their respective communities while dealing with various agencies.

“Despite being subjected to many difficulties, both communities demonstrated resilience and patience which deserves to be appreciated. I applaud the leadership and their selfless services to the community during their difficult time, said Dr Muzammil Siddiqi, Chairman of the Islamic Shura Council.

Leadership is best demonstrated in the most difficult times. Let us celebrate the Islamic Community Center of Redlands and the Islamic Society of Palm Springs as examples of resilient leadership.

As was announced last week, the Shura Council’s Compassion Award will be received by Dr Faisal Qazi.

Let us come together to celebrate our communities and the 21 years of service by the Shura Council on Saturday, February 27th. Congressman Keith Ellison will keynote the banquet. CALL 714.373.6473 for tickets or purchase online by Feb. 21st, price increases on Feb. 22nd. No tickets will be sold at the door.

Anaheim, CA: The Greater Los Angeles Area chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) Feb 17 expressed solidarity with the Christian community after a racist threat was sent to the Saint Paul Baptist Church in Oxnard, Calif.

Phrases like “ugly monkey,” “back to Africa” and “pin a medal on James Earl Ray did the world a favor,” in reference to the man who killed Dr Martin Luther King Jr., were written around the headline of a newspaper clipping featuring Bishop Broderick Huggins. Local Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

“We join the entire faith community in condemning this apparent act of intimidation and racism,” said CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush. “Because the target of this incident was so specific, this should be treated as a possible hate crime. On behalf of CAIR and the greater American Muslim community, we offer support and express solidarity with Bishop Broderick Huggins.”

CAIR recently stood in solidarity the African-American community following a series of arsons targeting St. Louis-area churches and with a San Francisco-based African-American Christian church that was vandalized with graffiti.

CAIR-Texas also recently expressed solidarity with the Jewish community after vandals spraypainted Nazi swastikas and racial slurs on gates, walls and monuments near a synagogue in San Antonio.

The Muslim community has in the past expressed solidarity with Jewish, Christian and Sikh communities in New Mexico, Florida, South Carolina, Maryland, Massachusetts, and California following acts of violence, vandalism, arson or bombings.

COMMENTARY

FEBRUARY 19, 2016 – PAKISTAN LINK – P23

Why Did the Scientific Revolution Not Take Place in the Muslim World? - 3 n By Professor Nazeer Ahmed Concord, CA

The Colonial Period Europe used its technological and scientific advantage to colonize much of Asia and Africa. India was the first great Asian civilization to fall to the West (1757-1947). By the end of the nineteenth century most of the Islamic world with the exception of the core Ottoman Empire and the Iranian heartland had been colonized.

There was resistance to the European onslaught, for instance, from Tippu Sultan of Mysore, who built a navy to patrol the Arabian Sea and rockets to defend his kingdom.

But these efforts were too little, too late. By the end of the eighteenth century, the resistance had ended and the scientific and technological sway of the West was unchallenged, both on land and on sea.

The European powers dismantled the educational infrastructure of the colonized lands which had grown over centuries, thereby injecting a discontinuity in the intellectual development of the colonized people. The zawiyas and madrassas which had provided the educational foundation of the Muslim world were either marginalized or disappeared. Their place was taken up by government schools run by the colonial authorities whose purpose was to educate the native population to man the lower echelons of administrative bureaucracies in the colonized lands.

Science and technology, which at best were flickering in the old institutions, died out. The science and technology gap between a colonizing Europe and a colonized Afro-Asia increased.

A Challenging Future It was only in the latter half of the nineteenth century that the Islamic world woke up to the need to learn the natural sciences from the West. In India, the Aligarh Muslim University was founded by Syed Ahmed Khan (d 1898). It was patterned after European schools and its intent was to educate Indian Muslims in the sciences, arts and technologies of the West.

In the Ottoman Empire, a determined effort was made to cultivate science and technology through the Tanzeemat and technical universities were established in Istanbul and other major cities. Some of the gifted students from these universities went on to study in Europe and acquire more advanced training in science and technology. The trend continues to this day and the few notable Muslim scientists and engineers have been primarily products of American and European universities.

However, in the global picture, the Islamic world continues to lag behind the West in science and technology. Not a single institution of higher learning from Muslim countries is listed among the top 100 science institutions of the world. Of the nine hundred Nobel Laureates since the Nobel Prize was established, only nine have been Muslim. Of these nine, six Noble prizes were awarded for peace. There have been only three Muslim Noble Laureates and all of them were educated and worked at universities in America or Europe. Less than one percent of the names that appear in the database of the United States Patents and Trademarks are Muslim and a similar trend is observable in the respectable scientific journals of the world. Literacy in Muslim lands is among the lowest in the world.

For instance, only 47 percent of women in Kashmir are literate which means more than half of them cannot even write and read their own name. What is more alarming is that the education gap between Muslim countries and the emerging economies such as those of China and India is increasing. War, physical dislocation, extremism and neglect have all taken their toll. Meanwhile, the Muslims continue to be bogged down with arguments over haram, bida’, shirk and kufr, hijab and halal meat.

Education is valued only for its monetary benefits. Extremism has taken its toll. In Pakistan, women and girls are attacked for going to school. Religion has been hijacked by professional mullahs. The term a’lim is reserved for one who has studied in a madrasa. Knowledge has been compartmentalized into religious and secular. Scholarship in the sciences is not valued. The ignorant mullahs look down upon the natural sciences as secular and debasing.

What can be done?

A revival of natural sciences in the Islamic world requires, at the minimum, the following: (1) Develop a framework to encourage the pursuit of natural science in conformance with the Qur’an and the Seerah of the Prophet.

This is within the reach of the current generation of intellectuals. An attempt in direction has been made by this writer and it has been published in the Encyclopedia of Islamic History, www.historyofislam.com.

(2) Encourage a culture of reason and rational discourse.

(3) Encourage science education in primary and secondary schools.

(4) Establish Centers of Excellence wherein scholars and seekers of knowledge meet and learn.

(5) Provide societal recognition and financial support for those who pursue science and technology.

(6) Establish peace and stability in the land.

The current bleak situation is a challenge and an opportunity for Islamic civilization.

Islam is a great civilization. It has faced many challenges in its long history and has renewed itself time and again to emerge stronger and more resilient. It will once again rise up to the current challenge, renew itself and will march forward with the light of knowledge as enjoined by the Qur’an and confirmed by the Seerah of the Prophet. “Indeed, with every difficulty there is relief ”. (The Qur’an 94:6) a. Ibn-al Baitar b. Ibn-al-Nafis c. Ibn-Zuhr d. Abu Haneefa e. Jaafar as Saadiq influenced the work of ibn al Hytham who was his student f. Jalaluddin Rumi g. Ibn al Arabi h. Al-Tabari i. Al-Tusi j. Al-Zahravi k. Ibn Batuta l. Maimonedes 1. The Impact of Al Gazzali Al Gazzali’s dialectic on philosophy had a global impact both on Islamic as well as Western civilization. The Spaniard Ibn Rushd (1128) took issues with Al Gazzali’s conclusion that there was no cause and effect in nature. In his Tahaffut at Tahaffut he stayed true to the teachings of Aristotle arguing that reason was a valid tool for understanding both nature and revelation. Whereas Al Gazzali had questioned the validity of cause and effect in nature, arguing that phenomenon happen by the will of God, Ibn Rushd argued that natural phenom-

enon followed laws ordained by God. After the fall of Córdoba (1236), the works of Ibn Rushd became accessible to European scholars through their Latin translations and influenced the scholastic tradition in Christendom which tried to reconcile reason with theology. One of the principal figures in this tradition was Thomas Aquinas. European scholasticism, having arrived at the same point in philosophy that Muslim philosophy had arrived at three hundred years earlier resolved the apparent tensions between philosophy and religion in fundamentally different ways.

Whereas Muslim philosophers had struggled to maintain the omnipotency of God in nature and human affairs by speculating on the nature of time, the European philosophers separated nature and philosophy into separate domains.

The Mu’tazalites overextended themselves and placed the Word of God within the prisons of time, space and reason.

The Asharites rejected this confinement but in this attempt they went to the other extreme and banished reason from nature. The Latin West reconciled reason with nature but they paid a price for this reconciliation; they banished reason from faith Nature, they concluded, was within the preview of reason. Matters of theology were beyond its reach.

Thus the impact of rational thought on the Islamic world and the Latin West was fundamentally different. Both struggled to define the interface between reason and belief. Can reason comprehend revelation? How does the will of God manifest itself in the created world? Does God’s will act only in general and not in particular? These are fundamental questions of philosophy and they related the very basis of rational thought, its limits and the domain of belief.

The first to attempt a reconciliation of reason with belief were the Mu’tazalites. They overextended their reach by applying reaching reason to the divine realm. To preserve the transcendence of God they speculated that the Word of God was “created” in time. In other words, they tried to put God within the fold of reason

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Al Gazzali was perhaps the most influential figure in medieval Islamic scholarship.

As a distinguished Professor at the university in Baghdad, he was familiar with the arguments and counter arguments of philosophers regarding the nature of things. Basing his powerful dialectic on the earlier works of al Ashari, Al Gazzali advanced the position that there was no cause and effect in nature, and that all natural events happen by the Will of God. Although Al Gazzali’s thrust was against the arguments of the philosophers rather than philosophy itself, his encyclopedic works had a chilling effect on the pursuit of philosophy in the Islamic world. In essence, it eliminated reason from the realm of natural science.

Ibn Rushd fought a rearguard action against the Asha rites. Staying true to the tradition of Aristotle, he argued that God acts through natural laws which cause and effect were valid.

The work of Ibn Rushd found a home in Europe. However, the price that was paid for this accommodation was the separation of Church and State. The Latin scholastic philosophers accepted the premise that nature was subject to reason but rejected the notion that it was applicable to theology and belief. This was the beginning of secular philosophy. God was confined to the walls of the Church whereas nature and the world of man was abandoned to reason and hence to secular logic.

Here is a summary of the galactic battles between faith and reason in Islam and Christianity: The Mu’tazalites overextended themselves and placed the Word of God within the prisons of time, space and reason. The Asharites rejected this confinement but in this attempt they went to the other extreme and banished reason from nature. The Latin West reconciled reason with nature but they paid a price for this reconciliation; they banished reason from faith.

(The author is Director, World Organization for Resource Development and Education, Washington, DC; Director, American Institute of Islamic History and Culture, CA; Member, State Knowledge Commission, Bangalore; and Chairman, Delixus Group)

Nida Fazli’s Intizar in English n By Elizabeth Kurian ‘Mona’ Nida Fazli’s passing away is a great loss for the literary world. His contribution to Urdu poetry cannot be forgotten as his ghazals, nazms, and film songs are all time favorites.

I share my translation of his Urdu nazm “Intezaar”

Vigil

sun

Years have passed by, You have not yet come.

Every day, life wanders in the desert of the

Night, tired out, sleeps in the cave of the moon Flowers bloom awhile, then fade away Each intoxication recedes after reaching its peak; Time blows away with the faceless winds You are like a sway of a lush voice Like the brightness in a silent smile, Like eyes shining in a face Like eyebrows, like trees, like arms, From the moon to the flowers, It is you and only you, but You are not any face, any body, any name; Wherever you are, Like reality, you are incomplete, You are no dream, which alone can be complete.

COMMENTARY

P24 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 19, 2016

Three Tips for Finalizing Your Spouse’s Finances n By Saghir Aslam Rawalpindi, Pakistan

(The following information is provided solely to educate the Muslim community about investing and financial planning. It is hoped that the Ummah will benefit from this effort through greater financial empowerment, enabling the community to live in security and dignity and fulfill their religious and moral obligations towards charitable activities) The death of a husband or wife can be an overwhelming experience, compounded by the financial matters you need to consider during this emotional time. Here are three tips to help you through the process.

1. Seek help from trusted sources Locating and understanding will and trust documents confirming who has authority over the estate should be a top priority following the death of a family member. So is commemorating their life. Ask your closest friend or relatives to help you research arrangements for the funeral and interment ceremony to help ease your stress.

You should also consult with your attorney, tax advisor, and financial advisor to discuss the documents, deadlines, and procedures necessary to finalize your spouse’s financial matters.

2. Gather important documents Even if you are not in charge of your spouse’s estate, you’ll probably have role in helping the executor designated to settle your loved one’s finances gather important personal documents( such as prenuptial and child support agreements).

Your loved one’s most recent tax return can help you identify brokerage, dividend-yielding stocks, properties, or other assets your spouse held. Additionally, we suggest you to do following: Order death certificates: The funeral home can help you obtain the copies you’ll need to file insurance and benefits claims, transferring assets, and closing bank and credit card accounts.

Locate your spouse’s will, if there WOMAN FROM P20

mean that you’ll forget what you want to do, even if you have to take a detour. I know women sometimes start believing they’re not meant to do something, especially when there are cultural or family restrictions where they live, so they put that limitation on themselves. Even if the opportunity comes, they don’t see it, they’ve forgotten about it. So it’s important not to forget, to always be prepared.”

The fact that even supposedly enlightened places such as Silicon Valley still have significant problems with diversity and women makes that even more important. “You would think the most forward-looking people are in Silicon Valley,” Anousheh says. “When I talk about women’s issues in the Middle East, I tell people that – women are exploited in the US as well, just in different ways.”

As the industry matures and develops, Anousheh hopes to return to space one day. “I will definitely fly with [Richard Branson’s private commercial spaceflight company] Virgin Galactic when it’s ready. If the opportunity comes, I’m not going to give up my seat!” she laughs.

is one: the will names a personal representative or executor, which can be an individual (such as family member or friend) or an institution (a bank, for example). The personal representative is reasonable for either filing the will in probate court or having an attorney do it, if the state requires.

Apply for a tax payer ID number: To avoid a potential IRS fine, the personal representative should apply for a taxpayer ID number for the estate using IRS from SS-4. The number should be used on tax returns, bank and brokerage statements, and other documents filed concerning the estate.

Notify social security if your spouse was receiving benefits: if you don’t stop benefit payments, you could face a difficult repayment process.

Deal with any retirement benefits and insurance policies: Contact your spouse’s current or former employee for information on life insurance policies, health insurance coverage, union death benefits, and pension plan and retirement plan benefits.

3. Prioritize accounts requiring immediate attention Take different action or work with executor of the estate to help ensure the proper handling of brokerage and other financial accounts.

Additionally, it is important to monitor the deceased’s deposit and credit card accounts-in particular, look for automatic charges that you will need to stop. The executor can guide you in determining which financial obligations take priority.

Let me elaborate on financial adviser. As I have written before certificate alone is not enough. You need New ventures In 2006, she co-founded her latest company, Prodea Systems, where she is currently chairman and CEO. Prodea started out of a simple idea: to use technology to make every-day life easier, Anousheh tells me. That sounds more than a little vague, but keep in mind the world hadn’t even seen the iPhone at that point.

Prodea is a platform that allows several different kinds of devices to talk to it, with the purpose of gathering data and providing useful results. “We sit in the core of someone’s digital life and bring all the services together in one platform,” Anousheh explains.

For example, she says, you can have a simple webcam and a healthtracking wearable – the camera sees you returning home at the end of the day, while your wearable transmits your health status. Prodea’s platform can take all that information and provide suggestions, such as taking a rest, going for some exercise, or trying a particular meal.

Prodea has integrated several major manufacturers’ brands into its system, Anousheh says. The platform supports sensors, cameras, mobile devices,

to check his knowledge of Investment in different fields. How much knowledge does he have in real estate then you need to check out. What type of real Estate, Residential Apartments, commercials Shopping centers? Ask questions in each field make sure you are satisfied. The field of investment is so wide so diverse take your time shop around to find the person with knowledge in diversified fields. As you can see real estate investment is further broken down.

Let me share with you for example a good adviser will share with you that it is better not to sell the real estate instead you exchange. This is Uncle Sam s gift to the investor. When you sell you must pay Uncle Sam his share, but good kind Uncle Sam give you the opportunity to exchange the property which has certain Rules and regulations and time frame which you must buy and sell. Very strict rules and you must follow. You want to find out from your adviser you are interviewing how much knowledge he has. I did not even mention about land which is again wide variety Baren land. Agriculture land New Land.

New areas, developed land. Semi developed each one in it s own category. So what you are doing is food Uncle Sam let you defer the taxes, this means you have more money to work with, better cash flow.

When you come to stock market this is one huge field with many many different categories in my next article I will try to elaborate on some of the stock market investing.

(Saghir A. Aslam only explains strategies and formulas that he has been using. He is merely providing information, and NO ADVICE is given. Mr Aslam does not endorse or recommend any broker, brokerage firm, or any investment at all, nor does he suggest that anyone will earn a profit when or if they purchase stocks, bonds or any other investments. All stocks or investment vehicles mentioned are for illustrative purposes only. Mr Aslam is not an attorney, accountant, real estate broker, stockbroker, investment advisor, or certified financial planner. Mr Aslam does not have anything for sale.) different operating systems, health devices, and more. “It’s been a complicated, difficult problem to solve, but it’s what we’re good at,” she explains. “We built it to be flexible and scalable.”

Social impact Prodea’s system for the internet of things isn’t just for creating smart homes. The company is currently involved in a program in rural India, in partnership with ChangeLabs, ILFS India and the state government of Rajasthan. The program is enabling people in the area to come online. “I go to rural Rajasthan, and there’s a 4G network,” Anousheh says. But people there don’t always have the devices to access the internet – a lot of them don’t even know what it is except for incarnations like Whatsapp and Facebook.

So Prodea wants to bring those people online. Seeing as most of them TVs, the company provides devices that turn them into two-way communication screens with internet access. The devices allow the user to view available services by just using the TV remote, which doesn’t require much effort to get used to... - Tech in Asia/The Express Tribune

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Support Hidaya Schools Due to corruption, mismanagement and poverty, the state of schools in economically depressed areas of under-developed countries are in a deplorable state. Hidaya opens schools in rural areas which have none to begin with, as well as adopts and operates “ghost schools” which have been shut down.

Hidaya is currently operating 81 schools with over 10,0 00 students from 1st to 8 th grade in poverty stricken areas of Pakista n.

It co st to ru s about $160 appr n a cla oxim ssro om ate eac ly 40 st of hm ont udents h.

Donate Zakat & Sadaqah to Support Hidaya Schools

Hidaya Foundation 866.2.HIDAYA | www.hidaya.org Hidaya Foundation is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) charitable organization with Tax ID # 77-0502583

Exchange Rates for Currency Notes* Countries

USA

UK S.Arabia Japan Euro UAE

Buying Rs. 105.85 152.00 28.00 0.89 118.00 28.85

(*18 February, 2016)

Selling Rs. 106.10 152.70 28.15 0.92 118.50 29.00

RELIGION

FEBRUARY 19, 2016 – PAKISTAN LINK – P25

Time: A Blessing and a Trust

Gems from the Holy Qur’an

n By Dr Muzammil H. Siddiqi

I

t is He who made the sun a shining radiance and the moon a light, determining phases for it so that you might know the number of years and how to calculate time.

Allah did not create all these without a true purpose; He explains His signs to those who understand. In the succession of night and day, and in what Allah created in the heavens and earth, there truly are signs for those who are aware of Him. (Yunus 10:5-6)

We are at the end of 2012 and are ready to welcome a new year.

We thank Allah for every moment.

We pray to Allah to accept whatever good things we did during this year and forgive us our shortcomings and mistakes. We pray to Him to shower His blessings upon us in the coming year. May He keep us strong in our faith and help us do the righteous deeds.

I would like to reflect with you today on the subject of time. Time is a great blessing of Allah. It is also His blessing that he taught us the ways to calculate time and to know the number of months and years. Calculation of time is part of human civilization and culture.

It helps us to keep track of time for our worship, work and life. It helps us to learn about the past and plan for the future. Islam gives a lot of importance to time and reminds the believers to be conscious of time in their life. Islam does not emphasize only the calculation of time but it gives a lot of importance to quality of time. We should not only count time but also make our time countable. Unfortunately we human beings waste a lot of our precious time.

It is said, that in a lifetime the average American spends about 184,000 hours (almost 21 years) watching television and /or surfing the internet. We also spend about 2-3 years’ time opening the junk mail or reading and deleting junk emails. A wise man once asked, ‘What is the most valuable thing on earth for a human being? And what is the worst thing on earth for a human being?’ For both the answer he gave was, ‘Time.’

Everything in this world, he said, is acquired in time. By losing time we

From the translation by Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss) About the translator: Muhammad Asad, Leopold Weiss, was born of Jewish parents in Livow, Austria (later Poland) in 1900, and at the age of 22 made his first visit to the Middle East. He later became an outstanding foreign correspondent for the Franfurter Zeitung, and after years of devoted study became one of the leading Muslim scholars of our age. His translation of the Holy Qur’an is one of the most lucid and well-referenced works in this category, dedicated to “li-qawmin yatafakkaroon” (people who think).

lose everything, even ourselves.

Allah reminds us in the Qur’an that in the movement of time and in the succession and variation (ikhtilaf) of the days and nights there are signs for those who wish to be mindful of Allah and grateful to Him (Al-Furqan 25:62). Each one of us has 24 hours every day at our disposal. There are those who use their time wisely and accomplish a lot. There are also those who waste their time. Time is a non-renewable and non-replaceable resource. If you lose your money you may get it back; if you lose any of your possessions you may find them or replace them, but no one can get back the time that is gone.

Surah al-‘Asr of the Qur’an is a very short Surah.It does not take much time to read it or to memorize it. It, however, gives a very profound lesson and carries with it volumes of meanings. The whole human history is a witness to what is said in this Surah. Allah says, By the (passing) time, man is [deep] in loss, except for those who believe, do good deeds, urge one an-

other to the truth, and urge one another to steadfastness. (Al-Asr 103) In several other Surahs we are reminded about the passing nature of time and how important it is to pay attention to every day and night, nay to every moment. Allah says: By the Daybreak, by the Ten Nights, by the even and the odd, by the passing night—is this oath strong enough for a person of reason? (AlFajr 89:1-5) By the enshrouding night, by the radiant day, by His creation of male and female! The ways you take differ greatly. (Al-Lail 92:1-4) By the dawn and by the night when it grows still. (Al-Duha 93:1-2) Time is a blessing (ni’mah) and it is also a trust (amanah) of Allah.

It is reported in a Hadith, The Prophet –peace be upon him- said, ‘Do not abuse Time, because it is Allah who is time.’ (Muslim, 2246) The scholars say this is a metaphorical (majaz) way of speaking.

The meaning is that it is Allah who has created time and it is He who has given it to you. It is important that we use every moment wisely and do good and useful things. If we do wrong we should not blame time but ourselves. Islam teaches us that we should manage our time in a proper and balanced way.

Some time we should devote to our Lord and Creator by doing the acts of worship, remembering and thanking Him. Some time we should give to

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ourselves taking care of our physical needs. Sometime we should spend in study, Halal earning and useful work. Sometime we should give to our families, our spouses, children and for other social needs. Sometime we should give to voluntary and charitable work to help others.

No time should be spoiled by committing sins or wasted in useless things. Let us not just count our days, weeks, months and years, let us make them countable and valuable in this life and in the eternal life. Let us make them blessed for us as well as for others. We have to be conscious of every moment of our life and keep in mind that we shall have to give the account of every moment. On the Day of Judgment Allah will ask: He will say, ‘How many years were you on earth?’ They will reply, ‘We stayed a day or a part of a day, but ask those who keep count.’ He will say, ‘You stayed but a little, if you had only known. Did you think We had created you in vain, and that you would not be brought back to Us? (Al-Mu’minun 23:112-115) The Prophet –peace be upon him- explained this: Mu’adh ibn Jabal reported that the Prophet –peace be upon himsaid, The feet of any person shall not move from their place on the Day of Judgment until he/she is asked about four things: about his life, in which deeds he spent it? About his youth, how he utilized it? About his wealth, how did he earn it and how did he spend it? About his knowledge, what did he do based on it? (Al-Tabarani, Al-Mu’jam al-Kabir, Hadith 16569) These are very serious questions. No one can avoid answering them or give false answers. Let us use our time in such a way that on that Day we would not regret or be ashamed, and embarrassed by our answers.

May Allah bless us and keep us on the right path. Ameen.

(Khutbah at ISOC – Safar 15, 1434/December 28, 2012)

Chapter 4,Verses 27 – 28 And God wants to turn you into His mercy, whereas those who follow [only] their own lusts want you to drift far away from the right path. God wants to lighten your burdens: for man has been created weak.

Chapter 4,Verse 35 And if you have a reason to fear that a breach might occur between a [married] couple, appoint an arbiter from among his people and an arbiter from among her people; if they both want to set things aright, God may bring about their reconciliation. Behold God is all-knowing, aware.

Chapter 4,Verses 36 – 38 And worship God [alone], and do not ascribe divinity, in any way, to aught beside Him. And do good unto your parents, and near of kin, and unto orphans, and the needy, and the neighbor from among your own people, and the neighbor who is a stranger, and the friend by your side, and the wayfarer, and those whom you rightfully possess [ 1 ]. Verily, God does not love any f those who, full of self-conceit, act in a boastful manner; nor those who are niggardly, and bid others to be niggardly, and conceal whatever God has bestowed upon them out of His bounty; and so We have readied shameful suffering from all who deny the truth. And [God does not love those who spend their possessions on others [only] to be seen and praised by men, and whle they believe neither in God nor in the Last Day; and he who has Satan for a soul-mate, how evil a soul-mate has he!

Chapter 4,Verse 40 Verily, God does not wrong [anyone] by as much as one atom’s weight; and if there be a good deed, He will multiply it, and will bestow out of His grace a mighty reward. ________________________ Translator’s Notes 1 According to Ali Ibn Abi Talib and others “the friend by tour side” is one’s wife or husband. By

GEMS, P28

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FEBRUARY 19, 2016 - PAKISTAN LINK

SPORTS SPORTS

FEBRUARY 19, 2016 – PAKISTAN LINK – P27

Najam Sethi Invites PM Nawaz, Imran Khan to PSL Final

KARACHI: Najam Sethi, head of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Executive Committee, has invited Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)

Chief Imran Khan to watch the final of Pakistan Super League together in Dubai on February 23.

In a message on twitter, Najam Sethi said, "I invite Pakistan

Hafeez Upbeat to Regain Top All-Rounder Slot SHARJAH: Undergoing a one-year ban on bowling, Pakistan batsman Muhammad Hafeez is hopeful of making a return to the international scene as an all-rounder.

"I have been working very hard on my bowling action and have doubled the practice lately. I am very confident to exhibit even better show upon return as a bowler.

"I am eagerly waiting for July to undergo the test," he told reporters in Sharjah on Monday. "Yes, I am disappointed but it is not in my hands.

My aim is to regain the top all-rounder slot in the ICC rankings for Pakistan," said Hafeez, who can not apply for a reassessment of his bowling action until his suspension ends.

Bowling action of Muhammad

Hafeez was reported twice in one year in November 2014 and June 2015. He is not allowed to undergo ICC-accredited testing within oneyear time.

Thirty-five-year-old Hafeez hoped that the Pakistan Super League (PSL) would have a positive impact on Pakistan cricket in coming years.

"Handling pressure situation is a much needed ingredient of international cricket and young Pakistan players are having the taste of it in the PSL," he said.

"The positive impact of the PSL on young players will start to get effect after a couple of seasons and it will subsequently help the national team," he concluded.

Cricket Board (PCB) Patron PM Nawaz Sharif and the captain of winning team of 1992 World cup Imran Khan to Pakistan Super League (PSL) final on Feb 23." J

BCCI Bans Pakistani Umpire Asad Rauf for 5 Years

MUMBAI: Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf was handed a five-year ban by the Board Of Control For Cricket In

India (BCCI) on Friday over his involvement in an illegal betting scandal that blighted the 2013 Indian

Premier League (IPL) season.

Controversy plagued the sixth edition of the lucrative Twenty20 league with former India paceman S. Sreesanth and two other Rajasthan cricketers arrested on suspicion of accepting money to concede a fixed number of runs.

All three were given life bans by the BCCI. The Chennai and Rajasthan franchises were subsequently suspended from the IPL for two years after key officials from both teams were found guilty of illegal betting.

The investigating Mumbai Police also named Rauf in the chargesheet but the umpire's lawyer said his client had done nothing wrong.

"Mr Asad Rauf has been banned for a period of five years from umpiring or playing or representing cricket in any form or anyway being associated with the activities of the Board and its Affiliates," the BCCI said in a statement. J

Waqar confident Pakistan will break World Cup jinx against India ISLAMABAD: Pakistan head coach Waqar Younis is confident that his newlook team will be able to break the jinx of not winning against India in major ICC events when they lock horns in the upcoming World T20, which begins right after the Asia Cup T20.

Pakistan play India, first on February 27 at the Asia Cup in Dhaka, and on March 19 in Dharamsala at the World T20.

"Yes, it is at the back of the mind

that we don't seem to do well against India in these big events, especially the ICC World Cups. We have a young team and in familiar conditions they can upset any team if they play consistently well," NDTV quoted him as saying.

He said India would pose a serious challenge to Pakistan in the coming events because they had a settled T20 squad.

"It will depend on the pitches we

encounter in these two events but India is a well-balanced side and I am preparing the players for tough matches," he said.

"As a player and coach the ambition is there to end this jinx but, in T20 format, it is all about confidence and how you read the pitch and how you play on that particular day," he added.

"We have a young team and I would like to see more consistency from them," Waqar said. J

Asia Cup T20 Qualifiers From Friday KARACHI: The qualifying rounds of the Asia Cup T20 will be played in the Bangladesh city of Fatullah from Feb 19 to 22, according to a message received recently.

Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Oman and the UAE will compete for the lone spot in the main round featuring the four Asian Test-playing nations.

The main rounds will be played in Mirpur, in the vicinity of Dhaka, from Feb 24 to March 6.

Pakistan will clash arch-rival India in the showpiece match on Feb 27.

It will be the 13th edition of the Asia Cup, the fifth to be held in Bangladesh, and the first to be played in T20 format.

Sri Lanka will be defending their title in the event also featuring Pakistan, India, hosts Bangladesh and a qualifier.

All matches will be held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket

Stadium, Mirpur.

The continental event is also serves as a preparations for Asian teams for the ICC World T20 being held in India from March 8.

ASIA CUP SCHEDULE: Qualifying round: Feb 19: Afghanistan vs UAE, Hong Kong vs Oman Feb 20: Afghanistan vs Oman Feb 21: Hong Kong vs UAE Feb 22: Afghanistan vs Hong Kong, UAE vs Oman Main round: Feb 24: India vs Bangladesh Feb 25: Sri Lanka vs Qualifier Feb 26: Bangladesh vs Qualifier Feb 27: India vs Pakistan Feb 28: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka Feb 29: Pakistan vs Qualifier March 1: India vs Sri Lanka March 2: Bangladesh vs Pakistan March 3: India vs Qualifier March 4: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka March 6: Final. J

Goerges Crushes Kuznetsova As Seeds Tumble In Dubai DUBAI: Germany's Julia Goerges crushed double Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-0, 6-1 to advance to the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships recently.

The 55-minute demolition was eight-seeded Kuznetsova's heaviest defeat since suffering a similar scoreline last October in Wuhan, China.

The only two seeds playing in Monday's first round fell at the first hurdle with sixth seed and 2015 finalist Karolina Pliskova upset by American CoCo Vandeweghe who won her first match of the season 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 over the Czech wild card.

Goerges repeated history over Kuznetsova after beating the 18th-

ranked Russian in the first round in Dubai four years ago on opening day.

"It was not one of my best," the 54th-ranked winner said. "I was very solid but I had a few mistakes.

"I didn't give her the chance to get into the match, I played aggressive."

Fellow German Andrea Petkovic also got off to a winning start, breaking six times in a 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Italian Camila Giorgi, to end a two-match loss streak. The 28th-ranked Petkovic, who exited in the Australian Open first round, and then was beaten in the Fed Cup by Swiss Belinda Bencic, is working with a new coaching team and feels her tennis has turned a corner after she toyed with the idea of quitting the sport

last December.

Petkovic could face new world number nine Bencic in the next round at the Aviation Club if the weekend finalist in St. Petersburg beats former number one Jelena Jankovic in the opening round.

'Coming together' The 40th-ranked Giorgi saved two match points in the final game as Petkovic closed out the victory in 63 minutes with 15 unforced errors to the 33 of her opponent.

"I'm very happy with how I played, I've worked hard over the past few weeks to be ready here and I was able to translate good training onto the match court," Petkovic said. J

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PAKISTAN

P28 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 19, 2016 PIRATES FROM P7

more American ships and enslaved 110 additional seamen, keeping them in wretched conditions. Adams and Jefferson strongly disagreed on the next steps to deal with the worsening problem. Jefferson argued for building a powerful naval force to protect commercial shipping, but Adams disagreed, contending that it would be cheaper to pay the ransom than to raise a naval force. The president, George Washington, was a pacifist and did not favor either the maintenance of a standing army or a naval force, as he abhorred the notion of getting ensnarled in another conflict.

When Thomas Jefferson became the US president in 1801, he decided to raise and use overwhelming force to end piracy. Paradoxically, the first American gunship, George Washington, was not deployed to fight a naval battle. Instead, it was assigned the mission of carrying gifts and money as tribute to appease the Dey of Algiers. Americans were confident that the gunship would showcase their new naval might and impress, even intimidate, the Barbary rulers. Alas, it had no such effect. Instead, the Dey, Bobba Mustaph, became angry that the Americans had not brought all the goods and money due to him.

In retaliation, he seized the ship and ordered the captain to ferry a cargo of 100 African slaves to Constantinople. To add insult to injury, he commanded that the American flag be lowered and replaced by that of his country. Having little choice, the captain meekly complied. The ship was anchored in the harbor, within easy reach of Algerian guns, and had no escape routes.

The book devotes much of the account to the conflict between America and Tripoli pirates. Concerned by early reverses, the American Government assembled a naval armada of half a dozen frigates armed with powerful guns, to confront the Tripoli ruler. Again, trouble came from an unexpected source. The warship, US Philadelphia, ran aground in shallow waters off the Tripoli coast and was captured by the Tripolian pirates “who ripped open sailors pockets and stole watches, money, rings and any object of value.” The Americans were determined not to give the pirates the pleasure of occupying their ship for long.

The captured ship was boarded and set on fire in a stealth, nighttime raid by navy frogmen from another ship.

In the face of growing, American naval power, and terrified of losing his throne to his brother, whom he had forced out, the Bashaw Yusuf of Tripoli, was ultimately compelled to conclude a peace treaty with the Americans in 1805. Peace was declared and the Bashaw agreed to release all prisoners and pledge that American shipping vessels would not be attacked.

The treaty gave the president, Thomas Jefferson, a great victory. Other Barbary States also signed similar treaties in time.

Kilmeade and Yaeger’s book is highly readable, and must have required a great amount of research which the authors acknowledge at the end. An especially attractive feature is the division of the text into short chapters that have been given intriguing titles. However, the involvement of numerous characters in the story, the attempt to cover events related to all four Barbary States, makes the narrative somewhat cumbersome. Also, it would have been informative had the authors included a brief description of how the practice of piracy took roots in North Africa and from where the pirates were recruited.

GEMS FROM P25

“those whom you rightfully possess” are meant, in this context, slaves of either sex. Since this verse enjoins “the doing of good” towards all people with whom one is in contact, and since the best that can be done to a slave is to free him, the above passage calls elliptically, for freeing of slaves.

In Chapter 2, Verse 177 and Chapter 9, Verse 60, the freeing of human beings from bondage is explicitly mentioned as one of the objectives to which zakah (charity) funds are to be dedicated.

SAHIBZADA FROM P20

the world through a different lens.

Sahabzada Yaqub’s formal education was basic, but through selfeducation and a passion for learning, he had developed insights that many leaders would envy. Interestingly, despite his Western orientation, he remained erudite in Urdu and Persian poetry and an ardent admirer of Saadi, Ghalib and Faiz. He could recite hundreds of verses from memory while being equally at ease in quoting Clausewitz, Aristotle or Shakespeare. He set new standards of intellectual discourse and always introduced elements in his conversation and lectures that would challenge the best of minds.

The standards set by Sahabzada Yaqub for professional competence and how an officer should conduct himself remain the benchmark even today. He continues to be a role model for our diplomats and statesmen to follow. And for me, he was an icon, mentor and a friend whose memory will remain indelible. (The writer is a retired lieutenant general of the Pakistan Army and a former federal secretary. He has also served as chairman of the Pakistan Ordnance Factories Board. The Express Tribune)

DECISION FROM P8

A physician’s true role is to alleviate suffering and give comfort to the patient and the relatives, improving the quality of life, the terms of which have been fixed. The physician should not perform heroic measures in the care of a hopelessly sick patient.

Technically, a patient in a vegetative state can be kept alive for months and years, like Karen Quinlan’s case, eventually to die. It may also be very painful for the relatives to see one of their loved ones being in a vegetative state for such a period of time while cost to the family of such care can be prohibitive because insurance coverage has its limits. However, a patient in coma in a vegetative state is still alive and should not be deprived of nutrition and hydration. Physicians should not hasten the process of dying by pulling the plug or withdrawing nutritional support. Therefore, the decision in such cases cannot be an individual decision by either the family or the physician but should be a decision of all those who are involved in the patient’s care. The team should include not only the physician and relatives but also a Muslim imam or scholar for the interpretation of the Shariah.

(Shahid Athar, MD, FACP, FACE is a physician, former chair of medical ethics of Islamic Medical Association of North America. IMANA’s position paper is on line at www.imaa.org FENCER FROM P21

team saber events. (The team will be formally announced in April.)

The fencing team events rotate in and out of the Olympics; there was no team event for women’s saber in 2012, a disappointment to the Ameri-

cans, who had won the bronze medal in the event at the world championships in 2011 with Muhammad on the team. Olympic rules permitted a maximum of two Americans in the individual event, leaving Muhammad out. – The New York Times

AMU FROM P4

Under pressure from the community, the Indian government tried to remedy the situation by bringing in an amendment in 1981 that clearly reaffirmed that AMU is “the educational institution of their choice established by the Muslims of India, which originated as the Mohammedan AngloOriental College and which was subsequently incorporated as the Aligarh Muslim University”.

Yet a decade later, the Allahabad High Court, ignoring the amendment, again junked the minority status of the university. The single judge ruled that the minorities cannot establish a university; at best they can establish a ‘deemed’ university. The UPA government and the AMU appealed against the ruling before a divisional bench.

But it ruled in 2006 that reservations for Muslims in AMU, a university founded by Muslims, were wrong.

It’s hardly surprising that the Modi government has jumped on the opportunity provided by the UP court ruling, to argue before the SC that it does not consider AMU a minority institution. Aligarh is not merely a university founded by Muslims. It remains the most potent symbol of their identity, an institution that inspires immense pride in a community that has been left with few of them. It is this pride and identity that is under attack, as has been the case with all other institutions and symbols of India’s secularism and diversity under this dispensation.

The Hindutva groups, whose very existence is based on perpetual Muslim bashing and crying about the imagined atrocities during the 1,000-year long Muslim rule won’t rest until they have obliterated it. Clearly, India of their dreams only has place for a Banaras Hindu University but not an Aligarh Muslim University or Jamia Millia Islamia, another proud institution of the community.

So the BJP government with the brute majority that it enjoys in Parliament may after all succeed in its attempts to divest Aligarh and Jamia of their special character. But a country in which religious minorities do not have the freedom to practice their faith and run their institutions could claim to be neither secular nor democratic. Without Aligarh, India will not be the same again. – Arab News WAVES FROM P1

in Washington by scientists from the California Institute of Technology, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration.

“We are really witnessing the opening of a new tool for doing astronomy,” MIT astrophysicist Nergis Mavalvala said in an interview. “We have turned on a new sense. We have been able to see and now we will be able to hear as well.”

Nergis works at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and plans to continue working on improving the sensitivity of the LIGO detectors. “We have just heard the very first cosmic sounds. As our instruments improve, we expect to collect much more information about the universe and learn about things we didn’t even know existed.”

Landmark discovery: Although the discovery of gravitational waves, that opens a new window for studying the cosmos, was made in September 2015, it took scientists months to con-

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firm their data.

The researchers said they detected gravitational waves coming from two black holes - extraordinarily dense objects whose existence also was foreseen

by Einstein - that orbited one another, spiraled inward and smashed together.

They said the waves were the product of a collision between two black holes 30 times as massive as the Sun, located 1.3 billion light years from Earth.

Professor Mavalvala, whose career spans 20 years, has published extensively in her field and has been working with MIT since 2002.

Mavalvala did her BA at Wellesley College in Physics and Astronomy in 1990 and a Ph.D in physics in 1997 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Before that, she was a postdoctoral associate and then a research scientist at California Institute of Technology (Caltech), working on the Laser Interferometric Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO).

IDEAS FROM P1

ture.

The US and Pakistan have a long history of energy cooperation and continue to work together to help attract private sector investments in natural gas and clean energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro. Both the nations pressed for an ambitious agreement on climate change at the conference held in Paris in December, and continue to work together on such issues through the Clean Energy Partnership and the Strategic Dialogue, the US envoy said.

Planning, Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that the government had prioritized resolution of energy, water and food security issues, which are at the heart of the ‘Vision 2025’. - Dawn TALKS FROM P1

But this cooperation “is driven by the common objective of peace, security and stability in the region”, he said.

Mr Jilani pointed out that the meeting was being held at a time signified by an upward trajectory in Pakistan-US relationship.

This year, the strategic dialogue precedes a nuclear summit that Washington is hosting on March 31 and April 1. Since this will be the last such meeting of the Obama administration, it is expected to persuade both recognized and unrecognized nuclear states to curb nuclear proliferation. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will represent Pakistan at this summit.

In the previous strategic dialogue, Pakistan and the United States agreed to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery to state as well as non-state actors. - Dawn

COMMITTEE FROM P1

British authorities during their investigation of a money-laundering case in which the MQM supremo was a suspect.

An MQM spokesperson confirmed to Dawn.com that the party chief had yet to apply for a Pakistani visa.

After bail conditions against Altaf were removed due to insufficient evidence earlier this month, the restrictions on his movement were also lifted, the statement says.

Following a raid on Nine Zero by the Rangers, the MQM chief had expressed the desire to return to Pakistan for the sake of his party.

PIA FROM P1

Sukhera said segregation of PIA’s core and non-core functions was under consideration. It has not yet been finalized whether the government will offer 26% shares or more than that to the prospective bidders.

The government recently got two major reliefs on the PIA front.

First, it won an extension of about six months from the International Monetary Fund for privatization of the airline. After that, it also managed to bring the striking employees back to work without accepting their demands.

The Joint Action Committee of the employees would again meet the chief minister of Punjab to seek his support for a delay in privatization.

RIGHT FROM P1

but devastating consequences.”

Ms Lodhi stressed that failure to deter illegal use of force had created an impression that UN had become an instrument of the powerful, not guardian of international law tenets.

She said the UN Charter does not just collectively “bind us to efforts aimed at saving us from the scourge of war but also a shared commitment to create a world order based on the rule of law”.

She said failure to accomplish this would not only endanger the progress achieved in previous years but also risk making the “institution appear irrelevant” in a world marked by increasing turmoil and trouble, where insecurity prevailed and injustice persisted.

She called for a world order based on justice and respect for obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law, and most critically, the purposes and principles of the charter itself.

She pointed out that the world was hardly at peace today as “conflicts abound, human rights abuses remain rampant and humanitarian law is flouted in open violation of the charter’s principles”.

Ms Lodhi said, “Today, we reaffirm our commitment to the UN Charter because we continue to think that adhering to these principles will save us from the scourge of war.”

CLASSIFIED & MATRIMONIAL

FEBRUARY 19, 2016 – PAKISTAN LINK – P29

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Good on Research on line and google Basic MS Office Experience Must have paperwork to work in the US Hourly Rate $15 per hour ---------------------------------

Marketing Person Full Time Needed: 3 years previous working Marketing experience Social Media Experience (Facebook, Twitter, etc) Must have a BA degree in Marketing Salary $52k a year -------------------------------------------

Call for details ask for Shakeel 562-394-8190 M-F call after 6pm / Saturday-Sunday after 10 am Located in Cerritos, Mon-Fri, Full Time email resumes: career@planetcellinc.com

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To Advertise or Subscribe in the most popular Pakistani-American newspaper “Pakistan Link” Call 714-400-3400

Matrimonial Link 50 year old divorced project manager in US seeking a bride. MS Electrical Engineering and MBA. I look much younger than US Citizen, Pakistani, my age. A simple Urdu-Sunni, Business, Financially and down to earth person Professional Settled, looking for someone Age 40, divorced, similar from a 5-8 height, good looking, decent background, seeking a suitable US Citizen preferably 40 or below. professional partner.

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P30 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 19, 2016

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ENTERTAINMENT

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

FEBRUARY PAKISTAN FEBRUARY19, 19, 2016 2016 –-PAKISTAN LINKLINK – P31

S

anam Saeed starrer 'Bachaana' is all set to hit cinemas on both sides of the border simultaneously, Zee News reported.

"The distributors in India have shown interest primarily because the film's trailer evoked social media discussions comparing Bachaana with Bollywood hit Bajrangi Bhaijaan," Director Nasir Khan told PTI. "The Pakistan-India angle has intrigued and created a lot of buzz for the film and I am positive that cine goers will not be disappointed. Things have been finalised (with distributors) and I am excited to see Bachaana release in India," he added.

The film is said to have captured cross-border relations on and off screen and through this project Sanam hopes to bridge the gap between the two countries.

The upcoming film has been shot in Mauritius; film chronicles the adventures of a sweet and bubbly Indian girl, Aalia (Sanam Saeed).

She undergoes a series of unfortunate events and is forced to place her faith in a man she hardly knows.

That man, Vicky, played by Mohib Mirza, is a Pakistani taxi driver in Mauritius.?? 'Bachaana'

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follows the couple's adventurous journey culminating in love as what is said 'love knows no boundaries'. ''Bachaana' is a positive film there is nothing political about it," Khan said. He further said Bachaana's OST (songs) is also a cross-border collaboration, pairing the cinema of Pakistani and Indian music fraternity, Bollywood music director, Prasad Sashte and Pakistan's cel-

ebrated singer Shafqat Amanat Ali. The title track is composed

by Pakistani musician Ali Sher and sung by Bollywood playback singer Benny Dayal. The OST is being picked up in India by a major music label and being released in the country shortly.

'Bachaana' is Sanam Saeed's feature debut film. She is popular with Indian audience for her lead role in Pakistani drama 'Zindagi Gulzar Hai'.

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P32 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 19, 2016

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