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                        <title>The Express Tribune</title>
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			<title>2011 – The year of colossal letdowns</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/318104/2011-%e2%80%93-the-year-of-colossal-letdowns</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/318104/2011-%e2%80%93-the-year-of-colossal-letdowns#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 07 Jan 12 20:39:01 +0500</pubDate>
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			<category><![CDATA[Life &amp; Style]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=318104</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Here’s a list of all the disappointing entertainers and entertainment projects of the year.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Imagine being handed a cold, creamy, rich, three-tier ice-cream with all your favourite flavours. Now think of the ice-cream falling down splat on the floor before you can even have your first slurp. In terms of Pakistani entertainment — that’s exactly how the year 2011 turned out to be. It started with high hopes and great expectations but ended on a pessimistic note with epic disappointments and mega failures.


Worst film — Love Mein Ghum

Our expectations for Reema’s directorial effort sprang up like the Egyptian revolution. Instead of bearing fruit, all our hopes died a horrendous death way too soon. A few tips for the director:

1) It’s about time you embraced some older roles as it is visually impossible for you to play a college girl.

2) The male lead’s blond highlights and fair and lovely rung cannot and will not make him look Caucasian. With the budgets you have, hiring a real gora to play the character of Wilson couldn’t have been too difficult.

3) Not even the picturesque background of Malaysia or HSY prancing in the film’s promotional video could cover up a bad plot and equally horrendous acting. Next time, it would make more sense to spend more money on getting a good writer on board as opposed to spending moolah on the location of the film.

Worst song — “Dane pe Dana” — Komal Rizvi

If it wasn’t embarrassing enough watching Komal Rizvi act like Annie for her big comeback, she decided to torture us more with her “Dane pe Dana” rendition on “Coke Studio”. Her face contortions combined with her awful singing made this classic song gag worthy for us.

Worst Model — Fiza Ali

After having seen model Fiza Ali jump from posing to cooking in traditional Punjabi garb to hosting a morning show, we make a humble request for Ali to give-up on any and all endeavours which may include modelling, acting, hosting, singing, cooking, talking and breathing.

Worst Actor — Ali Zafar                   

A long time ago we thought Ali Zafar was sorta, kinda, maybe a little cute. When he was offered a role in a Bollywood production, we were positively ecstatic for him. But after finding out that Zafar played the second lead in a badly-acted, badly-scripted, too predictable Bollywood production, we felt utterly betrayed. Even the little acting he was allowed to do in the film did not stand out in any positive way. So for 2012, we really do hope Zafar stays in London, Paris, New York and not anywhere near us!

Worst advertisement — Ufone commercials 

In 2010,  Ufone advertisements seemed clutter-breaking, interesting and hilarious. However, by 2011, they seemed repetitive, uninteresting and lacking creativity. Somewhere along the line, Ufone executives got too lazy to alter or change up their marketing strategy and started relying primarily on the antics of Faisal Qureshi and his gang of comedians.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8th, 2012.

Correction: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of the article stated Love Mein Ghum as Reema's first directional effort. The error has been rectified.]]>
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			<title>Polls 2011: What our readers think</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314965/poll-2011-what-our-readers-think</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314965/poll-2011-what-our-readers-think#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 01 Jan 12 09:02:25 +0500</pubDate>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314965</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A round-up of a few of the top polls run on The Express Tribune website in 2011.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A round-up of a few of the top polls run on The Express Tribune website in 2011. 

Poll results reflect the views of a sample of visitors to the Tribune site and Facebook page.

&nbsp;

CLEAR CUT (over 75% consensus)

&nbsp;

In your opinion, should dual nationality holders be allowed to contest elections in Pakistan?

No (78%, 879 Votes)

Yes (22%, 247 Votes)

Total Voters: 1126

&nbsp;

Do you find the use of SMS marketing by brands to be useful or an annoyance?

Annoyance (86%, 842 Votes)

Useful (14%, 133 Votes)

Total Voters: 975

&nbsp;

Do you believe the state can be entrusted to collect zakat?

No (87%, 642 Votes)

Yes (13%, 94 Votes)

Total Voters: 736

&nbsp;

Are you for or against the death penalty?

For (76%, 631 Votes)

Against (24%, 199 Votes)

Total Voters: 830

&nbsp;

Do you think eating in public should be a criminal offence during Ramazan?

No (79%, 2379 Votes)

Yes (21%, 631 Votes)

&nbsp;

Do you think the parliament has lost its worth?

Yes: 84% (414 votes)

No:  16% (80 votes)

Total votes: 494

&nbsp;

Do you feel Facebook and Twitter can impact mainstream politics?

Yes (78%, 717 Votes)

No (22%, 204 Votes)

Total Voters: 921

&nbsp;

Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan has made progress despite the odds. Do you agree?

Disagree (92%, 975 Votes)

Agree (8%, 82 Votes)

Total Voters: 1057

&nbsp;

Do you believe overseas Pakistanis and people with dual nationalities should be allowed to vote in Pakistan’s elections?

Yes (78%, 1130 Votes)

No (22%, 310 Votes)

Total Voters: 1440

&nbsp;

Do you believe the Tehreek-e-Taliban could ever be sincere in talks with Pakistan?

No (76%, 733 Votes)

Yes (24%, 236 Votes)

Total Voters: 969

&nbsp;

Do you believe the PPP has a chance of winning the next general elections?

No (81%, 1419 Votes)

Yes (19%, 323 Votes)

Total Voters: 1742

&nbsp;

Have current Pak-US tensions fuelled anti-Americanism within your social circle?

Yes (83%, 940 Votes)

No (17%, 199 Votes)

Total Voters: 1139

&nbsp;

Do you believe the media in Pakistan is working in an ethical and professional manner?

No (91%, 499 Votes)

Yes (9%, 47 Votes)

Total Voters: 546

&nbsp;

Do you believe there is a foreign conspiracy to disintegrate Pakistan?

Yes (76%, 628 Votes)

No (24%, 200 Votes)

Total Voters: 828

&nbsp;

GENERAL AGREEMENT (60-75% consensus)

&nbsp;

Do you believe Pakistan shares equal blame with the US for the NATO airstrike?

No (68%, 492 Votes)

Yes (32%, 227 Votes)

Total Voters: 719

&nbsp;

In your opinion, should Pervez Musharraf return to Pakistan in January 2012?

Yes (68%, 740 Votes)

No (32%, 350 Votes)

Total Voters: 1090

&nbsp;

Have you ever felt uncomfortable because of what you wear?

No (61%, 441 Votes)

Yes (39%, 277 Votes)

Total Voters: 718

&nbsp;

Will Pakistan benefit from increased trade with India?

Yes (64%, 276 Votes)

No (36%, 153 Votes)

Total Voters: 429

&nbsp;

Do you approve or disapprove of Sherry Rehman's appointment as Ambassador to the US?

Approve: 67% (892 votes)

Disapprove: 33% (434 votes)

Total votes: 1,326

&nbsp;

Do you believe granting the Most Favoured Nation status to India is in Pakistan's interest?

Yes (61%, 343 Votes)

No (39%, 215 Votes)

Total Voters: 558

&nbsp;

Do you agree or disagree with the idea of global nuclear disarmament?

Agree (72%, 493 Votes)

Disagree (28%, 195 Votes)

Total Voters: 688

&nbsp;

Given the current power crisis, are two weekly holidays for offices a good idea?

No (64%, 671 Votes)

Yes (36%, 370 Votes)

Total Voters: 1041

&nbsp;

Do you approve or disapprove of cousin marriages?

Disapprove (70%, 767 Votes)

Approve (30%, 335 Votes)

Total Voters: 1,102

&nbsp;

DEBATABLE (roughly divided consensus)

&nbsp;

Should the Pakistan Army launch an operation in North Waziristan?

Yes 302 (43%)

No 406 (57%)

Total Voters: 708

&nbsp;

Should Saudi Arabia act as a peace broker between Pakistan and the Tehreek-e-Taliban?

No (51%, 393 Votes)

Yes (49%, 371 Votes)

Total Voters: 764

&nbsp;

Do you feel there is religious freedom in Pakistan?

Yes (55%, 971 Votes)

No (45%, 786 Votes)

Total Voters: 1757

&nbsp;

In your opinion, should Shahid Afridi be made captain of the Pakistan cricket team?

No (50%, 315 Votes)

Yes (50%, 311 Votes)

Total Voters: 626

Source: Clubbed

&nbsp;

Do you believe Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan is supported by the establishment?

No (48%, 698 Votes)

Yes (52%, 755 Votes)

Total Voters: 1453]]>
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			</item><item>
			<title>2011</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/313676/2011</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/313676/2011#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 01 Jan 12 08:19:25 +0500</pubDate>
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			<category><![CDATA[Magazine]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=313676</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[If 2012 is anything like 2011 was for Pakistan, the end of the world may come as a welcome respite.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Salmaan Taseer

The year began with murder. The flamboyant and outspoken governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, was gunned down in broad daylight on January 4 in Islamabad’s Kohsar market by Mumtaz Qadri, a member of the Elite police force tasked with his protection.

A strong opponent of the blasphemy law, the governor had incurred the ire of extremists for his defence of a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy. This was the reason his murderer gave to justify the killing of Salmaan Taseer. What followed was no less tragic.

While parliament passed resolutions condemning the assassination and civil society activists organised a vigil in Taseer’s honour, more people lauded the murderer and celebrated his crime, burning tyres and blocking traffic in Lahore and Multan. As many as 500 Islamic scholars belonging to the Barelvi school of thought condemned the slain politician for his defence of Aasia Bibi, who is currently on death row.

Clerics even called for a boycott of Taseer’s funeral, and the chief cleric of the Badshahi Mosque, who had agreed to offer the funeral prayers, excused himself at the last moment by saying he was going out of town. Eventually Muhammad Afzal Chishti, the secretary general of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Ulema wing had to lead the prayers, which were conducted under strict security.

Qadri made his first appearance in an Islamabad court on January 10, where he was showered with petals by admirers amidst chants of “God is Great!” YouTube videos of Mumtaz Qadri contained more messages of support for his actions than condemnation, and Facebook fan pages were set up in his favour.

On October 1, the anti-terrorism court in the Adiyala Jail, Rawalpindi, found Mumtaz Qadri guilty of murdering Salman Taseer and sentenced him to death penalty, a verdict that was once more met with protests from the religious right. Even Justice Pervaiz Ali Shah, the judge who delivered the verdict, was forced to flee the country after threats from extremists.

While Qadri’s sentence is yet to be carried out, the Sunni Ittehad Council — a group of Barelvi parties — gears up to celebrate January 4 as Mumtaz Qadri Day, and are seeking a presidential pardon for him. Meanwhile the travails of the Taseer family seem never-ending. Nearly seven months after the assassination of his father, 27-year-old Shahbaz Taseer was abducted at a busy intersection in Lahore on August 26. Despite Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah’s recent hint that the abduction case will soon be resolved, Shahbaz Taseer still remains missing.

Raymond Davis

It’s not often that you get to see a real-life spy drama unfold before your eyes, but that’s exactly what happened with the Raymond Davis affair. On January 27, 2011, US citizen Raymond Davis shot dead two men in a market area in Lahore, gunning them down with his glock pistol with the precision of an expert. Davis, who was driving a rented car with local plates, was arrested before he could get away from the scene, and an abortive attempt to rescue him by a US consulate vehicle left another man dead in a hit and run.

Raymond was taken into custody by the Punjab police, who also recovered phones and a GPS device from him. The charge sheet filed by the city police declared that Davis was prima facie guilty of double murder and had in fact tried to cheat investigators by concealing information.

There were allegations, later proved correct, that Davis was a member of US special forces and had also worked with the notorious security firm Blackwater. Investigations by the US media revealed that Hyperion Protective Services, the company Davis claimed to be an employee of, existed only as a website. The offices that the company says it has in Orlando have been vacant for several years and the numbers on its website are unlisted.

Pressure was heaped on the Pakistani government from all quarters of the US government, who remained adamant that Davis was in fact a diplomat and entitled to diplomatic immunity. US president Barack Obama called for his release and members of Congress even threatened an aid cut-off if he was not freed. Meanwhile, the mood in Pakistan soured dramatically. Rallies were taken out calling for Davis’ execution and politicians of all stripes jumped into the fray, demanding justice for his victims. The controversy was compounded by tragedy when Shumaila, the wife of one of Davis’ victims committed suicide by taking poison. Her last words were an appeal for justice and revenge.

However, the affair came to an unexpected end on March 16, when Davis was acquitted of two counts of murder and released after Rs200 million Diyat (blood money) was paid to the families of the victims.

Then foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also apparently a victim of the Davis affair. Deprived of the FM slot after a cabinet reshuffle, Qureishi implied that his stance that Davis did not enjoy diplomatic immunity cost him his job. In a rally at Ghotki on November 27, Qureishi repeated this claim.

Meanwhile, back in the US, Davis found himself in trouble again when he punched a man in after a dispute over a parking space in Colorado.

Shahbaz Bhatti

The nation had barely come to terms with the killing of Salmaan Taseer when another high-profile murder took place. Shahbaz Bhatti, the first Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs, was killed on the morning of March 2 as he was driving from his mother’s house. Assailants dressed in shalwar kurtas stopped his car and first took his driver out of the car and then shot 25 bullets at Bhatti. Bhatti, a Roman Catholic, was a vociferous critic of the blasphemy laws and supported Aasia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian sentenced to death in 2010 for blasphemy. He had also campaigned for Pakistani Christians attacked in the 2009 Gojra riots in Punjab.

When questions were raised about the level of security provided to Bhatti, especially in the wake of the assassination of Salmaan Taseer, the IG Islamabad Wajid Durrani said it was the minister’s instructions to keep the security detail at the office. Bhatti himself once commented that “Protection can come only from heaven, so these bodyguards can’t save you.”

On the day following the assassination, hundreds of Christian demonstrators took to the streets across Punjab, burning tyres and demanding justice. The Vatican, along with many world leaders, condemned the murder while the government made the usual statements about fighting terrorism.

The Tehreek-i-Taliban claimed responsibility for the murder, labelling Bhatti a “blasphemer”. Witnesses present at the crime scene revealed that leaflets were scattered around the place which read, “This is the punishment of this cursed man.” None of this prevented Asadullah Bhutto, the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Sindh chapter from blaming the CIA for the killing, claiming it was at attempt to distract the masses from the Raymond Davis case. No breakthroughs have been made in the case thus far.

PNS Mehran

Who will defend the defenders? That was the question on the minds of most Pakistanis when the attack on the PNS Mehran base in Karachi unfolded on May 22.

The 17-hour gunbattle left at least 12 security personnel dead, including navy soldiers, commandoes and rangers personnel. Two PC-3 Orion aircraft and a helicopter were also destroyed, seriously damaging the Navy’s capabilities.

Although according to the First Information Report there were more than 10 attackers, the bodies of only four terrorists were found inside the naval airbase and these remain unclaimed at the Edhi morgue.Unofficially, the search for the fugitive terrorists continues.

Immediately after the attack, Interior minister Rehman Malik provided a touch of farce, referring to the assailants, who were kitted out for special operations, as being “dressed like Star Wars characters.”

The attack rattled the navy so much that it was forced to send an entire fleet of warships away from Karachi to its base in Ormara, Balochistan in the aftermath of the incident.

The Taliban’s early claim of responsibility did not end speculation as to the origin and motivation of the attackers. A few days later Nawaz Sharif accused ‘anti-state forces, including the US, of carrying out the attack.

Initially, there was speculation that the PNS Mehran attack was in retaliation to the May 2 Abbottabad raid in which OBL was killed. Asian Times Online’s investigative journalist Saleem Shahzad claimed in an article that al Qaeda was behind the attack, but he said the issue was not the OBL raid. He claimed that al Qaeda had infiltrated the rank and file of the navy, and some members had been held by naval intelligence which al Qaeda wanted released. He claimed that it was in this connection that two navy buses were also attacked on April 26 and April 28, leaving at least a dozen navy personnel dead. A week later, Shahzad was murdered under mysterious circumstances on May 30.

Following disclosures that the attackers had entered using only a ladder and wire-cutters, the base commander was removed and a report on the attack was submitted to the prime minister in June. On August 3, it emerged that the former PNS Mehran base commander Commodore Raja Tahir and two of his subordinates — one captain and one commander — were to face trial before a court martial.

In December, a woman, said to be the wife of a Punjabi Taliban terrorist Qari Shahid, confessed that her slain husband had a role in the attacks. However, the inquiry report into the high profile case has not been made public to date.

Target Killings

This was the year Karachi’s streets ran with blood as they never have before. The highest recorded number of target killings since 1996 brought Pakistan’s largest city to its knees. The descent into madness began in January when Wali Khan Babar, a Pakistani journalist, fell prey to a volley of bullets and intensified in March when approximately 158 people were killed in a span of just 22 days. April marked the death of Safdar Ali Kiyani, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Balochistan, and as many as 23 others, which finally forced Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to take notice of the issue. Unsurprisingly, statements and high-level meetings failed to stop the killings, and as many as a hundred people were killed in July during a five day period. Some headway was made in August with the arrest and confession of alleged target killer Muhammad Ishtiaq but the violence continued, claiming the life of Sardar Rustam Jamali, the Excise and Taxation Minister of Balochistan.

As people were killed mercilessly, it became increasingly clear that targets were being selected on political, sectarian and ethnic bases. While accusations were traded and threats were made, no one — from the government to local leaders — seemed to accept responsibility for the continuing violence or showed any ability or desire to control it. Political parties and groups simply traded accusations as the death toll mounted. Reports and videos of horrific torture and murder also began to circulate, adding a new dimension to the terror faced by residents of Karachi.

While Karachi was being attacked by an army of assassins, the only reassuring words Interior Minister Rehman Malik had to offer over the months were: ‘effective measures are being taken’, ‘people have been arrested’, ‘surveillance planes have been ordered’ and ‘a peaceful environment shall be restored in the city’. In an interview with Indian Express reporters, he even blamed disgruntled wives and girlfriends for 70 percent of the target killings.

According to statistics compiled by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 987 people were killed during January 2011 to October 2011. Arrests have been made and raids have been conducted, but Karachiites fear that it will only take a small spark to start the cycle of murder all over again.

Osama bin Laden

The manhunt that began in Tora Bora in 2001, ended in Abbotabad in 2011. On May 2, US special forces flew across the Pak-Afghan border in specially modified stealth helicopters and attacked the compound in which Osama was hiding. Within hours, the al Qaeda leader was apparently shot dead and his body disposed of in the Arabian Sea.

Operation Neptune Spear (also known as the Abbottabad operation) unleashed a Pandora’s Box of controversies for Pakistan. Bin Laden’s damning presence in the garrison town of Abbottabad was evidence enough to suspect that Pakistani security agencies were either incompetent or complicit in sheltering the world’s most wanted man. And thus, a decade into Pakistan’s fight against burgeoning militancy, the world was given a great reason to doubt the country’s commitment to the war against terrorism.

As Pakistan’s military-intelligence nexus came under fire after the US raid, at home and abroad a deluge of nagging questions and conspiracy theories followed suit. How did Osama’s presence go undetected? Were the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies actually sheltering him? And if so, why? Why was Osama’s body disposed of so quickly? Were the Pakistani authorities aware of the impending raid?

In an unprecedented move, the country’s beleaguered establishment decided to give an explanation to parliament. On May 13, the Director General Inter-Services Intelligence General Shuja Pasha appeared before an in-camera national assembly session to answer some of these questions. Despite the uproar, no military personnel have been offered for accountability, and none have deigned to resign as a result of the fiasco.

Instead, military authorities vociferously denied claims of complicity and incompetence. They told the parliament that the US used stealth technology to enter into Pakistani territory and their helicopters made their way deep inside the country without being detected by the country’s radar system. In the same session, the parliamentarians decided to form an independent commission to probe into the matter.

And this particular inquiry has not been languishing in the backdrop of the country’s chaotic politics; in fact the Abbottabad commission has already summoned politicians and high-ranking military officials—the DG military operations and DG ISI — for questioning.

However, the focus of attention seems to have shifted from the implications of Osama’s presence In Pakistan to the more nebulous question of Pakistan’s sovereignty being violated by the US raid.

Apart from Osama himself, the other major casualties of the raid have been Pakistan’s credibility and its standing with the US.

Dengue

What target killings were for Karachi, dengue was for Lahore. Punjab took the brunt of the dengue epidemic in 2011, with as many as 31,655 people succumbing to the bite of the Aedes Aegypticus and contracting the virus. Of those infected, 347 died, with 296 deaths occurring in Lahore alone. Sindh got off relatively lightly, with 1,053 infected and 17 deaths.

After the previous outbreaks, one would have assumed that the government would be better prepared to deal with the problem in 2011. Sadly, this was not the case. Apart from some efforts at fumigation, most of the measures taken were reactive in nature, with the government only going into overdrive when the extent of the epidemic became known.

While the Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif rolled up (or down as the case may be) his sleeves to battle the epidemic, it often seemed that the virus was more than he could deal with.

Decisions were taken to shut down all educational institutes for 10 days in Lahore and later fixed school timings of 9am to 3pm were established. Schools also instructed students to wear long sleeves and trousers. Health institutes were directed to secure the necessary medicines from neighbouring India, administrative rooms in government hospitals were converted into wards for dengue patients and entire cities and towns were blanketed with awareness posters and pamphlets. Section 144 was used in Lahore to ban the washing of cars in the streets and establish a fixed charge of Rs90 for a Complete Blood Count (CBC) test. The formation of a separate ‘environmental police’ was also proposed by the CM, and compensation of of Rs500,000 for the families of the dengue victims was also announced. Additionally, the Punjab government requested the WHO to send a team to assess the situation on ground and provide support, and invited Sri Lankan doctors to come and help with training and solutions.

None of the measures stopped dengue panic though, and the sales of mosquito repellents and bug zappers sky-rocketed. Herbal cures proliferated and mazaars were packed with supplicants seeking divine protection from the virus. Unsurprisingly, quacks and charlatans had a field day. Ultimately, the epidemic wound down largely due to winter’s arrival. However, it’ll be back again in 2012 and we should be better prepared by then, given that 110 doctors, nurses, epidemiologists and entomologists have left for Thailand for training.

Floods

As if suicide bombings, target killings, drone attacks and the dengue epidemic were not enough, floods also took a terrible toll on Pakistan this year. Incessant monsoon rains caused flooding in August and September as vast areas of cultivable land were left submerged under water. The natural calamity affected over 5 million people; 4.82 million people in Sindh and over 300,000 people in Balochistan, according to the recently completed joint UN-Government Multi-Sectoral Needs Assessment (MSNA).

More than 200 people died, approximately 4.2 million acres of land was destroyed, close to 1.8 million people were displaced and close to 800,000 homes were washed away, while the government sat back strategising about how best to mobilise relief supplies to the flood affected areas. Initially, the Sindh government declared it needed no foreign aid and that its own resources were sufficient, but that claim very quickly proved premature. In any eventuality, little or no timely aid actually made it to the people who needed it the most.

As the government deliberated over how much it should aim to collect in international aid, people sat under the open sky, their homes destroyed, trying to keep their hopes high while fighting hunger pangs and disease.

The Peoples Accountability Commission on Floods (PACF), a network of flood-affected communities, volunteers and humanitarian activists, released a report in November blaming the National Disaster Management Authority for mismanagement and irregularities in the relief process.

The fact that this year’s floods were smaller than last year’s did not mean that the government was prepared any better. Quite apart from the human suffering, the devastation wreaked has had far-reaching implications, a fall in exports and a spike in inflation being a few.

Zulfiqar Mirza

Move over Julian Assange, 2011 was the year of the Zulfileaks. Pakistanis were glued to their TV sets on 28th August, as former Sindh home minister Zulfiqar Mirza let it all hang out...with a Quran on his head. Mirza accused the MQM and its leader Altaf Hussain of committing mass murder, supporting terrorism and even conspiring to break apart Pakistan in line with a ‘secret American plot’. Governor Sindh Ishratul Ebad also found himself at the receiving end, as Mirza accused him of intervening to free notorious target killers and of allowing other killers to operate their networks from behind bars. Interior MInister Rehman Malik also had more than a few verbal broadsides directed at him, and was accused of being a compulsive liar, and one of the main reasons peace had not been restored in Karachi. Malik was also accused of being insincere to the PPP and the country. Mirza also announced his resignation from the Sindh assembly as well as from his post of vice president of PPP’s Sindh chapter at the same press conference.

Following the explosive press conference, the MQM staged protests against Mirza, called upon the PPP to take action against him and also staged their own counter press-conference, accusing Mirza of supporting the People’s Aman Committee and the MQM-H. The MQM also tried — unsuccessfully — to implicate Mirza in a blasphemy case.

Mirza later also blasted the current Sindh Home Minister, Manzoor Wassan, calling him an idiot. He referred to Sindh CM Qaim Ali Shah as a “bechara” in a TV show, in which he also said things about Altaf Hussain that were...well...uncharitable. The one person Mirza has been careful not to criticise is President Asif Ali Zardari.

Mirza’s outbursts have also led to fears of potential cracks in the Sindh PPP itself, and there have been clashes between his supporters and those of Manzoor Wassan’s in Badin. Mirza claims that many PPP workers and leaders have offered him their support, albeit in private. Supporting Mirza publically seems to be a bad idea for PPP leaders, as former information minister Sharjeel Memon found to his dismay. Having accompanied Mirza to London, Memon was forced to resign on his return to Pakistan.

With the support of Lord Nazir, he has vowed to present evidence against the MQM in the house of Lords. Even in London, though, he has been dogged with trouble with altercations between him and MQM supporters at a press conference.

Veena Malik

When we needed a break from all the Osamas, Memos and Haqqanis of the world, it was Veena Malik to the rescue! When the Bigg Boss controversy hit the headlines, Veena gave the proverbial verbal smack down to our very own Kamran Shahid and Mufti Abdul Qavi. Suddenly, “Mufti sahib, yeh kya baat hui” was on everyone’s lips.

A few days later, Veena was back, this time to announce her break up with her fiancé, Faisal Akbar Khan, which immediately set tongues wagging about the Ashmit-Veena connection. But the actor clarified that she and Patel were just good friends.

May brought traumatic news to Veena-fans when she suffered injuries in a car crash while travelling from Islamabad to Lahore. Thankfully the actress had recovered by July to promote her upcoming debut in her first Bollywood film Daal Mein Kuchh Kaala Hai.

Veena Malik was back in the news in October, after becoming the sponsor mother of Payal Kamble, a seven-year-old girl living with the Sahaara Charitable Society in India and November brought with it news of Veena’s upcoming reality television show, “Swayamvar”. Would Veena get married on-screen and take home INR30 million or would she walk away, netting herself INR15 million?

Capping off the year, Veena pulled a Kardashian and appeared nude on the cover of FHM India, with ISI stencilled on her arm. Stirring controversy on both sides of the border, Veena claimed that the she was merely topless in the photo shoot and that the picture was morphed. Veena sued FHM India, who countersued, claiming that Veena had willingly participated in the photo shoot and was, in fact, actually naked and that the photos were not altered in any way.

Some have praised her as a feminist icon and others have condemned her as the spawn of Satan. But Veena Malik is, at the end of the day, Veena Malik. And that’s enough.

Memogate

No incident highlighted the continual mistrust between the civilian and military authorities this year like the Memogate scandal.

On October 10, Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz wrote an op-ed in London’s Financial Times, alleging that Pakistan’s ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani had asked him to pass on a memo to the then-chief of US military, Admiral Mike Mullen after the raid in Abbottabad on May 2. The note highlighted the supposed threat of a coup that the civilian government faced after bin Laden’s killing and sought American assistance in redressing the civil-military imbalance in Pakistan. Ijaz’s evidence for corroborating his allegations were a series of Blackberry transcripts and telephone records.

The issue caused an uproar in Pakistan, and as Haqqani was summoned back to Pakistan, ISI chief Shuja Pasha jetted off to meet Ijaz. Subsequently, Haqqani resigned from his position and was quickly replaced by former information minister Sherry Rehman. But his resignation hardly resolved the matter.

On November 29, Prime Minister Gillani referred to the parliamentary committee for national security for a probe into the affair. Yet, this was one issue that was not going to be simply relegated to the files of a government-led investigation.

PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif petitioned the court to investigate the case on December 1 and a nine-member special bench of the Supreme Court ordered the formation of a commission to investigate the matter.

But even before the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear the petition formally, the government, which calls memogate a ‘non-issue’ protested against the initiation of the investigation, claiming that the parliamentary committee had the rightful mandate for the particular task.

Yet this did not stop the SC from going ahead with the proceedings., After the initial hearing of the memogate petition, it gave respondents—including the President, the COAS, the DG ISI and former ambassador Husain Haqqani— 15 days to file their replies to the petition.

Haqqani submitted his reply on December 9, and Ijaz submitted his reply to the SC on December 15th. In his 81-page statement, the businessman confirmed his meeting with Inter-Services Intelligence Director Lt General Shuja Pasha in London on Oct 22, where he allegedly showed the spy chief proof of the existence of the memo.

The DG ISI Pasha and COAS General Ashfaq Kayani have also submitted replies to the SC. The army chief in his affidavit said that the memo was a reality and should be investigated thoroughly. On December 17, General (retd) James Jones, former US national security adviser who allegedly handed the memo to Mullen, submitted his reply.

In its reply to the SC, relayed in the form of an affidavit, the federal government declared that Shuja Pasha stepped beyond his jurisdiction when he briefed Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Ashfaq Pervez Kayani about his meeting with Mansoor Ijaz in London.

However, the President has not yet filed a reply to the memogate scandal. This is one issue that will continue to reverberate well into 2012.

Salala attack

Just when we thought that Pakistan and the US had had their fair share of bickering for 2011, along came another cause of contention. On November 26, NATO helicopters attacked a Pakistani check post in Salala, located in the Mohmand Agency on the Pak-Afghan border, killing 24 soldiers and injuring 12.

And thus began another series of accusations and denials, which have become the defining characteristic of US-Pak relations. Only this time, Pakistan was hurling accusations and the US was denying.

The government, political parties and the military were united in condemning the attack and the Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Major General Ashfaq Nadeem went so far as to call the attack deliberate.

However, the US insists that the strike was actually intended to target militants and was just an accident. That explanation wasn’t enough for Pakistan, and the government decided to play it tough. Apart from boycotting the Bonn  conference, Pakistan ordered the US to vacate the Shamsi airbase, and NATO supplies transiting Pakistan for Afghanistan were blocked.

On December 17, senior Pakistani officials made their presentation in Washington, claiming that November 26 could not have been an error in judgment.

On December 22, a US probe found both American and Pakistani forces responsible for the attack due to inadequate coordination between military officers from both sides. Pakistan rejected the report, with the military calling it “short of facts” and saying that it would give a response when it receives a detailed report.

SPORTS

Mowed down in Mohali

To call the build-up to the March 30 Pakistan vs India showdown at the ICC Cricket Worldcup 2011 Semi Finals ‘huge’ would be like calling World War II a skirmish. Politics, security issues and cross-border tension were all part and parcel of the ultimate cricketing showdown. India struggled to reach the semi-final but in the end they rose to the occasion against the ever unpredictable Pakistan squad. Despite the brilliant efforts of Wahab Riaz, who claimed five wickets, Pakistan lost by 29 runs, largely as a result of numerous dropped catches.

Shamed by spotfixing

Losing to India in the World Cup wasn’t the only blow suffered by Pakistani cricket in 2011. This was also the year in which three Pakistani cricketers were convicted for their role in the spot-fixing scandal. On November 3, 2011, the Southwark Crown Court awarded jail terms of two years, five months for Salman Butt, one year for Muhammad Asif, six months for Muhammad Amir and two years, eight months for agent Mazhar Majeed.

Asif, Amir and Butt thus became the first sportsmen to be sentenced for on-field corruption in the UK in almost 50 years.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom though, as Pakistan remained unbeaten in Test and ODI series this year. The team won six consecutive ODI series, bettering its previous record of five series wins in a year.

Snow queens

But it wasn’t all bad news for Pakistani sports! For one thing, 15-year-old skier Ifrah Wali braved slippery slopes and a broken wrist to bag Pakistan’s first-ever gold medal in the South Asian Winter games in India, and her elder sister Amina bagged a double silver.

Special in the true sense of the word

In another proud moment, the Pakistani team bagged 56 medals at the Special Olympics Summer Games 2011 in Athens, Greece which were held from June 25 to July 4. While competing in a week-long event, featuring nearly 7,000 athletes from 170 countries around the world, our 82-member contingent participated in eight sports including athletics, aquatics, badminton, basketball, bocce, cycling, football and table tennis.

The athletes received their training from the NGO Special Olympics Pakistan, which takes the responsibility of preparing these special athletes for the big games. Children and adults who are mentally challenged go through year-round sports training from the NGO which helps nurture their abilities.

Ruling the kingdom of the blind

Our blind cricketers managed to do what their sighted colleagues could not: defeat India! Our boys beat India 2-1 in the three-match T20 series, defeating the arch-rivals by five wickets in the final encounter at the Bagh-e-Jinnah, Lahore. That’s not all, they also beat India 3-0 in the one-day series and earlier in the year beat Australia 3-0 in a one-day series.

The girls in green are go-getters

Girl power isn’t just a figure of speech! Pakistan’s women cricketers reached the final of the ICC Women’s World cup qualifiers to secure entry into both the World Twenty20 and the ICC World cup 2013.

Imran Khan
2011 was the year Imran Khan’s Tsunami finally hit the high-water mark after years of low political tides. While he had remained a constant fixture on talk shows for years, few people really took Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seriously. Until October 30, that is. Defying all predictions except his own, the Minar-e-Pakistan rally was a huge success and drew a massive crowd and serious media coverage. The next major boost was when Shah Mehmood Qureishi join the ranks at a rally in Ghotki. Since then, many other politicians, such as Jehangir Tareen and Khurshid Kasuri have also opted for the PTI. While many of these new entrants were expected, a surprise came when Javed Hashmi, a former stalwart of the PML-N joined the PTI as well. Then came the Karachi rally which, by all accounts, was larger than the Lahore rally. If the current momentum is maintained, 2012 may well be Imran Khan’s year. the best and the brightest
While the adults were away playing with guns, bombs and memos, the children of the nation were the ones hard at work.

In January, Islamabad student Ibrahim Shahid set a new record by scoring 23 As in the Cambridge O level exams.

As if that wasn’t mind-blowing enough, 19-year-old Taxila boy Syed Zohaib Asad upped the already sky-high ante by scoring 28 As!

But then the girls went and did one better. Eleven-year-old Sitara Akbar became the youngest ever student to pass the University of Cambridge O levels. A fan of Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam, Sitara also holds the title of being the youngest Pakistani candidate of the International English Language Testing System.

And then there’s eight-year-old Malala Yousufzai. While she narrowly missed bagging the ‘International Children’s Peace Prize’ that was awarded by the Dutch organisation ‘KidsRights’, she’s made major waves at home. PM Gilani awarded her the first national peace prize, renaming it the ‘National Malala Peace Prize’. What was her achievement? Nothing less than convincing her fellow students to continue their studies despite threats from militants in Swat. With young people like these among us, who says there’s no hope for the future?

MILESTONES

Nusrat Bhutto

When Nusrat Bhutto breathed her last on October 23, 2011, Pakistan bid farewell to the woman who had been instrumental in keeping the PPP together during the days of Zia’s martial law. Nusrat Bhutto had outlived her husband and three of her children, all of whom died violent deaths. Her only surviving child, Sanam Bhutto, currently resides in London.

The 82-year-old, who had suffered from Alzheimer’s for several years, was recovering from a stroke at the Iranian Hospital in Dubai when she passed away. The PPP postponed all political activities for the next 10 days and a government holiday was announced to mourn the death of Pakistan’s former first lady.

 Hakim Ali Zardari

The president’s father, Hakim Ali Zardari, passed away on May 24, 2011 at the age of 81 in Islamabad due to multiple organ failure. He had been admitted at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) because of a critical injury sustained when he slipped in his own house. Initially diagnosed with a chest infection, a CT scan conducted later on detected brain haemorrhage.

The veteran politician, elected thrice to the National Assembly, was put to rest in style: a helicopter carried the body of the deceased to Nawabshah where the funeral prayers were offered at Bilawal Stadium and then he was finally laid to rest at Balo Ja Quba, an ancestral graveyard near Nawabshah district.

Moin Akhtar

He gave us countless hours of laughter, uplifting songs and great memories. One of TV’s most charismatic personalities, Moin Akhtar passed away at the age of 61 on the April 22 at the Combined Military Hospital due to a heart attack.

The star from Karachi made his debut appearance on PTV in 1966 on a show held to celebrate Pakistan’s first Defence Day. An accomplished television, film and stage actor, as well as a comedian, impersonator, host, playwright, singer, director and producer, he was best known for his comedic roles because of his ability to tickle the funny bones of diverse audiences, from adults to children.

Audiences remember his pitch-perfect imitations of a Bangladeshi cricketer, a Sindhi politician and the columnist Ardeshir Cowasjee among many others from the TV show “Loose Talk”. He redefined comedy in Pakistan but his most memorable performance was in the drama “Rozi”. Based on the film Tootsie, Akhtar played a female TV artist without great aplomb.

Air Marshal Malik Nur Khan

In 2011, Pakistan also lost one of its leading icons, Air Marshal Malik Nur Khan, who passed away at the age of 88 on December 15. During his long and varied career, Nur Khan was the Air Force Commander-in-Chief during the rule of Field Marshal Ayub Khan and General Yahya Khan from 1965 till 1969. Nur Khan was also appointed as the Governor of West Pakistan in 1969 but resigned from the post after a brief period of time. After his appointment as the President of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) in 1976 and the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 1980, sports flourished in the country with Pakistani sportsmen earning laurels worldwide.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, January 1st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>10 things I hate about 2011</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/313678/10-things-i-hate-about-2011</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/313678/10-things-i-hate-about-2011#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 01 Jan 12 07:59:08 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[nadir.hassan]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Magazine]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=313678</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The rise of the PTI. Settle down, PTI trolls! I say this out of boredom not hatred.]]>
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				<![CDATA[1.    The MATCH. Whether 2011 was going to be a year to remember or one that was to be abided only through the haze of pharmaceutical aids depended entirely on one cricket match. Thanks a lot for that Misbah.

2.    My speed course in fashion. Being a journalist means I have to be adept at a lot of things: speedily writing down what people more powerful than me say, resourcefully doing Google searches to cover for my ignorance. I didn’t realise it would also mean having to recognise the price and provenance of hand bags dangling from our foreign minister’s arm.

3.     The lack of an international villain. On May 2, the US not only eliminated our sovereignty, they also took out the one consensus candidate we had for a James Bond-style bogeyman. Sure, Qaddafi and Kim Jong II could have fit the bill but they were too eccentric and, more importantly, dead for that.

4.    Loadshedding. Yes, this could be a perennial complaint but, for me, this year was the worst. I endured sleepless sweaty nights during the Karachi summer then went right around and spent the winter in Islamabad where gas loadshedding made a hot shower in the morning a purely theoretical ideal

5.    The year was such a tease. No one really wants a military coup but they sure are fun to live through. Remember seeing that awesome shot of Musharraf firing a gun, which appeared to be the only footage of the general news channels had on October 8? This year we were regularly told the army was about to take over. (Un)fortunately, it never happened.

6.    The rise of the PTI. Settle down, PTI trolls! I say this out of boredom not hatred. There are few duller things in the world than the low-cal speeches given by politicians at rallies. By becoming newsworthy, the PTI forced us to sit through hours of rally coverage. For that they should never be forgiven.

7.    Veena Malik’s hands. Because they covered what every man wanted to see.

8.   The ubiquity of the “Spring” suffix. We don’t have a spring in Pakistan, whether referred to seasonally or governmentally. And we don’t need one. We got rid of our dictator long before the Arabs so please spare me the rant on the need for a revolution in Pakistan.

9.   The Oscars. They’re so predictable that by now it should stop making me this angry. But the fact that Oscar voters are so dense as to choose a Best Movie that has been engineered to fit every Oscar criteria is maddening. The King’s Speech had it all: a period setting and a dude with a disability.

10.   Glee. A once fun TV show which decided this year it didn’t want to have storylines. Nor did it want songs that anyone would actually want to hear.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, January 1st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Jihadi kidnappings: As the year ends, a new trend in crime reveals itself to experts</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314743/jihadi-kidnappings-as-the-year-ends-a-new-trend-in-crime-reveals-itself-to-experts</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314743/jihadi-kidnappings-as-the-year-ends-a-new-trend-in-crime-reveals-itself-to-experts#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 31 Dec 11 23:41:46 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[shaheryar.mirza]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314743</guid>
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				<![CDATA[In 2011, militant groups found more success in kidnappings in the city.]]>
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				<![CDATA[At least five of over a hundred kidnappings in 2011 have been committed by “jihadi” groups, according to the Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) — an increase from just one or two last year.


The links between kidnappings and jihadi groups are often exaggerated, but Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies director Amir Rana says, “After the military operations in Orakzai and South Waziristan there has been a sudden rise in groups using kidnappings as a way to gather resources for their activities.”

According to Rana, this trend has proliferated in Pakistan since 2007. The CPLC chief, Ahmed Chinoy, says it is still hard to establish which groups are responsible. “When we investigate kidnappings we can determine what kinds of gangs are involved because of the nature and location of the calls. The ransom amounts tend to be exaggerated,” said Chinoy. “They also take longer to negotiate with than regular criminal gangs.”

SP Ghulam Subhani at the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) says ransom demands are higher “because they use the money for explosives, arms and ammunitions.” In a recent case, Subhani says, they were able to trace some of the leads to Afghanistan and managed to negotiate the initial demand of Rs10 million down to less than Rs3 million.

Profiles of the victims vary, and many tend to be small business owners. Rana points out a disturbing trend in certain parts of Pakistan. “Some groups have started targeting businessmen from minority communities.” CPLC’s Chinoy says militant groups do carry out reconnaissance on their targets but they aren’t necessarily targeting members of certain communities. “These are criminal gangs after all, jihadi or not. We treat them as such and they generally target victims, or even banks, because they can exploit a gap in security.”

The most frequent kidnappings in Karachi took place in Surjani Town, Gulshan-e-Maymar and Gadap this year. In its annual report on crime in Karachi, CPLC found that 101 of 106 cases of kidnapping have been solved and 23 gangs have been apprehended. In 2010, there were 112 kidnappings in Karachi and CPLC says all the cases were solved.

Rana assesses that since the Pakistani military has claimed successes in South Waziristan and Orakzai, “This has probably led to resources becoming closed for Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and smaller groups that affiliate themselves with the TTP and al Qaeda might be responsible for raising resources in cities across Pakistan, including Karachi.” According to Rana, the rise in these kidnappings has been quite sudden and that these groups are commonly referred to as the “Punjabi Taliban”, a claim supported by SP Subhani.

While militants may be using these resources to attack the state, CPLC chief Ahmed Chinoy says, “I don’t believe in these theories that these groups go after government-related targets, they simply go where the money is.”

The number of kidnapping cases reported in the last five years has been high, and 2010 and 2011 have had nearly the same number of cases. While there is no foolproof way to prevent being targeted, there are some ways to prepare, including varying commute routes, installing vehicle tracking systems in cars and pre-emptively identifying a negotiator in the family in case of ransom negotiations. While the number of ‘jihadi’ groups committing kidnappings has risen in Karachi, the number is still a small percentage of the total. Even though CPLC says the majority of the cases have been solved, it rings alarm bells because it hints that while the military may experience success in militant strongholds, these successes can have a trickledown effect in one of Pakistan’s most volatile cities.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Agriculture: A tough year ahead for the Pakistani farmer</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314793/agriculture-a-tough-year-ahead-for-the-pakistani-farmer</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314793/agriculture-a-tough-year-ahead-for-the-pakistani-farmer#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 31 Dec 11 22:04:41 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[shamsul.islam]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314793</guid>
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				<![CDATA[Liberalised trade, poor infrastructure and volatile commodity prices all weigh heavily on agriculture.]]>
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				<![CDATA[As Pakistan gears up to liberalise its trade with India over the coming year, the inefficiencies in the agriculture sector – built up by decades of neglecting the infrastructure and technology – will likely expose that sector to international competition and will likely cause financial strain for many farmers, say agriculture experts.


“In my opinion, agriculture will remain under stress during 2012,” said Iqrar Ahmed Khan, the vice chancellor at the University of Agriculture in Faisalabad. “One of the newest issues will be Pakistan’s decision to grant Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India. MFN does have the potential of ruining the agriculture sector in Pakistan.”

Pakistan may be one of the largest producers of major agricultural commodities in the world, but the lack of investment and poor infrastructure render much of the country’s farm produce uncompetitive on the global market. In years past, such a risk was minimised by the market being closed. But as Pakistan opens up to competition, its disadvantages will become more apparent. Khan gave a run-down of why he believes India alone will be very difficult for Pakistani farmers to compete with.

“Indian agriculture has an edge in technology and a huge domestic market for their produce. India has genetically modified crops fully integrated into the system and we are still struggling with BT cotton alone. India manufactures most of its agro chemicals and farm machinery and we import it,” said Khan.

Yet all is not quite as bleak for Pakistan as that picture might suggest. Even the vice chancellor admits that the country’s natural endowments are so vast that even the most minor of investments can pay huge dividends.

For instance, experts contend that Pakistan is now about to enter the “mango and citrus exporters” club, thanks largely due to the concerted backing of the government of Punjab, which provided farmers assistance with applying the latest production and post harvest technologies.

Experts, however, warn that budget constraints may begin to force the federal and provincial governments to cut back on their research and development spending, which would have a negative impact on productivity gains. Some point out that in the 1970s, Brazil got rid of all of its subsidies for the agriculture sector and channelled all of the money saved into the Brazilian Agricultural Research Council (known by its Portuguese acronym, Embrapa). Brazil is now one of the largest producers and exporters of agricultural commodities in the world.

Another problem faced by farmers is the high volatility in agricultural commodity prices. While the overall trend for the past decade has been upwards, in any given year, the prices can vary widely. Given the lack of a functioning commodity futures market in Pakistan, most farmers remain exposed to the fluctuations in spot prices without any ability to hedge their risks.

The Pakistan Mercantile Exchange has been trying to introduce the trading of agricultural commodities on its exchange and plans to roll out the trading of rice in 2012. It is unclear, however, whether they will be able to add more commodities to their offerings.

Additional input by Farooq Tirmizi

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Preview of 2012: Solve the energy crisis now or go home</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314792/preview-of-2012-solve-the-energy-crisis-now-or-go-home</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314792/preview-of-2012-solve-the-energy-crisis-now-or-go-home#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 31 Dec 11 21:34:25 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[farooq.tirmizi]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314792</guid>
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				<![CDATA[If the government is smart, it will call for elections before the crisis hits the acute phase.]]>
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				<![CDATA[There is absolutely no point in beating about the bush anymore. Either the government will solve the energy crisis in 2012 or it will lose the elections. And since it cannot solve the entire crisis in one year, it has no choice – if they are politically shrewd – but to go ahead and call the elections before the crisis hits the ‘catastrophic’ phase.


Some of the more sardonic analysts believe that the crisis has already hit that catastrophic phase. The government is defaulting on its obligations to the energy companies, the gas supply to all industries in Punjab has been indefinitely shut down and the government is effectively moving to end the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) as a fuel for vehicles. To those who say that this is bad, I will say this: never ask if it can get worse, because in Pakistan, it always can.

Let us take a look at some of the numbers: about two years ahead of schedule, gas demand has shot up to 5,100 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) while supply is still at 4,100 mmcfd and falling. The pace of its fall will only increase as the years go on, while that demand figure will continue to rise faster and faster.

Meanwhile, as the country runs short of gas, the government insists on supplying some of the most politically significant constituencies – domestic consumers, industry and CNG – at the expense of the power sector. Petroleum Minister Asim Hussain has succeeded at least partially in reversing this policy madness, but was not able to do so until the crisis hit a particularly acute phase. Paradoxically, as the shortage gets worse next year, his hand will be strengthened in his efforts to reform the sector.

So why is gas so important? Because it costs about Rs5 per kilowatt-hour to produce electricity using a gas-fired power plant and about Rs18 per unit using an oil-fired plant. The average consumer in Pakistan is paying about Rs7 per unit right now (Rs9 per unit in Karachi). If the fuel mix is changed overwhelmingly to oil, the power companies’ revenues will not be enough to pay for their expenses. To run their power plants, the power companies need at least 1,600 mmcfd of gas. Currently, they are getting less than 300 mmcfd.

The government gets around this mathematical conundrum by offering a blanket subsidy to the power companies, but seems to forget just how expensive this can be. Last year, the government spent Rs300 billion on power subsidies, and even that was not actually enough to clear the circular debt that has accumulated on the balance sheet of almost every single energy company, financially crippling the entire energy sector.

The power companies’ response to low revenues is to reduce their production levels, which is why we have an average of eight hours of power outages throughout the country. These numbers are going to get worse next year and we may have reached the tipping point where the country will effectively have to be shut down.

We reached that point very briefly in August 2011. For two miserable days, economic activity in the entire country came to a virtual standstill as Pakistan State Oil refused to supply more oil to the power companies without getting at least some of the Rs155 billion they owed PSO at the time. That misery will only get more frequent next year.

The crisis, of course, is not hopeless. There is a fix to the problem but it requires taking on some very powerful lobbies and making incredibly tough choices – two things that generally do not happen before an election. Let us hope that the election happens soon so that at least we can push for it after the next government comes in.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Top 2011 films: Kaleidoscope of emotions</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314589/top-2011-films-kaleidoscope-of-emotions</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314589/top-2011-films-kaleidoscope-of-emotions#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 31 Dec 11 19:28:37 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saim.sadiq]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Life &amp; Style]]></category><category><![CDATA[Film]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314589</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A list of films that served the purpose of entertainment and did not make us want to gouge our eyes out.]]>
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				<![CDATA[It has been a dull year for Bollywood, with the number of watchable films being small enough to count them all on your fingers. It has been a year of one mighty Khan delivering the most shameless, brainless blockbusters of all time, another mighty Khan still facing the backlash to his most ambitious film of all time and the last one — a self-proclaimed perfectionist — staying away from mainstream films except a short appearance in his wife’s Dhobi Ghat. All in all, it has been a disappointing year and the only reasons to cherish 2011 are listed below.


5) Don 2

Panned by many critics, this film makes it to the list for not only being the first genuinely slick action flick of Bollywood, but also because it brought  back memories of a Shahrukh Khan we didn’t despise. Don 2, despite its slow pacing and rather humdrum plot, worked rather gloriously because the Don himself got to deliver some fun punchlines; wear masks of actors far more good looking than him and romance the girl with the sexiest pout in Asia, Priyanka Chopra. Looking back at the year, this is the only mega hit of 2011 that was actually fun to sit through.

4) Stanley Ka Dabba

This film should be much higher up, if only it wasn’t for the lack of its mainstream elements. Yet, this is a small-scale, simple and spectacular film that works as effectively in providing a refreshing twist to the poor state of children’s cinema in India as it does in tugging at the heartstrings without trying too hard. The Partho kid is rather neat, but his father, director Amole Gupte (the writer of Taare Zameen Par) is the one who takes the cake here. A must-see!

3) Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

This film is in our list because this is, by far, the best looking flick of the year, a tour-guide to Spain that unimpressively breezed through much frivolity and mush before taking off the covers and showing us a heart and a soul. This was mainstream, commercial cinema that had something to say — and while the underlying theme was rather stale — the packaging was pretty damn great. Katrina rode a bike all the way through Barcelona only to give a man a kiss, Hrithik Roshan stood opposite her to complete the fantastic looking pair and Farhan Akhtar rose above the role to truly give a heartfelt performance.

2) The Dirty Picture

First banned and then unbanned in Pakistan, this gutsy film is perhaps the most unforgettable feature film of the year. The rigorously censored version in Pakistani theatres should be given a miss. This one is to be seen at home, late at night when kids and parents have been put to sleep. Revolving around a vulgar little South Indian item girl, The Dirty Picture is far braver an achievement than Delhi Belly — another push-the-envelope feature — simply because it uses a female to forward the theme. And what a female she is! Vidya Balan — a genuine actor revelling in her onscreen glory with such remarkable glee — is the one reason why this film is so high up on this list. Trendsetting stuff!

1) Rockstar

Take a bow, ladies and gentlemen. In a year when Aamir was absent, Hrithik was sleepy, Shahrukh and Salman were busy baking blockbuster recipes; one guy stood up and showed them all who the real daddy of performance is. Ranbir Kapoor and this realistic story of music, love and pain are not stuff that Bollywood is used to. Kapoor is a superstar and a spectacular actor who knows how to pull off both sides of him at the same time.

And this film is, undoubtedly, this year’s only truly amazing film aided by AR Rahman’s glorious soundtrack and Imtiaz Ali’s dialogue. A better film than Ali’s previous cult Jab We Met, this is the kind of film that makes a dull 2011 seem not-so-dull after all.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>The year of fear</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314574/the-year-of-fear</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314574/the-year-of-fear#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 31 Dec 11 18:47:00 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saroop.ijaz]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314574</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[I maintain that the singular most influential and depressing event of 2011 was the fiasco of Salmaan Taseer's murder.]]>
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				<![CDATA[I have observed that writing at this time of the year, it is customary to critically reminisce over the year gone by and speculate about what lies before us. The last year, like all years, is too complicated to be summarised and I have not yet earned the right to be smug enough to make precise predictions for the future. Nevertheless, the last year was out of the ordinary. The year got off to a very bad start with Governor Salmaan Taseer being murdered and it never really recovered. The assassination of Taseer set the trajectory for the rest of the year and, I daresay, maybe of years to come.

Murder in the name of faith is hardly a novelty in Pakistan. We have acclimatised ourselves to the periodic suicide bombing, the attack on minorities etc. Yet, this particular murder concentrated into a microcosm the conflict at the core of our society. The governor of our largest province was murdered by one of his own security personnel because the governor opposed the current formulation of the blasphemy laws. The incident was indeed tragic, but what made it into a tragedy of catastrophic proportions was the response to it. The first and foremost casualty was the media; it was hard to find anyone who was willing to unequivocally condemn the daylight murder of a governor. It was an orgy of the most egregious usage of the words ‘sensitive’ and ‘provocative’ etc. As one saw the ordinarily hysterical, subdued and neutered in their quest for objective language, only one element was clearly and palpably present i.e. fear.

One of the most surreal and telling images of last year was that of the assassin, Mumtaz Qadri, being garlanded by lawyers. The vulgarity and the indecency of it are unmistakable. The leaders of the lawyers movement, who had the courage to stand up to the entire apparatus of a dictator, were nowhere to be found when confronted with one religious murderer. The Supreme Court by then had already displayed its propensity for taking suo motu cognisance of almost every conceivable news item, nevertheless, not one word from My Lords. Either the Supreme Court did not deem the matter to be of public importance or was afraid, both conclusions are disturbing. Perhaps, the most sinister betrayal was from the politicians, especially those from the governor’s own party. The response overall was pathetic, the façade of caution was very thin, displaying the cowardice which lay beneath.

In a year as eventful as the last, the exclusive focus on one murder, however tragic, might come across as unjustified to some. Still, I maintain that the singular most influential and depressing event was the fiasco. The condemnation of suicide bombing requires a minimum degree of moral clarity but not courage. The victims are distant, more significantly, the fanatical murderers unknown, it is a crime without a face. In the case of Mumtaz Qadri, it was the face that was and still is unavoidable. If one is permitted to resort to cliché, it was the litmus test, the gold standard. And we failed, chillingly without a fight. Once we had failed, Shahbaz Bhatti really had no chance. That is the thing about courage, once you pretend to be selective; you are going to be found out very quickly for the spinelessness which you seek to conceal. Blackmail is by definition regressive and vicious and we allowed Mumtaz Qadri and his murderous supporters to take us hostage. We as a people, and liberals in particular, did not just lose the argument but accepted complete moral defeat. Mumtaz Qadri has now, uninvited, drawn a chair to our table, and he is armed and knows us for what we really are. Keeping in view, our irrepressible desire to ascribe to our country one singular owner, it might not be completely inaccurate to say that we spent the last year in ‘Mumtaz Qadri’s Pakistan’.

When Saleem Shahzad was brutally murdered by mysterious forces, which probably will never be known, the resolve of fighting and not stopping short of obtaining justice sometimes came across as an attempt at cheap glamour, not convincing. The posturing of taking the ‘establishment’ on was betrayed by the silence on the journalists murdered and still being murdered in Balochistan. The primary reason for that was that we had been tested in the face of adversity and violence before and found out to be meek and wanting. Capitulation to one kind of thuggery makes it very easy, even natural to surrender to any other kind. Anyone who remained silent or tried to justify the killing of Taseer is exactly the person who would find that the very little talk of murders of the Baloch, Ahmadis and Shia are overblown or irresponsible.

The grip of fear and the influence of Mumtaz Qadri was nowhere more obvious than when Imran Khan addressed a historic crowd in Karachi on Christmas day. Whereas the American citizen, convicted of terrorism, daughter of the nation was eulogised, not a word on Aasia Bibi, the irony bears repetition, on Christmas day.

Yet, not everything has changed. The ‘analysts’ with shameless tenacity are still giving deadlines regarding when the government will be sent packing and specifics of the new set up, as they were at the turn of last year. Balochistan still burns, Kurram still bleeds. Hindus, Christians and Ahmadis are still hunted. The army and intelligence chiefs are still thriving on their jobs, even after OBL, PNS Mehran and Salala. The Chief Justice believes that ‘sipahsaalar’ (army chief) should always be believed and shown deference, oh wait, this might be new.

The arrival of a new year is often the time for optimism, for Tennyson’s “ring out the old, ring out the new” and “Auld Lang Syne”. Yet, the words that come to mind are of W H Auden from his best work, September 1st 1939, “The enlightenment driven away, The habit-forming pain, Mismanagement and grief, We must all suffer them again.” I wish you a happy new year; I only wished that I could say it with any conviction.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>The closing of the Pakistani mind</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314556/the-closing-of-the-pakistani-mind</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314556/the-closing-of-the-pakistani-mind#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 31 Dec 11 17:58:47 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314556</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The year 2011 must rank as one of the worst years in the nation’s life.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The year 2011 must rank as one of the worst years in the nation’s life. It began with the killing of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer and ended with the most internecine of politics to topple the incumbent government before its term in office via the memogate affair. This happened in the midst of an ominous national consensus which seems to have rallied behind the military against the United States, while all economic indicators presaged doom for 2012.

Rage and excessive passion characterised the functioning of many key institutions, with the masses following their lead thanks to the dubious role played by a vastly expanding but increasingly cash-strapped media. Foreign affairs were most immoderately handled, with the army calling the shots and a divided community of politicians pushing each other to the point of no return. The Raymond Davis case was handled in a curiously unbalanced manner without regard to consequences, pledging qisas (hanging) but falling back on diyat (blood money).

The year saw a new peak of the steadily gestated extremism in our collective national behaviour with the blasphemy law netting more innocent victims from among the minority communities. Moreover, the lawyers’ community, which everyone thought was tempered by the finer points of law, exposed itself as an extremist fragment that actually encouraged criminal behaviour.

What was most condemnable is that the nation bent to the command of the extremist because of fear while pretending to be pious and full of ghairat. The right-wing opposition embraced the violent worldview of the terrorists, thinking it went down well with the masses. The liberal was on the run, hiding his stripes lest he be the victim of the excessive passion of the conservative. The war against terrorism was decidedly not the war that Pakistan wanted to fight. Led by the army, the political lemmings decided to walk to the edge by calling the terrorists ‘our own brothers’.

The result was that when Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, the nation minded the fact that he was killed — some state-backed non-state actors actually observed namaz-i-janaza for him — forgetting that he and his many local affiliates had killed innocent Pakistanis. You have to be a non-Pakistani to understand what was happening in June when the nation ‘united’ and the politicians got together in an APC, led by the nose into what appeared to be Pakistan’s most isolationist phase. Pakistan’s relations with Isaf-Nato states plummeted and October saw what appears to be the endgame, not in Afghanistan, but Pakistan.

When the state was expressing its willingness to fight the world and not the terrorists, and the people were forming a suicidal consensus, nothing was going right with the economy. The infrastructure wound down quickly, the railways gave up its ghost, the PIA started grounding its planes because of lack of funds, and the industrial sector was halted by the shortage of energy pushed by dwindling reserves of natural gas that Pakistan had been guzzling with no planning or the future. People living without electricity attacked public property to make the government heed their grievances.

The only community that flourished were the terrorists that the politicians wanted to embrace and the military didn’t want to take on because of its seeming obsession with the endgame in Afghanistan. The nation’s dumbing down became almost an epidemic, propagated in large part by the anchors of the TV channels. That said, a generally vibrant media was a welcome check and we can hope for relatively more mature comment in future. The increasing use of social media among many urban educated Pakistan is an added positive as well, since it is, to some extent, shaping public discourse. Furthermore, it has led to a more freeing of the rigid control of information exercised by the state. The year ended with mammoth political rallies organised after their leaders pushed the right buttons — hate America, love the Taliban — reinforcing the state’s isolationist trajectory. Yet with a new party emerging as a popular contender, the political scene was revitalised — and many who had given up set aside their pessimism to take part in the new developments which will be played out 2012.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Your choice: Top stories of 2011</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314201/your-choice-top-stories-of-2011</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314201/your-choice-top-stories-of-2011#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 31 Dec 11 05:55:34 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Jahanzaib Haque]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314201</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Representing what visitors to the Tribune website considered vital reads for 2011.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The stories below were selected based on the number of visits to individual articles, representing what visitors to the Tribune website considered vital reads for 2011.

Over 100,000 views

Veena Malik denies nude photo shoot for FHM by Web Desk

Girl accused of blasphemy for a spelling error by Muhammad Saqadat

One student’s journey from small-town Balochistan to Harvard University by Maria Waqar

Child prodigy: Lights dim on a beautiful mind by Shamsul Islam

50,000-100,000 views

Hundreds join Quetta rally to honour bin Laden by Web Desk

Delusion, denial and ‘Dr’ Liaquat by George Fulton

George ka khuda hafiz — I by George Fulton

In Rawalpindi, a baby with two faces fights for survival by News Desk

25,000-50,000 views

Imran Khan's 'tsunami' sweeps Lahore  by Web Desk

Delhi gushes over new Pakistani minister by AFP

Filtering SMS: PTA may ban over 1,500 English, Urdu words by Jahanzaib Haque/Shaheryar Popalzai

Navy says PNS base under control after attack by Ahmed Jung, Faraz Khan, Jahanzaib Haque

Missed target: Doctor arrested for murdering restaurant doorman by News Desk

S.African bowler Wayne Parnell converts to Islam by Web Desk

Movie on Imran Khan: Will ‘Kaptaan’ hit a sixer? by Sher Khan

Salmaan Taseer assassinated by Web Desk

Karachi goes gaga over Imran Khan telephone call, in new PTI marketing ploy by Rabia Ali

Imran's dream team wows Karachi by Saba Imtiaz/Web Desk

Dress modestly: Masked men enter girls’ school, thrash students by Azam Khan

Top 5 Blogs of 2011

Seven traits of the average Pakistani man by Faiza Rehman

Riaz wanted to learn English by Asad Ali

Seven traits of the average Pakistani college girl by Said Chaudhry

13 Pakistanis you will meet in US colleges  by Anam Zahra

Musings of a ‘Westernised’ Pakistani by Faraz Talat]]>
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			<title>Agriculture: Rising crop production a rare bright spot</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314344/agriculture-rising-crop-production-a-rare-bright-spot</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314344/agriculture-rising-crop-production-a-rare-bright-spot#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 Dec 11 22:30:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[shamsul.islam]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314344</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Despite floods, cost increases, productivity levels in most crops continue to improve.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Despite much of Pakistan’s prime agricultural land being devastated by floods two years in a row, the country continued to achieve high growth in the production of major commodities, a resilience that was surprising since much of it came from the unusual source of productivity gains.


Responding to last year’s record cotton prices, growers this year invested a considerable amount in cotton production and far exceeded their targets. In Punjab alone, cotton production exceeded 10 million bales (1.7 million tons), compared to a target of 7.8 million bales. This is despite the fact that production was not at optimal levels, largely due to a delay in the monsoons.

The high production, however, has caused prices to come down, which has caused farmers to feel frustrated at lower margins. The blockbuster crop, however, was wheat, which saw production expand by 6.3% even though the total area of cultivation declined by 3.2%. Agriculture experts viewed this trend highly positively. “The country was able to become an exporter of wheat and still hold large reserves of the crop,” said Ashfaq Ahmad, an agriculture economist at the University of Agriculture in Faisalabad.

Wheat is one of the few crops where the government maintains an active support price, which was raised in 2011 from Rs950 per 40-kilogrammes to Rs1,050. Farmers, however, complained that the increase was not enough to compensate for the rising costs of their inputs. Fertiliser, in particular, has seen massive prices increases largely due to a gas shortage which has forced Engro Fertilizers to raise the price of urea.

Another crop that saw a massive increase was sugarcane, which saw production jump by almost 20%. Growers, however, complained that prices had declined by far too much. “Last year, I was able to get about Rs5 per kilogramme. This year, most mills are not even willing to pay Rs3.75,” said Muhammad Hafiz, a leading sugarcane grower of Faisalabad.

The drop in prices has benefited consumers in this highly regulated sector. Retail prices of sugar, meanwhile, have dropped from around Rs110 per kilogramme in 2010 to around Rs50 per kilogramme in 2011.

Perhaps most worrying from the perspective of exports has been the damage to the rice crop in Sindh. The total acreage of rice cultivated declined by about 8.5%. Production, however, declined by about 9%. Pakistan is the third largest exporter of rice in the world, with about $2 billion in global sales.

A surprisingly robust increase was also observed in maize, which saw production rise by almost 20%. Potato production expanded by about 11.6% and mango production by about 3.2%. The year 2011 was the first when Pakistani exporters were allowed to export their mangoes to the US, after Washington eased rules to allow mangoes from Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Construction: Rising prices, regulatory hurdles hamper activity</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314369/construction-rising-prices-regulatory-hurdles-hamper-activity</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314369/construction-rising-prices-regulatory-hurdles-hamper-activity#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 Dec 11 22:28:51 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[kazim.alam]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314369</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Lack of financing, land-grabbing and new taxes irk builders.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[For builders and developers, 2011 was marked by slow business, rising input costs, bureaucratic hurdles, land grabbing and harassment at the hands of tax authorities.


According to the International Housing Finance Programme 2008, the housing backlog in Pakistan is seven million units. However, the Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) – which represents over 700 builders from across the country – say the national housing backlog is expected to have reached up to nine million units in 2011.

“Housing shortage in the country goes up by 300,000 units every year. About three to four hundred thousand housing units are built every year while the annual demand is between six and seven hundred thousand units in Pakistan,” said ABAD Vice Chairman Arif Siddik.

Home financing 

ABAD Chairman (South Region) Saleem Kassim Patel says double-digit inflation and high interest rates in 2011 made it impossible for lower-middle class and middle class people to buy property. He said efforts should be made to make home financing affordable, and its procedure less cumbersome, especially for lower and middle classes.

“Commercial banks have developed negative lists vis-a-vis professions of potential customers and the areas where they want to buy property. This practice limits financing options and hurts both general customers and the construction industry,” he said.

Commercial banks provide home financing in big cities only. The House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC), however, operates in over 90 districts of the country. Commercial banks tend to finance housing purchases and avoid new construction finances because of the perceived risk. It is estimated that the average loan size of the banking sector in home financing is nearly 10 times of the loan size at HBFC, as 80% of the latter’s housing finance is for new construction.

Holding the industry back

A significant rise in cement prices increased the cost of doing business for builders in 2011. The 30% increase in cement prices over a seven-month period was in spite of the reduction in the fixed excise duty from Rs700 to Rs500 per ton while the government vowed to do away with it entirely in two years.

The government also decided in 2011 against giving gas connections to new high-rise buildings to control gas shortage in the country. The decision drew condemnation from industry representatives who termed it short-sighted. “All it’ll do is drive away investment. Why is it meant for high-rises only? The ban is simply ridiculous,” Patel said.

There are 15 under-construction high-rise buildings in the country. Seven of them are in Karachi.

With the rise in threats to builders in the form of land grabbing, encroachment, extortion and demolition of site offices, a Crisis Management Cell was established in Karachi on the directives of the federal interior minister in 2011. However, industry sources say the measure wasn’t effective

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Exports rise, but textile industrialists still worried</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314367/exports-rise-but-textile-industrialists-still-worried</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314367/exports-rise-but-textile-industrialists-still-worried#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 Dec 11 22:24:33 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[imran.rana]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314367</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Commodity prices largely explain bump, rise of domestic brands seen as positive trend.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Textile exports, the single largest category of goods Pakistan sells to the rest of the world, rose by a handsome 20% over the year 2011, but nearly every textile industrialist who spoke to The Express Tribune was worried about the sector’s future.


The reason was simple: while the dollar value of the exports increased by 20% – almost entirely due to rising global commodity prices – the total volume of goods actually leaving Pakistani ports declined by a whopping 36% during the year 2011, according to Rana Arif Tauseef, the chairman of the Pakistan Textile Exports Association, a lobbying group.

In 2011, Pakistan’s textile exports were approximately $12.5 billion, but many in the textile industry fear that unless the government is able to solve the energy crisis, that number could drop to below $10 billion in 2012.

Despite the recent bleak news, however, exports had been doing rather well up until September. In October textile exports dropped by 14% compared to the same period in the previous year, followed by a 19% drop in November, according to the Federal Bureau of Statistics. The drop came largely owing to the exacerbation of the economic crisis in Europe, Pakistan’s single largest market for exports.

Yet many of the structural problems within the domestic sector remained. The single biggest problem for many of the industries – particularly in Punjab – has been the shortage of electricity and gas. Power outages for up to eight hours a day have crippled industries, forcing factories to lay off thousands of day labourers.

Meanwhile, some of the larger textile units that could afford to run their own power generation units using gas must now face rationing, which causes their gas supply to be cut off for up to four and a half days a week. In the past week, that policy has just been revised, with industries in Punjab now not receiving any gas at all for an indefinite period of time.

According to Tauseef, up to 600 textile mills have already shut down across the country and many more are already expected to follow suit.

Yet many independent analysts also criticise the textile sector in Pakistan for not having done enough to improve global competitiveness. Much of the industry is still stuck in producing commoditised products for designers and labels from other parts of the world. Relatively few players have even moved beyond just spinning thread and weaving cloth.

An encouraging trend, however, has been the rise of domestic fashion labels that involve partnerships between textile firms and designers. These have resulted in the proliferation of domestic brands serving virtually every category of buyer. Many analysts forecast that at least some of these brands will eventually succeed in export markets.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Electricity and gas: More knots in the tangled web of the energy crisis</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314362/electricity-and-gas-more-knots-in-the-tangled-web-of-the-energy-crisis</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314362/electricity-and-gas-more-knots-in-the-tangled-web-of-the-energy-crisis#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 Dec 11 22:23:52 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zafar.bhutta]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314362</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Despite much talk, the government fails to take any tough decision on the energy sector.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The year 2011 came and went with the government failing to take any of the tough decisions needed to reform the energy sector and bring the country out of what now appears to be a chronic power and crisis.


The situation was quite literally bleak in Pakistan this past year: the country averaged about eight hours without electricity, with the average shortfall of power at around 5,000 megawatts. Production peaked at about 15,000 MW, but this is well below the peak demand of about 19,000 MW.

The power crisis has had a devastating impact on the economy. The finance ministry estimates that GDP growth would have been at least 3% higher had the power crisis not happened.

It is not as though there was ever any shortage of installed capacity. The country can produce about 20,800 MW when all turbines are running at full capacity. The problem is the fuel mix: most power plants run on oil, which is now running at over $100 per barrel.

The government is unwilling to pass on the effect of that cost increase to consumers, so it tries to subsidise the entire country’s electricity consumption which cost about Rs300 billion in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2011.

That amount, however, does not cover the entirety of the difference between production costs and billed revenues, which leads energy companies to build up huge liabilities – currently estimated at Rs350 billion – a phenomenon referred to in common parlance as ‘circular debt’. In 2011 independent power companies sued the government for its violation of their contracts, which require them to always be paid on time by the state-owned utility companies. As it struggled to pay the older contractual obligations, this year the Supreme Court forced the government to roll back the rental power policy, which sought to add more capacity to the grid, but at exorbitant rates.

The grid is also highly inefficient, with about 24% of all power produced never being billed due to either technical faults or outright theft. The global average is 12%. The problem of bill collection has only gotten worse in 2011, with average bill collection declining by 15%. Some of the largest and most profitable companies in the country – including Pakistan State Oil – are on the verge of insolvency because of the amount of cash tied up in circular debt.

The power plants can run on gas, which is much cheaper – producing electricity at Rs5 per unit as opposed to the Rs18 per unit that oil-fired power plants now cost. But the country now has a severe gas shortage, which has been exacerbated by the government’s own short-sighted policies as well as the circular debt. Production is currently at about 4,100 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) while demand is estimated at 5,100 mmcfd.

Gas production in Pakistan is now expected to decline sharply, largely owing to the old gas fields going offline and newer gas fields not being discovered at the same pace. The single biggest reason is the government’s refusal to pay global market rates for the gas that exploration companies find, which has caused investment in the oil and gas sector to all but dry up.

Petroleum Minister Asim Hussain tried to get the government to pay $3.75 per million British thermal units to gas companies, but owing to bureaucratic bungling has not been able to push that policy through. The minister has tried instituting an entirely new policy in the gas sector, but failed to do so this year. It is unclear if he will succeed for next year.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Auto sector: Manufacturers race ahead amid bumps</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314349/auto-sector-manufacturers-race-ahead-amid-bumps</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314349/auto-sector-manufacturers-race-ahead-amid-bumps#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 Dec 11 22:23:49 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[farhan.zaheer]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314349</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Sales stand strong despite relaxation in car import policy.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The year 2011 has been a sweet and sour period for the country’s automobile industry, which was full of challenges and exciting developments. Though car prices rose sharply amid a dispute with the government over relaxation in used car import policy, the industry recorded strong sales compared to the previous year.


Auto manufacturers faced a setback early in the year as the government increased the age limit for imported second-hand cars to five years from three years apparently to punish the industry, for failing to reduce prices.

However, the age relaxation brought cheers from car importers. All Pakistan Motor Dealers Association Chairman HM Shehzad says over 25,000 cars were expected to be imported by the end of December 2011, up from 15,000 the previous year. Now car manufacturers are worried about another blow at the hands of importers, who are lobbying for permission for import of 10-year-old cars.

JS Global Capital analyst Atif Zafar said after the disturbing start in January, the auto industry got good news in the budget for 2011-12 which abolished 2.5 per cent special excise duty and cut general sales tax by 1%.

“But during the year, the government also introduced a policy for new entrants into the automobile industry, triggering fears among existing players that the policy will encourage South Korean and Chinese carmakers, which can hurt their interests,” he added. Zafar was of the view that the new entrant policy was aimed at pressing carmakers to reduce prices, but they argued that rupee’s depreciation and the rising cost of production precipitated the increase in prices.

Besides the sharp depreciation of the rupee against Japanese yen and US dollar, the floods in Thailand in the second half of the year disrupted supply of spare parts for local companies. Industry officials expect annual car sales to rise above 170,000 units by the end of December, but will not hit 180,000, the historic high struck in fiscal year 2006-07. Some point out that the growth is more crucial this time unlike 2006-07, when major support came from banks’ car financing. Sales of Pak Suzuki Motor Company in the first nine months of calendar year 2011 grew 17% compared to the previous year despite an average increase of 7.5% in prices. The high sales and prices substantially supported the company’s bottom-line, which grew 73% year-on-year to Rs672 million from January to September 2011.

Analysts believe that 2012 will not give an easy ride to the carmakers following the government’s ban on import of CNG kits, which will hurt sales. In addition to this, the rupee is continuously depreciating, which will increase production cost and add to the woes of carmakers.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Overview: A distracted govt all but ignores the economy</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314335/overview-a-distracted-govt-all-but-ignores-the-economy</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314335/overview-a-distracted-govt-all-but-ignores-the-economy#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 Dec 11 22:20:38 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Shahbaz Rana]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314335</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Exit from the IMF programme and widening deficits characterise the outgoing year.]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Barring some achievements on the external front, 2011 will likely be remembered as the year the government was so distracted with its political troubles that it all but failed to pay any meaningful attention to the economy.


The problem began with the government once again being unable to fix its perennial inability to pay its bills. The fiscal deficit for fiscal year 2011 was above 6% of the total size of the economy, well above the target set by the International Monetary Fund, a failure that caused the government to – once again – prematurely end another IMF bailout programme. The primary culprit: the inability to phase out power subsidies.

“The 2008 IMF programme did bring some stability but the government could not build on it due it its failure to correct structural imbalances,” said Faisal Bari, an economist working with Open Society Foundation.

In June 2011, the government proudly proclaimed that it had achieved its (twice-downward-revised) revenue collection target of Rs1,588 billion. Within a matter of days, however, it was revealed that the government had made errors with the numbers and the real figure was close to Rs1,550 billion for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, which resulted in a massive drop in the already-low credibility of the government.

As a result of the government’s skyrocketing deficits, the bulk of the banking sector’s lending went into treasury bills, with the private sector being all but crowded out. GDP growth slowed to barely above 3% and fixed investment plummeted to a mere 13.4% of GDP, the lowest since 1974, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.

Yet even as the economy slowed to a pace that was not enough to absorb the growing workforce, the government refused to produce credible unemployment numbers, insisting that the jobless account for no more than 6% of the workforce.

The central bank was scathing in its assessment of the government’s performance. “The implementation of Reformed General Sales Tax, the broadening of tax bases, phasing of electricity subsidies, and restructuring of loss making entities either delayed or not implemented,” it said in its annual report.

Finance Secretary Waqar Masood, however, defended his team’s record. The government did take some bold steps in March by levying sales taxes on previously untaxed sectors. Several of those affected some powerful lobbies, which tried to get those decisions overturned. Their impact, however, will likely not be visible until the end of the fiscal year 2012.

On the external front, exports saw a boom during the first nine months that then began to fizzle out as economic weakness in Pakistan’s major export markets – North America and Europe – began to have an impact on orders. The peak came in May, when the country exported $2.5 billion worth of goods, but it was mostly downhill from there.

The govt made no serious attempts to correct the structural flaws that inhibit export growth. In 2011 Pakistan slipped on Global Competitiveness ranking and stood at 123 against previous rating of 101. It stood behind India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. While the country posted a small current account surplus in 2011, the next year is likely to see a deficit of as high as 2.5% of GDP.

One area of success was the government’s decision to grant Most Favoured Nation status to India. That the government did so over the objections of the religious right wing and the military makes it a particularly courageous decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Glory and medals, but regret and prison cells too...  2011</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314275/glory-and-medals-but-regret-and-prison-cells-too-2011</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314275/glory-and-medals-but-regret-and-prison-cells-too-2011#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 Dec 11 20:43:35 +0500</pubDate>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314275</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The year had it all on the field ... and some off it too.]]>
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				<![CDATA[From reaching the cricket World Cup semi-final to the dismal hockey  Champions Trophy, the year had it all on the field ... and some off it too.

An unprecedented year for sports in Pakistan, 2011 not only saw the usual roller-coaster ride in many disciplines that our athletes took part in but also exceptional performances on and off the field. Apart from team buses, some even experienced the inside of a prison van.

A pioneer in the past, Pakistan made headlines in a criminal court when Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were handed prison sentences. Some labelled it a punishment too harsh but it was cricket’s way of saying that it was a step too far. Respite, however, came in the form of results, ending the year not losing a Test or a One-Day International series and reaching the semi-final of the World Cup.

The national sport, but not the nation’s most-loved sport, was, once again, speckled with unfulfilled promises and dashed hopes. Beating Australia remained the highlight of the year but a dismal seventh in hockey’s Champions Trophy, a tournament that exists because of Pakistan, brought the Asian Games winners back down to the turf.

The real champions for the country, however, were the special Olympians and the blind cricketers. Not money, not fame but doing well for the country was their sole aim. Medals, series-wins and records came aplenty, not so much the nation’s attention or the love, unfortunately. Not household names despite the achievements – winning 17 medals at the Special Olympics and whitewashing India and Australia on the cricket pitch – the back-row heroes marched on.

And as they hope for more laurels in the coming year, the fans hope that sports continues to provide relief from the turmoil, the bombings and the atrocities within.

January 

Quaid-i-Azam Trophy final held under lights, the first day-night first-class match

Wali sisters win gold and silver medals at 1st South Asian Winter Games

Pakistan win Test series in New Zealand

Indo-Pak Express crash out of Australian Open in 3rd round

Amir Atlas banned for six months

February

Pakistan’s first Fed Cup appearance in a decade ends in 3-0 loss to Indonesia

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir banned by the ICC tribunal

Pakistan win ODI series in New Zealand 3-2

Blind cricket team whitewashes Australia 3-0 in Twenty20 series

Danish Atlas wins squash’s Persian Gulf Cup, Fajr International

March 

Blind cricket team whitewashes Australia 3-0 in one-day series

Football team lose two-match series against Palestine

Beat Hong Kong 3-2 to reach Davis Cup semi-final

Shoaib Akhtar announces retirement

End Australia’s 34-match unbeaten run in World Cup

Beat West Indies by 10 wickets to qualify for World Cup semi-final

Lose to India in the semi-final; Afridi ends as the tournament’s joint highest wicket-taker

Danish Atlas wins Norooz International squash tournament

 April

Win inaugural SAARC Baseball Cup

Women’s team wins quadrangular Twenty20 event in Sri Lanka

Top-seed Mohammad Sajjad fails in Asian Snooker Championship

Farhan Mehboob loses Asian Squash Championship semi-final

May

Win ODI series against West Indies 3-2

Draw Test series against West Indies 1-1

Hasan Sadpara becomes the second Pakistani to scale Mount Everest

Lose Azlan Shah hockey final to Australia

Shahid Afridi criticises coach Waqar Younis, is issued a show-cause notice and removed from captaincy; announces retirement and NOC to play in foreign leagues is revoked

Win ODI series in Ireland 2-0

International cricket returns to the country with Afghanistan taking on Pakistan ‘A’

June

Afridi faces hearing and is fined and banned. All-rounder gets stay-order from court, sues PCB but an out-of-court settlement takes place

Bridge team wins Asia and Middle East Championship

Indo-Pak Express lose French Open quarter-final

Amir Atlas loses final of Jena International Squash Championship

Win four-nation hockey tournament in Ireland

Qualify for polo World Cup

Hockey team wins bronze at Junior Asia Cup

Danish Atlas wins Asian Junior Squash Championship

Indo-Pak Express crash out of Wimbledon in first round

Indo-Pak Express win ATP Gerry Weber Open

July

Special Olympics contingent wins 56 medals

Finish bottom in four-nation hockey event in Netherlands, draw two-match series with Belgium, lose two-match series to Netherlands

Mohammad Waseem wins bronze medal in President’s Cup boxing event

Fail to qualify for football World Cup after losing to Bangladesh

Lose Davis Cup semi-final to South Korea

Shahid Aftab beats former world champion Ken Doherty in snooker World Cup but Pakistan crash out in group stage

Saadi Abbas wins gold at Asian Karate-do Senior Championship, the first South Asian to do so

Amir Atlas loses Malaysian Open squash final

August

Win SAFF U-16 football championship

Crash out of World Team Squash Championship in first round

Waqar Younis resigns as Pakistan coach

September 

Indo-Pak Express lose US Open first round

End Zimbabwe tour unbeaten in all three formats

Aleem Dar wins ICC Umpire of the Year Award for third consecutive time

Amir Atlas (two years), Yasir Butt (one year), Waqar Mehboob (six months) banned for poor show at World Team Squash Championship

Lose final of hockey’s Asian Champions Trophy to India 4-2

Win three bronze medals at King’s Cup Sepak Takraw World Championship in maiden appearance

October 

Aisam wins Thailand Open with Austrian partner

Mohsin Khan appointed interim coach

Ijaz Butt’s tumultuous tenure as PCB chief ends, Zaka Ashraf appointed successor

Afridi reverses conditional retirement

Finish third in four-nation nine-a-side hockey event

Indo-Pak Express wins Stockholm Open

Win cricket’s Hong Kong Sixes

November 

Butt, Amir and Asif sentenced after spot-fixing trial

Beat Australia in final of Tri-Nation Hockey Tournament

Win Test series against Sri Lanka 1-0

Afridi returns to national squad, becomes first player to score 50 and take five wicket twice in ODIs

Win ODI series against Sri Lanka 4-1

Indo-Pak Express win Paris Masters

Finish third in Kabaddi World Cup

Blind cricket team wins Twenty20 series against India 2-1, one-day series 3-0; extends unbeaten run to 27 matches

Bag 14 medals to win the inaugural South Asian Karate-do Championship

Women’s team loses qualifying event final but seal berth in 2012 World Twenty20 and 2013 World Cup

Indo-Pak Express splits

December 

Win ODI series in Bangladesh;  sixth consecutive ODI series-win in 2011

Win Test series in Bangladesh, end up not losing any Test series in 2011

Crash out of SAFF Cup football without losing any matches

Finish seventh in hockey’s Champions Trophy

International hockey returns to Pakistan with a four-match series against China, win all the matches

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2011.]]>
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			<title>And Pakistan’s standout performer is...</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314280/and-pakistans-standout-performer-is</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314280/and-pakistans-standout-performer-is#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 Dec 11 20:35:55 +0500</pubDate>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314280</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The Express Tribune staff lists six of those who made a major impact on Pakistan sports in 2011.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The stakes are always against you when representing Pakistan. But some still manage to make a difference. Here, The Express Tribune staff lists six of those who made a major impact on Pakistan sports in 2011.

Saadi Abbas

With all the success that Pakistan enjoyed on the cricket field this year, achievements away from this sport often get overlooked and forgotten.

But one man who managed to make his presence felt on the horizon was Saadi Abbas, Pakistan’s first-ever Asian karate champion. Abbas etched his name in history when he beat his South Korean opponent to win gold in the sub-67 kilogramme category at the Asian Karate-do Championships. He not only became the first Pakistani but also the first south Asian to achieve this feat at an event, and a sport, dominated by China, Japan and Korea.

The breakthrough propelled Abbas to the status of a serious contender at next year’s world championships, an event where he finished seventh three years ago in his maiden appearance. His run in 2011, however, extended beyond his gold-winning effort as he continued his good form to win two more gold medals at the inaugural South Asian Karate Championship, helping Pakistan top the medal table. Abbas has also been crowned champion at the 2006 South Asian Games and the 2009 Commonwealth Karate Championships. He credits his success to the training received at the Dubai-based Al-Ahali club, where he has won the Club World Cup twice, and the lucrative career offered there may force him to limit his national appearances, the first of which came six years ago.

Lack of financial incentive for karatekas in Pakistan will also play a huge hand in the Karachi-born player having little interest in representing the country regularly but Abbas’ biggest dream of winning a world championship gold for Pakistan could very well be a defining moment for the sport in the country, if achieved.

Sana Mir

Pakistan women’s cricket team had an eventful 2011 where their success not only lead to being tournament winners but also qualifying for the 2012 World Twenty20 and the 2013 World Cup.

To say that Sana Mir, the national captain, has had a memorable year would be an understatement. At a personal level, the 25-year-old was the team’s third-highest run-scorer in One-Day Internationals (ODIs), accumulating 211 runs from 13 matches. With the ball, she picked 10 wickets to sit joint 14th in the ICC ODI Championship Bowler’s Rankings, the only Pakistani in the top-20.

Individually, her year was a success but her role as the team leader was more exceptional. Apart from the qualification reward, Pakistan also won the Twenty20 and ODI Quadrangular series in Sri Lanka ahead of the hosts, Ireland and Netherlands. Mir’s efforts did not end there — she opened Pakistan’s innings in the qualifiers where she hit a career-best 49 against Netherlands to secure a semi-final berth and also a place in the elite competition.

She ended the tournament as Pakistan’s second-best batter and was in the thick of the action again in the semi-final, picking up a brace. Although Pakistan lost to West Indies in the final, they managed to move up two places in the rankings and Mir sat back with the knowledge and satisfaction of leading from the front and ensuring the team accomplished what it had set out for.

Shahid Afridi

The year 2011 saw Shahid Afridi swing from one end of the spectrum to the other, and then back again to the other.

Afridi is Pakistan’s best all-rounder when it comes to statistics and arguably the most loved cricketer in the country. He has 333 One-Day International wickets and has scored almost 7,000 runs while maintaining his reputation as a match-winner at various points, especially in global events.

Afridi scored 462 runs from 27 matches this year but it was his haul of 45 wickets – second highest in the world this year behind Lasith Malinga’s 48 – that adds to his charisma and maturity. Pakistan suffered a semi-final defeat in Mohali but Afridi ended joint top with 21 wickets.

His leadership in the global event was also widely praised after the spot-fixing scandal, and the subsequent bans and threats, had pummelled Pakistan down the barrel. Although his captaincy stats remained less attractive than Misbahul Haq’s, the team reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup remained Afridi’s biggest achievement.

Under his captaincy, Pakistan won 12 of the 18 matches but faced a bitter end when he was stripped of captaincy after a public war of words with then-coach Waqar Younis and the cricket board. Retirement, legal battle and verbal exchanges took place until a change at the helm of the Pakistan Cricket Board paved way for Afridi’s comeback, much to the horror of the Sri Lankans as he was named man of the series in the UAE.

He became the first cricketer to achieve a double of scoring 50 and taking five wickets in a match for a second time to send the Sharjah crowd and the Pakistani public in a frenzy. Witnessing that, following a topsy-turvy year that he’s had, confirms his place at the top of the list.

Aisamul Haq Qureshi

Aisamul Haq Qureshi’s year could not have been more topsy-turvy even if it was planned.

It finished on a happier note on a personal level when he got married but the year saw him win four doubles titles – including a Masters event – but also witnessed failed promises and false hopes and his Grand Slam duck continued.

His heroics throughout the year, together with Rohan Bopanna, ensured the Indo-Pak Express competed at the elite year-end London Masters, which had been his aim and dream for years. He finished the year in the top-10 of the individual doubles’ ranking as well as team rankings and with the satisfaction of beating the Bryan brothers who have made the top ranking their own.

The Australian Open and Wimbledon were total disasters for the pair, losing in the round-of-16 and the first round respectively but it managed to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open and the semis at Flushing Meadows, an event where Aisam reached the level of an icon last year with his emotional speech.

Success came Aisam’s way when he won the Thailand Open doubles event with Oliver Marach and then the Stockholm Open with Bopanna. The duo then bagged the Paris Masters title but there was little to celebrate on the court after that.

In Pakistan, he became the face of tennis – and some commercial campaigns – with various sponsors coming forward and supporting the Pakistan Tennis Federation to hold tournaments for juniors and aspiring tennis players.

However, personal goals forced the derailing of the Indo-Pak Express at the end of the year, where Bopanna, gunning for Olympics glory, opted to switch partners temporarily. But Aisam’s contribution has not only kept Pakistan on the tennis map, but also, according to Aqeel Khan, allowed ‘parents to feel that their children can pursue a career in tennis’.

Adeel Ameer

The Special Olympics is a global event held every four years where athletes with intellectual disabilities, ranging from moderate to severe, show the world they are capable of taking centre-stage as well.

Taking part in a global event is a gruesome ask. And performing with the world watching is even more daunting, especially if your brother is murdered just days before you take off. Such was the case with Adeel Ameer, an 18-year-old, who went to Athens under that very pressure and ended up with three gold medals for Pakistan — in high jump, 100 metres and 4x100 metres relay.

“We were both training together, ready to represent Pakistan but then came the shock,” said Ameer, who later admitted that all the hard work and training with his brother had a fair share in his success in Greece. “But I wanted to win for my country and for my brother. I trained harder for the Games and it paid off. I dedicate one of my medals to my brother.” Despite him nursing a knee injury caused in a bike accident, Adeel has vowed to come back stronger, winning more medals for his country.

Misbahul Haq

Not many can overlook Misbahul Haq’s contribution to Pakistan’s cause as the team emerged from the shadows of the spot-fixing allegations, trial and the sentences before witnessing an unprecedented run in 2011.

The 765 runs in 10 Tests at an average of over 69 and the 964 runs in 31 One-Day Internationals come second to Misbah’s leadership, helping his team regain lost pride on the field.

He may never be forgiven for his approach in Mohali, but it was his same calm nature that allowed Pakistan to recover and record impressive victories over Sri Lanka besides clean-sweeping Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

Fans loved a mercurial Pakistan side that would surprise opposition, and themselves. Misbah’s calm and calculated approach did mean that the team would be dull to watch at times but it would also remain in contention and remove its inconsistent tag. Twelve wins in 13 ODIs, six in 10 Tests and four victories in as many Twenty20s made Misbah one of the most successful captains in 2011.

Some would argue that Pakistan are yet to face tough opposition but it’s against the weaker sides that one’s guard is usually lowered. Misbah, however, put the notion to bed with ease, dominating the opposition and paving way for a rejuvenated Pakistan show on the field.

He was also the only Pakistani to be nominated for the ICC Cricketer of the Year Award and was also in the Test Player of the Year category. He didn’t win either but the matches the team won under him puts him as the highlight of Pakistan sports of the year.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Trend, Set, Go 2011</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314179/trend-set-go-2011</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314179/trend-set-go-2011#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 Dec 11 19:42:05 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[hani.taha]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Life &amp; Style]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314179</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Fashion, music and cinematic fads that managed to influence the pop culture.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Fashion knowledge

Fashion’s sudden eruption two years ago meant that specialised knowledge in the field became the need of the day. The fashion school initiated by PFDC got its official approval and formally became an ‘institute’. The first of its kind fashion school, Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design (PIFD), will now give official degrees in fashion to its graduates. One also saw senior fashion journalist Aamna Haider Isani regularise her own vocational Fashion Media 101 to provide a formal orientation for those wishing to step into fashion. Taking cue from Isani’s project, supermodel Mehreen Syed launched the International Fashion Academy of Pakistan (IFAP). Syed’s institute is an official ‘go to’ place for aspiring models, photographers and stylists which could either float or sink in the coming year depending on its course structure and enrolment.

Music

Although concerts are not always marked on our social calendar, unconventional vocal talents like the Wali Orakzai from Yasir and Jawad and Usman Riaz were still discovered in 2011. Orakzai’s Pashto background and his band’s attempt to bring the poetry of Ghani Khan to the fore, ignited interest in eve Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, while Riaz stood out for his sheer talent despite being extremely young. Even the music company EMI came back to life and launched its own website. One also saw a whole new trend of promoting political satire through music emerging with the phenomenal global and local success of the Beghairat Brigade’s “Aalu Anday”.

Lawn

The summer of 2011 defined what summers in Pakistan will henceforth be known for: lawn. This unprecedented explosion of fabric came forth when the term ‘designer lawn’ was coined with reference to designing divas Sana and Safinaz. The duo upped the lawn game by adding embellishments and elevating the status of this summer staple to formal, fashion-savvy attire. With more designers and textile entrepreneurs joining the bandwagon, the lawn hysteria is sure to continue for the next few years.

Cinema

The launch of 3D cinemas just may bring back the glory and excitement of watching films on the big screen. This year was also healthy in terms of local productions like Bol, Bhai Log and Love Mein Ghum that attracted sizeable audiences. With many more local productions like Waar and Seedlings slated to be released in 2012, one may see cinemas and the local film scene take a new lease of life.

Fashion Week

While one really cannot credit the year 2011 to have initiated the fashion week frenzy in the country, it has been a defining year for the industry. New players such as Karachi Fashion Week council stepped in and the trend blazers Fashion Pakistan Council took a bow, leaving the Pakistan Fashion Design Council to strengthen its front. PFDC established itself, built on its credibility and delivered on a pristine bridal week with its pertinent collaboration with the beauty giant L’Oreal in 2011.

Humsafar

After ages did one see a drama reach a cult status to the point where people would deride the ones who weren’t following the serial and even manoeuvre their weekend schedules according to the serial’s timings. When the entire industry is focused on more glamorised productions, “Humsafar” is a simple but poignant ‘touch me not’ romance —  which works, these days in novels only. The fact that not just women but men and young adults are also tuning in or YouTubing the serial makes “Humsafar” such a phenomenon.

Sim Sim Hamara

Pakistan gets its very own version of the popular children’ programme “Seasame Street” courtesy the Rafi Peer group. This colourful and fun puppeteering venture aims to educate rural and urban children through songs specially made for children. “Sim Sim Hamara” also plans to inculcate the lost values of tolerance, sharing and mutual respect that have disappeared from our society in recent times.

Theatre

Theatre enthusiasts got their first major original musical, “Karachi — The Musical” from the visionary Nida Butt and her Made for Stage productions. Before “Karachi — The Musical”, musicals performed in the country borrowed foreign scripts with marginal resonance to local life and typically geared towards an English speaking audience. Although “Karachi — The Musical” tickets were rather steep — inadvertently leading to only the elite attending the play — it was still an effort to show that we are capable of producing original art works with our own social, cultural and musical sensibilities.

stalwarts

Because of a stable and credible platform like PFDC, one got acquainted with Pakistani fashion’s most exciting discoveries such as Adnan Pardesy and Ali Xeeshan. Designers who were considered the flag-bearers of the fashion industry in 2011 are: Pardesy for his construction, Xeeshan for his styling, Mohsin Ali and Akif Mehmood for turning on tradition and Fahad Hussayn for draping and embellishment. However, a special mention goes to the gothic and edgy Hussayn, whose dark romantic approach made his collections stand out. The designer has consistently impressed at every fashion and bridal week and has proven that he can truly do everything from pret to couture, plain drapes to grand ornamentation with equal ease and aplomb.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Terrorism alert: ‘Punjab is home to banned organisations’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/313987/terrorism-alert-%e2%80%98punjab-is-home-to-banned-organisations%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/313987/terrorism-alert-%e2%80%98punjab-is-home-to-banned-organisations%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 29 Dec 11 21:56:03 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[rana.tanveer]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=313987</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Analyst says terrorists have been affected by operations in the north.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The city witnessed two explosions in 2011 which left 13 people dead and 112 injured. More than 250 were killed in 18 terrorist activities in 2010.


In the first incident, on January 25, at Ghora Chowk, Urdu Bazar, a suicide bomber killed 10 people and injured 85. The second incident, on February 3, a bombing, killed three people and injured 27 near Haider Sayeen shrine.

Shahbaz Taseer, son of late Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer and US citizen Warren Weinstein were kidnapped for ransom during the year.

Shahbaz was abducted from Gulberg on August 27, while Weinstein was picked up from his Model Town residence.

Security officials have claimed that Al Qaeda operatives are behind both abductions.

The police have still no clue to the whereabouts of Amir Aftab Malik, son-in-law of Gen (retd) Tariq Majeed, who was kidnapped at gunpoint on August 25, 2010.

Some defence analysts hold the view that the operations in Tribal Areas have effected the network of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which had resulted in a lull in incidents of terrorism. They say there is no evidence to conclude that the terrorists have changed their policy permanently.

Prof Hasan Askari Rizvi said overall incidents of terrorism had decreased but noted that some high profile attacks had occurred. He said the reduction was due to the operations being conducted in Tribal Areas. Rizvi added that TTP apparently lacked training facilities as many suicide attackers had been arrested last year. He said recruitment of suicide bombers had likely been denied by the operations in Tribal Areas.

Rizvi said Aiman al Zawahri had claimed to be behind the kidnapping of Weinstein. He said it was evident that Al Qaeda and TTP were involved in these high profile kidnappings.

Rizvi noted that last year several banned organisations, like Sipah-i-Sahaba and Jamatud Dawa, were allowed to continue their activities. He said although these organisations were limited to the Punjab they could surprise and harm to the security establishment, which currently is patronising them.

He said because the Punjab was relatively more conservative and had more of an ‘anti-India’ element than other provinces, these banned organisations had settled here. He said intelligence agencies were using these organisations to put pressure on the US and the Pakistani government against drone attacks and granting Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India. He said these organisations were also opposed to the military for its role in the war on terror.

A Counter Terrorism Department police officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Express Tribune that terrorists had suspended operations in the settled areas. He said it was evident from intelligence reports that many TTP leaders and operatives were alive and in regular contact. He said even Lahore was not free of TTP operatives.

(Read: Year 2010 for Punjab - Police manages to track only 20% of terrorism cases)

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Flashback: Defining moments of 2011</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/313666/flashback-defining-moments-of-2011</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/313666/flashback-defining-moments-of-2011#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 29 Dec 11 13:41:41 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Jahanzaib Haque]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=313666</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A collection of the top Pakistan news that featured in 2011 based on reader interest and overall news value.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Taking a look back across 2011, there is no doubt that Pakistan has been through a tumultuous year.

The stories below represent some of the top news articles that featured in 2011 based on both reader interest on The Express Tribune website, and overall news value.

______________________________________________



JANUARY
 


Salmaan Taseer assassinated
Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer attacked and killed in a firing incident in Islamabad’s Kohsar market by his guard Mumtaz Qadri.


O level student scores record 23 As
A student in Islamabad, Ibrahim Shahid, set a new world record by scoring 23 As in Cambridge O level exams.


Raymond Davis faces double murder charge
US diplomat charged for murder after killing two men on a motorbike in Lahore.


Slackistan banned in Pakistan
Indie film Slackistan not cleared by the Central Board of Film Censors in Pakistan, effectively banning the film from being shown.


Viva Veena
Veena Malik emerges as a controversial hero after an Express News interview pertaining to her appearance in “Bigg Boss 4”.


FEBRUARY
 


Taliban release video of killing of Col Imam
The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) release a video showing the killing of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officer Colonel Imam.


Winter Games: Skiing sisters from Punial make history
The Wali sisters, who belong to Gilgit-Baltistan’s Punial Valley, bring home a gold and silver medal for Pakistan in the first South Asian Winter Games.


Army training centre hit, 36 killed
A suicide bombing at a Pakistan Army training centre in Mardan killed 36 cadets.


Strike ends as PIA chief quits
Ending one of the longest-ever strikes in the history of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), hundreds of its employees celebrate the ouster of the national carrier’s chief Aijaz Haroon.


New cabinet ministers take oath
Pakistan announces a new, slimline cabinet, cutting its number from 54 to 22 but retains many members of the previous lineup with the notable exception of foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.


MARCH
 


North Waziristan tribes declare war against US
A grand jirga of tribal elders from North Waziristan Agency say they will wage jihad against America to avenge those killed in drone attacks.


India hand 29 run defeat to Pakistan, set up final against Sri Lanka
India beat Pakistan by 29 runs in the second World Cup semi-final in Mohali.


Shahbaz Bhatti assassinated
Federal Minister for Minority affairs Shahbaz Bhatti killed in the I-8/3 area of Islamabad by three unidentified gunmen.


Pakistani policemen lynched in Bahrain
Kashif, and another Bahraini policeman of Pakistani origin, Farooq Baloch, killed on duty during Bahrain riots.


Diplomat or not, Davis departs
Raymond Davis – accused of being a CIA contractor and charged with killing two Pakistanis in Lahore released by a sessions court.


APRIL
 


Moin Akhtar: Greatest loss to laughter
Iconic comedian dies of coronary failure in Karachi. He was 61.


Mukhtaran Mai appeal: Delayed and denied
Dismissing an appeal by gang rape victim Mukhtaran Mai, the Supreme Court  upholds the Lahore High Court’s decision to acquit five of the six accused in the rape case.


Terror strikes Karachi: Twin attacks on Navy buses
At least four people killed and 56 others injured in two separate bomb attacks on Pakistan Navy buses.


Police arrest cannibals, recover flesh
Police arrest two middle-aged brothers on suspicion of stealing and eating human flesh in an investigation into cannibalism in Bhakkar.


DG Khan shrine bombing: Death toll reaches 50
Sakhi Sarwar shrine suicide attack leaves 50 dead in Dera Ghazi Khan. Police investigations reveal that the attack was planned in Bajaur Agency.


MAY
 


Osama bin Laden killed
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden shot dead deep inside Pakistan in a night-time helicopter raid by US covert forces, ending a decade-long manhunt.


PNS Mehran base under attack
More than 10 terrorists attack the PNS Mehran base on Shahrah-e-Faisal Road, Karachi. At least 15 people, including Navy and Rangers personnel killed in the attack.


Wikileaks: Kayani wanted more drone strikes in Pakistan
WikiLeaks cables reveal that the country’s military was requesting the US for greater drone back-up for its own military operations as long ago as January 2008.


Kharotabad fiasco: Security forces kill five foreigners
Security forces claimed to have foiled a suicide attack bid in Quetta by shooting down five foreigners near a Frontier Corps (FC) checkpost in Quetta. Eyewitnesses claim no suicide jacket or explosive-laden vests were recovered from the bodies.


Saleem Shahzad: Missing journalist found dead
Investigative journalist Saleem Shahzad found dead near the Head Rasul area in Mandi Bahauddin, nearly 130 kilometres from Islamabad, after going missing over the weekend.


JUNE
 


Akbar Bugti's grandson among six killed in Karachi firing incident
Six people, including the grandson of former chief of Jamhoori Watan Party Nawab Akbar Bugti, killed in a firing incident in the Defence area of Karachi.


Rangers shooting: Extrajudicial killing caught on tape
A young man is killed when Rangers shoot him in a busy area of Karachi. Video footage of the incident showed the Rangers killing Sarfaraz Shah, who allegedly had a pistol in his hand.


Suicide attack in I-8 sector of Islamabad
A suicide bomber targets a branch of Silk Bank in the I-8 sector area of Islamabad.


Midnight terror: At least 34 killed in Peshawar Cantt blasts
At least 34 people killed and over 90 injured, among them television journalists and a senior police officer, when two blasts rip through a marketplace in the garrison area of Peshawar.


AJK election fallout: MQM ministers tender resignations
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) ministers resigned from the federal and provincial cabinets along with the Sindh Governor. The MQM file a petition against alleged government interference in and the postponement of elections for the AJK Legislative Assembly seats.


JULY
 


Oslo attacker feared ‘Pakistanisation’ of Europe
Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian terrorist who killed more than 90 people in two attacks in Oslo, mortally terrified of the idea of several ‘mini Pakistans’ appearing all over the map of Europe.


Mumbai blasts: Over 20 killed, 141 injured
Three near-simultaneous IED explosions in the Indian city of Mumbai kill over 20 people and injured over 141.


A province stoked: Mirza’s diatribe against MQM fuels tension in Sindh
Zulfiqar Mirza launches a diatribe against the MQM. Inflammatory comments on the part of Mirza include “This province was here for centuries before you [Urdu-speaking migrants] came to this city hungry and naked [after Partition in 1947].”


Khar becomes first female foreign minister of Pakistan
Hina Rabbani Khar became the first Pakistani woman foreign minister. Pakistan’s new 34-year-old female foreign minister wins instant fans in India where a flurry of flattering headlines greeted her first trip to the country.


Court releases terror kingpin, alleged killer of 70
Malik Ishaq, one of the founders of the dreaded terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), key suspect in the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in 2009 and 43 other cases in which 70 people were killed, released on bail.


AUGUST
 


Shahbaz Taseer abducted from Lahore
Shahbaz Taseer, son of late Governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer, abducted from the Gulberg area of Lahore.


Diatribe of a lifetime: Hurricane Mirza shakes up political landscape
Zulfiqar Mirza, during a fiery press conference in Karachi, announces his resignation from the Sindh cabinet, the Sindh Assembly as well as his position of senior vice president in the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).


Pakistan creates new anthem record
Enthusiasts gathered in Karachi  to create a new record for the most number of people singing a national anthem simultaneously – and they succeeded.


Judicial intervention: SC takes suo motu notice of Karachi violence
With political forces struggling to contain outbreaks of extreme violence in Karachi, the Supreme Court steps in – taking suo motu notice of the continuous bloodshed.


Sarfraz Shah murder case: In swift trial, Rangers man is sentenced to death
An Anti-Terrorism Court in Karachi hands down the death penalty to a Rangers official accused of extrajudicial murder of Sarfaraz Shah. Five other members of the same Rangers unit and a civilian Afsar Khan sentenced to life imprisonment.


SEPTEMBER
 


Girl accused of blasphemy for a spelling error
A student at the Sir Syed Girls High School in Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) colony Havelian, accused of blasphemy for erroneously misspelling a word in an Urdu exam while answering a question on a poem written in praise of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).


Taliban hit list: Battleground shifts from headquarters to home
Chaudhry Aslam, a senior police officer, infamous for his tough measures against notorious criminal elements, survives yet another suicide blast – this time at his residence in Karachi.


Sialkot brothers’ deaths: Justice catches up with lynchers
On August 15, 2010, hundreds of people gathered in broad daylight in Buttran Wali, Sialkot, as Mughees and Muneeb were lynched, in full view of police officers. An anti-Terrorism Court Gujranwala (ATC) issued its verdict, sentencing seven people to death, six to life in prison, and giving all the policemen involved in the incident three-year terms.


London calling: Altaf Hussain hits back at friends, foes
It was one of the few press conferences Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain has addressed since his self-imposed exile in London, and one that few will forget.


APC consensus: 'Give peace a chance'
The All Parties Conference reaches consensus over a joint resolution which refutes all US allegations regarding the Haqqani network and sought a revisit of Pakistan’s policy towards the war on terror.


Karachi violence case: Supreme Court reserves its judgment
The Supreme Court directed Sindh Advocate General Abdul Fattah Malik to submit a daily report to Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany on cases relating to crime in the city since July 24. The apex court also asked its subordinate judges presiding over such cases to deliver verdicts as soon as possible.


OCTOBER
 


Imran Khan's 'tsunami' sweeps Lahore
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) takes out a large rally at the Minar-e-Pakistan ground in Lahore. More than 100,000 supporters gather as a show of strength in what is traditionally the PML-N stronghold.


Dress modestly: Masked men enter girls’ school, thrash students
Sixty masked men carrying iron rods barge into a girls’ school in Rawalpindi and thrash students and female teachers. The gang of miscreants warn the MC Model Girls High School in Satellite Town to “dress modestly and wear hijabs” or face the music.


Nusrat Bhutto, doyenne of MRD, dies at 82
Begum Nusrat Bhutto, former first lady of Pakistan and the mother of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, dies at a Dubai hospital. She was 82.


Afridi withdraws international retirement
Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi reverses his decision to retire from international cricket.


Necrophilia: Man arrested from graveyard with bone-chilling story
Mohammad Riaz, arrested from a graveyard, confesses to having defiled the corpses of 48 women in the Paposh Nagar graveyard in the last eight years.


NOVEMBER
 


Filtering SMS: PTA may ban over 1,500 English, Urdu words
A new PTA letter floating online orders the imposition of a “system” to ban select words in mobile SMS messages. The PTA later takes back the decision and says it will finalise a list after taking all stakeholders on board.


Shah Mahmood Qureshi joins PTI
Former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi resigns from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and formally announces his decision to join the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) at a rally in Ghotki.


24 soldiers killed in NATO attack on Pakistan check post
An early morning attack by North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) helicopters kills at least 24 security personnel and injures 12 soldiers on a Pakistani check post in Salala.


Haqqani offers to resign; Mullen confirms existence of secret memo
Pakistani-American businessan Mansoor Ijaz reveals senior leadership in Pakistan had sent a memo to Admiral Mike Mullen through former Ambassador Husain Haqqani asking the US for help against the military establishment.


Sherry Rehman appointed Pakistan's Ambassador to the US
Sherry Rehman appointed Pakistan's Ambassador to the US after Husain Haqqani resigns in light of the Memogate scandal.


BBC taken off air in Pakistan by cable operators
BBC World News taken off air by a number of Pakistani cable television operators after proclaiming to ‘ban’ the channel for airing anti-Pakistan programming following a NATO air strike on a Pakistani border check post that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.


DECEMBER
 


Pakistan says decision to boycott Bonn conference is final
Pakistan’s boycotts the Bonn conference in Germany, to protest against the Nato cross-border attack that killed 24 soldiers.


Veena Malik denies nude photo shoot for FHM
Veena Malik stirs controversy in both Pakistan and India after a “nude” picture appears online. Veena says the photo has been morphed and later adds that it was a topless, and not a “nude” shoot.


Imran's dream team wows Karachi
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf holds a mammoth rally in Karachi.


Kayani’s bold move: ‘Pakistani troops will return fire if Nato attacks again’
In a development that pushes US-Pakistan relations further into the realm of uncertainty, the army authorizes its local commanders deployed near the Afghan border to retaliate to any future incursions by Nato forces.


Facing the music: President Zardari returns under the cover of night
President Asif Ali Zardari mysteriously leaves Pakistan for Dubai. It is later reported that the president is ill and will return soon, causing rumors of a military takeover to spread. Zardari later returns to Pakistan to resume his duties.



______________________________________________

Note: This round-up is not exhaustive of all important events in 2011. Additionally, it does not include opeds or blogs.]]>
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			<title>Key events of 2011: Arab Spring, Bin Laden's death and economic meltdown</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/313672/key-events-of-2011-arab-spring-bin-ladens-death-and-economic-meltdown</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/313672/key-events-of-2011-arab-spring-bin-ladens-death-and-economic-meltdown#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 29 Dec 11 13:38:03 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[afp]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=313672</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A month by month round up of world events.]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Turmoil in the Arab world, deepening crisis on financial markets, disaster in Japan and the end of the line for Osama bin Laden: here is a panorama of world events in 2011.

- January 14: Confronted with a massive popular movement which unleashes unrest across the Arab world, Tunisia's authoritarian president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali flees the country after 23 years in power.

- February 11: In Egypt, with massive crowds filling Cairo's central Tahrir Square, Hosni Mubarak becomes the next Arab leader to step down, and hands over power to the military. Nearly 850 civilians are killed in the revolt.

- February 14: The latest country to join what is dubbed the Arab Spring, Bahrain sees protests calling for political reforms. Saudi Arabia sends troops, and the protests are crushed by mid-March. Around 30 people die during the repression.

- February 15-16: A rebellion erupts in Benghazi, Libya's second-biggest city, against the 42-year-old regime of Muammar Qaddafi. On March 19, French, US and British forces launch UN-mandated air strikes, before handing over command to Nato on March 31. The opposition creates the National Transitional Council, which is recognised by the UN and over 60 countries.

- February 22: In New Zealand's city of Christchurch a devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake kills over 200 people.

- February 26: Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen becomes the first political victim of the financial crisis rattling the eurozone after his ruling Fianna Fail party is crushed by voters angry over the economy and an EU-IMF bailout. He is followed out of office in March by Portuguese premier Jose Socrates.

- March 11: A massive earthquake and tsunami devastates northeastern Japan, leaving 20,000 people dead or missing and unleashing a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima plant, the worst since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

- March 15: Syria becomes the next Arab country to face popular protests, which are heavily put down by the security forces. More than 5,000 people die in months of unrest, according to the UN. The regime of President Bashar alAssad faces international pressure over the repression.

- April 11: Troops loyal to Ivory Coast leader Alassane Ouattara capture his besieged rival Laurent Gbagbo in Abidjan after a disputed election. In November Gbagbo is transferred to the International Criminal Court.

- April 29: Britain's Prince William and his bride Kate Middleton marry with huge crowds and a global TV audience watching Britain's biggest royal celebration for three decades. They become the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

- May 1: The Vatican confers "blessed" status, one step from full sainthood, on the late pope John Paul II at a solemn ceremony.

- May 2: Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, believed responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, is shot dead by US commandos in Pakistan after a 10-year manhunt.

- May 6: In Ivory Coast, Ouattara, who won the disputed October-November election, is sworn in as president, promising national reconciliation. According to the new authorities the violence that followed the November 2010 election cost 3,000 lives.

- May 14: IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigns and faces trial after being accused of a sexual assault on a maid in his hotel suite in New York. The charges are later dismissed, but his ambitions of becoming French president are ruined.

- May 17: The start of anti-capitalism demonstrations in Spain. They spread to Britain and the United States via Chile, with tens of thousands demonstrating around the world on October 15.

- May 26: Serbia arrests Europe's most wanted man, Bosnian Serb wartime army commander Ratko Mladic. He is transferred to the UN's Yugoslavia warcrimes court in The Hague.

- June 22: US President Barack Obama decides to bring 33,000 troops home from Afghanistan by mid-2012. On July 17, Afghanistan begins handing responsibility for security from NATO soldiers to its own troops.

- July 9: South Sudan proclaims independence after a January referendum in which almost 99 percent voted in favour of secession. The new country becomes the UN's 193rd member state.

- July 21: The US space shuttle Atlantis cruises home for a final time, closing a 30-year chapter in American space exploration, in which two shuttles, Challenger and Columbia were lost in accidents with the death of 14 astronauts.

- July 22: 77 people are killed in a massive twin bombing and shooting spree by right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik in Norway. He is later judged insane.

- August 2: After a weeks-long battle, the US Congress agrees on a massive austerity plan and raising the US debt ceiling. On August 6, Standard and Poor's cuts the US credit rating from its top-flight triple-A for the first time in history, amid concerns over the country's deficit and debt.

- August 4: The police shooting of a 29-year-old black man in Tottenham, north London provokes rioting in the capital and across England. Five people are killed and hundreds of shops looted, some set alight.

- September 20: Burhanuddin Rabbani, Afghanistan's former president tasked with finding a peace deal with the Taliban, is assassinated in a suicide attack.

- October 7: Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian "peace warrior" Leymah Gbowee, and Yemen's Arab Spring activist Tawakkul Karman win the Nobel Peace Prize.

- October 20: Toppled Libyan leader Qaddafi is killed after forces loyal to the country's new rulers seize his hometown of Sirte after a seven-month-long campaign. On October 23, the new rulers declare that Libya has been liberated.

On December 16, the UN and the United States lift most of their sanctions on Libya.

- October 23: More than 600 die in a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in eastern Turkey.

- October 23: The moderate Islamists of the Ennahda party win 89 of the 217 seats in Tunisia's new constituent assembly.

- October 27: European Union leaders reach a ground-breaking deal to save the bloc's single currency, including a new rescue of Greece, a trillion-euro bailout fund, and a deal squeezing banks to share the burden of the two-year debt crisis.

- October 31: Palestinians win entry to UNESCO.

- October 31: The world's population passes the seven billion mark.

- November 7: Michael Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter over the King of Pop's 2009 death. He is later sentenced to a maximum four years behind bars.

- November 8: The UN atomic watchdog says it has "serious concerns" about Iran's nuclear activities, and has "credible" information Tehran may have worked on developing atomic weapons, prompting the West to reinforce sanctions against the Islamic republic.

- November 9: Greek Socialist Prime Minister George Papandreou stand downs after sparking chaos in the EU with his plan for a referendum on the October 27 economic rescue deal, which is quickly dropped. He is succeeded by vice-president of the European Central Bank, Lucas Papademos.

- November 12: Silvio Berlusconi becomes the latest leader to lose his job over the eurozone financial crisis, resigning amid Italy's 1.9 trillion euro debt burden. He is replaced by technocrat Mario Monti, who vows to balance the budget by 2013.

- November: The death toll from Thailand's worst floods in decades jumps to at least 666. The floods damage millions of homes and livelihoods.

- November 23: In another development in the Arab Spring, after months of deadly clashes, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh signs a deal to hand over his powers after 33 years in office. On December 10, a national unity government is sworn in. Hundreds have been killed in the protests.

- November 25: A moderate Islamist party wins the most seats in Morocco's parliamentary elections.

- November 28-29: Egypt holds its first post-revolution election in Cairo and the port city Alexandria. The polls take place after a week of protests calling for the resignation of the interim military rulers, in which 42 people are killed. Islamists take an early lead in the elections, a lead confirmed in the second phase held on December 14-15, amid a new wave of deadly violence.

- November 29: Britain's embassy in Tehran is attacked by protesters angry at fresh sanctions against Tehran's nuclear programme. Britain expels Iranian diplomats and shuts its embassy in response.

- December 4: In Russia, legislative elections see the ruling United Russia party of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin narrowly retain its majority despite allegations of widespread voter irregularities, unleashing popular protests not seen since the 1990s.

- December 9: EU leaders back tighter budget policing in desperate efforts to save the eurozone, but Britain vetoes a new EU treaty.

- December 16: In the southern Philippines, mammoth floods unleashed by tropical storm Washi leave at least 1,249 dead or missing.

- December 17: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il dies aged 69 of a heart attack as Pyongyang urges people to rally behind Kim's youngest son Jong-Un.

- December 18: The last US forces leave Iraq nearly nine years after launching a divisive war to oust Saddam Hussein.

- December 19: Syria, suspended in November from the Arab League, agrees to allow an observer mission to monitor a deal to end nine months of bloodshed. The massacres go on, with 123 civilians killed on December 20. On the 27 the observers visit the flashpoint city of Homs a day after dozens of people were killed in the crackdown.]]>
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			<title>Imran's dream team wows Karachi</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/311748/pakistan-tehreek-i-insaf-rally-in-karachi-live-updates</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/311748/pakistan-tehreek-i-insaf-rally-in-karachi-live-updates#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 25 Dec 11 14:20:11 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[saba.imtiaz]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=311748</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PTI Chairman announces former foreign minister Sardar Asif Ali will join PTI.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Addressing a mammoth crowd at the Quaid’s Mausoleum, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf Chief Imran Khan signaled that his party’s tsunami was reaching new heights, on its way to fulfilling his dream of forming the government.

“When I saw Tsunami in Lahore, I thought to myself it will be very difficult to top this. But today, I congratulate the people of Karachi, because they beat the [October 30] rally,” Imran said. He chanted the names of all of Pakistan’s major ethnicities as people from those groups responded. Mentioning religious minorities, he wished a merry Christmas to the Christians of Pakistan.

The PTI Chairman said a special welcome to a man he introduced as Zulfiqar Ali who had come all the way from Dera Ghazi Khan to attend the rally. “He financed his trip by selling his mobile phone!”

“I welcome Javed Hashmi to PTI. The one thing I truly admire about him is his bravery. I welcome Shah Mahmood Qureshi again,” he said. He then made the announcement that former foreign minister Sardar Asif Ali has said that he will be joining the PTI.

“The Quaid wanted Pakistan to be an Islamic welfare state, and I will make it into one,” Khan said. He said that it was at the age of 18 when he first went to Britain and understood what a welfare state is.

“I was surprised to see that every person, rich or poor, was given a free education that would enable him or her to even become the prime minister of Britain,” he said. “This is my dream: A Pakistan where every human being is valued.”

“The first thing we want to create is a just legal system in the country. We want courts that do not discriminate. We will take justice to the grassroots, to the rural areas and include everyone in the system,” Imran said. “We will provide everyone justice for free.”

“This is my promise to you: I will bring forth for you a team the likes of which this country has never seen,” Imran said. “What will this team do? Under Jahangir Tarin, this team will present policy papers on every issue twice a month. We will present policies on agriculture, transport, local government, and foreign affairs. We will present to you how Pakistan will become an independent nation.”

And most importantly, PTI will present a tax plan that will ensure that this country never has to beg for money from anybody, he said. “We will create a police force independent of political influence, based purely on merit. When I am in government, one day they will even stop Imran Khan’s own car for over speeding.”

Announcing his support for Balochistan, he said that the next stop of his ‘tsunami’ will be Quetta on March 23, 2012. “My Balochi brothers, I ask you for forgiveness on behalf of Pakistanis. We have been unjust to you. We did to you what we did to East Pakistanis. We have kept you as a colony.”

When PTI is in power, we will use the model of West and East Germany, he said. “West Germany gave East Germany special status and diverted all development to thast area. We will develop Balochistan. We will come to you, embrace you, ask for your forgiveness, and address all your grievances,” he said.

The PTI Chairman did not raise criticism against the MQM in his speech.

End of live updates

8:48pm

PTI Chief Imran Khan addresses the rally.

“When I saw Tsunami in Lahore, I thought to myself it will be very difficult to top this. But today, I congratulate the people of Karachi, because they beat the [October 30] rally,” Imran says. He chanted the names of all of Pakistan’s major ethnicities as people from those groups responded. Mentioning religious minorities, he wished a merry Christmas to the Christians of Pakistan.

He said a special welcome to a man he introduced as Zulfiqar Ali who had come all the way from Dera Ghazi Khan to attend the rally. “He financed his trip by selling his mobile phone!”

“I welcome Javed Hashmi to PTI. The one thing I truly admire about him is his bravery. I welcome Shah Mahmood Qureshi again,” he said.

He then made the announcement that former foreign minister Sardar Asif Ali has said that he will be joining the PTI.

08:00pm

Qureshi says that when he was the foreign minister of Pakistan, he expressed opinions against the US-India civil nuclear deal. However, he says President Zardari sent out a message that Pakistan will not go against any such nuclear deal.

Qureshi says that a nuclear deal between US and India severely undermines Pakistan.

If Pakistan ever signs "no first strike" agreement with India, its nuclear assets will be wasted and worthless, Qureshi says.

He "accuses" President Zardari of ruining the deterrent value of Pakistan’s nuclear program by saying 'no first strike' on India.

The PTI vice chairman assures the people that Pakistan’s nuclear assets are physically safe but are threatened by such “evil” decisions and such people.

Clarifying PTI’s stand on India, Qureshi says that his party wants friendship with everyone, with the US and India. But it would not tolerate slave-master relations.

“We want friendship and not slavery,” says Qureshi.

“If you want to see this country as an independent country, then vote for a leadership that has the guts to take bold stand on all such decisions,” Qureshi says.

7:44pm

Shah Mahmood Qureshi addresses the jalsa.

“Today, PIA, Wapda and all other institutions of the country are failing continuously but all these things can improve if the people of Pakistan decide to vote for a leadership that can bring about that change,” Qureshi says.

He said that all these failures are a result of incompetence and corruption. There are five things that everyone has agreed upon: “Firstly, democracy. Everyone wants democracy and no one is conspiring against the government. Prime Minister Gilani, it is your corruption that is a conspiracy against your own government. Secondly, justice. If you want justice in the country, vote for the PTI. The party will ensure that justice prevails. Thirdly, an independent judiciary. The present set-up has buried the concept of necessity. Fourth, free media which will promote accountability and democratic values. And lastly, Pakistan’s nuclear programme. Ensuring its security is something everyone agrees on. Would you let anyone trade our nuclear capability?” Qureshi said.
He said that as a former foreign minister of Pakistan, he knows that this programme protects Pakistan from outside threat. “Pakistan’s nuclear programme is under a five-layered security system and is of international standards. But then you wonder what the threat is about? There is no physical threat but there is a threat from certain people.”

People scream Zardari’s name. “Everyone said my comments [about Zardari] were irresponsible but I still stand by my comments,” Qureshi says.

7:26pm

"Go Zardari Go" trends worldwide on Twitter.

Chants of “Go Zardari Go” as Shah Mahmood Qureshi takes the stage.

“Now that Karachi has woken up, it is as if Pakistan has awaken from its slumber. I congratulate the people of Karachi for attending this historic gathering. Our mission was to heal the bruises of Karachi and unite Karachiites and today’s rally has done that,” he said.

Quaid, you provided us with a country that we have failed to protect, but today we have gathered to protect this country, Qureshi said. “Everyone can see that things are changing. I can see people smiling. I can see their eyes shining.”

“Pakistan is under threat because of our own weaknesses. No one from outside will come to help us, we have to mend things ourselves,” he said.

7:19pm

Javed Hashmi addresses the rally, amid shouts of "Ek Bahadur Aadmi, Hashmi, Hashmi".

“We have gathered here for peace. This gathering, made up of the young generation of Pakistan, is the harbinger of a revolution,” the former PML-N stalwart said. “Today is the birthday of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. When he made this country, he wanted to ensure justice for Muslims of the subcontinent. Justice was his slogan and movement for justice is Imran’s slogan. This is why we have come forward to provide justice. It is the youth of this country who will achieve that.”

Talking about his former party, Hashmi said that PML-N workers also want Pakistan to prosper and progress. “I love those workers and my former party but I love the people of Pakistan more than that and that is why I have come here.”

Hashmi, who joined the PTI earlier this week, said that when he was considering joining the PTI, he was humbled by Imran Khan’s invitation. “For the first time, a leader said to me that I have never gone to ask anyone to join the party but I have come to you and not for myself but for Pakistan. How could I say no to that?”

For years, I was alone in demanding that leaders declare their assets. Now this is Imran’s voice and I would like to him that I will not back off [from my support of him], he said.

Addressing the people, he said, “Now, I hand you my 40 years of hard work. No one can raise questions over financial, social and political matters throughout my career or doubt my dedication to this country.”

7:05pm

Light grid on the right side of the stage (if your back is towards it) just fell forward. A group of people is standing there.

Twitter update:

Anthony Permal 
If they can mention Afia Siddiqui, I DARE Imran Khan &amp; Hashmi to mention Asia Bibi. #PTIJalsa #PTI #Pakistan
Rabia Mehmood 
This tall guy in black shalwarkamiz &amp; camel col jacket,rt of Hashmi seat was w/ Moonisilahi the day he ws released in #NICL scam.#ptijalsa
&nbsp;

6:28pm

"Dil Dil Pakistan" also trending worldwide on Twitter.

PTI leader Hamid Khan addresses the rally.

ANP leader Bushra Gohar tweets about the PTI Jalsa.

Bushra Gohar
Has our electronic media formally joined PTI or have they received instructions? Seem overly enthusiastic Wonder why?
6:22pm
Fauzia Kasuri, the women’s wing president of PTI, addresses the rally. Vital Signs’ classic “Dil Dil Pakistan” plays.  PTI leader Arif Alvi also addresses the rally. Crowd persistently shouts “Go Zardari Go”.

6:08pm
Abrar and Haq also trending worldwide on Twitter.  Earlier, the rally was addressed by PTI leaders Naeemul Haq and Asfand Qaiser. "Main Toh Dekhoonga" by Strings starts playing, as Haq ends speech with Pakistan Zindabad and Imran Khan Zindabad slogans.

5:50pm

Abrarul Haq makes passionate speech and recites poetry. Says PTI will win a two-thirds majority in the next general election. The government that PTI will form will be that of the common man, of the youth, not that of the VIPs, he says. The situation has changed after October 30. Under Imran Khan's leadership, a revolution is just waiting to happen, he says.

5:40pm
Azam Swati, Javed Hashmi and Imran Khan trending worldwide on Twitter.

5:32pm

Javed Hashmi arrives at the podium. Imran Khan embraces Hashmi amidst slogans of “Ek Bahadur Aadmi, Javed Hashmi, Javed Hashmi”. Earlier, Azam Khan Swati addressed the rally. Explained his reasons for wanting Zardari on the Exit Control List and the Memogate scandal. Khursheed Mehmud Kasuri also makes brief speech.

5:12pm

Salman Ahmed plays the Pakistan National Anthem. Sings "Meri Awaz Suno" and "Jazba Junoon". Earlier, musician Abrarul Haq recited a naat, which was then followed by speeches by PTI leaders Samson Sharaf, Aslam Rajput and Dr Hasan Raza.

 4:57pm
Express News reports that Javed Hashmi is also in attendance. Junoon's Salman Ahmed is also on stage. A large group of people has gathered outside as entrances are too narrow.
Attendees carry posters of the Aafia Movement with pictures of Pakistani neuroscientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui and Imran Khan on them.

4:40 pm

Imran Khan has arrived at the podium amid tight security. Takes a seat next to Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Express News is reporting at least a hundred thousand people are in attendance.

PTI workers release doves in PTI colours. Jehangir Tareen and Khurshid Kasuri have also arrived.

4:15 pm

Express News reports that Imran Khan has departed from his friend’s residence in Karsaz and will arrive at the venue shortly. Shah Mahmood Qureshi and other senior PTI leaders are accompanying him.

PTI's Arshad Qureshi said that the jalsa's success had shown that the "politics of language" has ended in Karachi.

4:00 pm

In his speech, PTI's Waleed Iqbal said that "tsunami can create electricity, extract reserves, can start up shut down railway engines and make grounded PIA planes fly."

Here's what's new on Twitter:
Zak__

A sea of crowd here,even by evening Quid e Azam would announce joining PTI, #Jalsa

aliktareen

En Route to the Jalsa. The roads of Khi are flooded with coasters full of young people adorned in PTI flags #PTIJalsa

Faiza_PK

Dear #PTI, please enjoy your jalsa, have fun, bring Tsunami or whatever it is that you're bringing... BUT plz don't use foul language! Thx

KHAN2705

Well so my one eye is on the Star World India's Christmas episodes run and other one on PTI Jalsa :)
3:30 pm

Musician Abrarul Haq recited a naat, which was then followed by speeches by PTI leaders Samson Sharaf, Aslam Rajput and Dr Hasan Raza, reports Saba Imtiaz. Former JUI (F) leader Azam Swati is at the event as are members of PTI's provincial leadership and Central Executive Committee.

3:15 pm

Journalists estimate that the crowd is in thousands. Saba Imtiaz reports that a huge cheer went up in the crowd when it was announced that there were traffic jams on Shahrah-e-Faisal and Shahrah-e-Quaideen because of the incoming flow of PTI supporters to the event. Musicians Abrarul Haq and Salman Ahmed are being touted as on the bill for performances at the event.

3:00 pm

Express News reports that people are approaching the venue in large numbers. People are queing up outside the entrance, waiting to clear security checks put in place by PTI volunteers.

Musician Abrarul Haq has reportedly reached the jalsa venue. Haq hasn’t been the only musician who has been associated with PTI. On August 11, the Islamabad-based band Alag came out with a patriotic number called “Jaago Pakistan”, which was dedicated to PTI. Amongst other musicians, the band Soch, Alterego and pop singer Shahzaman Alam have also expressed their support. A plethora of Imran Khan’s own friends such as Ali Azmat, Strings and others who had worked with him during charity tours to raise funds for Shaukat Khanum Cancer Memorial Hospital have been consistent supporters of his public rallies.

Here's the Twitter buzz:
marvi_memon

Pti jalsa shld b v huge today....jalsa attendees wil b expecting a lot from pti leadership on stage.faces on stage wil b ur answer.

samishah

Imran Khan promises jalsa will turn into worlds largest key party. Bring your hats and spouses.

AamnaTaseer

My friends have hired a truck and are attending the PTI jalsa today. Stay safe. So many jokes going round regarding CHAIRS.

shyyawn

:O people seemed excited about the PTI jalsa for weeks and they are going. And they are those who never were interested in politics before.

SikanderFayyaz

Over hundred thousand already at #PTIjalsa. This is big, no this will be huge, bigger than any jalsa anyone has held before. Power of Hope!
2:45 pm

Saba Imtiaz reports that an announcement has been made on the stage to allow more people into the ground, and a sea of people carrying PTI flags then entered the venue.

President of the Insaf Students Federation (ISF) in Karachi, Arsalan Ghumman tells The Express Tribune via SMS:

"Protect the jalsa venue... ISF tsunami heading to it."

2:30 pm

Saba Imtiaz reports that PTI supporters at the jalsa say they are there because "Imran Khan can bring change in the country".

Allahdino, who travelled from Larkana with his cousin, told The Express Tribune, that "if the leadership is good, the other politicians will work under him (Khan) and improve". He said he would expect Khan to improve the quality of education in Sindh.

Khawar and Wazir, in their early 20s, are originally from Gilgit and study in Karachi. Their priorities for Khan are "improving the law and order situation in Karachi and giving Gilgit Baltistan the status of a province"

The boys also took pictures of each other posing with PTI flags to upload on Facebook, they said.

Khushal Ahmed Butt, who has lived in Karachi for 15 years, came to the event with his four young children. "We've come on their demand. We support Khan and believe he can improve the conditions of the country."

Here's the Twitter update:
TheRealHaroon

I want to wish PTI a safe and successful rally today in Karachi on the birthday of the father of our nation!!

murtazasolangi

I sincerely wish PTI to have a good rally in the city of the Quaid. I hope the PTI leaders can explain their manifesto &amp; strategy!

cpyala

One fauji source claiming all lower staff of forces have been ordered to go to PTI rally. Private transport will appar be provided.

baylinveil

The fact that PTI is calling every household landline in Karachi w/ an Imran Khan recording personally inviting to the rally is brilliant.
2:15 pm

Saba Imtiaz reports that a few hundred supporters have arrived at the venue. The organisers have started playing PTI songs and those by Shehzad Roy and Strings to get the crowd going. PTI supporters are floating a large Pakistan flag in the crowd. According to an earlier estimate by PTI, 50,000 party flags will be distributed.

PTI's main leadership has not arrived at the venue as yet.

2:00 pm

Sufi Abdul Jalil, known as “Chacha (Uncle) Cricket”, is also present at the PTI rally. He is Pakistan’s most famous spectator and has become a prominent fixture at his country’s matches at home and abroad for nearly three decades.

1:45 pm

Saba Imtiaz reports that security arrangements and checks are quite thorough and are manned by the police and volunteers. There is separate seating for men and families.

According to a PTI official, there are 2,000 volunteers on duty. The ground can accommodate between 250,000 to 300,000 people. Around 50,000 to 60,000 chairs have been placed. There are separate arrangements for the press, PTI's senior leadership, Insaf Students Federation members and families.

1:30 pm

The Express Tribune correspondent Saba Imtiaz reports that there is a large crew of male and female volunteers at the site and flags are being distributed at the gate. Supporters are milling around but only a few dozen have made their way in.

Imtiaz reports that the roads leading to the jalsa site are festooned with PTI billboards and banners. There are a fair number of cars and motorcycles on the route with PTI flags.]]>
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			<title>Karachi goes gaga over Imran Khan telephone call, in new PTI marketing ploy</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/308899/karachi-goes-gaga-over-imran-khan-telephone-call-in-new-pti-marketing-ploy</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/308899/karachi-goes-gaga-over-imran-khan-telephone-call-in-new-pti-marketing-ploy#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 20 Dec 11 04:19:51 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[rabia.ali]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Half of the city’s landlines have been receiving the message.]]>
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				<![CDATA[On a lazy Sunday, a woman was woken up by the telephone ringing at the ungodly hour of 7am.

Who could it be at this hour, she pondered as she drowsily reached for the handset. To her surprise, a husky but alluring voice - one which has been clogging the airwaves these days - was on the other end, speaking in Urdu.

“Assalam-o-Alaikum. This is Imran Khan speaking. How are you? I am coming to your city to bring everyone together on December 25 at Mazar-e-Quaid for a peace rally. I hope that you can break all the shackles and take part because at this rally we need to make the beginnings of a new Pakistan. I will be waiting. Thank you.”

This recorded voice message by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) chairperson Imran Khan has been waking up people across the city – much to their delight it appears.

“I was shocked to hear him,” said Saba Abid, who received the message on Sunday morning. “In the beginning, I couldn’t understand why he was calling me. I think it’s a creative way to advertise, except for the part of waking up people early in the morning.”

It seems to have worked, however, as Ariba, a teenage resident of DHA, was sufficiently convinced. “Listening to his voice message was amazing,” she gushed. “I am definitely going to his jalsa with all my friends.”

This marketing strategy was first used to invite people in Lahore before the jalsa on October 30 and the party felt it produced successful results in mobilising thousands of people. “In Karachi we decided to do the same thing because miscreants are tearing down our posters and banners,” said the party’s head in Sindh, Naeem-ul Haq. “Through Imran Khan’s personalised message, we hope to mobilise our supporters.”

The phone campaign has been going on for a week. “Around 300,000 people will be receiving the recorded messages on their PTCL landlines,” explained SM Ilyas at the PTI Karachi office. This is about half of the total number of subscribers in the city.

A Lahore company is involved in the social marketing, and anyone can call the number, 042-38375454, to hear the message as well.

Haseeb Anwar, a resident of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, was so excited to hear his favourite politician’s voice, he started talking back until he realised it was a recorded message. He’ll just have to wait till Christmas to hear him live.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20th, 2011.

Correction: Due to a typographical error, the word 'beginnings' was misspelled in an earlier version of the article. The error has been rectified.]]>
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			<title>Veena Malik denies nude photo shoot for FHM</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/301161/nude-photo-shoot-has-veena-done-it-again</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/301161/nude-photo-shoot-has-veena-done-it-again#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 02 Dec 11 12:23:45 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Veena confirms she shot for FHM, but was wearing clothes, claims picture was morphed.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Veena Malik has stirred controversy in both Pakistan and India -- and this time she is not even involved. An alleged photograph of the actress posing nude appeared on the Indian online edition of the international monthly men's lifestyle magazine FHM on Friday, but her PR manager confirmed to The Express Tribune that the photograph is fake.

Shot with clothes on!

Speaking via telephone on Express News, Veena Malik admitted she had shot for FHM magazine, however the shoot was with clothes on, and none of the poses appearing on the cover were given by her.

She claimed that the picture on the cover of FHM was 'morphed' and that she would be consulting her media adviser and lawyer before taking any action.

"People must know that I am an actress, and any one can take my picture and morph it."

Earlier, when contacted by The Express Tribune, Veena Malik’s PR Manager Sohail Rashid said Malik has not done any such photo shoot.

He added that Malik was unaware about the shoot, since she was currently busy shooting for two movies in India.

Rashid said that she has instructed him to approach their lawyer, on December 3, to deliberate a legal course of action with regards to the matter.

"Veena knows her limits. I know we have done quite bold stuff/shoots, those which are available on our website, but she knows her parameters. Yes we need to be bold for international magazines, but she won't cross her limits," Rashid added.

The picture - which was posted on FHM India’s website, Facebook page and Twitter account simultaneously – was cited as the cover of the magazine’s December 2011 issue.

The actress was shown naked, brandishing an Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) tattoo on her arm, linked to text that says “hand in the end of the world too?”.

The magazine cover made waves online, with many speculating over the authenticity of the photograph.

A Times of India report quoted Malik while speaking during the photo shoot:
"It's tough standing on one leg, while trying to cover up with one hand and running the other through my hair - you guys are going to pay for this."
In a new Times of India report, Veena has been quoted denying she has posed nude for the magazine. She says the photographs have been morphed.
"I have never posed nude. I have never done anything like that ever. My manager and legal team is looking into the matter. We will take legal action against them."

"The picture has been morphed. Its not me. Definitely not."
FHM India Editor Kabeer Sharma denies her claim and says the magazine has proof of the photo shoot.
"The photo shoot was done in Mumbai on November 22. We have a video of the photo shoot."

"I also have an email from Veena in which she says she has seen the photos and is happy with them, and that she's looking forward to seeing the cover."
&nbsp;

Not only has the picture got the online community talking, Pakistani diva, Meera – who had earlier called Veena a “cheap girl” – was active on Twitter commenting on the picture:
TheMeeraJee Hhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaa OMG

TheMeeraJee what the f........................

TheMeeraJee Completely mad woman
This is not the first time that FHM India has been accused of manipulating photographs.

According to reports, Indian actress Kajal Agarwal had accused the magazine of "morphing" her pictures taken at a photo shoot for the September 2011 issue.]]>
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			<title>Missed target: Doctor arrested for murdering restaurant doorman</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/295038/missed-target-doctor-arrested-for-murdering-restaurant-doorman</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/295038/missed-target-doctor-arrested-for-murdering-restaurant-doorman#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 20 Nov 11 23:13:41 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=295038</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Police believe the victim’s nephew was involved dispute.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The police arrested a doctor on Sunday for the alleged murder of the 36-year-old doorman of Pizza Hut in Hijrat Colony. The doorman, Ansar, was a well recognised face at the restaurant by patrons.

The victim and his nephew, Shehzad, were coming home from the city courts after a meeting with the magistrate on Saturday evening. Two motorcyclists opened fire at them and Ansar was critically injured. The people who attacked Shehzad were traveling on a Honda-125 motorcycle.  Both of them were wearing white shalwar kameez. One was clean shaved while one was wearing a helmet and his features could not be ascertained.

Ansar was taken to Jinnah hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on Saturday night. According to the SHO Fawad Ahmed, the victim was shot thrice with a 9mm pistol. Shehzad registered a case with the police against a doctor Abdul Qayyum and his wife Shaheen. According to Shehzad, he had an old dispute with Dr Qayyum’s family who runs a private clinic in Hijrat Colony.

The police believe that the real target may have been the nephew, Shehzad, and not his uncle. Ahmed said that it looked like the murder took place over a personal enmity but he cannot be sure till the investigation is over. Dr Qayyum was arrested while the police are still looking for his wife, said Ahmed. They are trying to do a background check on the doctor and if he has a degree for practicing medicine, he added.

The victim had 4 brothers and 2 sisters. The three brothers are all in the police force.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2011.

Correction: Due to a typographical error, the last paragraph of the story had misspelled 'brothers' as 'bothers'. The error has been fixed.]]>
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			<title>Filtering SMS: PTA may ban over 1,500 English, Urdu words</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/292774/filtering-sms-pta-may-ban-over-1500-english-urdu-words</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/292774/filtering-sms-pta-may-ban-over-1500-english-urdu-words#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 16 Nov 11 14:35:52 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Jahanzaib Haque]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=292774</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Over 1,500 English and Urdu words to be filtered in SMSs according to PTA letter floating online.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[After rumours of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) imposing a ban on porn sites in the country, a new PTA letter floating online orders the imposition of a “system” to ban select words in mobile SMS messages.

A set of two extensive lists in English and Urdu have allegedly been compiled by the PTA. The list of English words crosses the 1,000 figure, while the Urdu list contains over 550 words.

A scan of the letter (dated November 14, 2011) sent from Muhammad Talib Doger, Director General (Services) PTA, states that the filtering of content through SMS must be considered under the scope of “Protection from Spam, Unsolicited, Fraudulent and Obnoxious Communication Regulations, 2009" and the SOPs laid down to control spamming. The letter is written with reference to a meeting held with mobile phone operators on October 18, 2011 in Islamabad.

PTA has ordered the implementation of the system within seven days of the issuance of the said letter. All operators have been asked to submit a monthly report to PTA regarding the number of blocked text messages.

“Spamming” has been defined as:
The transmission of harmful, fraudulent, misleading, illegal or unsolicited messages in bulk to any person without express permission of the recipient, or causing any electronic system to show any such message or is being involved in falsified online user account registration or falsified domain name registration for commercial purpose.
The letter states that under the “provisions and dictum” by the higher courts, the “fundamental rights of privacy and freedom of speech and expressions guaranteed under the constitution are not unrestricted and are subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by law”.

Clause (d) of sub-section (1) of section 31 of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act, 1996 states that:
Whoever “unauthorisedly transmits through a telecommunication system or telecommunication service any intelligence which he knows or has reason to be false, fabricated, indecent or obscene” is an offence under the Act.
Content filtering may be done through “through automated machine process(s)/function(s)”  without reading or disclosing “content of intelligence” by a human being in order to protect consumers under provisions of the Act.

Under license condition No.7.8 of the cellular mobile license:
The Licensee shall take all reasonable steps to track, locate and prevent the source of harassing, unsolicited, offensive, fraudulent or unlawful communication.
Director PR for PTA, Mohammad Younis, while speaking to The Express Tribune, said that he was not aware of any such letter being sent out, adding that many letters are sent out to operators every day, and not all of them go through the PR office.

Speaking on whether the PTA had taken a decision on SMS filtering in the past, Younis said that the authority does not take such decisions and only passes on the instructions to licensees once a decision is taken by a ministerial committee.

While much of the list contains expletives, a number of words to be banned include medical terms, terms used by particular minority groups, common words from the English language and rap group, WuTang Clan.

Medical terms to be banned:

Athletes foot

Breast

Condom

Flatulence

Intercourse

Period

Premature

Tongue

Herpes

Daily usage words to be banned:

Deeper

Fairy

Fingerfood

Hole

Hostage

Harder

Religious terms to be banned:

Devil

Jesus Christ

LGBT terms to be banned:

Gay

Homosexual

Queer

Musicians/artists to be banned:

Wuutang

Reactions online

faizanlakhani even the word "taxi" is on ban list of PTA ... #Fail

Amara807 Bewakoof is banned? Random

abbasnasir59 With PTA's legendary efficiency I am sure Pakistanis won't be able to access Fcuk e-catalogue.

pateesa  So no Pakistani will ever apply to Lund University for his masters, or work at BundesBank. #PTABannedWords

kaalakawaa The banned list includes every conceivable incorrectly spelled version of "masturbation". "Masturbation", spelt correctly, is not banned.

ZebAslam And "slave driver" is gone too. Damn. I can imagine a lot of unhappy worker drones. #PTA #bannedlist

abidhussayn Expect Mobile Companies to shut down all their SMS bundle packages in 7 days.

shakirhusain why the hell has #PTA blocked Athlete's foot???

anthonypermal  You know, with the word 'creamy' banned, one wonders what cheap-ass erotic novel the compiler was reading. #PTABannedList]]>
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			<title>Imran Khan's 'tsunami' sweeps Lahore</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/285058/pti-rally-in-lahore-live-updates</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/285058/pti-rally-in-lahore-live-updates#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 30 Oct 11 14:10:58 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=285058</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[More than 100,000 supporters attend PTI rally at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) took out a large rally at the Minar-e-Pakistan ground in Lahore on Sunday.

More than 100,000 supporters gathered as a show of strength in what is traditionally the PML-N stronghold.

PTI chief Imran Khan warned politicians to declare their assets or his party would launch a civil disobedience movement against them.

Speaking on issues plaguing the country, Khan said that his party would stand with minorities and work for the rights of women.

He said PTI would also give the Baloch their rights and "not colonise them."

End of live updates

7:20pm

The national anthem was played at the end of the ceremony.

7:10pm

"All politicians should declare their assets. PTI is forming a special cell to probe foreign assets owned by politicians."

"We will go to the Supreme Court, we will for a independent Election Commission, if politicians do not declare their assets."

"We will run a civil disobedience movement if they do not declare their assets."

7:10pm

"We will stand with you not because I am shouting political slogans, but because it is my duty to stand with the weaker class."

"PTI will stand with the minorities."

"For the women of Pakistan, PTI is that party which will get you your rights. We will work on education for women," says Khan

"When they get education they will stand for their rights."

"My message to India on the presence of their army in Kashmir is that that a military solution has never helped solve anything," says the PTI chief.

"I am going on a tour to China tonight on the invitation of the government of China. We will strengthen our ties with China."

7:00pm

"We will give rights to the people of Balochistan. We will make them our brothers and not colonise them."

"Tribal elders have pledged to ensure peace if the army withdraws from the tribal areas. They have said leave it to us, will end terrorism ourselves," says Khan.

"PTI will ensure that Pakistan Army never launches an operation against its own citizens and that we never beg any country ever again."

6:55pm

"We need to get rid of the patwari system," says Khan.

"Pakistan's assemblies are full of the kabza group. They support the patwari system because they get money from them."

"PTI will make the police a non-political force."

6:50pm

"Mian sahib jaan diyoo, sadee baree aan diyo."

6:40pm

"Zardari wrote to the Americans, asked them to protect him from the Army, said that he will bring his own generals."

"The biggest problem that Pakistan faces today is corruption. We are America’s slaves because of corruption," says Khan.

"PTI will wipe out corruption. We will make a law that those who do not declare their assets will not be allowed to take part in politics."

6:35pm

"Those in Raiwind and Islamabad should know that it is not a flood that is coming, but a tsunami."

6:30pm

"Hum aaj eik nayee Pakistan ka aghaz ker rahay hain," says Imran Khan.

"Today I greet all the rickshaw drivers , taxi drivers... civil servants who have secretly come here, policemen who are happy on the inside."

6:25pm

Crowds cheer as Imran Khan approaches the podium.

PTI chief Imran Khan is now addressing the rally.

"We have worked hard and tried to bring change for 15 years," says Imran Khan.

"Today Allah has listened to us."

6:20pm

The national anthem is now being played at the rally.

6:15pm

Express 24/7 reports that conservative estimates put the crowd at 150,000.

Strings are now performing on stage.
ainaBaloch  it looks more like a concert #PtiJalsa

UsamaKhilji Arif Alvi: PTI believes in equal rights for women, minorities, like the Prophet Muhammad PBUH did, under a welfare Islamic State. #PTIjalsa
6:10pm

Singer Shahzaman is now performing on stage.

Express 24/7 correspondent Rabia Mehmood reporting the rally is very organised despite the large number of people who have arrived.

5:55pm

PTI's online supporters have started using the hash tag #OMP on Twitter to signify 'Occupy Minar-e-Pakistan'.

Shehzad Roy is trending worldwide on Twitter.

5:45pm

Singer and social worker Shehzad Roy is performing on stage.
madeehai Yes we khan #PTIjalsa #PTI #Lahore #pakistan
PTI Secretary General Arif Alvi had earlier told AFP that Khan "will make important announcements regarding the country's politics and future course of action."

"The wind of change of has started in the country and anyone coming in its way would be eliminated," Alvi said and added "Tehreek-e-Insaf wants the rule of people constitution and law in the country."

"It is going to be historic. We have our supporters and voters coming from Lahore and its suburban areas and the expected gathering would be over 100,000 people," Malik Zaheer Abbas Khokhar, a member of the party's organising committee had said.

"We have been reassured by the provincial police chief about the security of the gathering and smooth flow of traffic for our convoys," Khokhar had told AFP.

Senior police official Ghulam Mahmood Dogar told reporters that all steps had been taken to provide "fool-proof" security at the public meeting.

5:40pm

Express 24/7 correspondent Rabia Mehmood reports that the number of people at the venue has now crossed 100,000.

Roads from Minto Park upto the secretariat, railway station and Ravi bridge are blocked.

Supporters are still arriving at the venue.

Asad Kharal reports that PTI organisers are claiming that the PML-N government has shut down cable services in Lahore using police and other departments.

5:35pm

Asad Kharal reports that more than 50,000 people are inside the venue, and there are people present out in the streets.

Police and rescue service personnel are also present behind the stage.

5:25pm

PTI chief Imran Khan said his Maghrib prayers on stage.

5:20pm

Mian Azhar is addressing the rally.

"Change will come," says the PTI leader.

5:15pm

PTI leaders have started addressing the rally.

Asad Kharal reports the barrier/grill around the venue has been broken.

5:10pm

Asad Kharal reports that the venue has been filled up to capacity and there are supporters standing outside. Families are still arriving at the venue with flags and posters.

All roads leading up to the venue are full of people on foot and in vehicles.

PTI supporters were seen ripping Hamza Shahbaz and Nawaz Sharif posters placed in high places near the venue.

4:50pm

Asad Kharal reports there is a massive traffic jam within a 2-3 kilometre radius of Minar-e-Pakistan.

Ambulances are also stuck in the jam and are finding it difficult to find a way out.
omarchughtai 150,000 there already. For every 1 there, there's a thousand people getting ready to go.

Amnaa_tariq Imran Khan is using no Bullet Proof Glass

hammy86 Strings also present @ #PTIjalsa "mein bhe dekho ga.. Tun bhe dekho gai"
4:30pm
OmarWaraich Lahore Special Branch say the venue at Minar-e-Pakistan is full #PTIjalsa
4:15pm

PTI chief Imran Khan has arrived and is on stage.

A massive crowd is seen waving party flags and cheering the arrival of Khan.
harisn Imran Khan is here! Just arrived backstage. #PTI #Pakistan #PTIJalsa #OMP
4:00pm

The Express Tribune correspondent Asad Kharal reports PTI officials have claimed that a major portion of the 45,000 seating arrangement at the rally has been covered.

Around 1,100 to 1,200 supporters have arrived from four constituencies of Nankana district.

PTI convener Sajjad Haider Randhawa led 700 to 800 people from the PP-170 Sangla constituency of the district. The supporters arrived in 25 vehicles – two big buses, eight cars and 15 coasters.

Muhammad Ishaq led a convoy of 13 vehicles carrying 250-300 people from PP-170 Shahkot.

No vehicles or people have arrived at the rally from PP-172 Nankana City, the constituency of sitting MPA of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Rai Shahnawaz Bhatti.

3:12pm

According to Express 24/7 correspondent Rabia Mehmood, thousands of students have shown up to support the PTI. A majority of the crowd is made up of young people.

Over 6,000 people have gathered so far, and many people are arriving by bus and by foot.

Dancing, cheering and slogan raising is the focus of the rally at this stage.

2:50pm

People from all over the country, from all age groups and backgrounds are arriving at the venue to attend Imran Khan's rally.

The party chief is expected to make an 'important announcement' in today's address.

Correspondent Rabia Mehmood describes a festive air at the ground:

Rabail26 Students from #KPK with #PTI flags in hands, dancing on a song in Pashto. Their headbands say 'ISF Al-Jihad'. #PTIJalsa #Lahore


Aside from ground activity, the PTI is effectively using social media tools such as Twitter to build support for today's rally, using the Twitter hashtag#PTIjalsa.

The PTI are also broadcasting the rally live here.


2:15pm
Express 24/7 correspondent Rabia Mehmood says approximately 5-6,000 people have gathered around Minar-i-Pakistan for the PTI rally so far.

The organisers set 2pm as the official time for the rally to kick off.

Around 1,500 policemen including 50 Elite Force personnel are to be deployed at Minar-i-Pakistan. Thirty-two walkthrough gates monitored by CCTV cameras have been installed at the venue.

The protest area has been divided into four zones, with a superintendent of police given charge of a zone each.

The Insaf Student Federation (ISF), the student wing of Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), says it expects some 7,000 students from schools in the city to join its public meeting at Minar-i-Pakistan today.

Imran, whose party has been making significant inroads as a ‘street power’ but has yet to do well in elections, is being seen by observers as at least a ‘game changer’ in coming parliamentary polls, especially in Punjab’s urban areas.

Help us build our report

Email updates to web@tribune.com.pk or use #PTIjalsa in Twitter updates.

____________________________________________

 [poll id="547"]]]>
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			<title>Dress modestly: Masked men enter girls’ school, thrash students</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/269918/dress-modestly-masked-men-enter-girls%e2%80%99-school-thrash-students</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/269918/dress-modestly-masked-men-enter-girls%e2%80%99-school-thrash-students#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 09 Oct 11 06:17:41 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[azam.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=269918</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Fear grips Satellite Town schools as 60 men beat up students for dressing ‘inappropriately’.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[In a first for the garrison city, sixty masked men carrying iron rods barged into a girls’ school in Rawalpindi and thrashed students and female teachers on Friday.


The gang of miscreants also warned the inmates at the MC Model Girls High School in Satellite Town to “dress modestly and wear hijabs” or face the music, eyewitnesses said.

Fear gripped the area following the attack and only 25 of the 400 students studying in the college were present on Saturday. The school employs 30 female teachers.

Attendance in other educational institutions also remained low. After hearing about the attack, all schools in the city shut down, an official of the Rawalpindi District Administration (RDA) told The Express Tribune.

A student of the girls’ school managed to inform the administration of the nearby boys’ high school of the attack. “[However,] the armed gang was so powerful that we could not rescue our teachers and colleagues over there,” Noail Javed, a grade 10 student, said.

In-charge of MC High Schools in Rawalpindi issued a notification to the heads of all girls’ schools to take pre-emptive measures to avoid such incidents in future. According to the notification, a gang comprising 60 to 70 miscreants entered into the school from a gate that was “strangely open”.

All the MC school heads were assigned the responsibility of protecting the students by the notification. A school headmistress wishing not to be named said, “How is it possible for us to protect the students from such elements. The city administration should review its security plan.”

The notification also suggested that the heads should not inform the students about the situation, so that they are not alarmed into skipping school. “Police is investigating the matter,” the notification said. Following the notification, the heads of the schools also shared the numbers of relevant police stations with the teachers in case of any untoward situation in future.

Asjad Ali, a student of class 9 at the nearby boys’ high school, said that his younger brother Awais, a student of grade 5, was also among those who were brutally beaten by the miscreants with iron rods. “The police did not come,” he said.

A police official of the New Town Police Station, asking for anonymity, told The Express Tribune, “We were under strict instructions to do nothing.”

District Education Officer Qazi Zahoor and Rawalpindi Commissioner Zahid Saeed were not immediately available for comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9th, 2011. ]]>
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			<title>Girl accused of blasphemy for a spelling error</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/259907/girl-accused-of-blasphemy-for-a-spelling-error</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/259907/girl-accused-of-blasphemy-for-a-spelling-error#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 25 Sep 11 05:27:13 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[muhammad.sadaqat]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=259907</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Eighth-grader expelled from school; mother forced to move from city.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[It may have been a mere misplaced dot that led to accusations of blasphemy against a Christian eighth-grader, whose miniscule error led to her expulsion from school and uproar amongst local religious leaders.
&nbsp;


Faryal Bhatti, a student at the Sir Syed Girls High School in Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) colony Havelian, erroneously misspelt a word in an Urdu exam while answering a question on a poem written in praise of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The word in question was &lsquo;l**nat&rsquo; instead of &lsquo;naat&rsquo; &ndash; an easy error for a child to make, as the written versions of the words are similar.

According to the school administration and religious leaders who took great exception to the hapless student&rsquo;s mistake, the error is &lsquo;serious&rsquo; enough to fall within the realm of blasphemy, Saturday.

Spelling out her punishment

On Thursday, Faryal&rsquo;s Urdu teacher was collecting the answer sheets from her students when she noticed the apparently offensive word on her pupil&rsquo;s sheet. The teacher, Fareeda Bibi, reportedly summoned the Christian girl, scolded her and beat her. Her punishment, however, did not end here. When Faryal&rsquo;s class fellows learnt of the alleged blasphemy, the teacher brought the principal&rsquo;s notice to the matter, who further informed the school management.

In the meanwhile, the news spread throughout the colony. The next day, male students of the POF colony school as well as certain religious elements took out a rally, demanding the registration of a criminal case against the eighth-grader and her expulsion from the area.

Prayer leaders within the community also condemned the incident in their Friday sermons, asking the colony&rsquo;s administration to not only take action against Faryal but her entire family. In the wake of the increasing tensions, Managing Director POF Colony Havelian Asif Siddiki called a meeting of colony-based ulemas and school teachers to discuss the situation. The girl and her mother were asked to appear before the meeting, where they explained that it was a mere error, caused by a resemblance between the two words. The two immediately apologised, adding that Faryal had no malicious intentions.

In a move that was apparently meant to pacify the religious elements clamouring for action against the teenage &lsquo;blasphemer&rsquo;, the POF administration expelled her from the school on Saturday. Faryal was not the only one who got in trouble for her spelling error, however, as her mother, Sarafeen Bhatti, who was a staff nurse at the POF Hospital Havelian for several years, was immediately transferred to POF Wah Cantonment Hospital.

Decision applauded

While talking to The Express Tribune, Maulana Alla Dita Khateeb of Gol Masjid praised the decision of the POF colony administration, claiming that he had personally seen the answer sheet in question. He further went on to say that he had met the girl himself, who had apologised for the word used in error.&nbsp; Asked whether the incident still fell within the realm of blasphemy and whether Faryal deserved expulsion when she had misspelt the word unintentionally, Khateeb said that although he was unclear about the intentions of the girl, the word she had used was sacrilegious.

The managing director of POF Colony was not available for comment.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>In Rawalpindi, a baby with two faces fights for survival</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/259633/in-rawalpindi-a-baby-with-two-faces-fights-for-survival</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/259633/in-rawalpindi-a-baby-with-two-faces-fights-for-survival#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 25 Sep 11 07:32:41 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=259633</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The mother had two prior normal deliveries; doctors give low possibility of survival.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Doctors at Holy Family Hospital (HFH) have been trying to save a baby born with two faces, as he has been having breathing problems. They have been unable to feed the baby through the mouth, sources told The Express Tribune.


The baby is the third child of a couple from Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Paediatric Ward Senior Registrar Dr Qaisar Aziz told The Express Tribune that the new born baby has been shifted to the intensive care unit of the children ward and was being take good care of.

The doctor, however, expressed low possibility for the survival of the child. The baby has two sets of eyes, noses, and lips, and one pair of ears.

“As feeding through the mouth is not possible [at present], he is being fed through a naso-gastric tube. The two faces are angled to each other,” said Dr Qaisar.

The doctors explained that medically such a condition comes under the category of Craniofacial malformation.

It is the first case of its kind in the history of the hospital, which was established before the creation of Pakistan.

Cases of babies with joint heads or bodies have been treated by doctors, but a baby with two faces “is a novel phenomenon and needs special attention”, said the senior registrar.

The baby’s parents, Shahida Perveen and Khalil Ahmed, have come from Palandir of AJK and the couple is reluctant to interact with media.

The last ultrasound test of the woman, taken just before the delivery of, had shown the baby boy as normal and healthy.

Dr Qaisar further said there were “minimal chances” of the baby’s survival, who weighed 3.2 kg.

Senior doctors said such birth abnormalities are often due to genetic reasons largely resulting from inter-cousin marriages.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>One student’s journey from small-town Balochistan to Harvard University</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/247117/wondrous-feats-one-student%e2%80%99s-journey-from-small-town-balochistan-to-harvard-university</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/247117/wondrous-feats-one-student%e2%80%99s-journey-from-small-town-balochistan-to-harvard-university#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 08 Sep 11 06:33:16 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[maria.waqar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=247117</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Karrar Hussain Jaffar’s story is about the great possibilities of equal educational opportunities.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Located on the outskirts of Quetta, is the barren valley of Mariabad where the Hazara lead slow-paced lives. These tribal people, living in narrow brick huts speckled along the rugged hillside, typically sell loose cloth, sweaters or tea for their livelihood. 

Like most poor people, their aspirations rarely go beyond sustaining themselves in this underdeveloped nook of Balochistan. Many of them live and die in Mariabad — unaware of the complex concerns and tremendous pace of life in urban centres like Karachi and Lahore.


But one student — the son of a trader who sold Quaid-e-Azam style caps in Mariabad for a living — dared to tread a radically different path. Karrar Hussain Jaffar transcended the confines of an obscure town in Balochistan, where people rarely educate themselves beyond matriculation, to study at the prestigious Harvard University. His story — a narrative about the wondrous possibilities of equal educational opportunities — is truly inspirational.

“My childhood friends, with whom I spent my youth playing cricket, drive suzukis and rickshaws in Quetta for a living, while I am a PhD student in the US,” says Karrar in a humble tone. “I often wonder why God chose me, out of all the people in my community, to get ahead in life?”

Karrar attributes his educational achievement to his father’s passion for his children’s higher education. He vividly remembers the chilly morning when his father showed him the ad for Lahore University of Management Sciences’ national outreach programme (NOP), which aimed to sponsor education and living expenses for capable students who could not have afford to pay.

“I was doing my FSc at Cadet college and didn’t even know a single thing about LUMS at that point in time,” he fondly recollects. “I didn’t take the ad seriously because LUMS did not offer engineering, the field I was interested in.”

When he returned back to college from his winter break, he attended a presentation by a LUMS’ faculty member, who introduced students to the national outreach programme.

“At the end of the presentation we all took a pre-screening exam,” he explains. “A few weeks later, I got a letter from LUMS inviting me to attend sponsored classes for SAT preparation.”

During the four weeks he spent rigorously studying for the SATs, he fell in love with LUMS. To him the institution seemed otherworldly; its grand building, spacious classrooms and impressive teachers fascinated him.

“I never knew things could be so orderly and perfect; it was like I was in a foreign country,” he remarks.  “I felt very motivated to study hard and join the institution.”

But his herculean struggle with English often left him frustrated.

“I had always dismissed English as a colonial remnant in our country so I really struggled while preparing for the test.”

Yet with utmost dedication, Karrar managed to clear the screening exam at the end of the four-week training and was selected to take the SAT exams, sponsored by the university. After obtaining an impressive score in his SATs, Karrar got admitted in LUMS and was offered a full scholarship and a monthly stipend.

“I came to LUMS in very high spirits,” reminisces the bright student.

But Karrar, who had attended the NOP training program at LUMS during the quiet summer break, had never seen the institution in full semestral bloom. When he saw throngs of students, clad in western wear and fluent in English, emerging from every nook and cranny, his excitement gave way to culture shock.

“I was used to wearing shalwar kamiz, but at LUMS most people were wearing jeans. I would greet people by saying salaam, while the other students would ask ‘what’s up?’” he recollects in an amused tone.

Often feeling like a misfit during his first year at university, Karrar mostly spent his days with other NOP students. “But after a year I managed to befriend other students from Lyceum and Karachi Grammar school.”

He sheepishly adds, “After a year I figured out that ‘what’s up?’ is equivalent to saying salaam.”

Karrar graduated on the Dean’s honour list, with a cumulative grade point average of 3.7 and 3.68 in his majors, Maths and Economics, respectively.

“I got job offers in the banking industry after graduating but I turned them down because I wanted to tread an academic path,” he explains in a categorical tone.

A year after graduating, Karrar got a Fulbright scholarship to study in the US.

“I simply told the interview panel that I want to come back to Balochistan after completing my studies. That’s where my home is; that’s where I belong,” he explains passionately.

But perhaps the most memorable moment in his life — an incident he recalls quite animatedly — was when he found out that he made it to Harvard University.

“I had no internet at home in Mariabad so I walked 15 minutes or so to a nearby internet cafe to check my email for Harvard’s decision,” he explains. “When I saw the acceptance email, I just thought it was too good to be true.”

Yet after he raced back home to reveal the news to his parents, his moment of rapture soon transformed into a session of lengthy clarification.

“My mother asked me what Harvard was and my father asked me to wait for potential offers by other universities” he says with a laugh. “It took a while to convince them that I got into the world’s top university.”

But ironically for a student, who was left disconcerted by the ‘westernised’ student body at LUMS, adjusting to life at an American institution was smooth sailing.

“After LUMS, I was very used to being around different types of people so studying and living in the US was not such a problem.”

Karrar completed his Master’s last year and is currently pursuing a PhD in Economics from the University of Southern California.

What does he want to do with all the knowledge he is amassing?

“I want to increase educational awareness in Balochistan—particularly amongst people from my community,” he says.

The young academic’s goal might seem like the reiteration of the clichéd promise of “development” that many educated Pakistan promise their country. However, Karrar is actually a first-hand witness of how education can revolutionize communities and places.

“Because of all that I achieved, my parents allowed my sister to get college education in Lahore and my brother got the motivation to get a scholarship to study in Australia,” he says with a hint of pride.

Karrar confesses that most of his family and friends cannot even comprehend what his life is like in the US. But he is fairly confident that after he returns, he can change that.

“I can make them realise the value of education,” he says.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Delusion, denial and ‘Dr’ Liaquat</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/233544/delusion-denial-and-%e2%80%98dr%e2%80%99-liaquat</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/233544/delusion-denial-and-%e2%80%98dr%e2%80%99-liaquat#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 17 Aug 11 15:46:37 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[george.fulton]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=233544</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The not-so-good doctor had the temerity to claim that this was all a trick of editing and dubbing.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The subject line read “Aamir Liaquat Exposed”. To be honest, I was reluctant to click open the link my friend sent. Having just eaten dinner, I was disinclined to see the good ‘doctor’ laid bare. My mind had wandered to far darker thoughts. Instead, when I eventually clicked the link I saw a video of Aamir Liaquat swearing away. A wave of relief and sympathy washed over me. Relief that it wasn’t the exposure I had imagined it to be, and a fleeting sympathy for the TV evangelist. But the sympathy only lasted a nanosecond, mind you.

Most of us have uttered curses that we would not wish to be made public. Locker-room chat that is acceptable with the boys is not something we would want repeated in front of our wives or mothers-in-law. But then again, most of us don’t propagate an air of piety, uttering gaalis whilst talking about verses from the Holy Scriptures. That is the galling hypocrisy of this unedifying incident. What really sticks in the throat is the man’s cynical disregard for the very same people he professes to love and care about. It was particularly odious to see him sniggering as a woman caller sought advice on the sensitive subject of the legality of suicide in the scenario of protecting a woman’s honour. The very same people who gave him his success are the very people his sniggering disrespects.

It’s fine to swear like a lafunga on a motorbike at Seaview. Less so if you have made millions projecting a holiness that has made you managing director of a television channel that broadcasts religious programmes and also a former minister of religious affairs — in effect, a powerful, rich and influential man.

So what does this religious man do when he’s caught being less than godly? Does he throw his hands up, apologise and confess his sins and ask for forgiveness? Hardly. No, the man with no shame instead compounded the mistake by brazenly lying to the people of Pakistan. Yes, the not-so-good doctor had the temerity to claim that this was all a trick of editing and dubbing. It wasn’t him speaking, singing or clapping his hands. He claimed it was a dastardly plot hatched by his former employers in revenge for the popularity of his Ramazan programmes. Carefully ignoring the fact that it was those very same former employers who hastily pulled the video from YouTube soon after the footage emerged. If you believe his assertion about the dubbing and editing you’ll believe anything — or, at least, that Pakistan’s poor cricket performance was dependent upon the colour of their shoes’ soles. Ah. And there lies the problem.

For me, the good ‘doctor’ has exuded as much sincerity as the president exudes incorruptibility. But this view is clearly in the minority. People love him. And after this revelation, they will continue to love and support him. They’ll believe whatever he tells them. Already, we are seeing people calling his show, supporting his falsehoods and consoling him.

This reaction exposes a deeper malaise in Pakistani society. As a people, we seem intrinsically drawn to egotists, narcissists and demagogues. We love the masala, drama and showboating these characters provide. Whether it is a Bhutto, a Zaid Hamid or an Aamir Liaquat, we look to these people for simple answers to complex problems. Preferring their demagoguery and simplistic solutions to the heavy lifting of using our own grey matter.

So we loved it when Bhutto tore up the papers and stormed out of the Security Council at the UN. We find Zaid Hamid irresistible when he’s blaming the Jews and Hindus for all of Pakistan’s ills. We trust Aamir Liaquat’s superstitious claptrap when he blames the Pakistani cricket team’s poor performance on the green colour of the soles of the team’s shoes. Where’s the empirical evidence, ‘Dr’ Liaquat? So it wasn’t due to poor coaching or match-fixing then? But the colour painted by some poor sweatshop kid in China?

Distrustful of reasoning and logic, we mindlessly follow these characters. They enrich themselves at the expense, as well as the naivety and gullibility, of the Pakistani population. My mother and aunts-in-law — good law-abiding people — would regularly unquestioningly regurgitate the nonsense spouted by these charades. Why? It was easier than searching for the truth, or — heaven forbid — thinking for themselves.

The reaction to Aamir Liaquat’s exposure also reveals another problem within the Pakistani society. We are a nation in denial. Even when faced with the truth about these unsavoury characters we are still unable to accept their faults. Like small children, we can’t accept the truth even when it’s staring us in the face. Pakistan can only resolve its problems when it’s able to accept some uncomfortable, unpalatable truths about its society. The supporters of Dr Aamir Liaquat are a manifestation of the fact that this will not happen anytime soon.

The exposure of Aamir Liaquat exposes some of the country’s inherent contradictions and character flaws. My friend, Nadeem Farooq Paracha, often says that the problems with Pakistan aren’t economic, political or social — they’re psychological. He has a point. We have developed a Stockholm syndrome with the egomaniacs on our screens. Falling in love with them rather than contemptuously rejecting them. And when they have been revealed to be phonies, we continue to delude ourselves into believing their bold faced lies. It is time we turned the alim online, off.

There’s an African proverb that states that ‘singing Hallejullah everywhere does not prove piety’. Remember that next time you hear ‘Assalamualekum warehmatullah’ from Hardilazeez Aamir Liaquat Hussain.

&nbsp;

Published in The Express Tribune, August 18th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>S.African bowler Wayne Parnell converts to Islam</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/219889/s-african-bowler-wayne-parnell-converts-to-islam</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/219889/s-african-bowler-wayne-parnell-converts-to-islam#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jul 11 09:33:54 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=219889</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Parnell will celebrate his 22nd birthday as a Muslim on Friday.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[South African fast bowler Wayne Parnell in a statement on Thursday announced his conversion to Islam from Christianity, Times of India reported on Friday. 

He has also changed his named to Waleed after his conversion to Islam earlier in January this year.

Parnell confirmed in the statement that he has been studying about Islam and will celebrate his 22nd birthday as a Muslim on Friday.

Parnell said:
"While I have not yet decided on an Islamic name I have considered the name Waleed which means Newborn Son, but for now my name remains Wayne Dillon Parnell. I will continue to respect the team's endorsement of alcoholic beverages. I am playing cricket in Sussex and this is my immediate focus."
The South African cricket team manager, a Muslim by faith, Mohamed Moosajee said that Parnell’s Muslim teammates – Hashim Amla and Imran Tahir – did not influence his decision to convert from Christianity.

Moosajee said:
"Wayne already decided a few months ago to follow Islam. The decision to convert was his own decision, but I know nothing of the name change.”
Parnell’s fellow players, reportedly said they believed that he is very serious about the conversion and had not ‘touched a drop of alcohol’ ever since he converted to Islam.

He is the second Christian cricketer to have converted to Islam after Pakistan's Yousuf Yohana (now Mohammad Yousuf) in 2006.]]>
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			<title>Delhi gushes over new Pakistani minister</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/218360/delhi-gushes-over-new-pakistani-minister</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/218360/delhi-gushes-over-new-pakistani-minister#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jul 11 07:04:24 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=218360</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Hina Rabbani Khar appeared to have had an instant impact on one of the world's most tense bilateral relations.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan's new 34-year-old female foreign minister has won instant fans in India where a flurry of flattering headlines Wednesday greeted her first trip to the country 

(Read: Talks in New Delhi)

Hina Rabbani Khar appeared to have had an instant impact on one of the world's most tense bilateral relations, with her photo adorning the front pages of most Indian newspapers amid high interest in her arrival."Pak Puts On Its Best Face," noted The Times of India, the biggest-selling English-language daily, while mass circulation Hindi newspaper Navbharat Times said India was "sweating over model-like minister."

(Read: Does your foreign minister own a Birkin?)

"Pak bomb lands in India," joked the Mumbai Mirror tabloid in a tongue-in-cheek reference to the history of wars between the countries and attacks by Pakistani militant groups on Indian soil.

In a rarity for the Indian media, not known for assessing the dress-sense of previous Pakistani visitors, the Mail Today tabloid devoted extensive space to her choice of outfit as she flew in to New Delhi airport on Tuesday.

"The 34-year-old minister scored full marks on the fashion front when she was spotted at the Delhi airport in a monotone outfit of blue -- the colour of the season," it said.

"Tasteful accessories -- Roberto Cavalli sunglasses, oversized Hermes Birkin bag and classic pearl jewellery -- added a hint of glamour to her look," it added.

The Telegraph newspaper meanwhile compared fresh-faced Khar, a married mother of two who caused a stir at home after being photographed in tight jeans, with her elderly counterpart SM Krishna.

"In the unkind world of adjectives, the odds are stacked against SMK and in favour of HRK," it said, using the ministers' initials.

"Khar carries with ease descriptions such as 'stunning' and 'petite'.

"Krishna, a 79-year-old who takes great pride in his tailored suits, might face a tough job attracting attention later Wednesday when the two pose for photographs at the start of their talks.

"All eyes on glamorous Pak minister," said the Rediff website. "She is clearly being looked at as a perfect combination of beauty and brains."

The Indian Twittersphere was also ablaze with commentary on the Pakistani envoy, who has taken over from Shah Mehmood Qureshi who drew criticism in the Indian media over his strong language last time he met Krishna.

Journalist and author Seema Goswami saw a link between the monsoonal downpour that struck the Indian capital Wednesday morning and the generally fawning coverage of Khar.

"Even the Delhi skies are drooling," she wrote.

In Pakistan, headscarf-wearing Khar has drawn inevitable comparisons to Benazir Bhutto, the charismatic female prime minister of Pakistan who was assassinated when trying to regain power in 2007.

Like Bhutto, she comes from one of Pakistan's leading political and land-owning families and her clan has extensive farms in Punjab, the richest and most populous province.

The foreign ministers of the nuclear-armed niehgbours are holding their first talks in a year, looking to breathe fresh life into a peace process still stifled by the trauma of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

India suspended contacts with its arch-rival after the attacks and their peace dialogue has struggled to gain any real traction since its formal resumption earlier this year.

Observers expect little to emerge from Wednesday's meeting beyond some modest confidence-building measures connected to relatively uncontentious issues such as cross-border trade and people-to-people contacts.

_____________________________________________

[poll id="451"]]]>
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			<title>Movie on Imran Khan: Will ‘Kaptaan’ hit a sixer?</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/198852/movie-on-imran-khan-will-%e2%80%98kaptaan%e2%80%99-hit-a-sixer</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/198852/movie-on-imran-khan-will-%e2%80%98kaptaan%e2%80%99-hit-a-sixer#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 29 Jun 11 17:00:44 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[sher.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=198852</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The film aims to capture Imran Khan’s life post-cricket.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[A group of young independent filmmakers has undertaken the initiative of producing an independent feature film called Kaptaan, based on Imran Khan’s high-profile life following the end of his cricket career.


As Pakistan’s former captain or Kaptaan, Khan stamped the cricket field with his talent and charisma.  Years later, he is just as famous after transforming into a successful politician and social activist. The movie based on the former cricket star’s life, which is still in post-production phase, explores the experiences of a man who dedicates his life to his country while also struggling with personal and spiritual anguish.

Faisal Aman Khan, an independent filmmaker who is based in the UK, is directing the film. Aman Khan admitted that he had the idea of making this movie two years ago after he graduated from film school. According to his colleagues, Faisal met Khan several times during the research phase of the project to get his endorsement.

“Imran Khan was reluctant at first and claimed that it was more important to focus on other aspects of the country, Faisal’s persistence finally paid in ultimately convincing him,” said Naveed Anwar, the film’s assistant director and screenwriter. “We wanted to make a film that would project the positive side of Pakistan. It was hard as there are very few personalities in Pakistan that have a global appeal.”

Anwar, who has directed several short films, explained that the story centers on how Khan’s disappointment at Pakistan’s dismal state of affairs triggered him to enter the political arena. He also juxtaposes Khan’s struggle for Pakistan’s future with that of Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s.

The film also recreates scenes of major incidents such as his arrest at Punjab University in Lahore, his hunger strike while in jail and then certain intimate scenes with his ex-wife, Jemima Khan.

A big challenge before shooting the movie was the selection of the actor suitable for the protagonist’s role. After numerous screen tests and auditions for the lead role, the team decided to pick local model Abdul Mannan, who has an uncanny resemblance to the cricketer. Anwar said that it was especially difficult to find someone who could play Khan’s part, since there were very few people who match the physical features and demeanour of the 1992 World Cup captain.

Mannan, who is not an avid follower of Pakistani politics due to its dismal state, said that he had to study various video clips of the cricketer-turned-politician to do justice to the role. He claimed that the film provided inspiration and would make people realise the state of the country and hence take more interest in its affairs. “There have been films such as Jinnah and Gandhi, this is another inspiring story of a nation’s hero,” said Mannan. “There are things people forget about him.”

Mannan is paired with Saeeda Imtiaz, a Pakistani-American model based in New York, who is playing Jemima Khan’s role. Her role highlights the various challenges of living in Pakistan that Khan’s former wife faced and also highlights her complex relationship with the former cricket star. Imtiaz, who took nearly six months to prepare for her part, says “The way the movie is shot — the use of lighting and the fact that the filmmakers are young and full of ideas — will give the film a unique look,” said Imtiaz.

Insiders claim that the film will be ready for distribution this fall but are staying tight-lipped about the scheduled date for the release. Currently, the plan for distribution is that it will get a theatre-wide release in Pakistan and abroad as well. Over 107 actors have been used for the movie and the production team includes 12 people.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Navy says PNS base under control after attack</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/173888/blast-on-dalmia-road</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/173888/blast-on-dalmia-road#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 May 11 11:02:24 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Jahanzaib Haque]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=173888</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[At the end of PNS Mehran operation, 15 dead and several injured. TTP claims responsibility for attack.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A spokesman for Pakistan's Navy said Monday that the PNS Mehran base in Karachi was back under control, 17 hours after militants attacked with guns, bombs and rockets.

In an ongoing operation at one of Pakistan's main military bases, security forces are engaged in a battle against militants who stormed the base late Sunday night. At least 15 security officials have been killed in the operation that continues on Monday morning.

More than 10 terrorists late Sunday attacked the PNS Mehran base on Shahrah-e-Faisal Road, Karachi. At least 15 people, including Navy and Rangers personnel died in the attack.

Towering flames arose from inside the PNS Mehran compound throughout the night.

End of live updates

3:50 pm

Pakistan Navy official said several terrorists have been killed but did not confirm the number. The bodies have been shifted to an unknown location.

3:40 pm

The Pakistan navy has issued an official statement that the operation to kill or capture terrorists who had taken over the compound is over.

Spokesperson added that all the naval assets at PNS Mehran have been secured.

3:20 pm

Express 24/7 correspondent Shaheryar Mirza reports that Interior Minister Rehman Malik who was expected to talk to the press, has left the navy base without making any comment.

3:10 pm

There were about 30 to 40 journalists gathering outside, with seven satellite dishes attached to their trucks.

Helicopters buzzed overhead and the main road outside was closed to traffic. Moin Babar, 35, a technical engineer, said people were trying to understand how the militants made it inside.

"I heard that 15 went in through a sewer," he said.

Kamran Khalil, 48, a civil engineer, suggested, like many others, a conspiracy. "How can this happen? It's taking them so long to resolve the issue. India or the CIA could have been behind this. They want to show that Pakistan forces are ineffective."

Many in Pakistan were furious with the US operation to kill bin Laden without sharing any intelligence beforehand with Islamabad, which they saw as a severe breach of sovereignty.

"This is all a reaction to American policy in Pakistan," said Atif Ali, a 30-year-old construction worker.

3:00 pm

As troops wound down their assault, some Karachi residents said they could not believe security could have been so lax, Reuters reports.

"If these people can just enter a military base like this,then how can any Pakistani feel safe?" asked Mazhar Iqbal, 28, engineering company administrator taking a lunch break in the shade outside the complex where a crowd had gathered.

"The government and the army are just corrupt. We need newleaders with a vision for Pakistan."

2:50 pm

Talking to Express 24/7 Brigadier Ghazanfar Ali said that the terrorists had a mechanism in place for targetted attacks on naval assets.

"This attack is possible without inside help, but the possibility cannot be ruled out," he said.

He added that if taken alive, these terrorists can give valuable information on the groups they are affiliated with.

"There agenda is that Pakistan should be destabilizsed. The message being sent out is that Pakistan nuclear assets are not safe" he said.

Twitter update:
marvisirmed My blood boils.wnt 2 hold gun now. My ppl, my jawaans-all becoming fodder of...dont U dare defend Taliban &amp; AlQaida

&nbsp;

kaalakawaa If you think that the attacks are being carried out by CIA/RAW how would pulling out of the War / ending drones end them?

&nbsp;

sharmeenochinoy This is the first time #Taliban have attacked military Aircrafts or hardware in #Pakistan- shift in strategy? #karachiattacks

&nbsp;
2:30 pm

Tribune reporter Mahnoor Sherazee says the martyred navy officials and injured have been shifted to PNS Shifa and PNS Rahat hospitals. She reports that journalists are not allowed to enter the building.

2:00 pm

The operation to regain control of the Karachi naval base assaulted by Taliban militants has been completed after almost 16 hours of fighting with up to 20 assailants holed up in a building, a security official told Reuters from inside the base.

"The operation is over. The main building has been cleared," the official said. "For precaution, we are continuing search around for any more terrorists but the main operation is over."

1:25 pm

Talking to Express 24/7, retired Air Commodore Jamal Hussain said security officials will not announce that operation is complete “till they are absolutely certain the compound is secure.”

“Even if they suspect that one militant is at large, they will not announce that it is over,” he said.

1:05 pm

Express 24/7 correspondent Mirza says the operation has drawn to a close after 14 hours. One helicopter  is still circling the area for surveillance purposes.

12:45 pm

The naval officer shot dead at PNS last night was identified as Lt Syed Yaser Abbas, son or (R) Col Syed Jaffar Abbas. His picture can be viewed here. 

Twitter update:
mirza9 Navy officials that left earlier have come back to the #pnsmehran . BMW with four stars on the license plates - can someone ID?

abidhussayn @Razarumi After attack on CID and Abdullah Shah Ghazi, this was first major incident.

Razarumi #Karachi is the base 4 Al-Qaeda. its operatives &amp; leadership tiers live thr. Causing mayhem in the port city is vital 4 Al-Qaeda
12:40 pm

Naval Chief Admiral Nauman Bashir arrives at PNS Mehran base.

Security forces are in the final stage of ending an hours-long siege by Taliban militants of a naval airbase, security officials said on Monday.

"The operation has not finished yet, but is nearing an end,"one security official said. "It's in the final stages."

12: 20 pm

Interior Minister Rehman Malik has arrived at the navy base and will brief the media once he is given details of the operation.

"A major area has been cleared," Malik told reporters. "The sweeping process is continuing."

Express 24/7 correspondent Shaheryar Mirza reports that high ranking navy officials have left the area, an indication that the operation may be over.

12:15 pm

Talking to Express 24/7, security analyst Ikram Sehgal said “Today the Pakistan Navy is blind; its eyes and ears are gone,” adding that anti-sub capability, electronic intelligence capability, radar capability are all gone.

“We can equate this situation to 9/11. It is a very grave situation,” said Sehgal, adding that neighbouring countries may be involved in planning this attack.

11:25 am

Talking to Express 24/7, Naval spokesperson Irfanul Haq said the operation is underway and security officials are working hard to minimise casualties and damage to naval assets.

Haq confirmed that 12 navy officials have been martyred and 14 injured

11:05 am

Prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has phoned Navy chief to dicuss the ongoing operation.

Navy official says officials are "taking maximum care" so as to preserve naval assets.

10:50 am

Ambulances and security vehicles are rushing to the navy base once again.

Two firemen have reportedly been killed in the operation.

"A (single-storey) building in the premises is still under their occupation from where they are exchanging fire with our soldiers," Interior Minister Rehman Malik told AFP.

10:40 am

Firefight resumes at navy base after 30-minute pause. Security forces are engaged in operation to capture militants alive. Loud shots heard in the vicinity, indicate heavy battle underway at navy base.

Express 24/7 correspondent Ahmed Jung reports that half of the navy base has been secured by security officials and militants have been restricted to one building.

10:30 am

Navy chief says the operation is "heading in the right direction and the situation will be reverted very soon."

No sounds of gunfire or explosions heard near navy base.

10:25 am

Express 24/7 correspondent Shaheryar Mirza reports taht 30 Frontier Constabulary officials have arrived at the site.  About 200 SSG commandos and rangers are deployed as back-up for the operation.

Mirza adds that there is no official word from the armed forces and police and intelligence officials do not have details on the ongoing operation.

10:20 am

The navy base under attack is 15 miles (24 km) from the Masroor Air Base, Pakistan's largest and a possible depot for nuclear weapons.

"They (militants) were carrying guns, rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and hand grenades. They hit the aircraft with an RPG," Navy spokesman Commander Salman Ali said of the militants.

10:15 am

Talking to Express 24/7, defence analyst Lt Gen (R) Talat Masood said that the militants had sent out a clear message to Pakistani security forces.

"They want to weaken the security insitutions one by one," he said, adding that the attack was planned with precision.

"They are growing more and more powerful. The state is getting weaker and more helpless."
10:10 am

Express 24/7 correspondent Shaheryar Mirza reports that sounds of gunfire and explosions have halted, however it is not clear if this signals the end of the operation.

"There is complete silence in the area, but this could be a delaying tactic," said Mirza.

10:00 am

Express 24/7 correspondent Shaheryar Mirza reports that a man has been arrested from the area due to suspicious activity.

The man was reportedly viewing the ongoing operation through binoculars from a high point.

Twitter update:

sharmeenochinoy TTP soldier tells me our training is better than your military because v are ready 2 die #karachiattacks #Pakistan

madihariaz Don't want to watch the news, can't stay away either.

9:50 am

Express 24/7 reporter Ahmed Jung confirms that sophisticated LMG rifles, rocket launchers and Russian hand grenades have been used by the militants in the ongoing battle. The terrorists were dressed in black clothes.

Sources say 6 terrorists have been killed, however their bodies have not been dragged out of the base.

9:40 am

Taliban said that the team of militants they sent into Karachi's PNS Mehran naval base Sunday night had enough supplies to survive a three-day siege.

"They have enough ammunition and food and they can fight andsurvive for three days," Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told Reuters.

9:35 am

Two P3C Orion aircrafts have reportedly been destroyed by militants in the attack.

9:25 am

Express 24/7 reporter Ahmed Jung says 26 have explosions have so far taken place at the navy base in the last 12 hours.

Two helicopters are circling the military base in the ongoing operation, and security forces are trying to capture terrorists alive in order to interrogate them.

"Security forces want to know how the militants could enter a base where security is so strict that not even a camera is allowed inside," says Jung.

9:20 am

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the brazen attack on the base by 15-20 gunmen, saying it was to avenge the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on May 2, AFP reports.

"It was the revenge of martyrdom of Osama bin Laden. It wasthe proof that we are still united and powerful," Ehsanullah Ehsan told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

3:15am

Navy spokesman confirms five people have been killed in the attack -- four Navy personnel and one Rangers personnel.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik has arrived in Karachi.

2:52am

A few minutes back massive gunfire forced media personnel to lie down on the ground, reports Ahmed Jung. Fire is still erupting from the spot.

The gun battle has lasted 5 hours.

The Shah Faisal colony drain line leads to a small wall, which allows entrance into the base, says Jung. This was the likely route the terrorists took.

2:24am

An official speaking on condition of anonymity says at least 4-5 terrorists have been shot dead, but the aim of the operation is to catch the militants alive.

Fire has erupted again as fire fighters paused efforts due to an on going gun battle.

Heavy gunfire is ongoing at PNS Mehran, confirms Express 24/7 reporter Ahmed Jung.

2:15am

Confirmed reports that Lieutenant Yasir and a fireman, Khalilur Rehman have been killed in the line of duty.

2:05am

The fires on the PAF base have been completely extinguished, confirms Express 24/7 reporter Ahmed Jung.

Shah Faisal number 5 area sewerage line was used to enter PNS Mehran, say sources on-ground.

"They were equipped with sophisticated weapons," navy spokesman Commodore Irfanul Haq told Reuters.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the militants had attacked from the rear of the base. "We have been able to confine them to one building and an operation is underway either to kill or capture them."

The Karachi attack evoked memories of an assault on Pakistan's Army headquarters in the town of Rawalpindi in 2009, and revived concerns that even the most well-guarded installations in the country remain vulnerable.

1:50am

Terrorists used a sewerage line behind the PNS Mehran to enter the base, unconfirmed reports suggest. Rangers have been deployed at the entrance of the line.

Law enforcement agencies from many towns have been called in to surround the entire base to ensure the terrorists do not escape, confirms Express 24/7 reporter Ahmed Jung.

1:38pm

Ahmed Jung reports that oil tankers exploding due to the fire are the likely cause for the recent blasts on the base.

Emergency services are confirming at least one death in the attack.

It is expected the search operation will continue till daylight as the base is kilometres long.

1:24am

Director General PR, Pakistan Navy, Irfanul Haq has confirmed two injuries -- one sailor and one officer, both of whom are in critical condition. No foreigner has been killed in the attack, he says. Haq also confirms damage to one P3 Orion aircraft.

Another Navy source say the terrorists stormed the base with rockets, attack the P3 Orion and then snuck in further during the fire caused by the plane. The fire also spread to two other planes in the hangar.

1:15am

A 10th explosion has been reported on the PAF base by Tribune reporter Faraz Khan.

President Asif Ali Zardari has condemned the attack.

Twitter response:
fispahani RT @Ali_Abbas_Zaidi: I repeat: This comes directly from victims. Blood needed in PNS Rahat

OmarWaraich PNS Mehran received two P-3C Orions from the US in June 2010:http://1.usa.gov/mFZ6gK
1:10am

CID police and Army personnel were inside for an hour, however, CID officials are exiting says Ahmed Jung reporting for Express 24/7.

As yet, only fire brigades have been let inside.

The identities of the alleged four dead in the attack have not been confirmed.

12:58am

Tribune reporter Faraz Khan reports another blast in the PAF compound.

Pakistan Navy Spokesman confirms there are no casualties and only two people have been injured so far. He has confirmed that the P3 Orion aircraft was attacked.

Navy depot and a godown was attacked as well, say initial reports.

Firing is continuing inside the PAF base.

The fire in the compound has died down substantially.

DG PR Navy Irfanul Haq also confirms two injuries in the attack.

Twitter response:
OmarWaraich The fire's wild. Thick plumes of black smoke stretching across the Karachi sky

mosharrafzaidi Not really too interested in empathy from abroad. I am interested in answers from within Pakistan.

SWarisShah People should stop discouraging our army and intelligence and start praying.. they are risking their life for us.
12:50am

Fire has spread to three locations confirms Ahmed Jung reporting for Express 24/7. Fire is still visible where the terrorists first attacked.

Special forces including Army personnel and CID police have arrived to fight the terrorists inside the base.

Earlier reports that Americans were present when terrorists targeted P3C Orion plane have been refuted by a US Embassy spokesman.

12:49am

Terrorists entered from the back of the base, say sources. They had information regarding what aircrafts were inside. The attack was well planned.

Twitter response:
husainhaqqani R prayers &amp; support for victims of today's tragedy at PNS Mehran. R resolve 2 defeat terrorists must endure

mirza9 If there was no inside help on getting militants inside, they had to be given intel on the plane,location and maintenance schedule. #karachi

cyalm I'd rather have the delusional Rapture folks than the delusional folks here who can't see the enemy within
12:28am

Terrorists used rockets in the attack confirm reports.

Firing is continuing inside the base sporadically, says Tribune reporter Faraz Khan. However, he says there has been no new blasts as reported elsewhere in the media.

Army commandos are on the spot.

Twitter response:
AdilNajam Situation ongoing. Coordinated attacks already being called "Mumbai-style" some suspect there may be hostages...

needroos Respect to all security personnel, military, rangers, police, ambulance and firefighters facing the ongoing #Karachi attack
12:18am

Sources say that the initial target of the terrorists was the P3C Orion plane. The plane has reportedly been destroyed.

"This plane acts as the eyes and ears of the Pakistan Navy" says security analyst, Ikram Sehgal. The plane functions as a form of radar.

AFP updates -- "It's a terrorist attack. More than 10 terrorists are inside. They have attacked a navy air station located in a Pakistan Air Force base," said provincial home ministry official Sharfuddin Memon.

"One of the four aircraft inside the premises has been damaged," he added.

12:09am

American teams were working on the plane which came under attack.

P3C Orion is the name of the plane. It is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft.

Twitter response:
beenasarwar @thekarachikid Easy to blame govt, when it's the security establishment that needs to change paradigm, &amp; strategy.

sharmeenochinoy Just spoke 2 ppl on sharae Faisal still blocked- ppl being advised to go thru alternate routes #karachiattacks

Razarumi Vulnerabilities of Pakistani security agencies being exploited by terrorists. What a shame! #Pakistan v@ShabbirShah
12:05am

Ahmed Jung reporting for Express 24/7 a hunt for terrorists is on going inside the base. Fire fighters have managed to get the fire under control.

A specific plane inside the base may have been a target.

11:55pm

At least four members of the PAF have been reportedly killed in the attack, says Ahmed Jung from Express 24/7. The Interior Ministry reported this casualty figure to the Chief Minister house.

However, no emergency vehicles have gone into the base.

Emergency has been announced in all Karachi hospitals.

11:50pm

CCTV cameras are monitoring the situation inside -- it is confirmed that terrorists are inside and they have targeted PNS Mehran and PNS Faisal, says Faraz Khan reporting for The Express Tribune.

Four to five spots have been targeted within.

It is also possible a hangar and a navy depot has been targeted.

ISPR's Major General Athar Abbas has confirmed there is an attack ongoing inside.

For previous attacks on Pakistan Navy within Karachi click here and here.

Twitter response:
mosharrafzaidi RT @javeednusrat: dependable source insists attack started w rocket fires &amp; not bombs. has all the appearances of a well-drilled out attack.

beenasarwar #CPLC sources @Rezhasan: Samaa News channel: 4 security personnel killed in attack on airbase

faizanlakhani @tammyhaq third attack on Pakistan Navy in one month
11:45pm

Media and emergency services have not been allowed to enter the base so far. Only fire brigades have been let in.

Earlier this month in Karachi, the Navy had come under attack, with multiple bombs targeting buses.

11: 34pm

Rangers, wing commander's vehicle and up to five other cars have have gone inside the burning base.

The attack is specifically targetting PNS Mehran, confirms Faraz Khan reporting for Tribune.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik has confirmed that this is a terrorist attack.

Twitter response:
thekarachikid There's a 9/11, 26/11 and 7/7. Then there's everyday in Pakistan.

ammaryasir 5 injured includes one foreigner, probably a Chinese.

faizanlakhani complete blackout in base Faisal and Mehran
11:30pm

Pakistan Navy is trying to put out the fire inside the base. Interior Minister Rehman Malik has confirmed that this is a terrorist attack.

11:26pm

 Sporadic fire is continuing at the PAF base says Ahmed Jung reporting for Express 24/7.

The first fire rescue team has reached the spot.

Twitter response:
sharmeenochinoy This naval aviation base v sensitive area- how can terrorists enter this area- serious lapse of security #karachi

faisalkapadia People of #karachi we are under attack we must "unite" and not panic! Please stay calm we are togather in this. #mehran

AtikaRehman 4 dead, others injured according to Dunya TV #Karachi PAF explosion
11:20pm

Terrorists entered the base and there is an encounter on going report eye witnesses in the area say.

The Express Tribune correspondent Faraz Khan reports that hand grenades are likely being used according to the sounds from within the base.

There are reports of upto 6-12 terrorists inside the compound. Media standing about 2 kilometres from the blast site.


11:15pm

Reports are coming in that this is a coordinated attack. Security forces are allowing no one inside or out of the base.

Army housing and the PAF museum are also located within the compound.

11:12pm

Four major explosions have been heard so far, along with gunfire. It is as yet unclear whether there is a gun battle going on inside the air base.

Ahmed Jung reporting for Express 24/7 says Rangers, and police officials are on the spot at the PAF base.

11:10pm

According to initial reports a hand grenade was used in the attack and an attacker has been killed.

The force of the blast has shattered  surrounding buildings.

Heavy gunfire was also reported after the explosion. An eyewitness said that the blast took place near the gate of Faisal Base.

Police, rangers and rescue had reached the site of the blast.]]>
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			<title>Hundreds join Quetta rally to honour bin Laden</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/161126/sindh-coalition-pml-q-poised-to-join-sindh-cabinet</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/161126/sindh-coalition-pml-q-poised-to-join-sindh-cabinet#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 03 May 11 20:08:30 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=161126</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Organisers said between 1,000 and 1,200 people attended the rally.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Hundreds took to the streets of Quetta on Monday to pay homage to Osama bin Laden, chanting death to America and setting fire to a US flag, witnesses and organisers said.

Angry participants belonging to a religious party in Quetta, the capital of southwestern province Baluchistan, were led by federal lawmaker Maulawi Asmatullah.

They also torched a US flag before dispersing peacefully.It was the first rally in Pakistan after the United States announced that bin Laden had been killed in an overnight commando mission in Pakistan.

Organisers said between 1,000 and 1,200 people attended the rally, but witnesses put the figure closer to 800.“Bin Laden was the hero of the Muslim world and after his martyrdom he has won the title of great mujahed (Muslim fighter),” Asmatullah said.

Additionally, other radical organisations including the SSP and JuD also took out rallies in support of bin Laden, terming the slain Al Qaeda leader a 'martyr'. However, some funeral processions were called off.

Karachi protests

Hundreds of young boys and men gathered near the Motamar Al Alam Al Islami office on University Road for the funeral prayers of Osama bin Laden, the killed chief of al Qaeda, on Tuesday. The funeral prayers were organised by Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), and their spokesperson estimated 900 people had attended. However, there appeared to be less than 500. Pride at their slain leader’s death and anger at the United States dominated discussions with those who had offered the funeral prayers. “He was our leader, our guide, our hero,” railed Tayyab Iqbal, who had come to offer prayers, even though he was not a JuD member. “As a Muslim it is our duty to offer prayers for another Muslim,” said another attendee.

Read Osama bin Laden's uncovered will here.]]>
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			<title>George ka khuda hafiz — I</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/125853/george-ka-khuda-hafiz-%e2%80%94-i</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/125853/george-ka-khuda-hafiz-%e2%80%94-i#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 01 Mar 11 17:29:52 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[george.fulton]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=125853</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Today, the divorce comes through. Her name is Pakistan. And today, I am leaving her for good.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[For the past nine years, I have been in a dysfunctional relationship. My liaison started somewhat unexpectedly, quickly becoming an all-consuming passionate love affair. My partner reciprocated strongly, bestowing deep affection and adoration upon me. Blinded by love, I was naive to her failings. Yes, at times she was self-destructive, irrational and grossly irresponsible, but I hoped by appealing to her nature’s better angles she could change. Instead, as the years progressed, and, supported by her ‘friends’ in the media, she corroded, simultaneously displaying signs of megalomania and paranoia. Once the relationship turned abusive and I feared for my life, I decide to call it quits. Today, the divorce comes through. Her name is Pakistan. And today, I am leaving her for good.

This was not a difficult decision to make. In fact, I didn’t make the decision. It was made for me. You do not chart your own destiny in Pakistan; Pakistan charts it for you. It’s emigration by a thousand news stories. I am aware that bemoaning the state of Pakistan as a final shot appears churlish and arrogant. After all, I have the luxury to leave — many others do not. Nor do I want to discredit the tireless work of the thousands who remain to improve the lives of millions of Pakistanis. They are better men and women than I. Pakistan has also given me so much over the years. It was Pakistan who introduced me to the love of my life. And it was upon her manicured lawns that we married, and upon her reclaimed soil that we set up our first home. She brought the love of a new family and new friends into my life. And it was Pakistan that witnessed the birth of my son, Faiz — named after one of her greatest sons.

She embraced me like no other gora post-9/11. I appeared in a documentary/reality series titled “George Ka Pakistan”. It allowed me to explore the country. I ploughed fields in the Punjab, built Kalashnikovs in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (probably couldn’t do that now), and mended fishing boats in Balochistan. The culmination of the series saw the then prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, confer Pakistani citizenship upon me, after the viewing public voted overwhelmingly to make me one of them. I was their George. Fame and affection followed.

But that love was conditional. Conditional upon me playing the role cast — the naïve gora. The moment I abandoned the Uncle Tom persona and questioned the defined establishment narratives — whether through my television work or columns — excommunication began. No longer a Pakistani in the eyes of others, my citizenship evidently was not equitable to others.

So, as I depart, I could go with my reputation tarnished, but still largely intact. Or I could leave you with some final words of honesty. Well, true love values honesty far more than a feel-good legacy. So here goes.

Pakistan, you are on a precipice. A wafer-thin sliver is all that stands between you and becoming a failed state. A state that was the culmination of a search for a ‘Muslim space’ by the wealthy Muslims of Northern India has ended up, as MJ Akbar recently pointed out, becoming “one of the most violent nations on earth, not because Hindus were killing Muslims but because Muslims were killings Muslims”.

The assassination of Salmaan Taseer saw not only the death of a man but also represented for me the death of hope in Pakistan. I did not mourn Taseer’s death. I did not know the man. But I mourned what he represented — the death of liberal Pakistan. The governor’s murder reminded us how far the extremist cancer has spread in our society. A cancer in which I saw colleagues and friends on Facebook celebrate his murder. A man murdered for standing up for the most vulnerable in our society — a Christian woman accused of blasphemy. He committed no crime. Instead, he questioned the validity of a man-made law — a law created by the British — that was being used as a tool of repression.

In death, the governor was shunned, unlike his killer, who was praised, garlanded and lionised for shooting Taseer in the back. Mumtaz Qadri became a hero overnight. But Qadri is not just a man — he’s a mindset, as eloquently put by Fifi Haroon. Fascism with an Islamic face is no longer a political or an economic problem in Pakistan, it’s now become a cultural issue. Extremism permeates all strata and socio-economic groups within society. Violent extremists may still make up a minority but extremism now enjoys popular support. As for the dwindling moderates and liberals, they are scared.

Pakistan does not require a secret police, we are in the process of turning upon ourselves. But then what do you expect when your military/intelligence nexus — and their jihadi proxies — have used religious bigotry as a tool of both foreign and domestic policy. It is ironic that the one institution that was designed to protect the idea of Pakistan is the catalyst for its cannibalisation. Christians, Ahmadis, Shias and Barelvis have all been attacked in the past year. Who will be next? Groups once funded and supported by the state have carried out many of these attacks. And many jihadi groups still remain in cahoots with the agencies.

So as I leave Pakistan, I leave her with a sense of melancholy. Personally, for all my early wide-eyed excitement and love for the country and its people, Pakistan has made me cynical, disillusioned and bitter over time. I came here with high hopes, adopting the country, its people and the language. I did find redemption here — but no longer.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Salmaan Taseer assassinated</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98988/salman-taseer-attacked-in-islamabad</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98988/salman-taseer-attacked-in-islamabad#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Jan 11 16:40:03 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=98988</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The attacker was in Rawalpindi's elite force and part of the Governor's convoy. Suspect under arrest.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer was attacked and killed in a firing incident in Islamabad's Kohsar market on Tuesday.

The late governor was shot in Kohsar Market by one of his security guards, an elite force personnel, who has been identified as Malik Mumtaz Hussain.

A spokesperson of the Polyclinic Hospital confirmed that the governor had been hit by 25 bullets, while witnesses at the site said that he had died on the spot.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik revealed that the arrested man had admitted to the murder and ruled out inadequate security as a possible cause of the attack.

The federal government has announced a three day mourning period.

The funeral will be held at the Governor’s House tomorrow (Wednesday).

End of live updates

8:30pm

Government of Punjab announces public holiday tomorrow (Wednesday).

PPP leader Raja Riaz will be making arrangements for the funeral to be held at Governor's House.

7:25pm

Protests are being taken out in different parts of Punjab.

A three member panel has been formed to perform Taseer's autopsy.

Registrar Lahore High Court has announced that all courts in Punjab will remain closed tomorrow.

6:55pm

President Asif Ali Zardari has strongly condemned the assassination of Governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer today and directed the Interior Minister Rehman Malik to personally supervise the investigations and report to him urgently.

Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that President was informed about the tragic assassination during a meeting of the PPP MPAs of four districts in the Bilawal House after which all the meetings scheduled for today were postponed to a later date.

The President also directed the Party leadership that the birthday functions in connection with Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s 83rd birth anniversary on Wednesday be limited only to holding of seminars at district, divisional and provincial levels without fanfare and without cake cutting ceremonies. Quran Khwani for Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Salmaan Taseer will also be held on Wednesday as part of the birth anniversary functions of Party’s founding Chairman, he said.

The President also asked the Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and MNA Faryal Talpur to participate in the funeral on his behalf. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will also participate in the funeral.

6:10pm

Interior Minister Rehman Malik says the first point of investigation will be to find out whether the suspect Qadri carried out the attack as part of a larger plot or on his own.

Malik confirmed the suspect, Qadri is twenty six-years-old.
In life, Salmaan Taseer was never afraid of controversy and was never one to remain silent even when his stance on issues like militancy and the blasphemy law brought the venom of the right wing pouring on to him. Zarrar Khuhro
5:55pm

Government announced three day country-wide mourning period.

Chief Minister Punjab, Shahbaz sharif has arrived at the hospital.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik says investigation has been ordered into how the assassin Qadri was selected for the security of the governor.

5:40pm

Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that all personnel of the governor's security convoy have been arrested.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has announced a two week mourning period. All functions of the party have been postponed.

5:30pm

All VIP functions are under threat says Interior Minister Rehman Malik, adding that, "our colleagues criticise us when we increase vip security".

Governor Taseer was killed to destabilise Pakistan say MQM Chief Altaf Hussain.

One of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer's last tweets online:
Mera azm itna bulund hae Parae sholon se dar nahin. Mujhe dar hae tu atish e gul se hae Ye kahin chaman ko jala na dein
5:25pm

According to Syed Ali reporting for Express 24/7, the arrival of a huge crowd of people to Polyclinic is causing chaos at the hospital and preventing Governor Punjab's body from being moved to PIMS for a post-mortem.

5:15pm

The name of the guard who carried out the attack has been confirmed as Mumtaz Qadri.

Saba Imtiaz: According to Rehman Malik, Salmaan Taseer's guard shot him because he called the blasphemy laws a 'kala qanoon'.

5:10pm

Interior Minister Rehman Malik will head the enquiry into Governor Punjab's assassination.

Karachi has been put on high alert after the attack.

5:06pm

Syed Ali reporting for Express 24/7 confirmed that Governor Punjab has been pronounced dead. Initial reports suggest Taseer received a critical injury in his neck.

5:03pm

The Governor of Punjab was leaving his residence in Islamabad when one of his guards shot him in the chest.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani have condoled over the death of the Punjab Governor.

An eyewitness, while speaking to the police, has provided his account of how the gunman aimed at Taseer and shot him.

5:00pm

 The alleged suspect 'Qadri' was allegedly part of Rawalpindi's elite force, Express 24/7 reported.

The suspect is being held and interrogated by Rawalpindi police.

4:50pm

The hospital says the Governor received nine bullets.

4:48pm

Attackers were part of the governor's convoy, witnesses say.

4:46pm

Police source say they have arrested a suspect in the attack.

Zulfiqar Mirza, Sindh Home Minister Qaim Ali Shah, as well as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's (PML-N) Shahbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack.

4:30pm

The governor died on the spot, according to governor house spokesman Farrukh Shah.

According to initial reports, unidentified persons fired upon the governor's convoy and he was shifted to the Polyclinic hospital for treatment.

Witnesses said that two uniformed personnel attacked him.]]>
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