| April 4, 2002 | Thursday | Muharram 20, 1423 |
Resistance in Afghanistan forces UK, US to change tack on Iraq
WITH the delimitation of constituencies for the October elections, the grouping of rival and like-minded political parties and factions has started.
Currently, the Bahawalpur Ittehad, a component of the PPP and the PML-QA, which successfully fought the district Nazim elections in August, 2001, is considered the strong group.
District Nazim Tariq Cheema is the PPP leader while Syed Tasneem Nawaz Gardezi and Syed Tabish Alwari represent the PML-QA and with their presence, the Bahawalpur Ittehad is ready to play a leading role in the general elections.
At a recent meeting with newsmen, Tariq Cheema said ‘no’ to the PML-QA which, according to reports, wanted to join hands with him. Tariq Cheema says he will not say goodbye to his parent party, the PPP, through which he rose to the office of a minister. He renewed his pledge to support Bahawalpur Ittehad leaders who managed to get him elected Nazim.
Tariq Cheema is likely to contest the elections from his own constituency which is being restored after a gap of five years by the Election Commission in view of new delimitation. He also claims that he is accommodated, out of the way, by both the president and the governor in respect of the problems of Bahawalpur district. However, things are taking shape and the outcome will be clear in due course.
THE day is not far when Bahawalpur will have a superior institute of advanced technology having a total of 17 disciplines in engineering and applied sciences.
It will be open not only for Pakistanis but also for foreigners and scholars from across the Islamic countries.
It was in 1991 after his retirement from the chairmanship of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee that Admiral Iftikhar A. Sirohey (retired) embarked on this project, to be known as the Bahawalpur Institute of Advanced Technology.
Mr. Sirohey established his Foundation for the Advancement of Engineering Sciences and Advanced Technologies with a firm conviction that the prosperity of the people and the integrity and security of the country could not be ensured without progress in the technological field.
His plan was not only fully supported but was also promised every kind of assistance by government high-ups. A board of directors, including Dr. A.Q. Khan and a number of scholars, was established to pursue the plan in a regular manner. The late Hakim Said, Ghulam Haider Wyne and Sajjad Husain Qureshi were also the founding members of FASAT. FASAT was allotted 2,054 acres in a nearby village for the project, for which the government assured 10 per cent of the capital cost to start construction. The remaining capital will be spent by FASAT from its own resources. The project will have two phases — development and construction of the faculty of engineering at an estimated cost of Rs100 million and the establishment of a faculty of applied sciences and a school of contemporary medicines.
The institute will serve as a research centre in advanced technology and will be a source of knowledge for the entire Ummat. The master plan of BIAT includes academic areas, hostel, residences, commercial amenities and other infrastructure. The geo-technical investigation of its site has been completed.
In an interview, FASAT chief executive Iftikhar A. Sirohey said a self-sustained and modern city of science and technology in this backward area would meet the galloping advancement of technology in the world.
Mr. Sirohey hoped that in the coming 50 years, BIAT would be able to provide about 2,500 scholars in the most advanced disciplines. It would also provide contemporary facilities for students to carry out industry and defence-oriented research. The institute aimed at creating a critical mass of indigenous technical experts in Pakistan, with creative and innovative inclination to understand the technologies of the 21st century and acquire the knowledge to solve problems confronting the country.
He said this was the only way to eradicate poverty, hunger and despair of the people and bring self-respect and dignity to the Pakistani nation. He said the BIAT would foster national cohesion and prosperity as well as promote unity in the Islamic world by educating students from the Muslim countries. With this technical advancement, Pakistan would be able to become a self-reliant and economically viable country “without having to beg for technical expertise and knowledge for our survival”, he said.
He said as the project was estimated to cost over Rs6 billion, funds were being generated and the board of directors was seized of the matter. He said a fund-raising drive was going on and the international donors were being approached for their contribution to this noble cause.
The foundation-stone of the BIAT is expected to be laid during the middle of the current calendar year.
ARRANGEMENTS are being made by the district government to organize a Matiullah Khan Benefit Hockey Match on April 27 in recognition of the services of the former Olympian, says district Nazim Tariq Cheema.
Matiullah Khan, the uncle of hockey flying horse Samiullah Khan, and his brothers, Kalimullah Khan and Hidayatullah Khan, played for Pakistan for 12 years from 1956 to 1968. Matiullah was awarded Tamga-i-Imtiaz in 1964 and two medals for the management of hockey by the PHF in 1968 and 1971.
An organizing committee, with the district Nazim as its patron, has been set up.
THE Punjab Food Department has again imposed restrictions on wheat growers desirous of taking gunny bags for the sale of their commodity.
Farmers and cultivators who want to bring their produce at the Food Department’s procurement centres will be bound to get their identity attested by the appropriate lambardars, councillors, Nazimeen and Naib Nazimeen and furnish documentary proof of their land holdings. Without the relevant documents, no grower will be provided gunny bags.
The kissan bodies have protested against such restrictions and demanded their withdrawal failing which they will launch a protest movement.
As the British Prime Minister Tony Blair meets US President Bush in Texas on Friday, Britain’s biggest overseas combat deployment since the 1991 Gulf War has already started after 100 Royal Marine commandos landed at Bagram air base, north of Kabul on Tuesday.
The first batch of Royal Marines are travelling to Afghanistan after weeks of waiting in the Persian Gulf. The continued resistance of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan has drawn in large numbers of troops, but there is little prospect now of a quick victory, suspending a military action against Iraq which seemed imminent before the recent fighting in eastern Afghanistan.
The fighting in Paktia and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan against Al Qaeda and the Taliban has effectively changed the recent US and British policy towards Iraq. In this new emerging situation, eliminating the Al Qaeda and Taliban remnants in Afghanistan is the top priority.
Thousands of coalition forces including 1,700 British troops, mostly commandos would be ready to fight against Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan during the current spring season. The arrival of the Royal Marines was delayed in order to make sure the area where they will live and work is clear of mines.
Decades of fighting has left the Bagram air base heavily mined, with some unexploded ordnance sticking out of the ground. At full strength, the British force will include 600 to 700 rough-terrain and bad-weather specialists from 45 Commando Group. About 200 engineers and other support units will also be stationed.
The 1,700 strong British force will bolster US-led coalition forces and will not be directly replacing US soldiers in the field.
When Tony Blair meets President Bush on Friday, the war in Afghanistan would feature prominently and the two leaders are expected to evolve their future course of action in Afghanistan besides discussing Iraq and the current situation in the Middle East.
The talks between the two leaders are expected to be challenging as Al Qaeda is far from defeated, no decision regarding Iraq has been taken while the situation in the Middle East is highly explosive following the current surge in violence between Israel and the Palestinians. The two leaders would have to come with more viable solution to the Iraqi issue.
Tony Blair would also let George Bush know about the hardened mood in Britain and Europe regarding any military action against Saddam Hussain. Both George Bush and Tony Blair will have to discuss a number of other options to get rid of Saddam Hussain. Going back to the United Nations is only one of them.
While Blair is preparing for his Texas meeting with President Bush, the nation at home is paying its last tributes to the Queen Mother who died on Saturday at the age of 101. The Queen Mother was an icon in Britain and some Commonwealth countries for about 80 years, ever since she had started her public life. She had a remarkable life which spanned a century of upheaval in the royal family and the world. She survived two world wars and a major shift in the public view of royalty.
Despite her old age she threw herself into royal engagements, visiting every corner of the country. In her 90th year, the Queen Mother kept 118 engagements across the country. The Queen Mother became patron of more than 350 groups. She was Commandant-in- Chief of the Army and Air Force’s Women’s Services and for Women in the Royal Navy.
She was also Colonel-in-Chief of many UK and overseas regiments and has accepted honorary degrees from a string of UK universities. But sporadic illnesses forced her in the recent years to cut down her public appearances, yet in 1997 she carried out 58 engagements.
The death of the Queen Mother is getting full coverage in the British media, but Buckingham Palace is angry with the BBC for its coverage. The row has forced the BBC to admit that it had told presenters not to wear black while reporting the death of the Queen Mother.
Prince Charles was said to be so incensed at the BBC’s “disrespectful” coverage that he asked another popular TV channel to film his moving tribute to his grandmother, in a calculated snub.
But the BBC denied there was an outright ban. In an official statement it said: “It is complete nonsense to imply that there has been a ban on presenters wearing black ties. The guidance to presenters was that they should wear sombre clothes for the announcement of the Queen Mother’s death and black ties for the funeral.”
The apparent change in the BBC policy towards the royal family is one of the signs of dwindling support for the monarchy in Great Britain. And the palace seems fully aware of the fact and trying its best to modernize royalty and make it more popular with the younger generation.
For the past one week a Pakistani-born Hollywood actor, Art Malik, is at the centre of the British media following a tragic incident at his London residence.
Mr Malik and his family members and friends were partying at the weekend when a friend of one of his daughters, a 23-year-old man drowned, in the pool. Daniel’s body was discovered after an all-night party.
The party had been arranged to celebrate the 21st birthday of Mr Malik’s eldest daughter Jessica. Daniel’s mother spoke out as detectives investigated whether drugs were involved in the death.
Penny Williams said the death of her young son was purely an accident. “We do not blame the Maliks in any way whatsoever,” she said. “We feel sure he fell asleep.”
Mrs Williams, and her daughter, Clare, 19, declined to talk about her son’s possible involvement in drugs. The evening began in a private room of the Mitre Hotel, in Kingston, where about 90 guests enjoyed music and champagne.
At around midnight a small group of family and friends, including Mr Williams and his mother, went to Mr Malik’s home to continue the celebrations where the tragic incident took place.
Mr Malik and his family members are in shock. The investigation is continuing.