The rupee ended weaker at 98.06/98.11 against the dollar, compared to Monday’s close of 97.96/98.01. The rupee has come under pressure after Pakistan made a $145 million payment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), dealers said. Heavy debt repayments to the IMF have been putting a dent in the central bank’s reserves, which have declined by nearly 20% in the current fiscal year. The next IMF repayment of $398 million is due later this month on February 26. Meanwhile, overseas Pakistani workers have so far remitted $8.21 billion in the ongoing fiscal year, a growth of 10.4% year-on year, pr $770.41 million. Monthly average remittances for the first seven months of the fiscal year clocked in at $1.17 billion as compared to $1.06 billion during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. Overnight rates in the money market rose to 9.40% compared to Monday’s close of 9.25%.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 13^th, 2013.

Pakistani stock market crosses 17,500 mark for first time

The Karachi Stock Exchange.—Reuters (File Photo)

 http://dawn.com/2013/02/11/pakistani-stock-market-crosses-17500-mark-for-first-time/#

KARACHI: Pakistan’s stock market closed higher on Monday after crossing the 17,500 mark for the first time, partially fueled by gains made in the energy and textile sector as they benefited from a weaker rupee.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index ended 0.40 percent, or 70.60 points, higher at 17,548.54.
The gain was mainly led by the state-run Oil and Gas Development Company, which gained four rupees per share.
Financial services company Jahangir Siddiqui Company saw renewed buying interest in anticipation of better earnings.

Although around 600 companies are listed on the exchange, less than ten percent of them see regular trading. Top companies include state-run oil and gas companies, banking companies and a few textile companies.
Both the oil and gas companies and the textile industry are benefiting from the rupee’s depreciation against the dollar. The energy companies post their profits in dollars, and textile exporters find the rupee’s slide makes their wares more competitively priced internationally.
A lower than expected result of D.G. Khan Cement caused its share price to decline marginally, said dealer Samar Iqbal at Topline Securities.
Maple Leaf Cement rose 4.8 percent to 18.13 rupees. Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation fell 1.15 percent to 19.77 rupees.
In the currency market, the rupee ended weaker at 97.96/98.01 against the dollar, compared to Friday’s close of 97.88/97.95.
Overnight rates in the money market fell to 9.75 percent compared to Thursday’s close of 8.75 percent.

OIC chief: We need Shia-Sunni dialogue

 http://arabia.msn.com/news/middle-east/1286464/oic-chief-we-need-shia-sunni-dialogue/

“The summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will certainly dedicate attention to examine ways to promote rapprochement among the sects of Islam; followers of all Muslim sects have so much in common and it makes absolutely no sense that they engage in futile debates,” said Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the outgoing secretary-general of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation.

Turkish Ihsanoglu spoke to Ahram Online ahead of Tuesday's inauguration of the OIC summit in Cairo under the new Egyptian presidency and against a backdrop of a Sunni-Shia verbal clash, following the visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Sunni institution Al-Azhar.
“Back in 2005, the OIC adopted a ten-year plan to improve relations among its 57 member states and a key matter to this plan is indeed the elimination of tension among the followers of the different Muslim sects,” the OIC secretary-general said.
He added that “some avenues” have already been explored in this respect but that there is still much work that needs to be done.
According to Ihsanoglu, the initiative proposed by Saudi King Abdullah last summer to establish a centre for rapprochement between different Muslim sects should help in this respect.
“At the end of the day, I am convinced that all Muslim states are aware that it serves the interest of nobody,” he said.
In his opening statement to the summit, President Mohamed Morsi, who took over the two-year delayed presidency from his Senegalese counterpart, underlined the need to give a good push to the works of the inter-sects centre and to “exert all possible efforts to overcome inter-Muslim disputes”.
According to the secretary-general of the OIC “it is often the scheme of some to taint their political differences with a sectarian coat; this is something we need to work against,” he said.
Ihsanoglu stressed that he is “convinced that the disputes we see in Iraq are not essentially sectorial; I am not saying that there is a perfect understanding among the followers of the different sects but I am certainly saying that these differences have been blown way out of proportion since the US (invasion) of Iraq,” he argued.
For the secretary-general of the OIC, the conflict in Syria is not either a sectorial conflict “although some tries to make it look so.”
“If you take a close look at the conflicting sides in Syria you would certainly find that followers of the different sects are there on both sides; it is ultimately a political matter.”
A researcher in Islamic history who has lived and worked across the Muslim world, the outgoing secretary-general of the OIC has never tired of reminding that the long history of co-existence of Sunnis and Shias in no other than Baghdad throughout several centuries remains clear testimony of the inevitable inter-sect rapprochement.
According to Ihsanoglu, a good way to help better understanding among the member states of the Muslim organisation is to promote better cooperation amongst these countries.
“We need to work on better bringing these countries together; we have already done some work to promote the expansion of inter-trade and economic cooperation, but of course much more work still needs to be done,” he said.
The OIC secretary-general expects this week’s two-day summit in Cairo to adopt a firm resolution on the matter.
Meanwhile, Ihsanoglu argued the need for a wider societal cohesion throughout the Muslim world. This, he said, should “certainly” include a more sensitive approach towards the growing concerns of minorities – especially, but not only, Christians.
“Throughout 14 centuries Muslim countries were never strictly for Muslim populations and in principle of course Islam is a religion of inter-faith tolerance; we should never overlook these very key facts,” Ihsanoglu said.
Women, Ihsanoglu added, are yet another "minority" to which Muslim countries should give more attention.
“The empowerment of women in Muslim countries is for sure an issue that has been put on the agenda of the OIC, but then again we cannot be blind to the fact that different societies are governed by different norms and that the concept of empowerment varies from one context to the other,” he said.
“The coercion of women that we see in Muslim society is not an Islamic choice but rather a political and a societal choice and we need to be realistic about the length and hardships of the path toward eliminating this coercion,” added the secretary-general, who has overseen the establishment of a centre dedicated to the empowerment of women.
This week’s OIC summit will determine the mechanism of operation for the new centre which will be based in Cairo.

Karachi, cheapest city in the world, again

Global report pegs Karach­i as cheape­st city, despit­e high inflat­ion.

By Web Desk

Published: February 15, 2012

The over-populated port city came in 131st out of 131 cities, maintaining its last year’s position. PHOTO: JALAL QURESHI/ EXPRESS

Karachi has been ranked the cheapest city in the world, for the second year running.
According to a report published in The Wall Street Journal, Pakistan’s biggest city landed up at the bottom of the index for the Economist Intelligence Unit’s world-wide cost-of-living survey.

The over-populated port city came in 131st out of 131 cities, maintaining last year’s position.
Other cities that made it to the bottom ten include Mumbai, New Delhi, Kathmandu and Dhaka.
Jon Copestake, editor of the survey, stated in the report that these cheap cities “have been cheap for a long time.” “Even though local inflation is high, it’s coming from a very low base, so it’s only a slight rise in the cost-of-living index,” he said.

Published twice a year, the survey tracks the prices of goods and services such as food, transportation, utilities, private schools and domestic help to calculate scores for each city, using New York as its base with a score of 100.

According to this year’s survey, Zurich is the world’s most expensive city to live in.

London: The cost of living the Australian dream has surged with Sydney and Melbourne among the five most expensive cities in the world, outstripping most European and U.S. locations, according to an annual survey released on Monday.

Asia and Australasia account for 11 of the world's top 20 most expensive cities, with eight from Europe and one from South America, the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) worldwide cost of living index found. No North American cities featured in the top 20.

This compared to a decade ago when there were six Asian cities, 10 European cities and four U.S. cities in the top 20 of the list that calculates living costs in 131 cities in 93 countries and is used by companies for costings when relocating staff.

In the 2013 survey, Tokyo reclaimed the title as the world's most expensive city. Currency swings pushed Zurich into the No.1 position last year but government exchange rate controls have driven the Swiss city back to No.7 in the list.

Osaka in Japan was ranked the second most expensive.

Jon Copestake, editor of the EIU Worldwide Cost of Living Index, said one of the most notable changes was the rising costs in Australia, with Sydney third in the list and Melbourne fifth. Sandwiched between them was Oslo in Norway.

"Ten years ago there were no Australian cities in the top 50 most expensive cities and I have not seen this sort of climb with any other cities," Copestake told Reuters.

"But economic growth has supported inflation and the strength of the Australian dollar against other currencies besides the U.S. dollar has driven up costs. Visitors will certainly feel the difference and people living there will have noticed prices have crept up."

RISING ASIA COSTS

The survey is based on costs of over 160 items ranging from food and clothing, to domestic help, transport and utilities.

Copestake said the return of Tokyo to top of the list came as no great surprise as the Japanese capital had steep real estate costs and rents, as well as high wages fuelling prices.

Since 1992 Tokyo has been the top-ranking city in every year bar six when Zurich, Paris and Oslo claimed the No.1 spot.

Also featured in the 2013 top 10 were Singapore, Zurich, Paris, the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and Geneva.

Copestake said fears over economic austerity and the stability of the euro had pushed the index of euro zone cities down in the past year while the inclusion of Caracas was due to artificially high exchange rate controls.

Although no North American cities feature in the top 20, the EIU said the cost of living in New York had risen relative to other places in the United States. It shares 27th position as the most expensive U.S. city with Los Angeles.

The Canadian city of Vancouver remains the most expensive location in North America, ranked 21st in the index.

But while Asia and Australasia is home to 11 of the 20 most expensive cities, the region is also home to six of the 10 cheapest.

Mumbai in India and Karachi in Pakistan were the joint cheapest locations in the survey followed by New Delhi, the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu and Algerian capital of Algiers.

Referring to India and its forecasts for growth, the EIU said: "Income inequality means that household spending levels are low on a per capita basis, which has kept prices down, especially by Western standards."

Rounding out the bottom 10 were Bucharest in Romania, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Panama City, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and Iranian capital Tehran.

ICC Women’s World Cup: Team confined to stadium as Indian hotels turn cold

By Our Correspondent

Published: January 29, 2013

Pakistan reached Cuttack from New Delhi on Sunday to participate in the ICC Women’s World Cup. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE

KARACHI: 

In the wake of protests and threats by India’s right-wing parties, the Orissa Cricket Association (OCA) was forced to arrange separate accommodation for the Pakistan women’s team inside the Barbati Stadium in Cuttack, after five-star hotels showed reluctance to provide hospitality.

According to The Times of India, “The Pakistani players would have faced trouble while travelling from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack for the matches,” said OCA secretary Asirbad Behera. “So we have arranged for their accommodation on the Barabati Stadium premises.”

Pakistan reached Cuttack from New Delhi on Sunday to participate in the ICC Women’s World Cup. The side, led by Sana Mir, was escorted by a heavy deployment which safely took the visiting side to the stadium.

Several parties in India had issued warnings against Pakistan’s participation in India due to cross-border tensions which had forced the Indian board to move their matches from Mumbai.

According to the report, as most hotels in the city refused to host the Pakistani side under immense pressure and threats, the team will be confined to the stadium throughout the tournament. However, the remaining group B teams playing their matches in Cuttack – Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – will stay in hotels in Bhubaneswar.

Right-wing religious parties had warned hoteliers in Bhubaneswar against offering “hospitality to the Pakistani players”, following which posh hotels in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack withdrew, forcing the decision to house the players on the stadium premises.

However, the OCA promised the best lodging for the team at the stadium.

“Accommodation for the Pakistan team became a headache,” an OCA official told The Times of India before adding that the decision was taken to ensure safety for the visitors.

“We will provide five-star facilities to the players at the Club House in the stadium. The Club House is equipped with a world class gymnasium and swimming pool.

Amid heightened security 

According to Indian media reports, around 600 security personnel, including officials, Special Security Battalion and Odisha police were deployed upon the team’s arrival to ensure their safety on the way to the stadium.

Director General of Police (DGP) Prakash Mishra visited the stadium to review the security set-up and held discussions with OCA officials about the arrangements, the report revealed. “Matches involving the Pakistan team will be played at Barabati and elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure foolproof security to the players,” the DGP was quoted as saying.

Manager urges fans show up at matches 

Meanwhile, Pakistan team manager Ayesha Ashar said her side was well-prepared to put up an exciting performance in the World Cup.

“I am grateful for receiving a warm welcome from all the fans,” said Ayesha after her arrival in Cuttack. “I will ask Indian fans to come in numbers to watch our matches.

 

Transitions: A melodious voice that will live on

Renowned Pakistani singer Mehnaz Begum passes away

By Rafay Mahmood

Published: January 20, 2013

Mehnaz Begum. PHOTO: INP

KARACHI: 

  She had just stepped down from the stage after giving a tribute to the queen of melody, Noor Jehan. The crowd wanted more but her health confined her to shorter performances.

Behind the stage, her feet trembling from weakness, she placed herself on the first available chair. Seeing her alone with no entourage, I made my way towards her with a paper and pen. Before I could speak, she held my hand and said bashfully: “I hope you don’t have a camera … I’m not as beautiful as singers usually are, so I prefer it when people listen to my voice.”
And that voice was still as soothing as it was in Shabnam, and her charm still that of a teenage girl.
Mehnaz Begum passed away last night at the age of 55 but her soulful voice will continue to ring for another life-time in the memories of her admirers.
The late singer had been suffering from diabetes and was on her way to the US for treatment when she passed away.
Mehnaz grew up under the auspices of her mother and mentor, Kajjan Begum, who herself was one of the most celebrated singers of pre-partition India.

As soon as Mehnaz entered the music industry, her unique tonal quality and magnificent expression brought her at par with contemporaries like Naheed Akhtar. She went on to become an essential cultural representative of Pakistan along with talented friends and contemporaries such as Tina Sani, Nayyara Noor and Abida Parveen.
“She was the sweetest in our gang and wherever we went her presence decorated the occasion,” Sani said while talking to The Express Tribune.
“I remember there was a day when Abida started singing in our room and slowly Mehnaz joined in and as soon as that happened Abida started crying and I couldn’t do anything but filming that divine experience with my handicam,” Tina recalled.
From the music of classic films like “Aina” and “Qurbani” to countless solo performances to some beautiful renditions of Ahmad Faraz’s poetry, Mehnaz brought a new flavour to ghazal singing.
With the decline of the film industry, Mehnaz hardly got to perform, apart from the occasional tribute performances. Her latest tribute to Noor Jehan reflected the amount of singing that was left in her.
“It won’t be an understatement to call her the Lata Mangeshkar of Pakistan,” said pop singer Mohammad Ali Shehki.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2013.

So sorry to hear that you are a woman!

January 23, 2013

I don’t know why we were underestimated. After all, we were selected on pure merit after passing the same tests and exams as our fellow male classmates.

“Women should think twice before stepping into this field, as I am sure that most of the girls sitting here today are going to be just good housewives after four years.”

These were the words of one of our classmates in the first year of engineering.
I spent four years in one of the top engineering universities of Pakistan. I enjoyed it tremendously. I was being taught by the best faculty in our country, including professors who had obtained their degrees from renowned universities abroad.
However, it is sad but true, that during those four years I came across highly discouraging attitudes and behaviour.
I realised that such thought is prevalent in Pakistan, especially when it comes to acceptance of women in a largely male dominated field.
Many times my female friends and I felt that we weren’t taken seriously; we were looked down upon as ignorant females who had joined engineering to waste four years of their lives and had occupied a seat which could have been filled by a male student, more appropriate for the field.
We were treated with disdain for not choosing a more “appropriate” profession such as the ‘typical’ medicine or teaching.
Mind you, there was not an “obvious” gender bias. We were provided the same opportunities, same chance to prove our skills and absolutely equal marks in case of good performance.
The fault lay in subtle attitudes and underlying behaviours of some people, whether they were teachers, laboratory assistants or even classmates.
Of course, most of them were male.
In our third year, when we were trying to secure internships, one of my friends had to make various rounds of the Industrial liaison office at the university to get a recommendation letter that is required for an internship.
Irritated by her constant appearances at the office, (notwithstanding that the summer break had already started which made her all the more desperate) the advice the head of the Industrial Liasion Office gave her was classic and can definitely be categorised under the “One hundred and one motivational quotes of the century!”

“Aap ne internship kar kay kia karna hay akhir karna to choola handi hee hay.”
“Why do you want to secure an internship so bad? At the end of the day all you will ever do is cook and clean.”

We were amazed at how such a top official of the university, belonged to the eighteenth century.
Absolutely Bizarre!
In a micro controller course, one day while citing an example, the instructor said,

“For example when you go into the industry then using the same procedure you can design a–but wait! Since you won’t be going joining the industry, then you can design a sensor that would alert you in case you were making rotis and your child goes near a power plug. ”

Then there was a laboratory teacher who, whenever a girl did something wrong, would pompously say,

“Told you, girls are not meant for engineering!”

I don’t know why we were underestimated. After all, we were selected on pure merit after passing the same tests and exams as our fellow male classmates.
Most of the time we even managed to score higher than them. In fact, the person who scored the highest marks in our class was a female!
Not only that but Pakistani women are serving at key positions in the field of science and technology. One such woman is Yasmeen Lari, the first female architect of Pakistan. Some of  the famous landmarks of Karachi such as the famous FTC building, PSO House and the Taj Mahal Hotel (now Regent Plaza) have all been designed by her.
In 2006, she was awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz for her contribution in the field of architecture. The premier IT body of Pakistan, The association of Pakistan software houses (PASHA) is also headed by a woman, Jehan Ara.
Dr Humera Noor Minhas, the first female PhD of NED University, has been listed in 2011 edition of “Marquis Who’s Who” as one of the world’s foremost achievers in the field of computer systems.
Despite all these achievements, men behave as if they own the profession of engineering!
I won’t go into the oft repeated details of women’s accomplishments to prove that women are better than men because I believe, they are not. Men and women are equal, I believe. For every intelligent man, there is an equally intelligent woman.
We observe equilibrium in everything present in nature around us so why we don’t believe in equilibrium when it comes to the division of intelligence?
All I want is to make a request to male engineers; I know it’s hard to erase the image of a stereotypical woman that is fed into every Pakistani male’s mind since birth, but please, keep your jibes to yourself.
Engineering is not only for men, we are here and we are going to stay whether you like it or not!

Cleaning up the mess after Dr Tahirul Qadri’s Long March

Vaqas Asghar January 21, 2013

Cleaners sweep a street after supporters of Tahirul Qadri left the capital. PHOTO: REUTERS

The long marchers are gone, but fear not fellow Islamabadis, they left us something to remember them by, namely, a 100-odd tons of trash lining the city’s commercial district.
The icing on the cake however, was the fact that many were praising the marchers for their behaviour and the freezing cold they were putting up with. I am yet to hear of a person who goes to work, leaves without punching anybody, and gets praised for it. Similarly, if someone were to go on a skiing trip with only t-shirts in their luggage, I doubt anyone would feel sorry for them.
The fact that violent protests are the norm in our society does not mean that we praise the non-violent ones, for not creating havoc. Rather, it is grounds for fresh (peaceful) protests to push for the punishment of the esteemed figures, including parliamentarians and local business and community leaders, who are behind the violence.
As for the cold, nobody ordered them to come here, and for many in the crowd, it was just a touch-and-go vacation — a limited tour of the capital, and while there are many better places around Pakistan to spend a week, a free vacation is a free vacation.
Then of course, the sanitation complaints. While it would seem ludicrous to expect the government to set up temporary toilets for 50,000 people, the issue ended up becoming one of the protesters’ informal complaints against the state.
Exactly how many instances are there of a government facilitating protesters who want to overthrow it?
Most of that garbage would have been out of sight and in trash cans and bags if the long marchers, touted by many as ‘organised’, had actually planned ahead for the fact that they would eventually have to use the loo. Instead, they left the cleric at a nearby mosque in tears over what the mosque, and specifically its toilets, were looking like.
But then, there is no surprise in the fact that the rally fizzled out as soon as it rained. For all of the focus on keeping the sexes segregated and distributing tents and raincoats for the long haul, the ‘all the world’s a toilet’ strategy would, sooner than later, have proven to be their undoing.
One feels for the CDA’s sanitation workers, whose efforts to make the mess disappear have already been forgotten.
If there was an issue with sanitation, it must be blamed on the organisers, who got Mr Qadri a bulletproof SUV and container office to protect him from the elements while the crowd suffered.
Compare that to Imran Khan.
Whether or not you support the philanthropist and cricket legend’s political positions, he does not hide behind bulletproof glass when he addresses the public, even in places like Waziristan. He didn’t sleep in a comfort-controlled box at his rallies, he slept outside with his supporters. Neither of them are ‘true’ revolutionaries, but ironically, only the wealthy, Aitchison and Oxford-educated celebrity seems to understand the importance of being one with the people.
But then, one can’t blame Mr Qadri. He’s a refugee getting a chance to live the high life.
That of course brings us to the gent’s talking points on corruption and dishonesty.
The Mounties and Revenue Canada may force him to put his foot in his mouth over his hypocrisy. The Canadians aren’t the least bit happy about being played by this refugee, who ran off too Canada and asked to be given asylum because he was afraid to live in Pakistan anymore.
In addition, the much debated source of the funding issue might be cleared once the Canadians look into whether he was using charitable donations for political purposes (which is also a crime here, but our politicians will just claim that as per their finance statements, they are deserving of charity). By the way, according to DAWN,

“A TMQ spokesman said [Qadri] did not obtain Canadian citizenship because of security concerns but to get a credible travel document for seeking visas of different countries.”

That would seem to be an abuse of immigration laws in itself. So are his own spokespersons admitting he abused the Canadian immigration system?
As for Qadri’s “save the state, not the system” message, yes, our democracy is broken. It is an obvious ruling elite system rife with nepotism and internally-undemocratic political parties, but that does not mean the army should intervene. Democracy has a self-correcting mechanism called elections. If one feels the politicians aren’t doing their jobs, they should vote for change, not call for a military coup.
A functional democracy allows for gradual change and public opposition such as protests to avoid any radical shifts. It is democracy that gave Mr Qadri and others with varying ideological allegiances the right to protest against real or perceived injustices.
Dictators don’t clean up messes, they make bigger ones and blame them on the guys they kicked out.
So, before calling for a coup, just ask anyone who was protesting during the 1980’s how tolerant of opposition dictators usually are.

 

He came,he saw,and he did not conquer   

Cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri made a sudden landing in Pakistan from Canada, addressed a large gathering and threatened the Government in Islamabad with dire consequences if it did not quit. Then he returned.

Though the ‘Pakistan Spring’, launched with fanfare at Lahore on December 23, 2012, fizzled out when the January 15 Islamabad rally failed to gather momentum, its enduring lesson is that nations targeted for ‘revolution’ by foreign-returned messiahs must subject the putative saviours to close scrutiny.

Someone in Pakistan would have been alerted that Canadian-Pakistani dual citizen, Tahir-ul-Qadri, founder of the political party, Pakistan Awami Tehreek, and voluntary organisation, Minhaj-ul-Quran, had roused the fury of scholars at the prestigious Al Azhar seminary for assuming the title ‘Shaykh-ul-Islam’. The angry scholars pointed out that Pakistan is not an Islamic state on the lines of Turkey under the Khulafa Uthmani where Shaykh-ul-Islam was also an appointed position endorsed by the Khalifa. Hence, no authority in Pakistan or Egypt can sanction this title.

Shaykh-ul-Islam, as per authorities such as Allamah Shams El-Din El-Sakhawi, “is a title attributed to that follower of the Book of Allah Most High and the example of His Messenger, who possesses the knowledge of the principles of the Science (of Religion), has plunged deep into the different views of the scholars, has become able to extract the legal evidences from the texts, and has understood the rational and the transmitted proofs at a satisfactory level.”

Mr Qadri roused scepticism when he addressed the Islamabad rally in English; he also spoke in Urdu. Earlier, in August 2010, he ran a week-long anti-terrorism camp for Muslim youth at the University of Warwick to tackle extremism in the UK. Friends who saw him there noted he spoke in English in an era when jihadis are spewing Arabic! It was obvious he could not attract the youth moving toward the jihadis; he must have been in the UK for some other purpose.

The Al Azhar scholars questioned Mr Qadri’s academic credentials and the need for Arabic translators during a trip to Egypt, when every Alim in Islamic history who held the title Shaykh-ul-Islam, was proficient in Arabic. Demanding that he furnish evidence that a legitimate authority had conferred the title on him, and the grounds for the same, they warned (prior to his return to Pakistan) that he planned “to instigate a ‘revolution’ like the ones that have brought civil wars and instability to North Africa (i.e. Libya) and the Middle East (i.e. Syria), causing catastrophic grief and releasing a flood of extremists”.

Certainly, Mr Qadri has a background worth noting, and has travelled widely in the past decade, discussing issues of concern to Muslims and the West. In March 2010, he drew international acclaim with his unconditional fatwa on terrorism and was feted by the international media, drawing appreciation from the US State Department.

Mr Qadri’s significant connections include Turkish Sufi scholar Fettullah Gulen, who was ‘used’ by the West, according to informed sources. The FBI’s former Turkish-American translator Sibel Edmonds (sacked in 2002) testified in 2010 in the court case of Fetullah Gulen, who was seeking a green card, confirming US-Saudi sponsorship of radical mosques and Islamists in Central Asia. She described American Government documents which she had transcribed during her service. This means Washington was looking for a proxy for effective control of the region and asked Turkey, a Nato ally, for help as Turkey shares the same racial heritage as the population of Central Asia, the Turkic language, and religion (Sunni Islam). 

Experts believe that Turkish organisations like the $25 billion Gulen movement, reportedly financed by the CIA, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have been establishing madarssas and mosques across Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, for over a decade. Gulen, now based in Pennsylvania, is close to Graham E Fuller, former CIA station chief in Kabul, important analyst for the Council on Foreign Relations, and author of The Future of Political Islam.

At the January 15 rally, Mr Qadri accused the Pakistani Government of being corrupt and incompetent; he demanded that elections be deferred until the Election Commission was reconstituted; an impartial and honest caretaker Government installed in consultation with the Army and Judiciary; and Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution dealing with candidate eligibility implemented. He seemed to have received a boost when the Chief Justice called for the immediate arrest of Prime Minister Raja Ashraf Pervez in a corruption case; but suspicions that the Army and Judiciary were using him to instigate a ‘soft coup’ dented public support for him.

The Army and Mr Qadri both denied the rumours, but he was tainted by his energetic support to former Army chief and President Pervez Musharraf after the coup of 1999. He served in the national Assembly under Mr Musharraf before moving to Canada in 2006, after some differences with Mr Musharraf.

The corruption case regarding private power stations relates to Mr  Pervez’s tenure as Power Minister, but he has not been personally convicted in any case and hence the order for his arrest was not executed. The overall crisis was defused by dexterous political management by the ruling party; Mr Imran Khan’s demand for the immediate resignation of President Asif Ali Zardari fell flat. However, the mysterious murder of Kamran Faisal who was investigating the case has not helped the Government’'s credibility.

The beleaguered regime, however, defused Mr Qadri ‘revolution’ by sending a high-level delegation for talks, thus giving him a face-saver. Nawaz Sharif, Altaf Hussain and others also sent messengers to talk to him. As the Government made it clear that it would complete its tenure and have elections on schedule, all that Mr Qadri got was a vague promise of dissolution of the Provincial Assemblies and consultations regarding a caretaker Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, someone doubtless nudged the Canadian authorities, because as soon as the ‘Pakistan Spring’ crowd moved off the streets, they issued summons to Mr Qadri to report for questioning on February 5 regarding violation of the oath he took while seeking asylum. Mr Qadri had sought asylum in 2008 on the plea that he could not enter his native country, Pakistan, and feared threats to his life after meeting the Danish cartoonist who made blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Muhammad. His asylum application was accepted in October 2009, and he received his Canadian passport six months ago.

Thereafter, his rather prompt and high-profile political activity in Pakistan was at variance with claims made while seeking asylum and citizenship in Canada. Chastened by this turn of events, Mr Qadri returned to Canada after announcing that neither he nor any member of his family would contest elections. He may never return.

 

Tahir-ul-Qadri has Army’s and the US’s support

This refers to the article, “He came, he saw, and he did not conquer” (January 29) by Sandhya Jain.

The writer's analyses of our neighbours are often based on an incomplete read of what really goes on in the region. She portrays Tahir-ul-Qadri as a Canadian agent who speaks in English and has incurred the wrath of Islamist scholars in Al Azhar. Ms Jain's knowledge of Al Azhar and Pakistan is inadequate, to say the least.

Mr Qadri has the backing of the Pakistani Army. He is acting at the Army's behest, an Army that was fed up with what it had perceived as the mismanagement of the Asif Ali Zardari Government. The Army is unable to more directly intervene as that would earn the ire of the United States, which is against any direct military involvement in Pakistan's governance. But then, Ms Jain is so anti-US that she would refuse to acknowledge that the failure of Tahir-ul-Qadri had more to do with the behind the scenes action of the US.

For Tahirul Qadri, it’s a win

Zarrar Khuhro January 19, 2013

What he has accomplished is quite a feat for someone without a single parliamentary seat to his name. PHOTO: REUTERS

The revolution is over. Democracy is saved. Islamabad the green will become even greener, thanks to all the fertiliser. The ‘padri’ is now very much a player. The ‘former’ government is now a coalition partner, the ‘yazeedis’ are now buddies and Karbala, it seems, came with a conference-ready container.

Bad jokes and highly inappropriate references aside (hey, they started it), we can breathe a collective sigh of relief that it all ended without violence because, for a while there, it all looked very touch and go.

I’m also glad that the army kept its boots off, and didn’t tip the balance when the Chief Justices’s arrest orders for Prime Minister Ashraf miraculously coincided with TuQ’s speech. A meray aziz humwatno moment seemed imminent at that point. That it didn’t come is no small blessing.

Apart from a certain biscuit brand that can now benefit from instant brand recall (Tuc), a clear winner is the tissue paper industry. Up until yesterday, a certain Amazingly Asinine columnist and a Kriminally Krackpot anchor were using several dozen boxes a day to wipe the drool from their chins. Now they’ll be mopping tears of disappointment that Zardari’s head was not served to them on a platter.

But they’re not the only ones who have to swallow a bitter pill. Nawaz Sharif seems locked out of this set-up and he certainly won’t be pleased. The question of whether the President has pulled the wool over his eyes for the 15,864th time will very much be bothering him. Nor will he (or any PPP opponent) be glad to see that Qamar Zaman Kaira has emerged from the anemic ranks of PPP leaders as a man who can walk the walk and talk the talk, flip flopping with the ease and skill of a Cirque du Soleil performer. And all with a smile on his face.

Imran Khan, who has seen his slogan of change effectively appropriated by Qadri, did, in the end, the only thing he could have done, agree with Qadri’s intentions, but not his methods.

It’s an open question if he can once again tap into the simmering reservoir of discontent that both he and Qadri are trying to siphon and translate that into electoral gains.

The Supreme Court remains the ultimate wildcard. Pursuing what seems like an anti-government vendetta it has, in the past few days, not only issued arrest orders against the PM but also admitted the hearing of a (wait for it) blasphemy petition against Sherry Rehman that even the LHC’s Multan bench refused to entertain. What will the CJ make of this agreement, I wonder?

While the MQM has come under some muted criticism (all criticism of the MQM is muted) for kind-of-sort-of throwing in their lot with Qadri, this will make absolutely zero difference to its power base. Such is the indispensability of the MQM, that anyone wanting to form a stable government in Sindh will need them no matter what.

As for Qadri himself, it’s a win.

For now.

Having failed to make any serious inroads into Pakistani politics for decades he’s now going to be consulted (or is it consensus?) on not only the makeup of the election commission but also the choosing of the caretaker PM. Not only that, the discussions will take place in MQI offices! That’s quite a feat for someone without a single parliamentary seat to his name! Imran may be wishing he had marched to Islamabad instead of the border of Waziristan. This is of course if the agreement holds.

More ominous is the precedent that has been set. It seems that, in order to paralyse the federal capital and make the government bow to your demands all you have to do is march on Islamabad.

Be assured that others are taking note.

As for me, I’m raising money for a plane ticket (for me) and buses (for the rest of you) for a march to get YouTube unblocked.

Are you with me or with the Yazeedis?

(Manufactured) revolution mubarak

January 15, 2013

We were so close to having a democratic transition of power; now we will watch this game of shadows being played out.

Congratulations, Pakistan!

The ‘manufactured’ revolution just came to a country near you.

After the stunning success of People’s Power movements, Colour Revolutions and various Springs, we bring you the Pakistani Winter.

You can thank the best strategic minds in Pakistan and beyond for bringing you this stunning and beautifully coordinated production. We’ve been called paranoid, we’ve been called incurable conspiracy theorists and cynical naysayers but guess what? We were right all along.

It’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you.

But you know what? I actually find it quite sweet.

It’s unfolded with the coordination of a Bolshoi ballet, the choreography of Disney on ice, the farce of Monty Python. And let’s admit it: it was kind of beautiful in its sheer cynicism. No one can accuse the Dirty Tricks Brigade of not being able to learn new tricks. The electronic media brought the last dictator down?

No problem, lets just buy them with ads. Social media upsetting the status quo around the world? No problem, lets manufacture #Revolution hashtags and saturate.

Once again, black is white and up is down. The lack of water at Karbala is equated with a lack of diesel in Islamabad. Our former dictator Musharraf now calls his rule a democratic one. An imported cleric, like it or not, just managed to articulate the frustration of the masses where a domestic government could not.

Yes, we need to blame the establishment and the judiciary for once again supporting, enabling and coordinating an undemocratic change in this country. We must call them to account for cratering the runway when we were so close to the finish line.

But they aren’t the only ones to blame. Had the government delivered even the semblance of governance in the past four odd years, there would not have been even five thousand people on the streets right now.

Had the government any moral authority, or any authority at all, this man would not have been able to hold the country hostage. That they did not, that they squandered such a mandate, that they allowed the establishment – which has been at its lowest ebb in decades – to pull off something on this scale, is a true tragedy.

We were so close; so close to actually having a democratic transition of power; so close to cementing the democratic process in Pakistan. And now we are once again reduced to watching this surreal game of shadows being played out.

So what now?

Will we see some political parties (MQM, PTI and PML-Q, I’m thinking of you) and leaders now endorse this manufactured revolution and destroy their future for the sake of a temporary accommodation?

Will this turn out to be yet another martyrdom for the defeated and decrepit PPP to cash in on?

I don’t know. But one thing that’s sure is the forces that came up with this scenario have war-gamed and brainstormed it to near-perfection.

We’re just along for the ride. And yes, it will be a bumpy one.

‘Admitting you are a secularist can get you killed in Pakistan’

Academ­ics lament that rulers have been using religi­on to their advant­age for centur­ies.

 January 28, 2013

PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: Urdu linguists have distorted the meaning of the word “secular,” and falsely translated it as la-deen (non-religious). The use of the word is so dangerous now that even mainstream leftist political parties in the country are afraid of talking about it.

Civil society representatives highlighted these points as they participated in a seminar titled ‘Democracy and secularism in Pakistan: Its need and importance’, at the Arts Council on Saturday. The event was organised by the Forum for Secular Pakistan. The participants urged political leaders to push for a secular state, “as there can be no democracy in the country without secularism”.

Prof. Dr Jaffar Ahmed, the chairperson of the Pakistan Study Centre, criticised Urdu linguists for “distorting” the meaning of ‘secular’ in earlier dictionaries. The word was originally used to refer to the small pieces of land that common people used to hold in the days when the Catholic Church would own most of the land. The word came to symbolise scientific inventions and progressive thought in the 19th  century, he said.

Senator Hasil Bizenjo said that secularism had become, perhaps, the most difficult subject to talk about in the country. “If someone says that he is secular, people would kill him on the spot.” He said that only three to four political parties in the country had mentioned the word in their manifestos.

On the other hand, monarchs, as well as democratic governments, have been using religion to strengthen their rule for centuries. However, there have been a few prominent rulers, including the founder of the Mughal dynasty, who had grown worried over the amalgamation of religion with state affairs, said I A Rehman, the secretary general of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. “For democracy to survive, it is necessary for the state to stay neutral when it came to religion.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2013.