The three-member United Nations Inquiry Commission has almost absolved the slain Ameer of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Commander Baitullah Mehsud of the Bhutto murder charge. By doing so it has trashed the Musharraf regime's findings wherein he had been declared as the mastermind of the December 27, 2007 suicide attack that killed Benazir Bhutto outside the Liaqat Bagh in Rawalpindi.

In her posthumous book, 'Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West', Bhutto had named jihadi kingpin Qari Saifullah Akhtar as a key suspect in the October 18, 2007 attempt to kill her in Karachi upon her homecoming, but she wanted General Pervez Musharraf to be named as her assassin in case of her murder. Instead, the Musharraf regime was quick to blame Baitullah, and that too barely 24 hours after the murder. Baitullah had first been accused of masterminding the Bhutto assassination by the then Interior Ministry Spokesman, Brigadier (retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema, and afterward by Musharraf.

In his January 2, 2008 televised address to the nation, five days after the murder, Pervez Musharraf asked the Scotland Yard to help the Pakistani investigators in identifying the culprits. Yet, in the mind of the general, it was obviously clear who is to be blamed. At his December 28, 2007 news conference, Brigadier (retd) Cheema had stated: "We just have an intelligence intercept that was recorded this morning in which Baitullah Mehsud congratulated his people for carrying out the cowardly act of Benazir Bhutto's murder". He was quick to distribute among the media persons the English and Urdu transcriptions of the taped conversation which he claimed had taken place between two persons Baitullah Mehsud and one Maulvi Sahib.

Yet, despite repeated demands by the newsmen covering the press conference, neither the original tape was provided nor was it proven that the recorded voice was that of Baitullah Mehsud. On December 29, 2007, a day after Cheema's press conference, PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar refuted the Musharraf regime's claim. He told newsmen that after the October 28, 2007 suicide attack in Karachi, Bhutto had received a message from Baitullah: "Identify your enemy, I am not your foe, I have nothing to do with you or against you or with the murder attempt on you on October 18".

The PPP leadership trusted the message, Babar said, adding that Baitullah's communication was conveyed through two different reliable emissaries. Mehsud had conveyed to Mohtarma that his activities were limited to South Waziristan and were of a defensive nature. "I neither have the resources to fight outside Waziristan nor I have any plans to target you", Babar quoted Baitullah as having told Bhutto.

A day after the first assassination attempt, Bhutto had stated during a press conference in Karachi that people like Baitullah Mehsud were mere pawns and what worried her was the threat from within the Musharraf regime. On his part, Baitullah too was quick to issue denials. His spokesman Maulvi Omar said on December 29, a day after the Interior Ministry spokesman's press conference: "Why on earth would we kill Benazir Bhutto? We had no enmity with her and more importantly, she had done no wrong to us… By blaming us for the murder of Benazir Bhutto, Musharraf is attempting to portray the tribal areas as centres of terrorists so as to earn dollars from his western masters. We are equally grieved by the tragic death of Benazir Bhutto and extend our sympathies to her family as well as the Pakistan People's Party workers..."

Maulvi Omar said that Commander Baitullah Mehsud, after learning about the allegations against him and sensing gravity of those charges, had convened an emergency meeting of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's Shura at a secret location somewhere between South and North Waziristan. "Addressing the participants, he made it clear that harming a woman was against the teachings of Islam and Shariah as well as the centuries-old rich traditions of the Pakhtun tribal people. Commander Baitullah blamed the Pakistani intelligence agencies for the murder of Benazir Bhutto and said the modus operandi and precision of the Rawalpindi strike clearly indicated that the grisly murder, carried out by using a skilled sniper first, to be followed by a suicide bomber, was committed by some highly trained professional hands".

But the Musharraf regime was adamant to prove that the Bhutto murder was masterminded by none other than Baitullah. Reacting to Baitullah's statement, Interior Ministry spokesman reiterated on December 30, 2007 that Baitullah had threatened to kill Benazir upon her return in October 2007, and was also behind the first attempt on her life in Karachi the same month that killed over 170 and wounded hundreds others. Brig. (retd) Cheema had quoted Baitullah as having threatened on October 6, 2007 to launch suicide attacks against Bhutto, saying his bombers were waiting in the wings to welcome her when she would return. On December 31, Baitullah reacted strongly to Cheema's accusations and rejected any type of involvement in the October 18, 2007 Karachi suicide attack, saying he had neither issued any such statement nor could he think of ordering an attack that would kill a large number of innocent civilians.

However, on March 1, 2008, Baitullah was declared a proclaimed offender and his arrest warrant was issued by an anti-terrorist court of Rawalpindi. The haste with which the Musharraf regime proceeded against Baitullah to establish him as Bhutto's killer, and that too without any solid evidence, gave an impression as if he was being made a scapegoat in the hush-up of one of the most high-profile murder cases in the recent history of South Asia.

But 28 months after the assassination of Bhutto and 8 months after the death of Baitullah in an American drone attack in August 2009, the United Nations Inquiry Commission probing the murder of the PPP chairperson has declared that the Musharraf regime's assertion that Baitullah was behind the murder of Bhutto was premature and hasty. Para No 173 of the UN report states: "The then government's assertion that Baitullah Mehsud was behind the assassination of Ms Bhutto was premature at best. Such a hasty announcement of the perpetrator prejudiced the police investigations which had not yet begun. Other flaws in the JIT's (Joint Investigation Team) approach to investigating Baitullah Mehsud's alleged role in the assassination are also inconsistent with a genuine search for the truth".

The UN report added: "The communication intercepted by the ISI is purported to be a telephone conversation between Emir Sahib (said to be Baitullah Mehsud) and Maulvi Sahib. In it, the two speakers congratulate each other on an event which Brigadier Cheema asserted was the assassination. The Commission is not in a position to evaluate the authenticity of the purported intercept. Any further investigation into Ms Bhutto's assassination must include steps for such authentication. It is not clear how or when the intercept from the ISI was recorded. The Commission is not in a position to assess the credibility of this information from the ISI. Saleh Shah Qureshi, Senator from South Waziristan, told the Commission that Mehsud had categorically denied any involvement in the assassination attempt of 18-19 October and the subsequent assassination of Ms Bhutto on 27 December, questioning also the authenticity of the telephone intercept ascribed to Mehsud. The JIT took no steps to investigate the veracity of any such denial."

However, the UN Commission has abundantly made it clear on whose orders Baitullah was implicated. Para 157 of the report states: "The decision to blame Baitullah Mehsud was taken on the morning of 28 December 2007 during a high-level meeting at a facility in General Headquarters known as the Camp Office and presided over by General Pervez Musharraf. That meeting, at which General Musharraf was briefed on the intercept and on medical evidence, was attended by the Directors General of the ISI, MI and the IB. Brigadier (retd) Cheema was summoned to a subsequent meeting at ISI Headquarters and directed by the Director General of the ISI to hold the press conference. In attendance at this second meeting, in addition to Brigadier Cheema, were Interior Secretary Kamal Shah, Director General of the ISI, Director General of the IB, Deputy Director General of the ISI and another ISI brigadier."

The UN Commission, therefore, observed in para 159 that the press conference by Brig (retd) Cheema not only failed to provide credible answers to essential questions arising from the Bhutto murder, it triggered widespread suspicion that the government authorities would not be conducting a genuine search for the truth.

Aisha Khan has attained the status of a seasoned actor within a very short span. We have seen this girl don the garbs of different characters in television plays -- from the doormat to the vamp, we've seen it all and she's definitely done a good job each time. Just when you begin to believe she's innocence personified; she shocks you with her portrayal of an escort. She has come a long way since her Mehndi days.

So much to this phenomenon called Aisha and so without further ado, here are the excerpts of a recent interview with her in Karachi.

The News on Sunday: Tell us about your initiation in the media business?

Aisha Khan: It started around the year 2000 when Shehzad Roy spotted me and asked me to do his music video. It was around that time that Tariq Jamil, a very well-known PTV director from Lahore, offered me a role in his play. It worked out well and so I continued acting for two years. I was being offered a lot of work from Karachi. As a result my studies were suffering big time. After two years of non-stop work and a super hit play like Mehndi I decided to go back to school to finish my education. So I got enrolled in a school in Canada where I stayed for three years. Once I was through with my education, I came back to Pakistan… and well, here I am.

TNS: Was acting something you had always wanted to do?

AK: I'd never ever thought this would be a career option. I had always wanted to be an architect and an interior designer. But my early showbiz experiences turned out so well that I just started enjoying it. Never did I think I could act to save my life. I didn't even know how to read or write Urdu. But I got the best directors from the word go. So whatever I have managed to accomplish today is thanks to them and their patience with me.

TNS: What is it about showbiz that appeals to you most?

AK: Just my passion for acting. There are a lot more cons than pros being in this industry but if you have a passion for what you do, it's definitely worth it.

TNS: Are the actors of today as talented as those from the PTV days?

AK: I couldn't say as unfortunately I've lived abroad all my life and have never seen their work. I hear a lot about the seasoned lot of the old PTV days and really do want to watch their plays but I honestly haven't seen any. The people I have worked with, who were from that era, are undoubtedly brilliant; but can I compare? Definitely no! That aside, I do think there are a few extremely talented actors today like Sania Saeed, Nadia Jameel, Noman Ejaz, Faisal Rehman (to name some).

TNS: Don't you feel it's more about exposure today as opposed to acting talent meaning whoever is ready to expose will bag the lead role?

AK: That's not true! You will only continuously bag lead roles if you are talented. When you're in front of the camera, it's not your looks or your wardrobe but your acting skills that can make it work. Yes, a good looking face and a little exposure might get someone that first chance a little more easily but you cannot continue being a successful actor on just that. One play, maximum two, then it's only about how good an actor and versatile you are.

TNS: There is a segment of critics who say that you readily take on bold roles. What would you say to that?

AK: It's a first for me, as I've never heard that before. I sign a play based on scripts. The execution, implementation or screenplay is not known to me till I am on the set. I do my job which is acting and do not interfere with the screenplay, moves or shot divisioning. If my director thinks a married couple should sit close to each other then I agree. No director has asked me to show unnecessary closeness so far neither have I ever worn anything revealing. So where are these accusations coming from?

As far as bold subjects are concerned, yes I do work on such projects because it's all happening in our society; we can all pretend as if this is not the case but I repeat the things being shown on TV are all a reality. So we might as well give the audience a taste of reality. What's wrong with that? I have a job like anyone else. Nobody knows the real me; through my characters I am only portraying a certain character which is definitely not me. If someone cannot see the difference between the two then there isn't much I can do about it.

TNS: Please tell us about your recent projects?

AK: I am currently focusing on drama serials and my recent plays that are on air these days are Vasl on Hum TV, directed by Mehreen Jabbar and Haseeb Hassan's Bol Meri Machli on Geo while others in the pipeline include Ek Tera Aitebar by Misbah Khalid, Badtameez by Marina Khan and Zip being helmed by Shaqielle Khan.

TNS: How come you haven't tried your hand at ramp modelling?

AK: It just doesn't excite me or challenge me enough on a personal level. I have immense respect for our models but it's just not something I enjoy doing. Nevertheless, I do dabble in print modelling, once in a while, just to try and maybe get interested. Though it hasn't worked yet!

TNS: Who is the real Aisha Khan?

AK: The real Aisha Khan is quite different at home and with friends outside the industry and very different on sets and with the people of the industry. The real me is very sensitive, extremely emotional and loving, very, very moody, really organised, a little mad and obsessive compulsive about personal hygiene!

TNS: What is love to you? Ever been in love?

AK: Love is about respecting each other, having a great time together, having similar values and morals, being on the same page about the basics and giving each other space without having to worry about it. Yes, of course I've been in love!

TNS: Which brings us to when do you plan to settle down? Any time soon?

AK: Sooner than I thought… That's all I'll say for now!

TNS: Where do you see yourself ten years from now?

AK: With an army full of kids! I love kids. On a serious note, I really don't think that far. I take each day as it comes because God always has another plan for you... And somehow for me it has always been better!

TNS: Words of wisdom for our readers.

AK: Live and let live!

Full credit should be given to the team that has ensured that dance classes continue at the Alhamra and also to the parents of the young dancers for wanting their children to be trained in the discipline of classical dance. If one has to become a serious dancer or take it up on a more consistent level this is the age when the first steps should be learnt. Dance above all and then music has to do with the suppleness of the body and the volubility of voice, both far easier to attain when the body is in the process of growing up. The best chance is to catch them young with the hope that they will persist with this expression for the rest of their active life.

For many years Naila Riaz has taken upon herself the responsibility of conducting the dance class. She has been a practising dancer for years now having gone through the rigours of training in the classical tradition. She has really persevered despite all odds and has coped with students with varying abilities, commitments and expectations.

Though this piece is, a kind of lamentation that dance performances are held very infrequently, and not taken seriously especially as an autonomous art form and seen only as an adjunct to drama or music, the fact is that this is the second review on a dance event in consecutive weeks. This review and the one last week on the tribute paid to Indu Mitha in Lahore can create an impression that there is abundance of dance and so it necessarily gets reviewed in the press and media consistently is contrary to the reality on ground. Since dance is so infrequently staged and that too classical dance, every dance event primarily gets extensive coverage on the sincerity of desire that it should blossom and fructify further.

In our society it is actually a tough decision to be taken by a parent or elder because as it is dance is not accepted as a normal activity. In any case, in this society an artiste is looked at with suspicion as if he or she is an agent of subversion or indulges in an activity considered by the ordinary people to be the preserve of those who are good for nothing and quite useless. Perhaps the poets are the least reviled from among the actors, musicians and dancers and even there to quote Faiz they fall well below the criteria spelled out for respectability and social acceptability.

Despite the odds, a certain section has shown resilience against opposition and meagre or non-existent funding. Dance classes have continued with a degree of consistency despite immense pressure from certain quarters. Even during the very dark days of Zia regime, kathak classes somehow survived in Alhamra. The fact that it was tucked away in the basement may have helped but primarily it has been the courage and tenacity of those who refused to buckle under pressure.

Dance was probably the last major discipline to be taught at the Alhamra. The old building had a makeshift hall of about 120 seats and it was used primarily for theatre productions especially after Faiz Ahmed Faiz became its secretary in the very late 1950s. Dance classes started in the 1970s and Maharaj Ghulam Hussain Kathak took up the assignment with his usual flair. Naila Riaz was one of the first shagirds of the Maharaj and after his death took up the responsibility of teaching the shagirds the finer aspects of kathak. The shagirds who had passed out went through the kathak repertoire -- salaami, thumri, and tarana wearing the ghungroos and moved on to the last part of pure dance with subtle rhythmic variation on some taals. The division of the taals left everyone hopeful and reaffirmed the traditional view that the most important aspect in kathak is footwork.

Naila Riaz should be saluted for her patience. Her biggest reward ultimately rests in her shagirds continuing with dance and developing it to the point that it reaches a higher threshold. But it is uncertain as to where these dancers will go. In the absence of a full-fledged dance institution, a living tradition that ensures and guarantees absorption of talent and development of the form, these students too will find the road ahead rocky.

In the many performing arts festivals that have been held in the country, dance is actually the top draw. The facts that many internationally recognised actors and musicians have performed in these festivals, the dance programmes have always been a total sellout. Dance is something that people want to see and experience yet between seeing and enjoying and making of a dancer falls a shadow. Perhaps it is important to realise that for the dance to exist the wherewithal of a dancer has to be arranged and amply provided for. A dancer is not only an animated image on a screen but a living human being.

On a Saturday morning, in Lahore's Alhamra Art Gallery, I was in the company of a lizard crawling on the walls of the gallery and, apparently, scrutinising paintings from close range. The reptile had strategically positioned itself inside the top hexagonal room of Alhamra where, despite the display of artworks, not many people are usually seen. Actually this part of the gallery at Alhamra is always filled up with least convincing works from the whole collection and hence the absence of viewers.

In the last five years, curator Tanya Suhail has been organising the annual exhibitions of paintings, ceramics, sculptures and graphic arts of young artists. These exhibitions have been equated with high standards, present works of quality, indicate new directions of our art and are keenly awaited. A number of participants in these shows have emerged as important professionals in our art world.

However the present show, New-s Item, the sixth exhibition of young artists at Alhamra, lacks that sense of scrutiny. The curator, in following the quota system (for each art institution and small cities), has compromised on the value of her project. The display follows the usual scheme. Here again, the upper storey of the gallery is reserved for works that do not qualify to be a part of this show. Overall, the show is crowded with paintings of all sorts -- portraits, landscapes, still life, abstract canvases that are mere classroom assignments or attempts to learn the technique of handling materials. Likewise, a large number of prints on display depict conventional subjects and customary techniques. Majority of sculptures too, in terms of scale, medium and imagery, are ordinary examples of academic exercises.

It has become a standard practice in our context that any good initiative slowly slides into a substandard endeavour. This is true for most fields in the art world including the academia. A hard working, enthusiastic and inspiring teacher with the passage of years falls back into a routine or becomes plain disinterested. Often he comes late to his workplace and tries to return home or to his/her studio early without spending time with students. Young students are dissatisfied with the tutor who through his/her commitment was a source of inspiration earlier on. This phenomenon of progressive decline exists in other sectors namely trade, manufacturing and services.

The aspect of retaining standards is crucial in the context of young artists. During their degree shows, or immediately afterwards, many young artists impress with the freshness and unusualness of their idea, technique, concern and approach. After some time, they stop experimenting and strive to recreate the already resolved concepts. In short they start repeating themselves. This is the moment when a sudden decline is detected in the art practices of these 'once' young and exciting artists, as they are about to be consumed by the demands of buyers and the pressures of art market.

One hopes that some of the participants in the present exhibition at Alhamra have the ability to resist that temptation and recognise the need to reinvent themselves, each time they are confronting their materials and imagery. Because, inspite of the overburdened display, a number of exhibits impress the viewers; for example Abid Aslam's work, in which the artist has painted pieces of garments on a scanned copy of the review of last year's young artists' exhibition. The act of submitting work that mainly consists of a comment upon this kind of exhibitions is an extraordinary thought. Similarly Syed Muhammad Raza's sculpture, made of two soap bars with human hair stuck as the outline of a man and woman's faces, offers a new interpretation of gender and sexuality. The idea of womanhood is explored in Isma Hussain's sculpture installation, in which a fat female figure constructed of sheets of grey foam is resting in a bath tub, which is upholstered with dark red cloth.

An identical theme of self discovery or containment is addressed in the painting by Faiza Akram Rehmmani in which a hand is opening the bag in order to glimpse the reflection of face in the mirror placed at the bottom of the bag. The idea of women's confinement in this society and their (forced) place in domestic environment is aptly suggested in this work. Several other artists, mainly painters such as Naqsh Raj, Maria Khan, Wardha Shabir and Asad Ali Changazi, have impressed with their skill and sensitivity. But by and large their works are lost in the overpowering collection of substandard works.

Dear All,

Even though the media here is gripped by election fever, the UK public started out rather apathetic about the election.

But the leaders' debates seem to have injected a new energy into the campaign, and perhaps by turning the election into a sort of TV contest ('after the X-factor, Britain's Next Top Model, The Weakest Link -- now watch, The Election Debates'!), previously indifferent voters will be inspired to actually go and vote. After all, if they can phone in to vote in the X-factor and Strictly Come Dancing, what's wrong with making a little effort to participate in the political process?

The first debate was actually pretty boring. All three leaders seemed terribly nervous and the only one that actually looked good was the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg. He is a fairly pleasant -- if a little bland -- looking man, but for the debate he was beautifully groomed -- good hair, glowing skin, elegant suit -- while the other two just looked pasty, puffy and plain discomfited. Clegg made Lib Dem policies sound good too. So by the end of the debate the other two, David Cameron and Gordon Brown, were almost currying favour with him.

After the debate, there was much excitement as polls and mini-polls suddenly showed Clegg getting a 'dramatic poll boost', with a quarter of those who watched saying they would switch their vote to the Lib Dems. And everything has been a bit crazy since, with both Labour and the Conservatives rethinking their election strategies.

Up to now the Tories have focused on attacking Labour (Gordon Brown's picture is on all their election posters), but henceforth, presumably, they will start attacking what they have branded the Lib Dems' 'eccentric' policies. Should be an exciting election…

The country's airports being closed because of the volcanic ash floating around from the Icelandic glacier was also a big story for a while -- what with Britons stranded all over the world. We were affected too as my spouse had been scheduled to fly home that week.

Even though he is a wonderfully undemanding spouse with lots of interests of his own, I found that without him the house seemed frightfully empty. Without his chaotic 'Let's go there, let's do this' energy filling the weekend, it seemed like we all had a lot of time on our hands. The positive result of this was that I was able to do some reading: I read Marina Lewycka's new book 'We Are All Made of Glue' and David Lodge's 'Deaf Sentence'.

Both are absolutely brilliant -- well-written, hilarious, witty, a little sad and the sort of books that you want to keep immersing yourself in ('switch off the TV!'). I am a huge fan of both writers: Lewycka (A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian) is a wonderfully compassionate and funny observer of human life and David Lodge has never failed to charm with the clarity and humour of his 'campus novel'. Both books are very highly recommended.

Oh and talking about books and writers, I recently attended an event featuring Pakistani writers at London's National Portrait Gallery. It was novelists Kamila Shamsie and Ali Sethi in conversation with Moni Mohsin. This turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening and Moni Mohsin was especially good: she kept the conversation going with great charm and recounted some very funny anecdotes. It was great to see her in such good form!

Must go. Have another promising book to get started on -- William Boyd's 'Ordinary Thunderstorms'. Boyd is a great writer, one of my favourites --which reminds me how much I regret having lent my copies of his 'Stars and Bars' and 'The Blue Afternoon' to two former colleagues many years ago. Neither one returned the book, and I don't think they even read them. But if either one of you reads this, I hope you will be shamed into at least returning my copies. I know 'forgive and forget' is a good general policy but I find it very difficult to apply in the case of unreturned books...

Best Wishes

Umber Khairi