You want Geo on its knees, once, twice, three times: Asma

LAHORE: Human rights activist and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Asma Jahangir has said she supports freedom of expression and the independence of the media, and punishing any TV channel is not an act of any pillar of the state but of dictators.

Addressing a lawyers gathering at the Aiwan-e-Iqbal here on Thursday, Asma said whatever Geo did was not fair. No journalistic ethics permit putting the picture (of any official) on the TV screen for hours over mere allegations, she said, adding that there was nothing new in this, however, as “Geo as well as all other TV channels have done it to us all in the past”.

“You may fine it (Geo) for the mistake, you may force them to apologise”, but what is this attitude, she asked. “You say no pardon, you say you will bring this organisation to its knees, once, twice, thrice, and there seems to be no end to it,” she added. She said if the army rulers believe they can strangle the freedom of expression in this country, they are mistaken.

Asma said when the judiciary indulges in politics instead of providing justice, we criticise it. “We did it earlier, and we do it even today,” she added.

Asma regretted that the media have started dictating even to lawyers. “They say a lawyer must ask them (the media) before taking up any case. If they will permit, you take up a case, and if they don’t want you to, you don’t go for it,” the lawyer leader said.

Asma said the government claims that their heart bleeds at the misuse of public money. “If it is public money then why have you provided six employees at government expense to the former CJ, whose son is still staying in the guest house,” the rights activist asked. She also questioned the appointment of Faqeer Hussain as the director general of the Federal Judicial Academy after his retirement as the Supreme Court registrar, and termed it in violation of merit.

Pemra terms meeting of some of its members illegal

ISLAMABAD: Some private members of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) had a meeting here on Wednesday on the Geo issue that was termed in defiance of the honourable Islamabad High Court orders by the authority’s ex-officio members.

The meeting, held in continuation of a similar event on May 20, formed a three-member committee to ensure implementation of the private members decisions on Geo. It will consist of Israr Abbasi, Fareeha Iftikhar and Shama Parveen.The meeting was declared illegal and invalid by the authority in its reaction late on Wednesday night.

The authority issued a statement following the May 28 meeting to clarify that the meeting called by the private members in isolation had no legal consequence. The ex-officio members pointed out in the statement that a consensual Pemra meeting was to be held on May 27 that was cancelled on the orders of the Islamabad High Court.

Moreover, all the members were informed in writing accordingly. It was decided by majority of the members that the next meeting would be convened after the decision/ further orders by the court. Therefore, the majority members felt that Wednesday’s meeting of some private members was in defiance of the court orders and thus the majority members did not attend it.

The previous meeting of private members, declared illegal by Pemra, had recommended revocation of the licences of Geo News, Geo Entertainment and Geo Tez and shutting down of their offices. Talking to media persons after the meeting, the private members — Israr Abbasi, Fareeha Iftikhar and Mian Shams — defended the meeting.

Replying to questions, Abbasi said the issue of apology by Geo and the Jang Group would be taken up in the authority’s next meeting on June 17. He said one official member had asked them to wait for the court order instead of holding a meeting to which they did not agree and held the meeting on the complaint of the Ministry of Defence against Geo.

Asked what the status of a meeting that was not attended by all the government members was, Abbasi contended that a forum participated by four, five or six members was legal and its decision was that of the authority.

About the cancellation of May 27 meeting, he said that it was cancelled after the court orders and their today’s meeting was according to the rules. Asked if the meeting was legal, then why the government members had moved the Islamabad High Court and also did not attend the today’s meeting, he said it was mentioned in Section 5 that if the government issued any policy or direction, it would be binding on the authority.

He added, therefore, if the government had formulated a policy and made up its mind not to take any action, then it should intimate the Pemra in writing that the matter was over.Abbasi said this game of cat and mouse should not be played.

He charged that the government, particularly the Ministry of Information, was under pressure and the authority’s employees were also being intimidated.Abbasi said they had asked the Council of Complaints, Islamabad, to give its opinion on the matter and the Sindh’s Council of Complaints’ recommendations would also be discussed during the next meeting.

Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Dr Nazir Saeed and six other members initially had discussions with private members but after a deadlock, they stayed away from it. Ex-officio members, according to sources, contended that the meeting should be held after four weeks.

Govt smells a rat, will establish its writ

ISLAMABAD: The federal government now smells a rat over some mysterious developments and the horrible events of kidnapping, setting selected properties on fire, torture and the challenging of its writ by some cable operators because of the backing of hidden hands.

The government on Tuesday resolved to fight against all the negative forces so that the writ of the government remained with those mandated by the people of Pakistan to exercise it.

The government also decided in principle that an Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday morning against the Monday’s decision of appointment of executive member, cancellation of a meeting and suspension of three show-cause notices.

The government will also file an appeal with the Supreme Court against the Monday’s decision of IHC.The government is aware of the incidents of putting ‘selected property’ of one organisation on fire on some allegations which are basically being leveled against four different organizations.

Top sources also confided to The News that the government was aware of some terrible incidents of kidnapping and torture and same will be taken up at the highest level and no one will be allowed to humiliate the citizens of Pakistan.

Sources say the government will handle the situation regarding conspiracy in Pemra against the democratic government’s writ and will sort out all issues strictly in accordance with law and relevant rules and regulations.

Top officials in the federal government say the statement made by some members of Pemra that “the federal government was conspiring against its armed forces and that the government wants to disrespect the state institutions” on May 20 was a horrible conspiracy to create some misunderstandings between the state institutions and to create chaos.

Government sources say this situation will be handled under the laws of land in a way that no one could dare conspire against Pakistan in future.

Government officials say government respects the judiciary and will obey all its decisions in letter and spirit. Senior Pemra officials say under the Pemra rule 3(4) only chairman can summon an authority meeting and no one else can summon a meeting in any case whatsoever.

Pemra’s top officials say under this rule, majority of members of the authority (there are total 13 members; 12 members and one chairman who is also a member), meaning at least seven members can request the chairman to call a meeting. It means even majority of members cannot call the meeting on their own and have to request the chairman.

According to senior Pemra officials if the chairman refuses to call a meeting despite request of majority of members they will have to challenge this in a court of law as it is their right under rule 3(4) but even then they cannot call a meeting.

On the other hand, according to Pemra officials the Supreme Court had held on January 15, 2013 in “Hamid Mir Vs Federation” case that Pemra was incompetent to pass content regulations in the absence of chairman. Presently, there is no chairman, so the authority could not function in these matters.

Some powers of chairman were vested in a three-member committee comprising Pemra members Pervaiz Rathore, Dr Ismail Shah and Israr Abbasi.However, Israr Abbasi later resigned from this three member committee. A Pemra press release has announced that Israr Abbasi had resigned from the authority but in his video interviews and press statements. Israr Abbasi has clarified that he had resigned from the three-member management committee and not from the membership of authority.

Some members led by Israr Abbasi want to stage a drama today (Wednesday) at 2:30 pm like they did on May 20 which Pemra had to declare as illegal immediately. The government is all set to handle this situation again as it is basically meant to defame some state institutions and can create a very disturbing situation in the country if allowed to continue unattended.

Geo moves Pemra to hear its case on merit

 

ISLAMABAD: Geo television has moved Pemra, holding that before proceeding on the complaint of the Ministry of Defence the authority should take the opinion of the Council of Complaints (CoC) under the Pemra law and that Geo should be heard on the merits of the points raised in the complaint under Section 30(3) of the Pemra Ordinance.
The application filed by the Independent Media Corporation (IMC) also made a reference to the Supreme Court’s January 15, 2013 judgment passed by the apex court in the Hamid Mir vs Federation case mentioning that the authority becomes incompetent to pass content regulations in the absence of a chairman and as presently there is no chairman, the authority is not complete and thus cannot proceed in this matter.

The Geo application also pleaded that three members of the authority, namely Israr Abbasi, Mian Shams and Fareeha Iftikhar, have shown their mind and have repeatedly announced to revoke the Geo channel’s licences so they could not sit in the authority as judges on a complaint against Geo. The Geo application also pleads that on May 6, 2014, the lawyer of Geo, Muhammad Akram Sheikh, only submitted some legal objections and is yet to present his submissions on the merits of the complaint filed by the Ministry of Defence, and Geo should be given this right under Section 30(3) of the Pemra law.

The relevant parts of the application moved by Geo on April 27, 2014 read: “1. Your kind attention is drawn to the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of Pakistan dated 15th January 2013 passed by Mr. Justice(reported at PLD 2013 SC 244), wherein the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (“Pemra” hereafter) was held to be incompetent to pass content regulations in the absence of its Chairman. Relevant portions of the judgement are reproduced below: “5. We have earlier recorded that at least since 13-5-2011, Pemra has no Chairman. In our order dated 20-12-2012, we have also noted the serious procedural challenge raised by the petitioners, who contend that when the Content Regulations were in the process of being made or when the same were adopted and notified, Pemra did not have a Chairman and was thus not lawfully in existence. Mr. Kazmi [counsel for Respondent No. 2] contended that Dr. Abdul Jabbar was notified and was acting as Chairman of Pemra. This contention is not correct …”

“6. Based on the above, we are quite clear that the Content Regulations which were notified on 25-9-2012 cannot be construed as regulations issued by Pemra …”

“7. Mr. Kazmi then contended that even if Dr. Abdul Jabbar was not a validly appointed Chairman, the de facto doctrine, incorporated in section 3(4) of Pemra Ordinance, would save all his acts; and the Content Regulations too should therefore be deemed to have been saved. This contention is without merit. The statute cannot be read in a way which makes its most important and potent parts such as the provisions about the very composition of Pemra redundant. Such an interpretation of the de facto doctrine verges on utter disregard for the rule of law which is the foundation of our constitutional order. …”

2. Therefore Pemra, as per the above clear ruling of Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan, in the absence of a Chairman, is not validly constituted to execute and perform functions of the Authority as contemplated by Sections 4 and 6 of the Pemra Ordinance 2002.

3. That notwithstanding the above cited view of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and without prejudice to the legal objections taken by Independent Media Corporation (Pvt.) Ltd. (the answering respondent) in reply to the Show Cause Notice dated 23.04.2014, it is further submitted as under: A. Proviso to Section 30(1)(b) of Pemra Ordinance requires that: ‘Provided that in case of revocation of a licence of a broadcast media, an opinion to this effect shall also be obtained from the Council of Complaints.’

As Authority has not yet obtained an opinion from the Council of Complaints, it is not allowed by the statute to proceed to revoke the respondent’s licence.

B. In addition to above, Section 30(3) of Pemra Ordinance provides: ’Except for reason of necessity in public interest, a licence shall not be … revoked unless the licencee has been given reasonable notice to show cause and a personal hearing.”

It may be noted that Pemra has not yet heard the answering respondent on merits of the complaint. During the hearing dated 06.05.2014, Muhammad Akram Sheikh, senior advocate Supreme Court, raised several preliminary legal objections, including the contention that in the absence of the chairman, Pemra was not lawfully authorised or empowered to hear the instant complaint. Having considered those preliminary objections, Pemra sought the opinion of the Ministry of Law on the legal objections raised. Akram Sheikh did not submit response on merit of the complaint.

C. Now that the authority has received the legal opinion from the Ministry of Law, it must comply with Section 30(3) to afford the answering respondent the opportunity to submit its reply to the complaint on merit. It is thus that the Authority is requested to give the answering respondent reasonable time for right of hearing, without which any decision taken by the Authority will be legally flawed and an abuse of power.

D. Lastly, in the interest of justice and fair play, we wish to place on record the undisputed fact that the following three members of the Authority, namely Israr Abbasi, Mian Shams and Fariha Iftikhar, have disqualified themselves from sitting as a judge and to adjudicate on the issue in question because they have repeatedly, through press conferences and also through various live interviews on different rival TV channels, vowed that they would revoke Geo News licence. All these three members are not only biased but hostile, they have each prejudged the matter even before the meeting of the Authority and hence they are not entitled to participate in the discussion, cast their votes and thus decide this matter.

Any decision taken against the answering respondents that is based on the votes casted by these three biased and hostile members shall not be sustainable under law. As a result of their hostile interviews and expression of their hatred and anger against answering respondent, the said members have rendered themselves incapacitated from taking any part in relation to the complaint as they have prejudged the fate of the complaint.

It is the duty of the Authority to exclude these members from the proceedings to ensure that the right of the answering respondents to a fair trial as guaranteed under Article 10A of the Constitution.

E. Therefore, the ex-officio and other members of Pemra are kindly requested to restrain Pemra from initiating any actions without referring the complaint to the Council of Complaints where the answering respondent is yet to make submissions on merits.

Army tells Nawaz no more talks with Taliban, takes matter in its own hands

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Army chief General Raheel has told Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that the time for talks with Taliban was over.
“We will avenge the blood of every last soldier. Talks or no talks, the army will retaliate,” one military official told the influential Reuters news agency in Islamabad.The Reuters report, filed by reporter Mehreen Z Malik and edited by Mike Collett-White and Maria Golovnina, gave a revealing picture of civil-military relations in the Nawaz government.

The report said: “At Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s palatial offices in Islamabad this week, the army chief sat down to deliver the head of government a message he did not want to hear: The time for talks with the troublesome Pakistani Taliban was over.”

Nawaz Sharif came to power a year ago promising to find a peaceful settlement with the Islamist militant group, but as round after round of talks failed, the powerful armed forces favoured a military solution.

Their patience finally ran out and, late on Tuesday afternoon, during a tense meeting, the army effectively declared it would override a crucial plank of the government’s strategy and take matters into its own hands.

“The army chief and other military officers in the room were clear on the military’s policy: the last man, the last bullet,” a government insider with first-hand knowledge of the meeting told Reuters.

Asked to sum up the message General Raheel Sharif wanted to convey at the gathering, he added: “The time for talk is over.”The next day, Pakistani forces launched rare air strikes against the militants holed up in the remote, lawless tribal belt near the Afghan border. It is not clear whether Sharif authorised the operation.

On Thursday, they backed that up with the first major ground offensive against the Taliban there, undermining Nawaz Sharif’s year-long attempt to end a bloody insurgency across the country through peaceful means.

Disagreement over the militant threat is the latest row to flare up between the government and military, and relations between the two branches of power are at their lowest ebb for years, according to government officials.

The government did say talks with the Taliban would go on. “We will talk with those who are ready for it and the (military) operation is being launched against those who are not ready to come to the negotiating table,” spokesman Pervaiz Rashid told local media on Thursday.But the operations put the military, which has a long record of intervening in civilian rule through plots and coups, firmly back at the centre of Pakistan’s security policy.

The balance of power is shifting at a time when foreign troops are preparing to withdraw from Afghanistan and arch-rival India has just elected a Hindu nationalist leader promising to be more assertive on the international stage.“This is the clearest signal yet that the army will dictate its terms now,” a member of Nawaz Sharif’s cabinet said.

The Pakistani Taliban, as distinct from the Afghan Taliban which is actively targeting the Nato forces in Afghanistan, is believed to be behind attacks on Pakistani soldiers and civilians that have killed thousands in recent years.

The Pakistan Army has distinguished between “good” Taliban like the feared Haqqani network — who do not attack Pakistani security forces but fight in Afghanistan — and “bad” Taliban, indigenous Pakistani militants who are seeking to create an Islamic state.

While Pakistan’s military wants to go after the “bad” Taliban, it has, despite pressure from Washington, largely avoided taking on groups who launch attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan from Pakistan’s North Waziristan region.

Prompting the latest intervention, the Pakistani Taliban have become increasingly bold, striking the army in tribal areas including a recent battle in which an army major died. Earlier this month, nine soldiers were killed in an explosion near the Afghan border.“We will avenge the blood of every last soldier. Talks or no talks, the army will retaliate,” said one military official, who, like most others interviewed for this article, spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.

The army has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history.Nawaz Sharif himself was toppled by the army in 1999 during his previous tenure as prime minister.But, humiliated after a secret 2011 US raid that killed Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil, the army stood back from politics and supported the last year’s first democratic transition of power which brought Nawaz Sharif back to office.

Sharif manoeuvred carefully, hand picking a new army chief and trying to forge a partnership with the military in the early days of his tenure, but the overtures had little lasting impact.

There are other signs of civil-military discord.Sharif came to power promising to rebuild relations with India, but has been under pressure to toughen his stance from hardliners at home, particularly within the army.The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over the still-disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.

Nawaz Sharif’s policies towards India have been heavily scrutinised; some in the army justify its hefty budget by pointing to — and, critics say, playing up — the potential threat from India.

And despite signs the military has become more amenable to overtures from its old foe than in the past, a trade deal pushed by the prime minister and aimed at improving ties with India was cancelled at the last minute after pressure from the army, top government officials said.

Sharif now faces a dilemma over whether to accept an invitation by Indian Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi to attend his inauguration next week.The army is also bitter about the trial of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who ousted Sharif from power in 1999 and was arrested after he returned to Pakistan to take part in last year’s election.

Ties with Afghanistan have never been easy, but some officials believe the army wants to torpedo the government’s relationship with a future Kabul administration, risking deterioration in regional security as Nato troops prepare to leave this year.

Generals have jealously guarded the right to dictate policy on Afghanistan, seeing friendly guerrilla groups as “assets” to blunt the influence of India there.

Though simmering under the surface, tensions between the government and the army spilled into the open last month when a popular journalist was shot by unknown gunmen and his channel, Geo News, blamed the army’s powerful spy agency, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Public criticism of the shadowy ISI is almost unheard of in Pakistan. In a rare public response, the army demanded that Geo News, the country’s most-watched news channel, be shut down.The government’s media regulator has since resisted the army’s demands to cancel the channel’s license, which the military sees as a direct sign of defiance.

“Everyone was looking out to see how the government would treat the army in this crisis — as a friend or foe?” said a senior military official. “But the government allowed this to become a free-for-all, army-hunting season.”

For Sharif, buckling under military pressure is a major risk. “This is not about one TV channel but about freedom of expression and about living in a democracy,” Rashid said. “We should live and let live.”But despite putting on a brave front, officials say the government is feeling under siege.

“Never in the last year has the government felt weaker or more vulnerable,” one of Sharif’s key economic advisers said. “Now every time we have to take a major decision, on India, on Afghanistan, we will have to think ‘How will the army react?’”

A serving general said the army chief would always pick the “institution over the Constitution if push comes to shove,” adding: “As a society and a state, we have to avoid a context in which the army is pushed to do something it doesn’t want to.”

Childhood trauma may leave its mark in blood vessels

LONDON: Young adults who were exposed to adverse experiences as children have greater signs of unhealthy blood vessel function than young people without a traumatic past, a new study finds.

The results suggest that early-life stress may raise the risk of heart disease later on by affecting blood vessel function and blood pressure in ways that can be detected during young adulthood, the authors say.

“We have translated ideas that we had from animal research and found that it’s true in humans,” Jennifer Pollock told Reuters Health.

Pollock, part of the research team, co-directs cardio-renal physiology and medicine in the nephrology division at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

She and her colleagues looked for elevations in blood pressure and other indicators of how well blood vessels constrict or relax, as well as signs of stiffness in blood vessel walls.

“All of this was highly correlated with people who have more of these stresses during childhood than the people who had no stressors in childhood,” she said.

Pollock said that household dysfunction was the most common adverse event, followed by neglect and abuse.

For their study, which was published in the journal Hypertension, Pollock and her colleagues analyzed data on 221 healthy adolescents and young adults recruited for a study of cardiovascular risk factors that started in 1989.

The research team looked at markers of blood vessel health including blood pressure, the heart’s output of blood, characteristics of the pulse and levels of a substance called endothelin-1, a protein that constricts blood vessels and increases blood pressure.

They calculated adverse childhood event (ACE) scores based on a questionnaire answered when the participants were about 21 years old. Those who reported one traumatic event were classified as having mild ACE and those with two or more traumatic events were classified as moderate or severe ACE.

The researchers found that participants who had one traumatic event in childhood had plasma endothelin-1 levels that were an average of 18 percent higher than those who had reported no traumatic events, and those who had two or more traumatic childhood events had levels that were 24 percent higher.

Participants with two or more adverse events also had elevated measures of blood pressure and blood vessel stiffness.

The study didn’t follow up to see if those young people ended up having more heart attacks, strokes or other illnesses. And it cannot prove that the early-life traumas were the cause of the cardiovascular differences.

Nonetheless, Pollock said that in the future she’d like to determine if behavioral therapies may change the course of the cardiovascular risk factors in people who have these early life stressors.

“Exposure to psychosocial stress triggers a biological response aimed at improving adaptation to challenges,” said Dr. Andrea Danese, of the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London.

“Although the biological responses to stress are vital in the short term, they may become detrimental when chronically activated,” he told Reuters Health in an email. “For example, immune mediators including inflammation proteins can damage blood vessels leading to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.”

Danese, who was not involved in the new study, said researchers are increasingly interested in finding ways to reverse such damage to help individuals who experienced childhood adversity.

“We know little on the topic at present, but once we are able to confidently point to mechanisms through which child stress is translated into biological risk for disease, we will be able to target biological abnormalities before the onset of clinical symptoms,” he said.

This does not necessarily mean giving children medications, he said. “In contrast, we can also use this information to see if psychosocial interventions, such as psychotherapy, could help remediate the detrimental effects of childhood adversity on physical health as they often do for mental health.”

Pemra issues letter to save its skin in SC

ISLAMABAD: Pemra was silent for 33 days after the April 19 attack on senior journalist Hamid Mir and subsequent closure of Geo, but on Thursday it wrote a ‘clear’ letter to the cable operators to restore Geo channels to their original positions.

However, this letter was written to show only a fake performance to the Supreme Court which has summoned Pemra and sought its reply.On the ground, no cable operator in Pakistan has implemented this order of Pemra and Geo and its channels remained off air or on the last numbers till late last night.

It was also clear that both Pemra and the cable operators were not serious about restoring the channel because some angels and spirits were flying around them and were forcing them to continue violating the law and the Constitution, especially Articles 19 and 19-A of the Constitution.

The media watchdog earlier wrote a letter on May 2, 2014 to restore Geo’s position but this letter was ridiculous and was supporting and favouring the point of view of cable operators.

Supreme Court orders in the past to restore the transmission of Geo News or other Geo channels were never implemented and Pemra always gave wrong reports and assurances to the apex court benches hearing these cases.

Even after 12 hours on Thursday after issuance of the Pemra letter, which was meant to save its skin in the Supreme Court and to give an impression as if it was fully vigilant and performing its regulatory duties very well, not even 1 percent of cable operators had restored the transmission of Geo News and other Geo channels.

At a few places where Geo could be viewed, it was thrown on the last numbers by the cable networks in order to confuse the viewers and inflict losses on the group. Not only this, in these very few areas where Geo was available on the last numbers, a majority of viewers could not watch because of low channel carrying capacity of their TV sets which is often less than 50 while Geo is thrown on numbers above 80.

Even in the past, during the last two regimes, when Geo was closed or its position was thrown to the last numbers, the Supreme Court used to pass orders to restore the Geo transmission to its original numbers but these orders of apex court were never implemented.

Pemra used to submit fake and incorrect reports to the apex court regarding the channel’s transmission but the channel would only be restored when the government of the day or our real rulers/angels would allow it.

Independent media and journalists are really worried that even at this time the government and Pemra may succeed in intentionally misguiding the apex court and any court orders to restore Geo and its other channels would not be implemented.

The PML-N government remained silent for 33 days despite five complaints by Geo and the Jang Group that its channels were being put off air.

The angels managed dirty and false propaganda on “selected” TV channels that the present government was favouring Geo in the present situation. There were many fools to believe this false statement without even comprehending that the PML-N government was not only silent on the closure of Geo News, it never took any action against cable operators for illegally and unconstitutionally blocking Geo. In fact at some instances it facilitated such cable operators.

Despite repeated requests, the PML-N government remained shamelessly inactive to get Geo restored on the cable networks and allowed unconstitutional forces to come in direct contact with cable operators and compromise its own writ.

Though Pemra overall remained inactive to get its Thursday’s letter implemented as it was merely written to show fake performance to the Supreme Court during the present hearing, few officers who started contacting the cable operators in the field to get the channels restored were threatened.

These officers received calls from blank numbers. Later they came to know that some secret people had reached the cable operators and asked them to refuse to obey orders to restore Geo or its other channels.

At some places, the cable operators informed Pemra officials that immediately after the delivery of the Pemra letter or verbal orders to restore Geo, they started receiving calls from terrorist and extremist organisations not to restore Geo.

PSA holds its 5th Annual Banquet in University of Texas

DALLAS: The Pakistani Students Association (PSA) at University of Texas in Dallas held their largest event "PSA 5th Annual Banquet" at their campus on April 19.

The highly successful event gathered people from all walks of life and ages in the DFW area towards the mutual goal of promoting Pakistani culture.

The night was filled with musical and dance performances, delicious Pakistani food, designer and bridal fashion shows, Mr & Ms PSA Awards, and the opportunity to socialize with fellow countrymen.

The goal of PSA is to unite all of the University of Texas at Dallas through exciting events by raising awareness about our beautiful country and its traditional values. Every semester, they hold several events with a focus to bring unity amongst students and the Dallas community by organizing cultural, social, and entertainment events.

More than 200 students, professionals and community members, both with Pakistani origins and non-Pakistani graced the occasion with their presence.

The evening was also highlighted by a superb performance by Sohail Najmi, the Pakistani ghazal maestro, who volunteered his talent for the event. PSA officers Hassan Allahrakha and Hira Ahmed paid tribute to the heroes of Pakistan so that our new generations remember their services and sacrifices.

They talked about the lives of the founder of the Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Fatima Jinnah, Abdul Sattar Edhi, Abdus Salam, Abdul Qadeer Khan, Raziuddin Siddiqui and Hakim Saeed.

The event was made possible by active support from the Pakistan Society of North Texas (PSNT) officials Anjum Anwar and Salman Tabani, who attended the event to show that the Pakistani Students Association and the Pakistani community in Dallas-Fortworth area share a common goal and that they are ready to work together in achieving it.

The PSA Vice President Muhammad Muneeb Saleem stressed on the need for scholarships to facilitate higher education for international students from Pakistan at the University of Texas at Dallas to which the PSNT officers gave a very positive response.

Dr Amer Suleman represented Pakistan American Association of Texas (PAAT) as its President and encouraged the PSA officers to continue to organize such events.

The President of PSA Muhammad Ali expressed deep gratitude in his speech to the Pakistani community of North Texas for helping sponsor the event which brought together everyone to celebrate our mutual heritage and traditions.

On behalf of PSA, he thanked the fashion show sponsors, local media partners, and the performers who volunteered their time to make the show a huge success.

Striking similarities between Taliban, FARC Like Pakistan, Colombia is talking to its rebels too

LAHORE: As is the case in Pakistan where the sitting Nawaz Sharif regime is talking to the warring Taliban for the sake of peace, the incumbent Colombian government is also holding a dialogue with a violent guerilla organization at war within the territory of this Spanish-speaking South American state since 1964.

However, numerous Colombian politicians and military commanders stand divided over holding peace parleys with this terrorist outfit known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Locally, this militant group is called the “Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia” or FARC.

While a former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is known as a fierce opponent of the on-going talks, two dissenting Army generals were relieved of duty for the duration of the investigation quite recently in February 2014, according to the esteemed news agency “Reuters.” One of these two generals was the head of the Colombian Army intelligence.

According to a study by Colombia’s National Centre for Historical Memory, over 220,000 people have died in this conflict till date, most of them being civilians.From 1999 to 2008, the FARC, together with the ELN guerrilla group, was estimated to control up to 40 per cent of the territory in Colombia. This insurgent group, which claims to be a peasant army, has often said it was just striving to help country’s farmers get their due rights.

The FARC has been alleged by the June 17, 2002 edition of the BBC and the January 27, 2011 edition of a prestigious globally-prescribed American magazine “The Economist” to have been involved in kidnappings for ransom, illegal gold mining, killing innocent civilians, production and distribution of illicit drugs.

However, as history has it, the dispossession of Colombian farmland had produced 40,000 landless families by 1961 and by end 1969; their number had crossed the 400,000 mark throughout Colombia.

But these figures neither justify FARC’s claims of being a farmer-friendly revolutionary force, nor do these statistics allow it to wage a war against the state and play havoc with the lives of the local citizens and the law enforcement agencies.

While the violent FARC has been classified as a terrorist organization by the governments of Colombia, the United States, Canada, Chile, New Zealand and the European Union. It still derives a lot of moral support from the governments of Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Nicaragua etc.

The extent of support that FARC enjoys from the neighboring countries can be gauged from the fact that in 2008, the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had recognized it as a proper Army and a belligerent force that was fighting against the state for a right cause.

On the contrary, successive Colombian regimes have condemned this organization for kidnapping numerous government ministers, governors and senators etc, and killing many in captivity.

For example, in 2003, FARC had assassinated a governor called Guillermo Gaviria Correa, his advisor for peace and a former defense minister Gilberto Echeverri Mejia.In December 2009, another local state governor Luis Francisco Cuellar was killed by FARC.

And now, since November 2012, it is involved in yet another round of peace talks with the Colombian state.Research shows that for the last many decades, many talks were held between Colombian governments and the FARC militants, but then the dialogue process had somehow hit snags and communication had broken down.

As it is happening in Pakistan currently, numerous Colombian governments over the years and the FARC commanders have been agreeing upon the exchange of prisoners held in captivity on either side.

Just to cite one example in this context, in December 2004, the government of Colombia had announced to pardon 23 FARC prisoners in a bid to encourage a reciprocal move. Earlier in November 2004, the FARC had rejected a state proposal to hand over 59 of its captives in exchange for 50 guerrillas imprisoned by the government.

The year 2006 had seen FARC releasing a few civilian hostages including a German citizen, after holding him captive for five years.In November 2012, the FARC had released four Chinese oil workers. The hostages were working for the Emerald Energy oil company, a British-based subsidiary of China’s renowned Sinochem Group.

And in January 2008, former Colombian vice presidential candidate Clara Rojas and a former Congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez were freed after nearly six years in captivity.In February 2008, innumerable rallies were held in Colombia and across the world, whereby FARC was slated by the protestors and was pressed to release hundreds of hostages.

In November 2013, the Colombian government and FARC had announced that they had come to an agreement regarding the participation of political opposition and would begin discussing their next issue, the illicit drug trade.But talks continue to be held despite an acute shortage of trust and belief on both sides.

Pakistan not to allow use of its soil against Afghanistan: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said the government would not allow the use of Pakistani soil against Afghanistan.
Talking to the United Kingdom’s National Security Adviser Kim Darroch, who called on him at the PM House, the prime minister said: “Our soil will not be used against Afghanistan and we support the democratic process in Afghanistan.”

The British Chief of Defence Staff, General Sir Nicholas Houghton, Special Representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan Simon Gass and British High Commissioner to Pakistan Philip Barton also accompanied the visiting dignitary.

Adviser to the PM on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz and PM’s Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi also attended the meeting.The prime minister said that Pakistan believes in the policy of non-interference.

He said Pakistan was facing huge challenges. “The major issues faced by Pakistan are the economy, energy and terrorism. Our progressive policies have shown positive results on the economy, while we have taken concrete steps to overcome the energy crisis. In order to tackle the issue of terrorism, we have evolved a consensus amongst all the stakeholders for dialogue,” he added.

Nawaz said that Pakistan did not want to fall into an arms race in the region and wanted peace and stability in the region. “There is a need to enhance investment in the social sectors of health and education and we have taken steps towards these ends,” he added.

The prime minister also appreciated the UK’s support for Pakistan in social sector.Kim Darroch said the UK supported the objectives of Pakistan’s internal security. He also expressed his confidence in Pakistan’s economic policies and added that the economy was poised to take off.

The British NSA said that his government was committed to providing more support to Pakistan in all fields, particularly for countering terrorism. He said Pakistan and the UK had similar priorities with regard to Afghanistan.

Supporting the ongoing dialogue process with the Taliban by Pakistan, he expressed the UK government’s best wishes for its success.Sir Nigel Kim Darroch is a senior British diplomat who is holding the office of the NSA since June 2011.

IA explains status of 18 directors on its board

ISLAMABAD: The management of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has been promoting officers as directors, apparently in violation of court’s orders and in some cases even contempt notices have been issued and in the process has vastly exceeded the actual number of approved posts of directors.

At present there are eighteen directors in PIA against approved posts of twelve hence PIA has 50 per cent more top executives than allowed by law.The Spokesman of PIA, Mashood Tajwer while talking to The News agreed that there were 18 directors but explained the position.

According to details, the PIA Board of Directors in its 255th meeting had declared that the number of directors in PIA could not exceed twelve but the incumbent management had promoted six extra directors which had resulted in issuance of at least five notices of contempt of court against Director Human Resource, Admin and Coordination, Mr Aijaz Mazhar.

The 18 directors on the payroll of PIA include, Captain Qasim Hayat, Director Flight Operations; Shahnawaz Rehman, Director Corporate Planning, Maqsood Ahmed, Director Engineering (Posted); Nayyar Hayat, Director Finance/Chief Financial Officer; S Aijaz Mazhar, Director HRA & C; Babar Kamal Mumtaz, Director (Without Assignment); Ghazala Rashid, Executive Director Sky Rooms; Capt. S. Hamid Gardezi, Director Flight Safety; AVM Sohail Director, Precision Engineering; Saminuddin Naqvi, Director Engineering (Incumbent); Khurram Mushtaq, Director (Without assignment); Rashid Ahmed, Director (Without Assignment); Omar Razzaque, Director P&L; W J Bornshin, Director Airport Services; Anjum Amin Mirza, Director Training & Development and Accountability; Amanullah Qureshi, Director

Flight Services and Food Services; Amir Ali, Director MRO and EASA-145 Certification and Sohail Yaqoob Officiating Director Marketing.

However, Spokesman Mashood Tajwer explained that out of the eighteen directors in PIA, Babar Kamal Mumtaz was on Leave Priority to Retirement while Sohail Yaqoob was officiating director. He maintained that it was a norm in PIA that the post of Director Precision Engineering was always occupied by the officers from Pakistan Air Force.

He continued that one Ghazala Rashid had gone on deputation as Executive Director to a hotel, which had its own board but he admitted that Ms Ghazala was officer of director level in PIA.

Regarding Khurram Mushtaq, Director without assignment, the PIA spokesman said that there were pending litigations in his case. However regarding another director without assignment, Rashid Ahmad, Tajwer maintained that he had been kept without assignment and there were no litigations in his case.

“So out of the 18 directors, one is retiring on April 3; one has gone on deputation to Sky Rooms; two are without assignment; one post belongs to Air Force while one is officiating director, therefore, the remaining directors are twelve”, PIA Spokesman said.

To the question if a post is occupied by PAF or any other department, does that post belong to that department? The PIA spokesman answered in negative but maintained that the post of Director Precision Engineering was always occupied by PAF therefore when PIA counted its directors, it counted the officers of PIA.

To another question that if a director is not assigned any department, doesn’t he remain a director? The PIA spokesman was of the view that there might be a confusion that PIA might have 12 functioning directors excluding those without assignment/deputation or the actual number of directors should be twelve, but at present, PIA had twelve functioning directors.

He said that the number of directors functioning/not functioning had exceeded twelve because recently, the national flag carrier abolished two posts of deputy managing directors i.e DMD Engineering and DMD Operations therefore one of the DMD was demoted and made director.It is worth mentioning here that PIA management has been issued at least five contempt of court notices for promoting the directors despite clear ban by the Sindh High Court.

Philippines has ’right’ to defend its territory like China: PM spokesman

MANILA: The Philippines also has the right to defend every inch of its territory, President Benigno Aquino's spokesman said on Sunday, after China made a similar warning.
Spokesman Herminio Coloma's remarks came after China's foreign minister Wang Yi said on Saturday said his country would vigorously defend its sovereignty against "unreasonable demands from smaller countries".
Although he was referring to Japan, which has its own territorial dispute with China, his remarks could also cover China's other territorial dispute with the Philippines and other countries over parts of the South China Sea.
"It is the right of every country to defend its national territory. That is also the principle we are following," Coloma told reporters, commenting on the Chinese minister's remarks.
Coloma added that the Philippines was basing its position on the principles of international law like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.
The Philippines and China, along with Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam are all claimants to parts of the South China Sea, a major sea lane and rich fishing ground which is believed to sit on vast mineral deposits.
The Philippines has also expressed growing concern at the increased aggressiveness of the Chinese in pressing their claim to almost all of the waters, even up to the coasts of its neighbours.
The Philippine government has sought UN arbitration under UNCLOS to settle the dispute but China has rejected the move.
Last month the Philippines lodged a protest after the Chinese coastguard allegedly attacked Filipino fishermen off a disputed South China Sea shoal with water cannon on January 27. Beijing rejected the protest.

Philippines has ’right’ to defend its territory like China: PM spokesman

MANILA: The Philippines also has the right to defend every inch of its territory, President Benigno Aquino's spokesman said on Sunday, after China made a similar warning.
Spokesman Herminio Coloma's remarks came after China's foreign minister Wang Yi said on Saturday said his country would vigorously defend its sovereignty against "unreasonable demands from smaller countries".
Although he was referring to Japan, which has its own territorial dispute with China, his remarks could also cover China's other territorial dispute with the Philippines and other countries over parts of the South China Sea.
"It is the right of every country to defend its national territory. That is also the principle we are following," Coloma told reporters, commenting on the Chinese minister's remarks.
Coloma added that the Philippines was basing its position on the principles of international law like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.
The Philippines and China, along with Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam are all claimants to parts of the South China Sea, a major sea lane and rich fishing ground which is believed to sit on vast mineral deposits.
The Philippines has also expressed growing concern at the increased aggressiveness of the Chinese in pressing their claim to almost all of the waters, even up to the coasts of its neighbours.
The Philippine government has sought UN arbitration under UNCLOS to settle the dispute but China has rejected the move.
Last month the Philippines lodged a protest after the Chinese coastguard allegedly attacked Filipino fishermen off a disputed South China Sea shoal with water cannon on January 27. Beijing rejected the protest.

Ukraine facing loss of its navy

UKRAINE: Lashed by the wind as it whips across Crimea's biggest lake, a third of Ukraine's warships have nowhere to go and nothing to do but rise and fall on its choppy waves.
Russian forces have blocked their only exit point to the Black Sea by sinking two ageing vessels there, and Russia's well-armed Moskva missile cruiser can be seen treading water a short distance off the coast, with menace.
With six more of Ukraine's two dozen warships similarly blockaded and Russian forces building up their strength ahead of a referendum that seems likely to result in Crimea becoming part of Russia, Ukraine is facing the humiliating loss of its navy.
Pacing up and down a spartan room in an outbuilding overlooking a row of warships, support vessels, and tugboats, Brigade Commander Vitaly Zvyagintsev says he can't believe the Russian Black Sea Fleet with whom the Ukrainian navy regularly held exercises in the past has turned hostile.
"I have two theories," he told Reuters in an interview. "The first is that they want to prevent Ukrainian ships leaving their base and blockading them as they are us now.
The second is that they want to make sure that if and when Crimea joins Russia, Ukraine can't get its ships back."
"Georgia doesn't have a fleet any more and the same thing could now happen with Ukraine," he said gloomily, referring to the 2008 Russia-Georgia war which ended with Russian forces taking control of a fifth of Georgia's territory.
The Ukrainian navy has around 25 warships including one submarine, 15 support vessels of different categories and around 15,000 men under arms, 10,000 of whom are based on the Crimean Peninsula.
Zvyagintsev and another senior commander decline to say how many Ukrainian sailors serve on this desolate base, which nestles in a landscape dotted with little apart from wind turbines and rundown Soviet-era apartment blocks.
They say they don't have the technical equipment cutters and cranes to remove the sunken ships blocking them in. Though facing what they euphemistically describe as a "complex situation," black humour prevails.
"It's even quite satisfying that the Russian Black Sea Fleet considers my ships to be so battle-ready that they have left behind the Moskva, a ship that is designed to sink aircraft carriers," said Zvyagintsev with a wry smile.
Eight warships from Russia's Black Sea Fleet initially blockaded the Ukrainians' exit to the Black Sea here, but now that the scuttled ships prevent navigation, only the Moskva remained, he said.

Ukraine says its 10 ships in Crimean port stay loyal

KIEV: Ukraine said on Sunday its navy's fleet of 10 warships in the Crimean port of Sevastopol had not left the port and remained loyal to the government in Kiev.
Earlier, Ukraine said it had withdrawn coastguard vessels from Sevastopol and another Crimean port and stationed them elsewhere.
Russian forces have seized Crimea, an isolated peninsula, where Russia's Black Sea Fleet also has its headquarters.
Several units of Ukrainian troops in Crimea have been surrounded, and Russian troops have urged them to give up arms and support the peninsula's pro-Moscow regional authorities.