Confrontation harmful for democracy

TUSSLE between the PML (N) and the PPP is seemingly pushing the country towards the brink of another bout of political instability, which the country can ill-afford now when it is facing social, economic, political and security dangers, internally and externally. This situation has developed when the Sharif brothers were disqualified of by the apex court and they reacted to the imposition of gubernatorial rule in Punjab, the province given to them by Gen Zia, with the design to weaken the PPP after the assassination of ZAB. The Sharifs are allegedly accusing President Zardari of pressuring the apex court to get them disqualified and, thereby, ostracise them from the current political process. To protest against their disqualification and imposition of the governor’s rule, they have been calling people for mass protests in central Punjab, considered to be the bastion of their support and power base. So far, according to some reports (Dawn, Feb 28), they are not receiving the response they were expecting to bring out people in the millions on the streets to bring major cities of Punjab to a standstill. In democracies, however, every individual has a right to protest and express his views in a peaceful manner, but the way the Sharifs are conducting themselves contradicts the democratic values and norms. At the Shaikhupura rally, the language used by Nawaz Sharif for the PPP co-chairman was unbecoming, and he openly called for civil disobedience. This is unfortunate. Such attitude is reminiscent of the time when the Sharifs were in confrontation with the PPP at the centre in the 1990s, which brought down the democratic system. This time too such an attitude will be harmful not only for democracy but also for the national unity and integrity. Nawaz Sharif should show maturity as a national leader. Consolidation of democracy is dependent on the political leadership. It has to be honest and public-spirited. It must have initiative, imagination and courage to see and foresee the needs of the people and problems of their country. John Stuart Mill has rightly said in his book Representative Government that democracy cannot flourish where sectional and parochial interests are stronger than national interest. Mill sounds relevant in our context where our national political leadership is pursuing its own petty agenda at the cost of national interest which, otherwise, requires all political parties to be one and show national unity in the face of internal and external challenges the nation is facing today. Today our society stands politically polarised, and each party is trying to outsmart the other in the political race. Having difference of opinion is a good thing and this is the beauty of democracy, but uprooting a democratically-elected government in the name of independent judiciary by riding on the shoulders of the lawyers’ movement is not a healthy sign. I have been a supporter of the lawyers’ movement right from the beginning and have been writing in these pages, but now the lawyers’ movement is losing the semblance of its neutrality, especially after the meeting of Ali Ahmed Kurd with political parties and seeking their support. There are no two opinions about the independence of the judiciary and restoration of deposed justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. He must be restored but if his restoration does not take place for any reason, democracy should not be harmed and scuttled. The process of democratisation must move on and this way democracy can only remove its imperfections and grow as a strong force for survival and progress of the country. So, instead of indulging in confrontation, we should go for national reconciliation to defend and promote democracy in the country where it has been bleeding for more than 61 years. Hope, sanity will prevail and our politicians will find solutions through democratic means to heal the wounds of bleeding democracy, instead of uprooting it.

Dalai Lama Blasts China on 50th Uprising Anniversary

Dharmsala: The Dalai Lama on Tuesday blasted China by saying it has launched a “brutal crackdown” in Tibet since protests shook the Himalayan region last year.
Tibetan culture and identity are “nearing extinction,” he says in a speech, according to an advance copy released by his aides. “The Tibetan people are regarded like criminals, deserving to be put to death.”
He was giving the speech to mark the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising that sent him into exile.
Following protests last year in Tibet, China has stepped up its campaign to vilify the Dalai Lama, accusing him of leading a campaign to split the region from the rest of the country.
The Dalai Lama has denied the allegations, saying he is only seeking greater autonomy for the region to protect its unique Buddhist culture

Three-Tier Security For Ajmal Kasab

Mumbai: The Arthur Road Jail here is being fortified with three security rings to keep Mohammed Ajmal Amir alias Kasab, the sole 26/11 terrorist captured alive, safe from potential attackers, Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Naseem Khan said Tuesday.
“A crack team of the Mumbai Police will guard the outer periphery of the jail while the ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) will guard the precincts inside. The core area where Kasab is lodged will be guarded by the jail’s own security set-up.
All parts of the jail will be monitored by cameras, some of which will be hidden. The images will be relayed to a central control room being manned by security officials, he added.Barriers of different types, including reinforced steel-concrete walls that can resist bombs, grenades and rapid fire weapons, are being erected for the first time inside the 84-year-old jail, making it among the most secure prisons in the country, a police official said.
Kasab, along with nine other terrorists, embarked on a killing spree here Nov 26, 2008 that lasted nearly 60 hours. Over 170 people lost their lives in the carnage.
He is lodged in the famous “anda cell” - called so because it is oval in shape - which is usually reserved for the most notorious criminals

Kyrgyz Opp leader detained over shooting

BISHKEK (AFP) - Kyrgyz authorities on Monday said they had arrested an opposition leader and former govt minister for alleged involvement in the shooting death of a Turkish citizen in 2007.The arrest followed several previous criminal cases launched against opponents of the Central Asian state’s government.Kyrgyzstan’s interior ministry said ex-foreign minister Alikbek Dzhekshenkulov, now leader of opposition movement For Justice, had been arrested after a gun belonging to him was found to have been used in the murder of a Turkish citizen.“A bullet recovered during a survey of the scene of the murder of Turkish citizen Servet Chetin was fired from a pistol belonging to Alikbek Dzhekshenkulov,” the ministry said in a statement.Two shell casings and a gun were found at the crime scene in the northwestern city of Talas and analysis proved the gun belonged to the ex-minister, the statement said.But opposition leaders said that the arrest of Dzhekshenkulov, an outspoken critic of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was politically motivated and linked to other recent government attempts to silence dissent.The ex-minister has been harassed by the government, they said, adding that this had led his son to seek political asylum in the United States.“Dzhekshenkulov was never involved in business at all and on that day was not even in Talas,” his party said in a press release.Two prominent opposition journalists have been severely attacked recently and the Kyrgyz government last week barred a prominent Russian human rights worker from entering the country.Vitaly Ponamaryov, regional head of Russian human rights group Memorial, was turned away at Manas airport and declared persona non grata after the group published a report critical of the government.

Discovery set to soar to space station

WASHINGTON (AFP) - After a month of delays, the US space shuttle Discovery is on Wednesday to head to the International Space Station to complete an overhaul of the power-generating systems on the orbital outpost.Weather permitting, Discovery will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at about 9:18 pm (0118 GMT Thursday).Discovery’s seven astronauts, including Japan’s Koichi Wakata, are to deliver the fourth and last pair of power-generating solar panels to the ISS.Discovery’s launch date was announced following Friday’s flight readiness review, during which top NASA managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle’s equipment, support systems and procedures were ready for flight.The launch, originally set for February 12, had been delayed four times due to problems with control valves, which channel gaseous hydrogen from the shuttle’s three main engines. Three of the valves were replaced with newer ones, and NASA engineers said the delays were implemented as a precaution to test the valves, which had come under close scrutiny after a valve aboard space shuttle Endeavour was found to be damaged during its mission to the space station in November.At a news conference on Friday, Bill Gerstenmaier, an associate NASA administrator, said the review was a very thorough, but “the team came through, worked hard and was efficient.”Space Shuttle Program manager John Shannon said the National Aeronautics and Space Administration now had “definitive data to prove” that the upcoming launch was safe.“It feels good to be here with a firm launch date,” said Mike Leinbach, the space shuttle launch director. “I saw a lot of people after the meeting and the mood is really upbeat.”

250 Lankan rebels killed over weekend

COLOMBO (AFP) - The Sri Lankan military said Monday its troops had killed at least 250 Tamil Tigers during a weekend of fierce fighting around the rebels’ shrinking fiefdom in the northeast of the island.Army spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the Tigers, boxed into an area of less than 50 square kilometres (19 square miles), had launched a series of counter-attacks against advancing troops in the district of Mullaittivu.The military said it had killed 100 rebels in clashes on Friday and Saturday. On Monday it said it found another 80 bodies from Sunday’s fighting.But Nanayakkara said at least 150 Tigers had been killed, calling it the bloodiest day for the guerrillas in the latest military campaign aimed at completely defeating them.“We have killed over 150 Tigers on Sunday and that is the biggest loss for them in a single battle,” Nanayakkara said adding that troops used special forces, artillery guns and aircraft to pound rebel strong points.“Security forces also lost a few soldiers... and a few (were) wounded,” he said, without giving precise figures for government casualties. He added that a large haul of guns and ammunition were found.The Sri Lankan government bars most journalists and aid workers from the north of the island, meaning the claims cannot be verified.

Gunmen kill two Shias in Quetta

QUETTA: Gunmen on a motorbike Monday killed two Shia Muslims in an apparent sectarian attack in Quetta, police said.
The victims were shot in their car on Kirani road, on the outskirts of Quetta which is in the grip of a tribal insurgency and violence linked to Taliban militants.
‘Two men from the Shiite community were shot dead by unknown gunmen who were on a motorbike,’ police official Shah Jahan told AFP.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the killings.
The attack came a week after five Shias were killed in another drive-by shooting in Quetta, which has a history of sectarian attacks involving Sunni and Shia Muslim extremists.

Oil Hovers Around $47 on OPEC

SINGAPORE: Oil edged down below $47 a barrel on Tuesday, as dealers mulled OPEC output options at a meeting this weekend and ahead of weekly US stocks data expected to show another fall in crude inventories.
OPEC’s largest member, Saudi Arabia, notified its Asian customers of largely steady cuts in supplies for April from March, traders said on Tuesday, a day after a Saudi-owned newspaper reported that the world’s top exporter wanted stricter compliance with existing curbs before considering more cuts.
U.S. light crude for April delivery fell 9 cents a barrel to $46.98 by 4:31 a.m. British time, having gained more than 3 percent on Monday, on OPEC’s hints of further cuts and after a naval incident between the United States and China.
London Brent crude was up 26 cents at $44.39 after settling 72 cents lower on Monday at $44.13.
“A lot of people were expecting Saudi Arabia to deepen the cuts ahead of the meeting. It looks like demand is going to fall further and OPEC will have to cut again,” said Tony Nunan, risk management manager at Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp.
Saudi Arabia planned to lower supplies to at least one European oil company in April, a trading source said on Monday.
OPEC will meet on Sunday to discuss more curbs to add to its current 4.2 million barrel per day (bpd) cuts agreed since September as oil prices have lost $100 from record highs over $147 a barrel hit in July as the economic crisis crimps demand.
OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said on Monday the 12-member producer group would consider reducing output again at the meeting. OPEC will slash its 2009 demand forecast by 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in a monthly report due on Friday, Badri also said.

Obama reverses Bush limits on stem cell research

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama Monday lifted his predecessor George W Bush’s curbs on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, promising a “new frontier” for US science free of political ideology.The Democratic president signed an executive order reversing a policy that critics say has hampered the fight into finding treatments for grave diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and diabetes.Warning that scientists were deserting the United States for other nations, Obama said “medical miracles” come about only through painstaking research and rejected the “false choice” between sound science and moral values.“When government fails to make these investments, opportunities are missed. Promising avenues go unexplored,” he said at the White House, lauding the potential to help victims of debilitating illnesses and catastrophic injury.“Ultimately, I cannot guarantee that we will find the treatments and cures we seek. No president can promise that,” Obama said.“But I can promise that we will seek them — actively, responsibly, and with the urgency required to make up for lost ground,” he said, paying tribute to advocates of the research such as late Superman actor Christopher Reeve.“Not just by opening up this new frontier of research today, but by supporting promising research of all kinds, including groundbreaking work to convert ordinary human cells into ones that resemble embryonic stem cells.” Obama directed the National Institutes of Health to formulate guidelines within 120 days on how to proceed with federal research on lines of stem cells procured from private laboratories such as fertility clinics.His order cannot affect a congressional ban on federal money being used directly to create new stem cells, which are primitive cells from early-stage embryos capable of developing into almost every tissue of the body.Addressing an audience of US lawmakers, scientists including three Nobel laureates and religious leaders, Obama also issued a presidential memorandum “restoring scientific integrity to government decision making.” The memorandum marked another break from claims that Bush intervened for partisan political reasons in federal science in areas such as climate change, endangered species and family planning.

Security in Karachi Beefed Up

KARACHI: Strict security measures have been taken in Karachi in connection with Eid Milad-un-Nabi (S.A.W.W) while provincial government claimed; it has put police and rangers on high alert besides deploying additional troops in major areas in metropolis.
According to SSP Security Maqsood Ahmed more than 10,000 police and rangers personnel have been deployed around various rallies, gatherings and processions on the eve of Eid Milad here.
Walk through security gates have been installed at both entrances of Nishtar Park besides covering it from all around where the massive public rally is expected to gather on Monday evening, he added.
“Many CCTV cameras have also been installed on which people will remain under constant monitoring. Plain clothed police personnel have been placed throughout park while all and sundry will be allowed to enter after a thorough search by latest search equipments”, he maintained.
Maqsood Ahmed underscored that the city government will assist police in security efforts via its Command and Control rooms and added, “The rallies will get bomb disposable squads and spy dogs’ clearance”.