| 01 January 2005 | Saturday | 19 Ziqa'ad 1425 |
More of the same
 The year 2004 will be remembered in Pakistan as one of events, ironies and contradictions. The country saw three prime ministers in this one year, two orderly transfers of power and the consolidation of the office of the president. This was in addition to the formalization of the role of the military in affairs of state through the creation of the National Security Council.
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When violence and elections ruled the world
 There has been no shortage of elections during the year just past, ranging from the more or less meaningless to the momentous. In terms of global significance, it would be hard to deny first place to the process whereby George W. Bush found himself assured of a second term in the White House, followed by the Spanish poll that unexpectedly terminated the tenure of Jose Maria Aznar.
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In the political driving seat
 The year 2004 began with President Musharraf getting a confidence vote on January 1 from parliament and the four provincial assemblies to 'reaffirm' his presidency, as required by the government-MMA agreement on the 17th constitutional amendment.
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No increase in quality of life
 In Punjab, the economic situation was better compared to other provinces because of its agricultural production. A boom in real estate was seen, and about 70 per cent more vehicles were purchased than last year.
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Crisis of leadership
 Like at the centre, Sindh also witnessed a change of guard in 2004 with assertive Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim from Tharparkar replacing the docile Sardar Ali Mohammad Mahar of Ghotki as the provincial chief minister. But Dr Rahim could not make any difference to the conditions prevailing in the province except displaying some flashes of showmanship.
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Following a bloody trail
 It was a year that had a blood trail going through part of our tribal borderland from one month into the other. It was a year that was marked by violence that continued to haunt South Waziristan and ensured that the remote tribal region remained in the limelight as Pakistani security forces carried on their hunt for Al Qaeda members in the US-led war on terrorism.
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Under attack
 Balochistan has been in turmoil for almost the past three years. In 2004, security forces come under persistent attacks and score of people were killed in ambushes, sniper shootings and rocket attacks. Besides this, gas installations, mainly the distribution system, also came under bomb or rocket attacks.
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The issue of governance
 South Asians are long on rhetoric and short on performance. This adage was again confirmed during 2004 as the South Asian states struggled to overcome the challenges they faced both domestically and at the regional level.
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Adieu to Arafat
 With Yasser Arafat dead, a role is once again wandering in search of an actor. Few believe that anyone can play that role adequately. Ever since the founder of the Fatah movement shot into prominence after the battle of Karameh in 1967, Yasser Arafat had been like no other leader.
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Iraq in revolt
 Defiant in power, Saddam Hussain appeared even more defiant in captivity when his captors brought him to court for the first time on July 1 more than six months after he was arrested the previous December. The man who never possessed the weapons of mass destruction was firmly in America's hands
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Rigid, inflexible regimes
 For the war-torn and progress-starved country, 2004 was really an epoch-making year. It began with the drafting of a more or less moderate constitution, followed by the presidential election and ended with the inauguration of Hamid Karzai as the first elected president of the country.
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Were the Democrats robbed of a win?
 Were American voters in November really 'dumb' enough, as an understandably testy British news headline lamented, to elect what the editors regarded as a war-mongering buffoon as president? As small a consolation as it is to an apprehensive planet, a majority of Americans who trudged off to polling stations, it increasingly appears, fully intended to elect John Kerry.
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Aspiring for a global role
 The European Union ended 2004 with a historic decision to open its doors to Turkey, paving the way for the transformation of the current exclusively Christian club of 25 nations into a multi-religious bloc stretching to the frontiers of Iraq and Syria.
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Another year of conflict and death
 While events in the countries that make up Africa will be overshadowed by yet another year of political turmoil and bloodletting in the Middle East, the continent had more than its fair share of crises in 2004. Perhaps the worst of these was the Darfur tragedy - that still continues - in Sudan.
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No trickle-down effect yet
 The government has delivered tangible reforms that have led to rising GDP growth rates and allowed for economic liberalization. This trend continued in 2004 where the benefits of this policy could be seen in many forms while at the same time there were some areas in which concerns grew.
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Obituaries - Pakistan
 Abdul Hameed Jatoi, 82: Veteran parliamentarian and nationalist leader, on Jan 10
Mehdi Ali Siddiqi, 97: Noted judge, poet and author, on Jan 11
Rao Farman Ali, 82: General Farman Ali was the military adviser to the governor of East Pakistan in 1971 and a former federal minister, on Jan 20
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Obituaries - International
 David Hookes, 48: Former Australian batsman and commentator, on Jan. 19
Blankers Koen, 85: Dutch athlete known as the flying housewife and who was named athlete of the 20th century by the IAAF. She won four gold medals at the 1948 Olympics in London, on Jan 25
Mary Margaret Kaye, 95: British author, best known for writing The Far Pavilions, on Jan. 29
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Tsunami wrecks havoc on Indian Ocean nations
 COLOMBO: Nations on the Indian Ocean from Indonesia to Sri Lanka are searching amongst the wreckage of a devastating tsunami for bodies to bury as fears grow the toll will far exceed the 29,000 now reported killed. Two days after the biggest earthquake in 40 years struck the seabed off Indonesia's Sumatra island
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Chronology - National
January 1 President Pervez Musharraf wins a vote of confidence from parliament and the four provincial assemblies. Opposition parties boycott the vote. The air link between India and Pakistan is restored after a break of two years. 3 Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee arrives in Islamabad to attend the 12th Saarc summit. ...
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The year of tough love
 When the Ku Klux Klan was at its zenith, each black American went to bed in fear f a midnight lynching and each morning black bodies were found swinging from the trees. In 1939, jazz legend Billie Holiday recorded "Strange Fruit", one of the most moving songs in her repertoire. "Southern trees bear a strange fruit," it went.
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