ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday called upon the nation to fight climate-change and local environmental degradation that posed serious threats to the health of the people and sustainable development.

This appeal came at the distribution ceremony of Green Journalist Awards held at the PM Secretariat.

Environmental degradation cost the national exchequer Rs365 billion every year, one billion rupees each day, he said.

Air pollution, water contamination, land degradation, industrial or vehicular pollution, waste generation or poor disposal system, deforestation and above all climate change posed clear danger.

‘All these have posed serious challenges not only to the health of our people but also towards sustainable development. But we have a long way to go to ensure cleaner environment for our present and coming generations,’ the prime minister said.

‘The government alone could not meet this gigantic task until every Pakistani fulfils his responsibility in a country where forest cover is far less than the internationally prescribed standards and air pollution level was four to five times higher than the WHO prescribed standards,’ he added.

Water contamination, effluent treatment and saving rivers and small tributaries from contamination to save marine life were other challenges. ‘But this situation should not discourage us and deter our journey towards a cleaner Pakistan,’ he said.

Mentioning progress in the sanitation sector, Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan was leading the regional countries in overall sanitation cover.

‘Though a large segment of our society still awaits this facility, we have been acknowledged as the top country with sanitation cover at SACOSAN-III in New Delhi last year,’ he claimed.

‘Pakistan is among the top 12 vulnerable countries of the world to climate change. I will urge not only the policy makers within the country to adopt mitigation and adaptation measures but also call upon the international community, particularly developed nations, to support the developing countries like Pakistan with financial as well as technical assistance. In this scenario, there was need to prepare people for any catastrophe which may hit them due to climate change.’

Media had an important role to play in creating awareness among masses, and contribute towards policy-making with their valuable input.

The prime minister appreciated their endeavours and on their request announced the setting up of Pakistan Forum for Environmental Journalists and accepted their request to become its patron-in-chief.

Later, Mr Gilani gave away awards to Shabina Faraz (Jang, Karachi), Dr Irfan Baig (Jang, Quetta), Aftab Zahoor (Associated Press of Pakistan), Reena Saeed Khan (Dawn magazine, Karachi), Faisal Raza Khan (Online, Islamabad), Abid Hassan (Dawn news, Karachi), Khalil Gibran producer, Asadullah Malik (Samaa news, Islamabad) and Sohail Khan (Daily Ausaf, Islamabad).

(News sourced from: DawnNews)

Frustrated with Karachi Water and Sewerage Board’s (KWSB) attitude towards Mohammadi Colony, popularly known as ‘Machhar Colony’, residents have designed a water scheme on self-help basis to supply drinking water to around 2,500 households in the neighbourhood.

The initiative is first of its kind in an area that is home to an estimated 500, 000 people and is one of the largest union councils in Keamari Town.

Since it is a low-income neighbourhood, mostly comprising the Pakhtun and Bengali communities, Mohammadi Colony has largely been ignored by the local government.

‘There are over 15,000 houses in this colony and we have been suffering from an acute water shortage since the inception of this country, but the local government has paid no heed,’ laments Dr. Fazal Rahman, an area activist who originally hails from Swabi in NWFP. ‘That is why we decided it was about time we solved our problems on our own.’

After a local NGO, Indus Earth, helped them conduct a survey of the locality, activists received approval for the scheme from the town nazim and a pipeline measuring 2,600 feet was laid within weeks. ‘Each household that would benefit from the new pipeline contributed Rs 350.’

Earlier, during the tenure of former mayor Farooq Sattar, when the plan for a primary pipeline was approved by the local government, it took officials almost four years to actually install the line. ‘We didn’t want to risk talking to them again. By now we are all aware of the bureaucratic hurdles so we laid the lines ourselves under the assistance of some experts,’ adds Dr Rahman. Officials from Orangi Pilot Project (OPP), who have been working in the water and sanitation sector for several years now, also shared their expertise.

However, despite the installation of this new water line, 75 per cent of the residents of Mohammadi Colony still lack access to potable water and are dependent on water tankers that charge them between Rs 200 and Rs 300 on an hourly basis.

Residents claim that whenever a local contests elections from their neighbourhood, he vows to bring water to their area. But these electoral promises have yet to be fulfilled.

The elected UC Nazim Abdul Shakoor, who belongs to the Bengali community, is one such candidate who says he has sent several requests to the town officials and other senior officials who complain of insufficient funds and turn down his requests.

Most residents Dawn.com spoke to said they would prefer to have water meters installed in their area and pay their bills to the KWSB rather than encouraging the tanker mafia. ‘But the KWSB is not ready to listen to our grievances,’ said resident Muhammad Ali.

Ali’s family comprises 14 members. As the sole breadwinner, he feels it is becoming increasingly difficult for him to spend a considerable portion of his monthly income on water tankers. ‘I pay at least Rs 2,000 per month on average. The amount varies in summers and winters, but if you calculate it adds up to Rs 24,000 annually, which is way more than what the KWSB would charge us for their service. That is why we want the government to be the sole in charge of this utility as happens in other countries.’
 
The residents are also of the opinion that the local government should stay and that officials should focus on doing away with weaknesses in the system. ‘Yes it’s true that a dictator introduced this system, but that should be no reason to scrap the LG system altogether. If power is devolved in the true sense up to the UC level and funds distributed accordingly, this system can do wonders and every community would benefit. But when officials continue to focus on pocketing all the money there is not much we - as citizens - can do except look for solutions ourselves,’ Dr. Rahman said.

Machhar Colony is an area where water scarcity is not the only problem. During the monsoon season, the locality is threatened with floods from the Lyari River – one of the only two rivers in Karachi – that carries rainwater drained into the Arabian Sea. ‘We also sent out requests for the construction of flood barriers, but the plea fell on deaf ears,’ the residents said.

‘In an area riddled with so many problems that the government has ignored for decades, I thought it was about time the people helped themselves,’ says Shahid Khan, CEO Indus Earth, reflecting on the colony’s self-help water scheme.

At this year’s Shanaakht Festival in Karachi, running from November 9-11 at the Imperial, three Lollywood classics will be screened. In the 1950s and 1960s, Sassi, Koel, and Armaan ruled the box office, boasting big stars such as Waheed Murad and Madam Noorjehan, and even better soundtracks. But can these gems from our past still wow audiences today? Dawn.com revisits the classics to help you decide whether to take a trip down memory lane next week. 

Armaan (1966)

Cinderella meets homegrown Elvis. Orphan Najma (Zeba) grows up in Murree indebted to her rude but rich aunt. Debonair Nasir (Waheed Murad) enters the scene (singing the super-hit Ko Ko Koreena at a club) and is packed off to Murree by his father to pick and marry one of Najma’s two cousins Seema or Dolly. On the way to Murree, Nasir switches identities with his sidekick Shahid and promptly falls in love with Najma upon reaching the hill station. But Najma and Seema are nurturing a deep dark secret that threatens to turn their lives upside down.

Produced by Waheed Murad and directed by Pervaiz Malik, Armaan was Pakistan’s first platinum jubilee blockbuster and had Ahmed Rushdi crooning to some of Sohail Rana’s choicest gems such as Ko Ko Koreena, Akele Na Jaana and Jab Pyar Main Do Dil Milte Hain. Watch it to find out why your mom goes into a swoon every time someone says ‘Veedu.’ 

Koel (1959)

Here’s a health warning: watch this only if you are a die-hard fan of Noorjehan’s brand of overacting and have a thing for one-dimensional characters who sigh over childhood romances for decades. Otherwise you really are better off forwarding all that sappy romance between Zarina (Noorjehan) and Salman (Aslam Pervaiz) to get to the absolutely brilliant soundtrack. Madam packs a mellifluous punch with Dil ka diya jalaya, Rhim jhim rhim jhim pade phhuar, Tere bina sooni sooni, O bewafa, Sagar roye lehren shor machayen and Mehki fizayen in her penultimate outing as the aging leading lady of Koel. Produced by Khursheed Anwar and directed by Masood Pervaiz, Koel is a clichéd offering that ruled the box office solely on the strength of Noorjehan’s vocals set to Khwaja Khursheed Anwar’s timeless compositions. 

Sassi (1954)

This was the film that put its immensely talented leading lady Sabiha Khanum firmly on the path to stardom. Based on the Sindhi legend of Sassi Punhu, Sassi was a big budget venture produced by JC Anand which went on to become Pakistan’s first golden jubilee hit. Daud Chand directed the cast that included Sudhir, Shahnawaz and Asha Posley. Watch out for the Kausar Parveen’s rendition of the Hemant Kumar’s classic ‘Na yeh chand hoga na tarey rahein gay.’

{Source: Dawn}

Don’t think it can’t happen. There you are minding your own business writing a sonnet, doing one-armed push-ups or translating the national anthem into Urdu.

At the back of your mind, the whole time, is the question of whether FM radio is in any way responsible for the voices in your head. All perfectly normal behaviour.

Yet, bam, in barge the police without so much as a by your leave and arrest you on charges of buffalo theft. And that’s if you’re lucky. Cattle-poaching is a serious crime in some parts but it doesn’t hold a candle to kidnapping for ransom or aiding and abetting the Taliban. And that is precisely what you could be in for if multiple cellphone connections have been issued against your name without your consent. Indeed, just one fraudulent number may land you in prison in these matchless days of fear and loathing.

If someone of import can vouch for your basic decency and entrenched respect for the law, the hallmark of all Dawn readers and writers, you might be able to explain how a call from ‘your’ cellphone did not set off a remote-controlled bomb.

Or how it wasn’t you who called saying that the kid would be shot if the ransom wasn’t paid.

Not everybody is that fortunate. The underprivileged in this country are presumed guilty from the outset and are usually not in a position to hire anyone competent enough to prove their innocence. Justice in Pakistan works along class lines and if you don’t have clout you could rot in prison — without trial — for a decade or more for someone else’s crime.

All this is a roundabout way of getting to the gist. If you haven’t done so already, type in your computerised national identity card number on your cellphone’s message screen and send it to 668. Within seconds you should get a response that lists all the connections issued against your CNIC.

I’m just one person out of tens of thousands across the country who have been informed that they are the owners of multiple SIMs that were never sought. Until Thursday morning I had 11 connections against my name. Only one SIM in that lot was legitimate, a Telenor account.

In keeping with our finer traditions, it is the victims who must clear their name. The process itself is simple: go to the cellphone companies with whom you have inexplicable accounts with an original CNIC as well as a photocopy, sign the indemnity form and put a thumb impression in the right place. And don’t forget to get a stamped copy of your affidavit for the record. Easy, right?

Not quite. Keep in mind that in cities like Karachi there could be up to 300 panicking people ahead of you in line. A word from the wise: get there at 8.45 (offices open at nine). If you arrive at 11, you could well be there until late in the afternoon.

I asked an officer at Mobilink how this fraud could be perpetrated. He did not deny that some franchisees could be deliberately selling SIMs against other people’s IDs. ‘Many people in rural areas do not have computerised identity cards, so a shopkeeper in a village issues a SIM under some other person’s name. CNIC details are easily available in a country where government offices and even private businesses ask you for a copy of your ID card for routine requests.’

And this, mind you, as you are handing over yet another copy of your identity card.

But that’s not the core problem, according to sources in Mobilink. In a large city, they said, thousands of SIM applications are processed en masse on any given day. A data-feeder may get one digit wrong in the CNIC and somebody else’s connection may come to be registered against your name. This explains, they claimed, how some people who do have a cellphone in their name are told by 668 that they are not in the database. Zero SIMs when they may well have three. Go figure.

An official at Warid disagreed, arguing that fraudulent accounts are activated deliberately by unscrupulous franchisees. ‘We have been asking customers that they should approach the company directly. The name and CNIC number must match, so a typing error is just an excuse.’ Maybe, who knows.

Where does it go from here? Armed with the affidavit, you are theoretically protected against criminal activity traced to numbers that aren’t yours. The cellphone companies in question claim your slate will be wiped clean almost instantly, that your name will no longer be associated with the disowned numbers (which you never get to know, by the way).

Then the people who have SIMs against your CNIC will be asked to come forward and have those accounts transferred to their own names, failing which their numbers will be blocked. That process could take more than a month.

At no stage, however, will anybody be hauled up. That’s the impression I got anyway. Tracking down the errant franchisees is not possible, I was told at every turn. Why not? Don’t you have a record of who sold what? Surely this can be traced in the age of, how do you put it, computers?

All I got was blank stares and bad vibes that left me convinced that the whole story will never be told. But then, as Hunter Thompson said, some things are never fully explained.

{Source: Dawn}

Dawn Editorial

The display of arms has gone from being a feudal practice to an urban status symbol. Hence it is no surprise that politicians, the affluent and other elites in Karachi are moving about the metropolis with heavily armed guards in plain clothes.

Some of these gunmen are armed with sophisticated weapons that do not belong to the city streets. What is perhaps more disturbing is that the city’s police force appears to be reluctant to confront these individuals. The display of even licensed weapons by persons in plain clothes is not allowed under the law, unless approved by the home ministry. Yet such permission is generally not thought necessary as policemen do not want to risk ‘offending’ the person being guarded. No one is above the law and when the country’s precarious security situation is considered, no one should feel offended when asked to provide identification or legal documents, especially keeping in mind the lethal weapons in question.

Nevertheless, the need for armed guards for politicians and public figures who need extra security is justified. Karachi’s total sanctioned police force is 29,000 officers, which is wholly inadequate to provide protection to its citizens, let alone special security cover for public figures. But politicians and lawmakers should set an example. Is it not possible for their gunmen to conceal their weapons especially in public? Here we must look at security arrangements for public figures in foreign countries. Foreign security agents of various countries arguably do a much better job of protecting public figures than their Pakistani counterparts, and without brandishing heavy weapons in public. Discretion is the better part of valour. The scourge of guns in this city cannot be eliminated without public figures taking the lead. Maintaining personal security is one thing. Illegally displaying weapons to establish one’s status in society is quite another.

Around 60 of the Taliban’s second-cadre leaders – who fled Swat during the army’s ‘Operation Rah-e-Rast’ – used Karachi as a transit route to head out to Middle East countries, Daily Times has learnt.

When armed activists of Sindh’s nationalist parties blocked roads on the Punjab-Sindh border in a bid to stop the influx of internally displaced persons – fearing that several of them could be Taliban in disguise – the Taliban’s second-cadre leadership travelled to the provincial capital by trains and then flew to Middle Eastern states via Karachi airport.

Reliable sources told Daily Times that sleeper cells of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Karachi facilitated at least 60 leaders of the Taliban and arranged for tickets to the Middle East.

Some of those who travelled to the Middle East were close to Taliban leaders Muslim Khan and Maulana Fazlullah and were part of the TTP’s decision-making processes because of their influence.

A major chunk of the population of Malakand work as labourers in the Middle East. Early in the 1990s when Sufi Muhammad organised the Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM), several people joined his organisation. After the 9/11 attacks, Sufi Muhammad took around 10,000 TNSM activists to fight American forces in Afghanistan. He was arrested on his return from Afghanistan. The TNSM lost its hold, and several of its activists left for the Middle East to find work.

However, after the Taliban resurgence, most of the leaders – some of whom were close aides of Sufi Muhammad – came back and joined hands with the Taliban to pursue a “pious cause”, collecting funds for the TTP and fighting for the extremist group.

However, when the military launched an operation in Swat to flush out the Taliban this year, the group became disorganised, and those had arrived from the Middle East initially shifted to IDP camps in Peshawar.

Fearing they would be caught, they then travelled in small groups to Karachi by train along with their visas and other documents, said the sources, adding that they later fled to Gulf states. The Karachi wing of the TTP – an entity said to be well organised – facilitated all of them.

According to the sources, the Karachi TTP hosts Taliban from other provinces, and provides logistics support and recruits new members. However, the Karachi TTP has no operational wing, meaning it does not have permission to carry out any attacks.

In an interview with Daily Times, Abu Talha – name changed on request – sitting in a mud house, surrounded by five people, two of them clean-shaven, introduced himself as the leader of the Taliban in Karachi, and said that it was “the duty of every Muslim to facilitate other Muslims”.

He claimed that the Taliban in Karachi were “as organised as anywhere else”.

Agreeing with the ideology of Hakeemullah Mehsud, he said his group would launch a struggle for Sharia even at the cost of thousands of lives. He said that the Karachi Taliban were not allowed to carry out operations.

Professor Khadim Hussain, who has been researching issues of related to Taliban and militarisation, strongly believes that Karachi is the hub of Taliban activities and in the existence of sleeper cells in the city.

“Most of the Taliban leaders in Malakand and Southern Punjab come from seminaries in Karachi,” claimed Hussain.

“After a research, we found that a major chunk of the leaders and foot soldiers in Malakand migrated to Karachi in a systematic manner after the military launched an operation,” he said. “We found that the commander of Pir Baba in Buner, Shahid, migrated to Karachi along with his accomplices after the operation,” he said. Law enforcement and security agencies in the city also admit that Taliban sleeping cells exist in the city.

{Source: Daily Times}

Country’s second largest party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has welcomed Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) decision to launch the party in Punjab and termed it a positive step.

“PML-N welcomes MQM’s decision to make its presence felt in the Punjab. It is a step in the right direction which could change people’s minds towards party’s present status as an ethnic-based party confined to Karachi and Hyderabad,” said Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

Nisar, who arrived here in the early hours of Saturday, dispelled the notion that PML-N was against MQM’s plan to take active part in Punjab’s political arena. “I once again reiterate that PML-N in no way is against MQM playing its due role in Punjab. It has every right to campaign in the province as the other parties,” he said.

Nisar’s arrival in the city was marred by alleged unruly attitude of PML-N activists at Karachi Airport which resulted in manhandling of some of the members of the media. Later the majority of the city journalists boycotted Nisar’s Press briefing in protest. A bitter critic of the present Pakistan People’s Party-led coalition government, Nisar said PML-N was against the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in the past and the party’s stance remains unchanged today.

“The party will never endorse such a black law. Passing such a law will mean legalisation of corruption. Our party will vote against it and will never compromise on such an evil legislation,” he added. Nisar also blasted the government for its all-out support to Kerry-Luger Bill which he claimed was rejected by the people of Pakistan who regard it as humiliating and a surrender of the country’s sovereignty.

PML-N leader, who recently met Chief of the Army Staff along with Punjab Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, said there was nothing sinister in the meeting and “we never discussed politics”.

{Source: Khaleej Times}

The Parliament resounded on Thursday with voices challenging the allotment of thousands of acres of state land by Musharraf to bureaucrats, politicians and his own staff members.

Unfortunately the civilian and military authorities are keeping mum over the allotment of over 15,000 kanals in violation of the policy and rules. While the government has no land to offer to civilian victims and martyrs of non-military security agencies personnel who lost their lives in the post-9/11 terrorist attacks, there is no attempt to cancel those allotments made out of the state land meant for war veterans and families of martyrs in the Punjab and the Frontier.

On the contrary, the government has been found involved in doling out state land to its favourites in regular CDA sectors whereas Sindh has sold hundreds of acres of government land particularly in Karachi at throwaway prices to well connected ones and the blue-eyed.

Interestingly, it was the Punjab that had moved to get cancelled the military state-land that was allotted to civilian employees of the province by Musharraf. It too later got cold feet and did not move despite even writing to the civilian recipients of these plots to surrender the land to the military.

Musharraf doled out hundreds of acres of agriculture state land to over 70 employees of the Aiwan-e-Sadr and revenue officials of the respective districts where the land was allotted during his stay in the office of the head of the state.

He also distributed like sweets hundreds of acres of land to dozens of civilian Revenue Department and other officials in Punjab and Frontier besides giving 1,200 kanals of land to two key leaders of a political party in the name of their close associates — all civilians (not even government officials).

The agriculture land allotted by Musharraf to his staff members varied from plot size 12.5 acres to 30 acres per person. Most of this land allotted belongs to Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and Dera Ismail Khan. The lucky allottees include several revenue officials of these districts.It is said that they were given the plots for the reason that the land allotted to Presidency officials should be taken care of.

Besides some of the genuine allotments made to some military officials attached with Musharraf as his personal staff a number of brigadiers, colonels, majors and even captains were allotted military land meant for martyrs, etc. Fifteen to 20 gunmen of Musharraf’s security were also amongst the beneficiaries.

A total of 47 revenue officials and other members of the civilian bureaucracy in Punjab alone were allotted 6,700 kanals of land. The Punjab took notice of these allotments. Besides directing the concerned military authorities to ensure that the military land allotted to the civilian officers is not further sold, the recipients (Punjab civil officials) were asked to surrender the land allotted to them in order to avoid a possible disciplinary action.

The most controversial part of the former dictator’s largesse on state land, which was earmarked for military martyrs and war veterans, was the allotment of 1,200 kanals land made in violation of the law and policy to six persons closely associated with a senior leader of a political party and one of the top officials of the then NWFP government.

{Source: The News}

Karachi police on Friday claimed to have averted a possible bloodshed by terrorists by arresting 38 armed men from an abandoned factory located on the outskirts of Karachi.

Landhi Police chief Sultan Haider told newsmen the men entered Karachi on trucks and might be planning terror attacks in the country’s economic hub and all of them hailed from the troubled NWFP province and tribal area.

“The men were wearing uniforms of Frontier Constabulary (FC) and have neither National Identity Card (NIC) nor any other identification papers with them. During interrogation they claimed that all of them belonged to a security agency,” Sultan said.

A heavily armed police party after a tip-off from residents of the area about the presence of a large number of suspicious men, surrounded the place and arrested the men who surrendered without any resistance.

Haider said the police also recovered a huge quantity of arms including Klashinkovs and latest communication equipment as well as jihadi literature from the possession of the men who had no licences for their weapons.

Security had been tightened in Karachi following spate of terror attacks in NWFP and Punjab and warnings from Islamabad of possible terror attacks within next few days to create law and order situation in the city as hundreds of militants may enter the city fleeing from tribal areas.

The warning was taken seriously by the Sindh government and extra police and Rangers were deployed at sensitive facilities on Wednesday especially at entry and exit points of the city.

Some of the high-value target areas of the city have virtually become ‘no-go areas’ for general public as the authorities have blocked roads leading to important buildings with containers, water tankers and articulated lorries.

The provincial government has also banned pillion-riding in Karachi and Hyderabad for the next 30 days.

{Source: Khaleej Times}

Karachi: Pakistan’s military cannot survive for a single day without the assistance of the United States (US), said eminent economist Haris Gazdar.

Speaking at a seminar on “Politics of debt and aid: Who are beneficiaries and who are losers” at PMA House on Friday evening, he said that since 1947, the ruling elite of Pakistan were economically reliant on the United States and eventually developed with western aid.

He pointed out that reliance of the US on Pakistan’s military enhanced during the Cold War and during the rule of Gen. Ziaul Haq, Pakistan served the US interests in Afghanistan. “After 2001, the military assistance provided by the US to Pakistan was unprecedented and this is evident from the fact that two per cent of Pakistan’s GDP comprises the US aid,” he said.

Gazdar further said that the democratic and liberal elements in the US were ashamed due to the policies pursued by former US President Bush. “They think that the US-Pakistan relationship should be based on equality. A theory has evolved that such a policy would curb terrorism in this part of the world. If Pakistani culture can become a bulwark against the Jihadi culture, there is no reason to reject the opportunity,” he added.

Economist Dr Shahida Wizarat said that she did not agree with the notion that Pakistan had no option but to rely on International Monetary Fund (IMF). “In 1998, Pakistan’s debt equalled to its GDP and today 83 per cent of expenditures were spent in debt-servicing. Such a situation developed because no investments were made in power and water sector projects and Pakistan is witnessing a growth crisis. Eventually, debt crisis leads to political crisis,” she added. She also said that Kerry-Lugar Bill had several components that were contrary to Pakistan’s sovereignty.

Veteran trade union leader Fareed Awan said that the working classes have been the main losers in debt politics that started soon after Pakistan achieved independence.

Pakistan Fisherfolk leader Saeed Baloch and Trade Union leader Usman Baloch also spoke on the occasion.

{Source: The News}

Karachi: The life of Shahnaz Begum and her siblings — three sisters and a brother were — devastated when their father, Mohammed Yaseen, died in in October 2000 in a road accident in Tabouk, Saudi Arabia.

Yaseen, a resident of Orangi Town, had gone to Saudi Arabia in search of greener pastures in 1990 and worked at a shop owned by an Arab national.

The errant driver who was responsible for Yaseen’s death was arrested and the court concerned imposed a fine of 75,000 Riyals on him, which were submitted at the Baitul Maal in Saudi Arabia. The money was supposed to be given to Yaseen’s heirs. For the past nine years, however, his children have been running from pillar to post to get the compensation money.

Shahnaz Begum told The News on Sunday that the Saudi Arabian government had approached them in 2000 through the Pakistani Embassy in Riyadh. They had sought guardianship and succession certificates and the power of attorney duly attested by the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Pakistan. She said that they had sent these documents through the Overseas Pakistani Foundation. Till today, however, they have not received any money.

She recalled that Waqar Ahmed, a community welfare officer posted at the Pakistani Embassy in Riyadh, had approached them on April 4, 2008, and asked her to sign a letter and sent it to him so that the Pakistan Embassy could approach the King of Saudi Arabia, Shah Abdullah, for the compensation money. She said that a year-and-a-half has passed but they have not received any positive response.

She further said that the owner of the shop where her father worked had immediately sent arrears to them in 2000, but they are still waiting for the compensation money despite the passage of nine years.

She urged President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Overseas Pakistanis Minister Dr Farooq Sattar, and other authorities concerned to take up their legitimate grievances and provide them the compensation money.

{Source: The News}

A fierce gun battle erupted between Lyari gangsters from the Uzair Baloch Group and the Lyari police, during which, five people, including two police personnel and a teenaged boy, were killed and more than 40 people, including five policemen and three women, were injured.

The gangsters had virtually hijacked almost all of Lyari and were openly using weapons at different intervals. They attacked the Kalakot and Chakiwara police stations and also threw crackers at the Kalakot Police Line. The Lyari police miserably failed to control the situation as the gangsters took charge of the entire area, and the police could not make any major arrests.

According to the police, they received information at about 5am that a huge cache of arms was lying in a rice warehouse in Singo Lane, Chakiwara. The weapons had been hidden there by wanted Lyari gangster, Abdul Jabbar alias Jeango.

A police team, led by Chakiwara SHO Asif Munawar, raided the warehouse, and after a brief encounter arrested four suspects including a wanted Lyari gangster, Hafeez alias Daada, with the recovery of seven Kalashnikovs, two sub-machine guns, one light machine gun, one mouser and 600 rounds. Besides, eight walkie-talkie sets were also recovered from the gangsters. These had been snatched from police personnel at different times.

During interrogation, Daada disclosed that he had killed an orderly of former Chakiwara SHO Babar a few weeks ago, and he used to commit crimes on the order of gangster Jabbar Jeango. According to him, Jeango had kept the arms cache for battle purposes.

Later in the afternoon, gangsters led by Jeango and Baba Ladla hurled a bomb at the gate of the Kalakot and Chakiwara police stations, following which the personnel took positions on the roof of the police station to retaliate. An hours’ long encounter ensued, but the gangsters managed to escape from the scene.

Afterwards, the gangsters fired four Awan rockets at the Kalakot Police Lines, due to which some walls were damaged. No injuries were reported, however.

The gangsters then took charge of almost all of Lyari and started roaming freely in Chakiwara and Kalakot areas. During this time, they shot dead Head Constable (HC) Asif Khan who was in uniform and going to his duty at the SITE-A Investigation after having a shave from a barber shop at Cheel Chowk. The deceased HC leaves leaves behind a widow and two children. He was a resident of the Kalakot Police Line.

HC Khan’s body was later handed over to the Risala police station team which shifted it to his house in the Kalakot Police Line.

While the Risala police team was heading towards the police station, they were intercepted by gangsters at Cheel Chowk.

The gangsters opened indiscriminate fire, due to which Constable Rehmat Zaman was killed, and two other policemen were injured. Constable Zaman was posted at the Risala police station for the past three years.

The gangsters also resorted to indiscriminate firing due to which a passerby, identified as Ahmed Jamal, was injured in Bakra Piri. He later succumbed to his injuries at the Civil Hospital Karachi.

The firing by gangsters also claimed the lives of 13-year-old Naved Razzaq at Cheel Chowk and 45-year-old Ali Akber, a resident of Omer Lane. Akber has left behind a widow and three children.

More than 40 people, including women and police personnel, were also injured. They were identified as Ali Akber Punal, 15-year-old Nabil, Abdul Wahab, 15-year-old Saleemullah, PC Ramzan Ali, SI Asif Malik, ASI Sajjad, HC Basheer Ahmed and ASI Malik Nazeer.

Four labourers working at the Sailani Welfare Trust office in Dhobi Ghaat were also injured. They were identified as Ali Bux, Maqbool Shah, Mohammed Shabir and Munay Mian.

A rickshaw driver and his passenger were injured at Dubai Chowk in Bihar Colony. Besides, 15-year-old Maria, 25-year-old Zeenat Bibi, 21-year-old Humaira, Noor Jehan and Zohraan Bibi were injured in Bakra Piri, Maula Madad and Mirza Adam Khan.

DIG South Zone Ghulam Nabi Memon said that the Lyari police gave a tough time to the gangsters and forced them to retreat from the area. He said that he had issued directives to the police to expand the intelligence network and nab gangsters soon after the receipt of correct information.

{Source: The News}