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For some Pakistanis, mob violence is best justice
SIALKOT: Mughees Butt won prizes for memorising the Quran, which taught him about compassion and mercy. The mob that murdered him and his brother in Pakistan showed none. Apparently mistaken for robbers, the teenagers were beaten with sticks and rods before being strung up on metal poles in broad daylight as a large crowd and several policemen looked on. The high-profile lynchings, captured on a video frequently broadcast on television news channels, highlight the extent that Pakistanis have over many years lost faith in the police and the courts to deliver justice. Critics say the killings have also compounded a sense of failure hanging over the current government, more unpopular than ever after its slow response to Pakistan’s worst floods. “In the Roman empire the accused were thrown before the hungry lions and they cut them into pieces within five to 10 minutes,” said Mohammad Anwar, the 87-year-old grandfather of the brothers, breaking down and shaking. “But my grandsons were tortured for two hours constantly with stones, bricks, rods and wooden sticks. I have not seen the video. I will see them in the life thereafter.” Twenty-eight people, including eight policemen, have been arrested in connection with the Aug. 15 killings in the eastern town of Sialkot. Newspaper editorials and commentaries dissected social malaise and called for national soul-searching. “The Sialkot degeneration ought to be used as a cohesive instrument to bind the rather fractured remnants of whatever remaining morsel of benevolence we have left,” said a commentary in the Daily Times entitled “Blood Sport”. “And if that means an all out war against the self of the Pakistani mindset, then let’s see some heads roll.” Interior Minister Rehman Malik told the media people will not be allowed to create their own justice system, and the culprits will be punished without political interference. ON DOORSTEP OF RESCUE SERVICE Many Pakistanis say the courts are riddled with graft, agonisingly slow and let too many criminals go. Unlike soldiers who are often seen with respect, the police are often despised as corrupt and ineffective. At times, they are accused of taking part in or encouraging extra-judicial killings. The brothers, Mughees, 17, and Muneeb, 15, were killed on a busy street, a few steps from an emergency rescue service centre. The mob pushed their way into the building and grabbed ropes used to hang the boys, and then attacked them again until their last gasps of air, witnesses said. “This has further undermined the government’s credibility in providing protection and security for the people in whose name they were elected,” said Riffat Hussein, chairman of the department of defence and strategic studies at Quaid-e-Azam University. “It points to the bankruptcy of this government.” Militants battling the state have at times tried to capitalise on the frustration with the courts and police, promising swift Islamic justice. Even if they wanted to address the issue, Pakistan’s leaders won’t have the time to do so any time soon. The government is busy trying to clean up its image after its poor handling of the flood disaster, which made millions homeless and will cost the state an estimated $43 billion in damages. Foreign investment will be badly needed to get the economy back on its feet. Pakistan may have to show it is a stable country with a potent government serious about maintaining law and order to get it. More mob justice may be in store until then. The boys from a typical middle class family had driven off on their father’s red motorcycle to play cricket. They may have been mistaken for robbers who shot and killed someone and then sped away on a black motorcycle. Standing near a weight-lifting bench at the family home, the grandfather proudly recalls how the older boy was a fitness fanatic and wanted to join the army, while the younger one was highly intelligent and could have been an engineer. The chief minister of Punjab gave the family one million rupees ($11,680) as compensation. For the boy’s uncle, Khawaja Amjad, the deaths exemplified a “cancer” spreading through Pakistan. “This is really the collapse of society,” he said. “We don’t have any trust in our political leadership.” – Reuters
At least 12 killed in Kurram tribal clash
PARACHINAR: At least 12 people were killed in a clash between two tribes in a row over the distribution of irrigation water in Pakistan’s Kurram tribal region on Friday, reports quoted officials and residents as saying. The clash occurred between the Shalozan and Shalozan Tangi tribes in upper Kurram. Clashes between the two tribes had been going on for a week and at least 27 people have been killed as a result. More than 40 people have been injured in the clashes.
Victory the only answer to Pakistan cricket crisis
ISLAMABAD : Pakistan cricket fans and former players believe only winning will allow the team to overcome a match fixing scandal that has resulted in several players being suspended.
Ten million without shelter in Pakistan floods: UN
ISLAMABAD: More than 10 million people have been left without shelter in Pakistan’s floods for the past six weeks, the United Nations said Tuesday, in “one of the worst humanitarian disasters” in UN history. “According to new estimates following the most recent flooding in Sindh…at least 10 million people are currently without shelter,” said Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman in Pakistan for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “And this does not include those who already received emergency shelter supplies and those housed in schools,” Giuliano told AFP. He said the floods in Pakistan had become “one of the worst humanitarian disasters in UN history, in terms of number of people that we have to assist and also the area covered.”
It’s up to players to stop spread of corruption: Dhoni
DURBAN: Cricketers must take more responsibility for their actions to prevent the spread of corruption, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Tuesday. He was speaking in the light of the suspension last week of Pakistan players Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif following spot-fixing allegations levelled against them in Britain’s News of the World newspaper. “It is crucial to keep the game clean,” Dhoni told a news conference in Durban. “Personally I think it is up to the individual. You don’t need someone to guide you or restrict you. If you are playing for, or representing, your country you should feel pride in doing that.” In the wake of the allegations against the Pakistan trio the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) has come under fire for not doing enough to prevent the spread of corruption in cricket. But Dhoni, who is in South Africa with the Chennai Super Kings to play in the Champions League Twenty20 which starts on Friday, believes that the ACSU is doing a decent job. “As far as the corruption unit and their functioning are concerned I think that they are doing a good job,” he said, adding that if the ACSU was given more power it could infringe on players’ human rights. “I think that if they (ACSU) become stricter they will start intruding on the privacy of players.”
Advancing floodwaters threaten Dadu, Johi towns
KARACHI: River defences in Pakistan’s flood-hit south were bolstered Tuesday in a bid to save two towns from catastrophic flooding as the UN warned the world community must help the militant-hit nation recover. Eight million people remain reliant on aid handouts to survive, six weeks after monsoons caused devastating floods in the country’s worst disaster in living memory. Advancing floodwaters continue to threaten the towns of Johi and Dadu in Sindh province, with 19 of its 23 districts deluged and 2.8 million people displaced, according to provincial authorities. “Armed forces and irrigation officials are racing against time to save Johi and Dadu,” said provincial irrigation minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo. “Floodwaters are increasing pressure on Johi embankment, while the raging waters are just five kilometres away from Dadu city,” Dharejo said. He said residents had formed a human chain to help reinforce embankments securing the towns. “It is very heartening to us that local people are being very courageous and helping authorities, picking up stones to reinforce the embankments,” he said. Dadu and Johi are about 320 kilometres north of Karachi. Meanwhile, the UN’s development chief for Asia said the world must respond to Pakistan’s crisis and help it rebuild to secure hearts and minds in the insurgency-wracked nation. Global cash pledges have been slow coming to bolster rescue and relief efforts in Pakistan, where more than 21 million people have been affected by the floods. Helping Pakistanis rebuild homes and businesses, reduced to rubble by the unprecedented deluge, will be even more important to long-term regional and global stability, said UN Assistant Secretary General Ajay Chhibber. “Now that the water has receded in large parts… what’s clear from these visits is that the early recovery needs to start now,” said Chhibber during a visit Monday to the militant-hit northwest. “If there’s greater unrest in Pakistan it will have much greater regional and global implications. “This is a country that is a very large, very important country in the region, a very large, very important country in the globe, so that battle for the hearts and minds of people here is very important.” Last week the UN said that despite an improvement in aid donations after a visit by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in mid-August, extra pledges had “almost stalled” since a week earlier. The UN has warned that the slow pace of pledges could impede relief operations and says Pakistan faces a triple threat to food supplies — with seeds, crops and incomes hit. An initial relief appeal has been about two-thirds funded, and Chhibbers said a second appeal would be launched on September 17, seeking help for the next steps in Pakistan’s recovery. Hollywood star Angelina Jolie arrived in northwest Pakistan Tuesday with the UN’s refugee agency to draw world attention to the crisis. “UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie arrived in Pakistan today to meet people affected by the floods and to highlight the continued urgent need for help,” the agency said in a statement. Jolie, the 34-year-old actress and roving envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, visited affected communities in the northwest, it said, where millions of long-term Afghan refugees reside. The floods have ruined 3.6 million hectares of rich farmland, and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation said farmers urgently needed seeds to plant for next year’s crops. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has warned that the country faces inflation of up to 20 per cent and slower growth because of the disaster. The floods have killed 1,760 people but disaster officials have said the number of deaths is likely to rise “significantly” when the missing are accounted for.
Morgan the key, sorry fielding nothing new: Afridi
CARDIFF : Pakistan one-day captain Shahid Afridi said his side had to see the back of Eoin Morgan here on Tuesday if they were to level their two-match series against World Twenty20 champions England .
Saving flood-hit Pakistan has global implications: UNDP
NOWSHERA: The world must help Pakistan rebuild homes and livelihoods destroyed by devastating floods to secure hearts and minds in the militant-hit nation, the UNDP’s regional head told AFP. Global cash pledges have been slow coming to bolster rescue and relief efforts ongoing in the flood-damaged nuclear nation, where more than 21 million people have been affected by a month of monsoon-triggered floods. Now helping Pakistanis rebuild homes and businesses, reduced to rubble by the unprecedented deluge, will be even more important to long-term regional and global stability, said UN Assistant Secretary General Ajay Chhibber. “Now that the water has receded in large parts… what’s clear from these visits is that the early recovery needs to start now,” said Chhibber, the Asia-Pacific head of the UN Development Programme, during a visit Monday to the militant-hit northwest. “If there’s greater unrest in Pakistan it will have much greater regional and global implications. “This is a country that is a very large, very important country in the region, a very large, very important country in the globe, so that battle for the hearts and minds of people here is very important.” Last week the UN said that despite an improvement in aid donations after a visit by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in mid-August, extra pledges had “almost stalled” since a week earlier. The UN has warned that the slow pace of pledges could impede relief operations and says Pakistan faces a triple threat to food supplies — with seeds, crops and incomes hit. An initial relief appeal has been about two thirds funded, and Chhibbers said a second appeal would be launched on September 17, seeking help for the next steps in Pakistan’s recovery. The millions made homeless, many living in makeshift shelters, will need to be encouraged back to their land, even if their homes have been destroyed, in order to restore the social fabric of communities, said Chhibber. An initial 100 million dollars would also be required to establish cash-to-work schemes, paying the landless poor to clear debris and begin rebuilding schools, community and health centres. “You can see people milling around, they need things to do,” said Chhibber after visiting the northwest town of Nowshera, in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 19 people were killed Monday in the latest suicide bombing to hit the militant-riddled province.
China offers $300 million more for flood victims
ISLAMABAD : China released $300 million more for the flood disasters in Pakistan . By adding this amount the total relief amount for flood victims from China has reached $500 million.
Authorities race to protect Dadu, Johi
KARACHI: Authorities were Monday racing to protect two southern towns and their 360,000 residents from surging floods, as the nation struggles to cope with its worst natural disaster in living memory. A month-and-a-half after monsoons caused devastating floods throughout the country, submerging an area the size of England, eight million people remain dependent on handouts for their survival, which many say are too slow coming. Advancing floodwaters continue to threaten towns in Sindh province, where 19 of its 23 districts have been deluged, displacing more than 2.8 million people, according to provincial authorities. “The situation is a bit serious in Johi town and Dadu. We are taking all-out measures to save them from ravaging floodwaters,” provincial irrigation minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo told AFP. “The water is 20 kilometres away from Dadu city but we cannot rule out a serious threat to this city,” one of the largest in the north of Sindh, Dharejo said. “We are making all our efforts to save Dadu and Johi,” he added. Dadu and Johi are about 320 kilometres north of Karachi and officials fear the waters will breach protective embankments unless they are quickly strengthened. “Things are getting serious, we have employed all the possible resources on the embankments to save the remaining towns and villages of Dadu district,” Dharejo said. District coordination officer Iqbal Memon said Johi was more in danger from the advancing floods. “The floodwaters are fast heading towards Johi town after inundating most parts of Khairpur Nathan Shah and Mehar towns and several surrounding villages in Dadu district,” he said. “For two days, we are employing all available means to strengthen the protective embankments around Dadu and Johi but the threat still remains,” he said. About 80 per cent of the Johi’s population of 60,000 had already fled to safer areas. Memon, however, asked the 300,000 residents of Dadu not to panic. “The people of Dadu city should remain vigilant for any serious situation that could come across,” he said. The UN has warned that the slow pace of aid pledges could impede relief operations and says Pakistan faces a triple threat to food supplies
Pakistan corruption scandal no surprise: Boycott
LONDON : Former England captain Geoff Boycott said Monday that Pakistani cricket was repeatedly implicated in corruption scandals because authorities had not clamped down hard enough in the past.
Afridi blasts Hameed in Pakistan corruption row
CARDIFF: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi blasted Yasir Hameed as being mentally a teenager as the batsman insisted he was duped by a newspaper over betting scam claims which eclipsed the team’s defeat to England. One-day skipper Afridi tore into Test batsman Hameed, who claimed he had done nothing more than repeat the allegations of “spot-fixing” being faced by three Pakistan players. The row overshadowed Pakistan’s first international game since the scandal rocking the sport first erupted. They were beaten by five wickets in the first of two Twenty20 fixtures against England at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper News of the World — which broke the corruption story engulfing Pakistan’s tour of England — released footage of Hameed in a bar telling an undercover reporter that some Pakistan players were fixing “almost every match”. “They’ve been caught. Only the ones that get caught are branded crooks. They were doing it (fixing) in almost every match. God knows what they were up to. Scotland Yard was after them for ages,” he was quoted as saying. “It makes me angry because I’m playing my best and they are trying to lose.” The 32-year-old also said he had been approached by shadowy figures and offered bribes but refused — and was subsequently dropped from the side for two years. Following the T20 defeat in the Welsh capital, Afridi said what he thought of Hameed. “Mentally he is 15, 16. I don’t know with who he was sitting or in which situation he gave this message,” he said. “We have known him for a long time and we can expect anything from him. He has been doing these type of things a lot of times.”Asked if Hameed was unreliable, he replied: “Yeah, the people know which type of character he is.”Hameed released an affidavit, read by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s lawyer outside the country’s High Commission (embassy) in London. The batsman said he believed he had been talking to a potential sponsor — who turned out to be an undercover reporter. “He offered me at least 50,000 pounds (77,000 dollars, 60,000 euros) for the deal,” which involved having an airline logo on his bat, plus television and billboard advertisements in the United Arab Emirates. Hameed said he was asked about the corruption allegations. “As far as I recall, I only told him whatever I had already read in the newspapers about the matter.” He said two days later the man telephoned and offered 25,000 pounds to give a statement against the three players under investigation: Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif. Hameed said he refused and put the phone down. The batsman said he later received a text from the man, which read: “Pls call me. Incidentally you are in video drinking wine and saying all the quotes attributed to you. Denying it is just stupid as we will be releasing the video to TV. Better that you stand up and speak the truth!!!!”He said he decided not to respond and went to the PCB. News of the World claimed a fourth Pakistan cricketer was being investigated by the International Cricket Council (ICC) over alleged fixing. They repeated on Sunday claims they paid Mazhar Majeed, an agent for several Pakistan players, 150,000 pounds (185,000 euros, 230,000 dollars) for advance knowledge of no-balls in last month’s final Test against England, which could then be bet upon. That prompted the ICC to charge Butt, rising star Aamer and Asif, and suspend them pending a decision on the allegations. They were interviewed under caution for a second time by British police Friday. The paper said that up to 15,000 pounds of the cash it allegedly handed to Majeed was found in Butt’s London hotel room. Butt’s lawyer denied any wrongdoing, saying it would not be unusual for his agent to give him money. On Saturday, Afridi apologised for the scandal. “On behalf of these boys — I know they are not in this series — I want to say sorry to all cricket lovers and all the cricketing nations,” he said. In Sunday’s match, England, set a seemingly modest 127 for victory, collapsed to 62 for five. But left-handers Eoin Morgan (38 not out) and man-of-the-match Michael Yardy (35 not out) saw England to 129 for five with an unbroken partnership of 67 as they won with 17 balls to spare. It was England’s first match in the format since they beat Australia in the World Twenty20 final in Barbados in May. Pakistan were well-received by a crowd of just under 11,000 at Sophia Gardens, with the only jeers coming as a result of misfields.
I am ready to come back for revolution: Altaf
KARACHI: MQM’s leader Altaf Hussain said on Sunday that he
Atherton pleads for Aamer leniency
LONDON : Former England captain Michael Atherton has urged leniency for Pakistan ’s Mohammad Aamer in the fixing scandal that has shaken world cricket because the teenager was in “the grip of evil”.
Crime adds to misery for flood victims
MEHMOOD KOT: Crime and the sale of donated aid supplies are undermining the aid effort for Pakistan’s flood victims. In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial capital Peshawar, flour bags and tins of cooking oil bearing the logos of international aid agencies like the World Food Prgramme and USAID are openly on sale. “We bought them from the victims,” said shopkeeper Abdul Ghafoor, who owns a shop in Peshawar’s Gur Mandi. “They get money and buy something else which they need more.” “It cannot happen without officials’ involvement,” said another shopkeeper, Rahimullah Khan. “Victims cannot bring a truck full of supplies here.” One Reuters reporter saw flour being unloaded in a market from a truck labelled “Relief Goods for Flood Affected People, from Islamic Relief”. The goods are then sold at cheaper prices than usual. “I can save 300 Pakistani rupees per 50 kg bag of flour. A customer prefers to buy it because it’s better quality and a lower price,” said flour dealer Najeeb Ahmed Khan. Government officials are attempting to tackle the situation. District authorities have raided and sealed two warehouses where stolen aid supplies were found, and made two arrests. “We have formed a committee to check these illegal activities, but it’s sad it’s happening,” said district government official Siraj Ahmed. Further south in Punjab, villagers say people living outside flood-affected areas have stolen from houses abandoned by flood victims. Rana Farmanullah, a 27-year-old villager in Mehmood Kot, said robbers arrived on boats to loot the villagers’ belongings. “They took away everything,” he said. “They were taking valuables and electrical equipment. They stole washing machines, standing fans, refrigerators, small electrical devices, and jewellery.” To the north-east, in the town of Bhakkar on the banks of a swollen Indus River, fisherman said they were removing valuable components from boat engines, worried they could be stolen.