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issue Test
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Minority
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shadow RIPPLE
EFFECT
Intelligence failure The Supreme Court is actively pursuing the missing persons' cases to ensure they are tried only in civilian courts The intelligence agencies of the country are persistently on the receiving end, whether it is the reference against the chief justice or operation against Lal Masjid or the trauma faced by the missing persons' families. Early last week, the
Courtroom 1 of the Supreme Court witnessed unusual scenes when a Similarly a German national, Aleem Nasir, was picked up from the Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore in June with a substantive quantity of precious gemstones; he was also proven innocent and detained without lawful authority. Like Abdul Basit and Imran Munir, the country's secret services were reluctant to produce Aleem Nasir before the chief justice as well. The hearing had been adjourned for a fortnight with clear instructions to Deputy Attorney General Ms Naheen for bringing in the detailed whereabouts of the missing persons. Thanks to the relentless courage of Mrs Amina Masood Janjua, the Supreme Court has included all cases of missing persons in the suo motu notice taken for her husband's disappearance in 2006. Her NGO, Defence of Human Rights (DHR), has listed over 285 missing persons while the HRCP is pursuing the cases of 155 missing Baloch and Sindhi nationalists. It goes without saying that the case got a fresh impetus during the judicial crisis and after the restoration of the Chief Justice on July 20. Earlier in its annual report on human rights, the US State Department had acknowledged the disappearances: "There was an increase of politically motivated disappearances. Police and security forces held prisoners incommunicado and refused to provide information on their whereabouts, particularly in terrorism and national security cases." Amnesty, Asia Watch and Human Rights Watch have been far more critical of forced disappearances during the Musharraf regime. Just as the Guantanamo Bay prison attracts condemnation and rejection from sane Americans, the cases of these missing persons are ugly scars on the face of military-led ruling coalition. The civil liberties have touched the lowest ebb since the America's 'War on Terror' proliferated across the planet. The Chief justice, along with his fellow judges, is the last remaining hope for the dejected families of missing persons. Startling revelations about Masood Ahmad Janjua by various traced and freed persons in their affidavits suggest that there is much more to follow in the forthcoming proceedings. Imran Munir, a young man, has been produced from a Mangla detention centre to record a statement about Mrs Amina's husband who was reportedly living in the same prison. According to a letter and his diary pages, Imran Munir was asked to co--operate with the interrogators. According to DHR claims, he was also made to meet Masood Janjua who used to be in the same cell. Imran, who is suffering from cardiac problems and now hospitalised in PIMS on court orders, in his initial statement courageously, challenged the intelligence agencies' claims while describing gory details of physical and mental torture. The Supreme Court would record his detailed statement about his own condition, crime and about Masood Ahmad Janjua, for whom he is being produced as prime witness. At the same time, advances are likely in the case of Faisal Faraz who went missing on the same date under similarly mysterious conditions when Janjua was allegedly picked up. The gruesome story of missing Atiq-ur-Rahman too is on the agenda for the next hearing. This decorated scientist of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) went missing on the morning of June 23, on his wedding day. The devastated parents were harassed by police on pursuing the case and were eventually told that some agency has picked up their son. During the last hearing at the SC, a police record presented before the court suggested that an intelligence officer came to seek details about the scientist's family as well as details about his father-in-law who is lawyer in Karachi. Simultaneously, the Supreme Court is also pursuing the missing persons from Sindh and Balochistan who had alleged links with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and other nationalist outfits. Many optimist human rights activists believe that the Supreme Court should soon look into the military operations being carried out in Balochistan and especially the one which resulted in the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti. The mere fact that the five-member bench, led by none other than Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, sat at least for four hours beyond the court timing highlights the importance attached with the case. The chief justice has repeatedly made references to summoning the chiefs of intelligence agencies as well as the defence secretary if the progress in the case continues to remain far from his satisfaction. navid.rana@gmail.com
The HEC has pinned high hopes on its National Testing Service. Students may think otherwise By Amna Yousaf Osama Jalil, 20, was among
several expatriate Pakistani students who flew back home to NTS is being made compulsory for admissions in graduation and higher degrees as well as scholarships as part of Higher Education Commission's (HEC) scheme of educational reforms. The NTS analyses 'the basic knowledge and understanding of a student' and holds promises of 'raising the quality of education'. The NTS and GAT (Graduate Assessment Test) are held four times every year. This year two NTS and one GAT test have been held so far. Students have not wholeheartedly accepted the idea of having a testing system for admissions instead of relying only on their examination score. Thousands of students gathered on August 19 for the NTS test. Many of them appeared irritated. Some were annoyed with the overall testing idea and some were at odds with the pattern of the test. "After spending so much money I am here to take the test, which apparently suggests that my F.A. degree has no value and to prove my capability I have to take this test," said Osama who flew to Lahore from Kuwait to take the NTS for admission in BBIT in Punjab University. "The major portion of the test is based on Mathematics and if a student like me is not good in the subject, s/he will flunk it and have no chances of getting admission in a good institute," said Rubina Qazi, another student who came out of the hall depressed because she could not do well. "The test was damn easy but I am not happy with the idea of the NTS. We had been working hard to score well in the final examination but we are required to and now this test, which we just have to pass with 50 per cent marks," said Maryam Yousaf, a F.Sc student. NTS is an initiative of Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman, chairman HEC, to improve the education system of Pakistan. "There is a serious quality problem, people get first-class marks in English but they cannot even write a proper sentence," said Dr.Atta while talking to TNS. "We need to have transparent system which checks the basic understanding of a student." By the introduction of testing services and other reforms, Dr. Atta said, "We have stiffened the criteria for going up the ladder. Our emphasis is not on score but on quality." Commenting on the dissatisfaction expressed by the students, Dr. Atta said, "the idea is not to make students happy. The idea is to produce quality so we are not here in the pleasing business, we must not have smiling students, we want hard working quality students." He was of the opinion that the students must be prepared and if they are keen they should be confident that they can pass it. A large number of students who have failed the NTS test have no future till the next year as admission dates have passed. Dr. Atta said that this was good as poor students were being filtered. "We don't want poor students getting in. Getting PhD degrees and becoming your professors and not knowing even simple basic things is not what we are looking for. So these measures have been taken after extensive consultations with the academic community, a number of vice chancellors and provincial representatives." The NTS is being divided into various portions which evaluate the critical thinking skills, analytical reasoning and performance assessment of candidates with regard to quantitative ability and English Language Skills. About 400 professors from across the country contribute in the making of a test and all get Rs.500 to Rs.1000 in return, according to information provided by Junaid Zia, the Rector of the COMSATS institute in Islamabad. The 100 questions of the test are randomly selected by a computer, a day before the test date, leaving a thin chance of being leaked out, which is a normal custom in Pakistan. Because of the computer checking system the results are declared only after a week and result cards dispatched within the next two days. Of the 53078 students that appeared in test taken on August 19, 102 students scored between 90 and 100 per cent, 20172 between 50 and 59 per cent and 16583 between 60 and 69 per cent, showing rather healthy results. Beside students, many teachers have voiced their concerns against the NTS. "I am totally against the idea as it has created more troubles for students and put them under depression," said a professor of one of the leading institutes of Pakistan. "If the idea is to bring educational reforms, there could be other measures rather than imposing a test which is easy for students with a mathematics background only," said another professor of a leading university. The professor contradicted the claim of HEC that the mathematics portion of the test is of Matriculation level and said it was of B.Sc level. However, professors and faculty members of many universities and colleges approved a test to judge the students' IQ level. Dr. Nighat Khan, dean Kinnaird College Lahore's post-graduate block, was of the view that no one should have problem with the mathematics portion as it is an international practice to judge a student's mathematical capability. A lecturer, not wanting to be named, said that NTS will definitely help in improving the standard of the faculty itself as well, as there are some teachers who do not even know how to calculate 25 per cent of 100. Professor Dr. Muhammad Naeem, Registrar Punjab University, was of the opinion that a uniform test can remove the statistical error by filtering out good students.Though Dr Naeem endorsed NTS, he hinted that the PU was accepting it on experimental basis. He said that by the end of 2008, the PU will establish its own testing service that will replace the NTS and will also provide the service to other universities. It may be mentioned here that at the M.Phil level, the PU has made GAT test compulsory but also takes its own test. "We take another test because GAT does not satisfy our requirements," said Dr. Naeem.
By Shoaib Hashmi This is very personal. I
was young then, just out of school in the sense of having done my Prof. had come from Ludhiana in 1947 to join the Economics Department at GC, and by this time he was Head of the Department and had been my teacher in the two years it took to do a Master's. I found him walking in the enclosed lawn next to the Principal's office, and without preamble he asked me if I fancied teaching at the College, and I said yes, and he said, "All right, you have a class in room number 23 in ten minutes, go!" And so started an adventure, and I suppose a love affair with education which kept me at the college for 46 years, which was more than three quarters of my life, and more than a third of the life of the college, and has seen me into my forty eighth year of teaching. And now after a long and rich innings Prof. Rashid has passed on to greener pastures and I think it is time for an acknowledgement and a remembrance. Those were more civilised times, see, senior professors at GC didn't bother with authorities and Public Service Commissions; they just asked students they thought fit to start teaching and the Commission 'regularised' it later. And so, especially in the English and Economics departments there was a whole gang of younger people. It included Jo Jo, R A Khan, Basit Haqqani and Parvez Masud; and it was assumed that the die-hards would stay on while others went on to other things. While we were there we formed a tightly knit mafia who ruled over the fun part of education, the debates and the drama and everything else that made life rich. Prof was twenty years older than the rest of us but somehow he easily slid into the group, and I suppose presided over it as unofficial mentor and patron of the Debates and the Dramatic Club. And so he became colleague and friend and boon companion if you know what I mean. A constant stream of younger people came and joined in; the Tariq Alis and Shahid Rehmans then Nivi and Nigar Ahmed and Shelley and Khalid Ahmed and Jaffery and Agha Ghazanfer, then Farida and Mariam Hassan and Haroon Shah and Najam Sethi and a host of others who if I start recalling them am bound to miss out on at least some. I suppose it is a sign of the times that while many went on to other things most became life-long friends and have stayed so. All of them learned that after every wild get-together, and these were a constant staple, the last chore was to drop Prof off at his house next to the College; and the trick in that was to drop him at the edge of the 'kassi' which ran by the gate and sneak off because we didn't want to get caught waking the family up at that unearthly hour. Well, we have dropped him off for the last time! Rest in peace!
The skirmishes between militants and security forces are intensifying with each passing day in the troubled Waziristan By Nisar Mahmood If the so-called 'war on
terror' in the aftermath of 9/11 incidents changed the global Latest in the peace deals was the September 2005 accord brokered between the tribal elders of North Waziristan Agency and the government. After long accusations of violation by both the signatory parties, the accord was unilaterally scrapped by the tribesmen or militants on July 15 last that led to militants' launching of attack against law enforcing agencies. The skirmishes between militants and Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps (FC) personnel are intensifying with each passing day in the troubled North Waziristan Agency as half a dozen encounters take place on a daily basis. The volatile situation in the agency, bordering Afghanistan, has not only a bearing on the tribesmen but has put the law enforcing agencies in a fix too. The Agency remained peaceful for almost ten months. However, clouds of fear started hovering in the area after the tribal lashkar started their operation against foreigners in South Waziristan Agency in April this year. The South Waziristan operation led to moving of foreigners into the North thus creating fears of operation there. Ever since the striking of the peace agreement, both signatories accused each other of violating the deal. Main point in the peace deal was removal of army checkpoints that provided the militants' an excuse to step back from the agreement. Following unilateral scrapping of the September 2006 agreement between local Taliban and the government, about 60 soldiers and 250 militants have been killed in fighting in the North Waziristan Agency -- a fact confirmed by military spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad during a briefing last week. The cross firing, suicide and remote control bomb and IED blasts have also rendered dozens injured during the last one and a half months, besides relocation of the tribesmen to Bannu, DI Khan, Tank and Peshawar. The renewed fighting has entered even those areas of the agency that hitherto remained peaceful. Attacks on military personnel are almost daily routine, retaliated with artillery firing and gunship helicopters. As a consequence both the army and militants are losing their lives. The worst sufferers are the local population due to collective damages resulting from military operations and militants' attacks, road blockades, shortage of supplies that push up prices, closure of educational institutions and government offices, slowing down of commercial activities and frequent breakdown of electricity supply, telephone system and other civic services. Those who can afford are leaving North Waziristan to find temporary residence in other cities but the less fortunate ones are abandoning towns and villages that come under attack to relatively safer places within North Waziristan. There is no doubt the violence in North Waziristan has spiralled out of control after the collapse of peace accord. It is a serious development as military convoys are attacked with increasingly sophisticated and powerful, improvised explosive devices (IED) and guerilla attacks are augmented by frontal assault on military outposts, checkpoints. Rocketing of military forts and bases is common, as are suicide bombings. Worse is the fallout of the situation in North Waziristan on neighbouring South Waziristan, where the first attack on the military after a two and a half years gap recently took place at Dargai, and 16 paramilitary soldiers were abducted. The militants have already beheaded one of the abducted Frontier Corps soldier. The attack in South Waziristan occurred following claims by the militants that henceforth they would coordinate their activities in the two Waziristans and come to the rescue of each other in case of military operation by the Pakistan Army. These are dangerous developments but it seems that government hasn't done much in terms of meeting the challenge. Deploying more troops and launching aggressive military operation after every attack by the militants can not be a long term solution to the escalating violence and insurgency. The government has to think of its options keeping in view the national interest. Bowing before the US pressure would reinforce the general impression among the fiercely independent Pashtun tribes inhabiting Waziristan and other tribal areas that the military operations are being carried at the behest of America. That perception need to be corrected. But it can only happen if traditional methods such as Jirgas are employed to resolve the conflict. There is nothing wrong with jirgas. The problem starts when the verdict given by jirgas such as the North Waziristan peace accord isn't properly implemented and no effort is made to monitor and prevent its violation. Though the government is still trying to keep the peace accord intact, the 45-member tribal jirga is reluctant to negotiate the issue because of fear of violation once again -- either on the part of government or the militants. Keeping in view the ongoing clashes, there exist little chances of reviving the peace accord.
The anonymous letters received in Peshawar asking the minorities to embrace Islam by August 10 have turned out to be a hoax so far By Javed Aziz Khan "We have been given
all the rights that we can expect on any land. The district According to him Sikhs mostly live in Khyber while several of their families are also settled in Orakzai Agency, Dargai, Buner, Kurram Agency and Peshawar. The Sikh community has contributed a lot to the country while serving in different positions. Harcharan Singh is the first Sikh to be commissioned in Pakistan Army while Mahipal Singh is proud to be the first Pakistani Sikh doctor. Sikhs were spread all across Punjab before partition and played an important role in its economy as businessmen and traders. Lahore is the city where important religious and historical sites of the Sikhs, including the 'Samadhi' of Ranjit Singh, are located. The nearby town of Nankana Sahib has nine gurdwaras and is the birthplace of Sikhism's founder, Guru Nanak Dev. In Peshawar a historical shrine is located in Mohalla Ganj and is known as Gurhatri and Dharamsala Baba Sri Chand. According to the older biographies, Guru Nanak Ji came here during his fifth itinerary. Only one door of the sacred place stands; the remaining building was demolished and has been reconstructed. It now hosts a girls school. Another historical worship place of Sikhs is located in Dabgari while several others are scattered in different areas. The Christian Community in the Frontier Province is nearly 100,000 with almost 50 per cent from the Church of Pakistan, 40 per cent Catholics and another 10 per cent Brethren, Full Gospel, Bible Church, and Anglican Orthodox. A columnist-cum-businessman of the Christian community, Tasawar was critical about the separate electorate introduced in Zia regime and asked for representation to the Christians in Senate like that in National and provincial assemblies. The two religious minorities in Peshawar, Christians and Hindus, received some threatening anonymous letters in the early days of August in which they were asked to embrace Islam by August 10 and were otherwise warned of a stricter action. The matter was brought to the notice of senior government officials who ordered to beef up security around the worship places and residential colonies of the Hindu and Christian communities. Hundreds of Muslim policemen are now guarding the properties and lives of these minority members in the interior city and cantonment. So far everything is normal. The Christians and Hindus living here have also relaxed after realising that the letters were hollow threats. "I personally don't think there was anything serious in those threats but we have brought the matter to the notice of senior police authorities as well as our community elders," president of the Balmeek Samaj Sabha, Ram Lal, tells TNS. He is comfortable about the overall environment for the Hindu community in NWFP and Pakistan. Though he would like to have a separate educational institution for the Hindu youth. "We have some 370 houses in Peshawar, around 150 families in Kohat and hundreds of others in Dera Ismail Khan, Buner, Mardan, Charsadda and Nowshera. Majority of the Muslim population living in our neighbourhood is quite co-operative and understanding," said Ram Lal. "We respect each other's religion. Even when there is a Muslim call for prayers, we stop our work and we get the same response from Muslims."
Lingering shadow Bugti's first death anniversary was observed amid complete strike in the province By Muhammad Ejaz Khan Life in several Baloch
dominated districts of the province remained paralysed due to the In view of the violence that erupted last year in the wake of Nawab Bugti's death, traders kept their shutters down. The police made conflicting claims of having asked the shopkeepers to keep the shops closed as well as rounding up at least 50 activists of different Baloch nationalist parties on charges of forcibly closing shops, violence and blocking of roads. The strike call was given by the parties including Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), National Party (NP) and Baloch Students Organisation (BSO). Several opposition parties, including Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), PPP, PML-N, Awami National Party (ANP), Jamaat-e-Islami -- besides traders and transporters organisations -- joined the strike. But the atmosphere remained tense on the death anniversary. Over a dozen bomb blasts a day before the death anniversary shook the nerves of the people in Quetta, Mastung, Khuzdar, Sui and Kharan etc where the activists of BLA lodged their protest against the killing of Nawab Bugti on August 26, 2006 in an army operation. The Baloch Liberation Army's spokesman claimed responsibility of all the blasts and termed it revenge from 'Punjabi dominated' rulers against the killing of Nawab Bugti. Heavy contingents of paramilitary forces had been deployed in Quetta particularly in sensitive (Baloch dominated) areas. Over two dozen check posts and bunkers had been constructed by the forces while the police commandos and Frontier Corps kept on patrolling on the city's road to ensure security of the 'high ups'. Zarghoon Road leading to Governor House and chief minister secretariat was completely sealed and public was not even allowed to pass through it. Apparently, the differences between two sons of Nawab Bugti -- Nawabzada Jamil Bugti and Nawabzada Talal Bugti -- also surfaced on the eve of their father's first anniversary. Quran Khawani was arranged at Bugti Bholak, the residence of Nawabzada Jamil Bugti in Mian Ghundi some 20 km away from Quetta. Almost all Baloch leaders including Dr Abdul Hai Baloch, the head of National Party, Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, the Secretary General of the party, leader of opposition in Balochistan Kachkol Ali Baloch and Sardar Sanaullah Zehri participated.in fateha khawani. Bugti's elder son Jamil Akbar Bugti and followers had announced to observe the anniversary on August 25. Nawabzada Talal Bugti observed the death anniversary of his father in the Bugti house Quetta where the JWP flags hoisted and displayed portraits of Nawab Bugti on August 27. This was perhaps because of Sunday's strike. Jamil Bugti told TNS that despite the lapse of one year, he still stands by his words that the DNA test of the body of Nawab Bugti should be carried out to ascertain the reasons and cause of the death. Jamil Bugti is firm in his demand about the DNA test compared to Talal Bugti who just demanded to register a case against Nawab Bugti's killing. "All those involved including President Musharraf, prime minister, chief minister and others should be nominated in the FIR," said Talal Bugti while talking to TNS. Sohail Rajput, a senior activist of JWP, said Nawab Bugti was the king-maker. He was instrumental in establishing provincial governments in Balochistan during the last couple of decades and even the present PML-Q government of Jam Yousuf in Balochistan enjoyed the support of Nawab Bugti. "But, the way Jam Yousuf betrayed Nawab Bugti is certainly deplorable." He put the blame of Bugti's murder on the shoulders of those who enjoy perks and privileges. Since Nawab Bugti became a victim of the military operation in Tartani area of district Kohlu last year, the future of his party JWP is also murky as his death was a big setback for the party and the gap has to be bridged. During this one year some MPAs of JWP changed their loyalties and joined ruling PML-Q like Khosas. If both sons of Nawab Bugti and party leadership do not take cognisance of the situation, the future of the party would be bleak. Political observers say that if the crisis and differences in JWP persist, there may be no representation of the party in the new assemblies. RIPPLE
EFFECT By Omar R. Quraishi It seems that when it comes to lies and hypocrisy, especially on matters related to sex and other such topics, we do not have exclusive preserve. For instance, these days a story doing the rounds in the mainstream American press makes for instructive reading. It concerns the conduct,or should one say, misconduct, of a sitting US senator, Larry Craig, Republican, of the state of Idaho. Idaho is in the Midwest and though not in the bible-thumping category as say Louisiana or Missouri, it is conservative and home to probably more devout Christians than in all of New York state (as of 2006 Idaho had a population of 1.46 million while New York state had over 19 million residents). Since 1980 both its senate seats have been occupied by Republicans. Also, in 2000 and 2004, George W. Bush won it by handsome margins, among the highest across all 50 states. The story was first broken by Rollcall.com, an online website of RollCall, a newspaper that has been covering Capitol Hill, the seat of the US Congress, since 1955. It said that the senator, who is in his third term, had pleaded guilty in early August to "misdemeanour disorderly conduct charges stemming from his June arrest by an undercover police officer in a men's toilet at an Minneapolis's international airport" and was given a fine and probation. The same senator had in the past been accused of having improper conduct with male pages in the Senate. Details of the incident are as follows, and here it is best to quote from the report, as it appeared in Rollcall.com, of the undercover police officer who arrested the senator: "[Undercover cop Dave] Karsnia entered the bathroom at noon and about 13 minutes after taking a seat in a stall, he stated he could see an older white male with grey hair standing outside his stall. The man, who lingered in front of the stall for two minutes, was later identified as Craig. "I could see Craig look through the crack in the door from his position. Craig would look down at his hands, 'fidget' with his fingers, and then look through the crack into my stall again. Craig would repeat this cycle for about two minutes. My [the police officer's] experience has shown that individuals engaging in lewd conduct use their bags to block the view from the front of their stall. At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area. Craig then proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times, and I could see a gold ring on his ring finger as his hand was on my side of the stall divider. With my left hand near the floor, I pointed towards the exit. Craig responded, "No!" I again pointed towards the exit. Craig exited the stall with his roller bags without flushing the toilet. Craig said he would not go. I told Craig that he was under arrest, he had to go, and that I didn't want to make a scene. Craig tried to get out of the situation by showing a business card that identified him as a US Senator and saying, "What do you think about that?" "The hypocrisy in all of this is at on several levels. First, the senator: in the past he has been accused by at least one man who had said that they had engaged in a sexual act in a toilet in Washington's Union train station while another from his home state of Idaho had said that the senator had come on to him at a bar. All these were rebuffed by the senator who said that he was not gay, did not hit on men and happened to be married. The circumstantial and anecdotal evidence is simply too much and suggests that there must be some truth to these allegations. However,instead of facing them and perhaps admitting to them the senator (given that doing so would not be such a problem in the US as it may be, say,in a country like Pakistan) consistently denied any wrong doing. Even in this particular airport incident the senator on Aug 28 said at a press conference that he had committed no wrongdoing and that in fact had demonstrated poor judgment by agreeing to a guilty plea. When one looks at the senator's voting record (which in the case of American politics isn't that difficult to examine), the hypocrisy becomes clear. In 1996, he voted for the Defence of Marriage Act and some years later voted against proposed legislation that would have allowed same-sex couples the same civil rights as married couples. He voted against expanding the scope of hate crimes in America to include harassment of homosexuals and against proposed legislation that would have banned discrimination by employers based on sexual orientation. Overall, the senator seems to be one of the leading lights of the Republican Party and a vociferous advocate of its family values credo. Hypocrisy also works through at the level of US society, particularly the more conservative segments. Homosexuality is frowned upon, so much so that -- assuming that there is some authenticity to what Senator Craig has been indulging in -- a man who may not be heterosexual has to enter into a marriage and seek sexual gratification with other men, anonymously in public restrooms. As one US-based blogger said, the senator had been "quasi-outed" before as well and could have used this particular incident to come clean and use his position to address the Republican Party's "horrible, horrible record on gay rights". However,"instead, he chose to hide, which forced him into awful situations like the one he was arrested for". A fellow blogger using the nick 'OrangeTV' made a telling remark: "It's just a sad comment on our culture that this man was so afraid that the fact he was gay would be discovered that he had to go looking for action in public restrooms. If he were just able to happily come out of the closet in the first place he could have just met his mates at the bars,or at Home Depot, like normal gay men do. Of course, he would have never been elected into office in uptight, backward-thinking Idaho if that were the case. His actions really just serve to uphold the unfortunate stereotype that all gay men are perverts trolling around in the lurky shadows trying to molest anything that moves." The writer is Op-ed Pages Editor of The News. Email: omarq@cyber.net.pk
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civilian youth, Imran Munir, facing court martial for alleged espionage
charges was given into civilian custody for at least a fortnight. Hafiz Abdul
Basit, another person handed over to a Military Intelligence officer by the
Federal Investigation Agency, was traced at the last minute of hearing after
the chief justice ordered the arrest of the FIA director general until the
citizen was traced. The government failed to prove charges against him,
resulting in his release on SC orders.
appear in the recently introduced National Testing Service (NTS).
Master's and being in the limbo all of us landed in, drifting into the Law
College, vaguely being pushed into sitting for the civil service exam and
generally drifting when a familiar peon from Government College turned up at
the house to rouse me from bed and tell me that Prof. Rashid wanted to see me
at the college.
scenario, it brought misery to the countries neighbouring Afghanistan,
especially the tribal belt of Pakistan. The situation further got worsened
with the deployment of Pak Army and launching of operations that annoyed the
local tribesmen. Holding of jirgas and talks pacified emotions to some extent
in both the South and North Waziristan agencies.
government has always provided us with complete support but we have certain
complaints from the federal and provincial governments regarding allocation
of development funds," Dr Sahib Singh, a member of the district council
Peshawar tells TNS. Apart from this Singh is generally happy with life here.
"We are enjoying life as we could elsewhere -- performing our religious
rites every day, without any restriction, with around 300 people turning up
at our worship place in Dabgari every morning and evening. Several of our
community members are running businesses and doing well." says Singh.
strike on the occasion of the first death anniversary of Nawab Akbar Khan
Bugti. The strike was called by Baloch nationalists. Different parts of the
province remained cut off from rest of the country because of a wheel-jam
strike. The RCD Highway, Quetta-Taftan road and the National Highway
connecting Quetta to Sibi, Jacobabad and Sukkur were also closed.