Opinion Printline pakistan

However,the leadership appears to be upbeat,suggests a story in Daily Times: “The floods were devastating to the country,but the government was committed to converting the massive challenge in an opportunity to build a new Pakistan,PM Yousaf Raza Gilani said…” His confidence seemed to ebb along with the waters,suggested a report in Daily Times on September 3,wherein he employed a pun: “Pakistan is passing through a critical phase… we are literally in troubled waters.”

Party harder

A larger bench of Pakistan supreme court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry expressed expressed concern over the vast powers enjoyed by party heads under Article 63-A of the 18th Amendment. This amendment proposes to undo all changes made in Pakistan’s constitution by dictators like Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf. Daily Times reported on September 3: “Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan said,‘Instead of giving powers to one person,it should be vested with the party. In India,the party or the person designated by the party is authorised to take action against party members in the Assembly. But in Pakistan,the party head,who sometimes himself is not eligible to become a member of parliament,can send references against party MNAs for not following his or her orders.”

Match fixing

The News wrote on August 30: “As the Pakistan team bus left Lord’s,a handful of spectators,almost all Pakistanis,pelted it with rotten tomatoes. It was the same venue where they had danced and sang in jubilation when Pakistan lifted the World Twenty20 trophy last summer.” Another report in the paper stated: “Mohammad Asif,Pakistan’s pacer who is one of the prime accused… spent several nights at one of London’s posh whiskey bars during the third and fourth Tests at The Oval and Lord’s… Asif’s late night visits to the bar are quite a surprise considering… the team management is supposed to enforce a night-time curfew on the players,especially when a match is under progress.” Daily Times’ August 31 editorial took a strong view of the scam: “The fish rots from the head,be it the civilian or military set up in politics or our cricket team and management. If anybody thinks that they can wax morally indignant against these errant cricketers and ignore the foundation of moral rot in our society as a whole,then they are being dishonest.” The News said: “A lawyer filed treason charges against (the) players…” The case will be heard in the Lahore high court on Tuesday.

Daily Times reported a twist in the tale on September 1 as Mohammad Asif’s estranged girlfriend and actor Veena Malik spilled the beans about Asif’s connection with Dheeraj Dixit,an Indian freelance photographer,claiming she had evidence to prove he had approached Asif for spot-fixing.” As the first action was taken by the ICC which amounted to their immediate suspension from all formats of the game,another drama unfolded at the Pakistan High Commission in London. The high commissioner,Wajid Shamsul Hassan insisted the trio was innocent and opted out of the game owing to “mental torture.”

Massacre on martyrdom day

Lahore was rocked by triple bomb blasts at a Shia congregation organised to mark the martyrdom day of Hazrat Ali,which falls on the 21st day of Ramzan. On September 2,The News reported: “Thirty-three people were killed and over 150 injured in three back-to-back explosions… when processions of Yaum-e-Ali were on their way to conclude at the Karbala Gamay Shah…”

The interior minister’s reaction was reported in Dawn on September 3: “Rehman Malik urged the Shia community not to hold mourning processions in open places to avoid more suicide attacks. ‘How can police provide security to a gathering of 15,000 people… We don’t fear terrorists.’ “