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Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Pakistani military want veto on drone strikes
Pakistani civilian and military leaders are insisting on an effective veto over which targets US drone strikes hit, according to well-informed Pakistani military sources here.
The sources, who met on condition that they not be identified, said that such veto power over the conduct of the drone war is a central element in a new Pakistani demand for a formal government-to-government agreement on the terms under which the United States and Pakistan will cooperate against insurgents in Pakistan.
The basic government-to-government agreement now being demanded would be followed, the sources said, by more detailed agreements between US and Pakistani military leaders and intelligence agencies.
The new Pakistani demand for equal say over drone strikes marks the culmination of a long evolution in the Pakistani military's attitude toward the drone war. Initially supportive of strikes that were targeting Al-Qaeda leaders, senior Pakistani military leaders soon came to realise that the drone war carried serious risks for Pakistan's war against the Pakistani Taliban.
A key turning point in the attitude of the military was the unilateral US decision to focus the drone war on those Pakistani insurgents who had already decided to make peace with the Pakistani government and who opposed the war being waged by Al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban against the Pakistani military.
A free hand
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was allowed to run the drone war almost completely unilaterally for years, according to former Pakistani military leaders and diplomats, and the Pakistani military has only mustered the political will to challenge the US power to carry out drone strikes unilaterally in recent months.
Gen. Pervez Musharraf allowed the drone strikes from 2004 to 2007 in order to ensure political support from the George W. Bush administration, something Musharraf had been denied during the Bill Clinton administration, according to Shamshad Ahmad, who was Pakistan's foreign secretary and then ambassador to the United Nations from 1997 to 2002.
"Those were the days when we felt that we had to work with the Americans on Al-Qaeda," recalled Gen. Asad Durrani, a former director general of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence agency (ISI), said.
The choice of targets "usually was done by the US unilaterally", said Durrani. Two Pakistani generals confirmed that point in a separate interview.
The Musharraf regime even went so far as to provide cover for the drone strikes, repeatedly asserting after strikes that the explosions had been caused by the victims themselves making home-made bombs.
But that effort at transparent deception by the US and Musharraf quickly fell apart when drone strikes were based on faulty intelligence and killed large numbers of civilians rather than Al- Qaeda leaders.
The worst such strike was an Oct. 30, 2006 drone attack on a madrassa in Chenagai village in Bajauer agency, which killed 82 people. Musharraf, who was primarily concerned with avoiding the charge of complicity in US attacks on Pakistani targets, ordered the Pakistani military to take complete responsibility for the incident.
The spokesman for the Pakistani military claimed "confirmed intelligence reports that 70 to 80 militants were hiding in a madrassa used as a terrorist training facility" and said the Pakistani military had fired missiles at the madrassa.
But eyewitnesses in the village identified US drones as the source of the attack and said all the victims were simply local students of the madrassa. Local people compiled a complete list of the names and ages of all 80 victims, showing that 25 of the dead had been aged seven to 15, which was published in the Lahore daily The News International.
Senior military officers believed the CIA had other reasons for launching the strike in Bajaur. The day before the drone attack, tribal elders in Bajaur had held a public meeting to pledge their willingness to abide by a peace accord with the government, and the government had released nine tribesmen, including some militants.
Former ISI chief Durrani recalled that the strike "effectively sabotaged the chances for an agreement" in Bejaur. That was "a very clear message" from the CIA not to enter into any more such peace agreements, Durrani said.
The Bejaur madrassa strike was a turning point for many officers. "So many of us went in and said this is stupid," Durrani recalled.
When Musharraf was pressured to step down as Army chief of staff, and was replaced by Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in November 2007, the unilateral character of the CIA's drone war "pretty much continued", according to Gen. Jehanger Karamat, who was ambassador to the United States from 2004 to 2006 after having retired as Army chief of staff in 1998.
The CIA's drone war became more contentious in 2008, as the Bush administration concentrated the strikes on those who had made peace with the Pakistani government. Two-thirds of the drone strikes that year were on targets associated with Jalaluddin Haqqani and Mullah Nazeer, both of whom were involved in supporting Taliban forces in Afghanistan, but who opposed attacks on the Pakistani government.
Targeting the Haqqani network and his allies posed serious risks for Pakistan. When the Pakistani Army was fighting in South Waziristan, it had its logistic base in an area that was controlled by the Haqqani group, and it had been able to count on the security of that base.
Meanwhile, ISI had given the CIA accurate information on anti- Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud's location on four occasions, but the US had failed to target him, according to a May 2009 column by retired Pakistani Gen. Shaukat Qadir.
In 2009, more of the drone strikes - almost 40 percent of the total - focused on the Taliban under Mehsud, and Mehsud himself was killed, which tended to mollify the Pakistani military.
But that effect did not last long. In 2010, only three strikes were aimed at Mehsud's anti-Pakistan Taliban organisation, while well over half the strikes were against Hafiz Gul Bahadur, an ally of Haqqani who had signed an agreement with the Pakistani government in September 2006 that he would not shelter any anti-Pakistani militants.
A fundamental change
The Barack Obama administration had made a deliberate decision around mid-2010 that it didn't care if targeting the Haqqani network and other pro-Pakistani Taliban groups upset the Pakistanis, as the Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 23, 2010.
But two events caused Pakistani army chief Kayani to demand a fundamental change in US policy toward the drone war.
The first was the arrest of CIA operative Raymond Davis on the charge of killing two Pakistanis in cold blood in January, which was followed by intense US pressure for his release.
The second was a drone strike on Mar. 17, just one day after Davis was released, which was initially reported to have been an attack on a gathering of Haqqani network officials.
It turned out that the drone attack had killed dozens of tribal and sub-tribal elders who had gathered from all over North Waziristan to discuss an economic issue.
A former US official admitted that the strike was carried out because the CIA was "angry" over the fact that Davis had been kept in prison for seven weeks. "It was retaliation for Davis," the official said, according to an Aug. 2 Associated Press story.
That strike helped galvanise the Pakistani military leadership. ISI chief Shuja Pasha took it as a slap in the face, because he had personally intervened to get Davis out of jail. Kayani shocked the Americans by issuing the first denunciation of drone strikes by an Army chief.
When Pasha went to Washington in April, he took with him the first official Pakistani demand for an equal say in drone strike decisions.
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Shahbaz Sharif says “getting threats” from President Zardari
Shahbaz Sharif. — File photo
LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday alleged that he was getting threats from President Asif Ali Zardari, DawnNews reported.
Shahbaz said he would expose “the corruption perpetrated” by President Zardari even if he had to sacrifice his life in the process.
Speaking to a gathering in Bahawalpur, he said: “Life and death are in Allah’s hands…I know where the threats are coming from…they cannot scare me from acting against the corruption perpetrated by the leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).”
Shahbaz further said that the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) was in favour of creating new provinces.
“However, new provinces should be created on a national level and the issue should not be Punjab-centric,” he said. — DawnNews
Friday, 1 April 2011
------ TO AFRIDI , WITH LOVE------
------ TO AFRIDI , WITH LOVE------
There’s a lot to be said about the cricket tournament, especially our match against India. And it has a lot more to do with Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Gul’s bad luck, and Sachin Tendulkar’s good fortune.
Cricket speaks to our nation in a way our government never has.
And Shahid Afridi addressed the nation in a way our president never has – unselfish, genuine, modest. So when Afridi apologized to Pakistan, millions listened and were humbled by the gesture. Our eyes filled with tears and our hearts with love and strange kind of sorrow. Shahid Afridi, you need not apologize to the nation. We are proud of you and our entire cricket team! You didn’t bring back the cup, but any excitement, any happiness, any hope that Pakistanis have felt in the past few months is because of your brilliance. We’ve been hearing a lot of “Pakistan needs something to celebrate,” but what Pakistanis really needed was something to look forward to, and the green team gave us that with the anticipation of each game played.
The funny thing about cricket is that it can unite the nation through a victory or a loss. It would have been wonderful to go out on the streets and celebrate with dhols, etc, as we did when we won the 20/20 Cricket World Cup in 2009. But even after our loss yesterday, the people of Pakistan, in their state of disbelief, came out and shared their sorrow. Misery loves company. Cars on streets, people driving around slowly, quietly, patiently. No honking, no cursing, no where to go, no where to escape. It was surreal. This only goes to show what cricket means to us and the massive void it fills for our nation.
Cricketers, you made us patriotic. You made us passionate. You made us proud.
And these precious adjectives are some that Pakistan rarely gets the chance to associate itself with.
So again, Afridi, your apology is appreciated but not needed. You conducted yourself with patience, grace and dignity, encouraging your own with a smile, and congratulating the opponents with an even bigger smile. You didn’t win the semi-finals, but you won our hearts. Thank you for showing the world we are not an aggressive nation.
To Pakistan, I propose this: if there’s anyone who needs to apologize it’s us..
So to Afridi and the team, I apologize for the pressure I put on you to win the World Cup. It comes from my own shortcomings. So lazy and so cowardly am I that I am incapable of creating for myself a reason to celebrate Pakistan. Since as far as I can remember, my patriotism has tenaciously clung to cricket. It is unfair. I know.
To those Pakistanis who thought this was a match between Hindus and Muslims, I’m glad India won. This was never a battle between nations, or a jehad against Hindus. It was a semi-final cricket match, and if a loss is what it took to be reminded of this then I’m glad we lost. Victory would have only made you gloat over something you had wrong all along anyway.
However, if there was one thing I was relieved to discover it was that we don’t hate India. We may hate America, but we don’t hate India. No burning of the Indian flag, no bitter remarks, no threatening reaction. Phew! Just healthy competition and a pure love for the game.
So we don’t hate India. In fact, we hate Zardari. What pleased me even more were the numerous text messages and facebook statuses I came across that poked fun at Zardari. My personal favourite is, “ We congratulate India on winning the semi-finals. As a good-will gesture, India can keep Pakistan’s prime minister. And if it wins the finals, we will give our president too.”
Ahhh, Zardari jokes. They never get old. He’s our scapegoat now. It’s his fault we lost. Somehow.
That being said, think. It’s time we stop asking of our cricketers something we should have been asking of ourselves. Or our government. Lets find ourselves a reason to be patriotic and celebrate Pakistan, and let cricket be a sport, not an identity. If we all just took a little responsibility, maybe our beloved team can finally approach the pitch as cricketers, not as soldiers entering the battlefield. We owe it to them.
Cricket speaks to our nation in a way our government never has.
And Shahid Afridi addressed the nation in a way our president never has – unselfish, genuine, modest. So when Afridi apologized to Pakistan, millions listened and were humbled by the gesture. Our eyes filled with tears and our hearts with love and strange kind of sorrow. Shahid Afridi, you need not apologize to the nation. We are proud of you and our entire cricket team! You didn’t bring back the cup, but any excitement, any happiness, any hope that Pakistanis have felt in the past few months is because of your brilliance. We’ve been hearing a lot of “Pakistan needs something to celebrate,” but what Pakistanis really needed was something to look forward to, and the green team gave us that with the anticipation of each game played.
The funny thing about cricket is that it can unite the nation through a victory or a loss. It would have been wonderful to go out on the streets and celebrate with dhols, etc, as we did when we won the 20/20 Cricket World Cup in 2009. But even after our loss yesterday, the people of Pakistan, in their state of disbelief, came out and shared their sorrow. Misery loves company. Cars on streets, people driving around slowly, quietly, patiently. No honking, no cursing, no where to go, no where to escape. It was surreal. This only goes to show what cricket means to us and the massive void it fills for our nation.
Cricketers, you made us patriotic. You made us passionate. You made us proud.
And these precious adjectives are some that Pakistan rarely gets the chance to associate itself with.
So again, Afridi, your apology is appreciated but not needed. You conducted yourself with patience, grace and dignity, encouraging your own with a smile, and congratulating the opponents with an even bigger smile. You didn’t win the semi-finals, but you won our hearts. Thank you for showing the world we are not an aggressive nation.
To Pakistan, I propose this: if there’s anyone who needs to apologize it’s us..
So to Afridi and the team, I apologize for the pressure I put on you to win the World Cup. It comes from my own shortcomings. So lazy and so cowardly am I that I am incapable of creating for myself a reason to celebrate Pakistan. Since as far as I can remember, my patriotism has tenaciously clung to cricket. It is unfair. I know.
To those Pakistanis who thought this was a match between Hindus and Muslims, I’m glad India won. This was never a battle between nations, or a jehad against Hindus. It was a semi-final cricket match, and if a loss is what it took to be reminded of this then I’m glad we lost. Victory would have only made you gloat over something you had wrong all along anyway.
However, if there was one thing I was relieved to discover it was that we don’t hate India. We may hate America, but we don’t hate India. No burning of the Indian flag, no bitter remarks, no threatening reaction. Phew! Just healthy competition and a pure love for the game.
So we don’t hate India. In fact, we hate Zardari. What pleased me even more were the numerous text messages and facebook statuses I came across that poked fun at Zardari. My personal favourite is, “ We congratulate India on winning the semi-finals. As a good-will gesture, India can keep Pakistan’s prime minister. And if it wins the finals, we will give our president too.”
Ahhh, Zardari jokes. They never get old. He’s our scapegoat now. It’s his fault we lost. Somehow.
That being said, think. It’s time we stop asking of our cricketers something we should have been asking of ourselves. Or our government. Lets find ourselves a reason to be patriotic and celebrate Pakistan, and let cricket be a sport, not an identity. If we all just took a little responsibility, maybe our beloved team can finally approach the pitch as cricketers, not as soldiers entering the battlefield. We owe it to them.
Thursday, 31 March 2011
DR. A. Q. KHAN, NISHAN-I-IMTIAZ & BAR, HILAL-I-IMTIAZ
As arrow of time moves, the Will of God prevails and is focused on the emergence of
humans endowed with exceptional intellectual capabilities and creative abilities. Such are the men
who, by their good deeds, fulfill the edict of God, as revealed in the Holy Qurran:
“I have created man in the best of forms.”
(Al Qurran; Surah 95; Ayah 04)
By their deeds and actions such persons, though not prophets, demonstrate that they are
an extension of the will of the transcendental. These are the people, who are destined to make
history in the elevation of nations. Such is the personality of Dr. Abdul Quadeer Khan, who was
born in Bhopal on April 1, 1936, which corresponds to the Hijri era 1355, Thursday 15th Rajab. As
the time has unfolded itself, the Godly qualities enshrined in the words “Quadeer” and “Ghafoor”,
symbolized in the names of Dr. Abdul Quadeer Khan and his father, Mr. Abdul Ghafoor Khan,
have raised the Pakistani nation to new heights in high technology.
After receiving his early education in Bhopal, Dr. Abdul Quadeer Khan obtained the degree
of Bachelor of Science in 1960 from the University of Karachi. This was the beginning of the
unfolding of his intellectual power. Subsequently, he studied in Berlin, West Germany and
achieved high competence through attending several courses in metallurgical engineering. He
obtained the degree of Master of Science (Technology) in 1967 from Delft Technological
University, Holland, and Doctor of Engineering Degree in 1972 form the University of Leuven,
Belgium. The restless soul of Dr. Abdul Quadeer Khan took him to several laboratories in Europe
including Uranium Enrichment Plant in Holland. It was the essence of his being sharpened by high
scholastic achievements in metallurgical and nuclear science that his will and essence at all times
remained directed towards the welfare of Pakistan. In 1976, he joined the Engineering Research
Laboratories (ERL) in Pakistan and set up an uranium enrichment industrial plant. As a tribute to
his services for the security of Pakistan on May 1, 1981, the then President of Pakistan, General
Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq renamed the Engineering Research Laboratories, Kahuta, as, Dr. Abdul
Quadeer Khan Research Laboratories (KRL). These laboratories were equipped from nothing to
something focusing on enrichment of Uranium for peaceful application of nuclear technology. Over
the years, the laboratories became a focal point for a large number of scientists, engineers and
technologists which Dr. Abdul Quadeer Khan gathered around himself and guided them to the
tasks which have led to unparallel advances in science and technology. This was done under very
challenging and difficult circumstances. It was only his courage, devotion, determination and
persistence, which earned success for him, his colleagues and indeed for the nation.
The scientific contributions of Dr. Khan have been recognized in several ways. As an active
scientist and technologist, he has published 190 scientific research papers in international journals
of high repute. He has been editor of a large number of books on metallurgy, advanced materials
and phase transformation. His academic and scholastic activities have attracted the attention of
number of western countries where he has delivered more than 100 lectures. His work on
Industrial Uranium Enrichment Plant for peaceful application of nuclear technology has resulted in
a breakthrough in the field of metallurgy & materials science.
It is entirely due to his efforts that the process of enrichment of Uranium was successfully
completed in Pakistan. This breakthrough ultimately resulted in the historic explosion of six nuclear
bombs on May 28 and May 30, 1998. Not only this but a significant development was also made
with the successful test firing of Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles, Ghauri I, on April 6, 1998
and Ghauri II on April 14, 1999.
There are numerous contributions of Dr. Khan, which have strengthened the defence
capability of Pakistan. Those, among others, include: manufacturing of sophisticated equipment
like Surface-to-Air shoulder-fired anti-aircraft ANZA (MK-I & MK-II) and Baktar Shikan anti tank
guided missiles for the Armed Forces.
Dr. Khan has received honorary degrees of Doctor of Science from the University of
Karachi in 1993, Doctor of Science from Baqai Medical University on December 11, 1998, Doctor
of Science from Hamdard University, Karachi, in March 6, 1999, Doctor of Science from Gomal
University, Dera Ismail Khan, N.W.F.P. on April 16,1999, Doctor of Science from the University of
Engineering & Technology, Lahore on December 9, 2000 and Doctor of Science from the Sir Syed
University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi on March 25, 2001. Apart from his eminent
contribution in the filed of Science and Technology, Dr. Khan is an avid supporter of Science and
Technology education in Pakistan. As the Project Director of GIK Institute of Science and
Technology, he has invested his energies in developing the Institute into an exemplary high
technology institution. For his important and eminent contributions in the field of science and
technology, the President, Islamic Republic of Pakistan conferred upon Dr. Khan the award of
Nishan-i-Imtiaz on 14 August, 1996 and 14 August, 1998. He is also a recipient of Hilal-i-Imtiaz.
Dr. Khan is the only Pakistani to have received the highest civil award of “Nishan-i-Imtiaz” twice.
The list of his contribution and achievement is far too long to be mentioned in this short
citation. He is a person imbued with the spirit of serving the cause of Pakistan and Muslim Ummah
through his able researches, high acumen, intellectual robustness and unwavering devotion. So
numerous are his activities that every segment of society has praised him in different forms. He
has been awarded 63 gold medals by various national institutions and organizations. He was also
presented with 3 gold crowns Dr. Khan is a Fellow of Kazakh National Academy of Sciences, the
first Asian scientist with this honour, Elected Fellow of the Islamic Academy of Sciences and
Honorary Member of the Korean Academy of Science & Technology. He has also been elected as
the Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank’s Advisory Panel on Science and Technology in
the Panel’s first ever meeting, held at the IDB’s headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on October
17, 2000. Being a Fellow of Pakistan Academy of Sciences, he was elected unopposed the
President of the Academy’s in 1997— the position that he still occupies. Besides, he is a member
of a large number of national and international professional organizations, which include Pakistan
Institute of Metallurgical Engineers; Pakistan Institute of Engineers; and Institute of Central and
West Asian Studies. He is a Member of the Institute of Materials, London; American Society of
Metal (ASM); The Metallurgical Society of the American Institute of Metallurgical Mining and
Petroleum Engineers (TMS); Canadian Institute of Metals (CIM) and Japan Institute of Metals
(JIM).
As an ardent supporter of higher education, he sits on the Boards of Governors and
Syndicates of numerous universities and institutes. He is a Member of the Executive Committee
GIK Institute of Engineering and Technology, Topi; Member, Board of Governors, Hamdard
University; Member, Board of Governors, Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology;
Member Syndicate, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad; and Member, Board of Governors,
International Islamic University, Islamabad, among others.
He has contributed immensely to the establishment of educational and research institutes in
Pakistan. These include several colleges, schools, Institutes and academies. So wide are the
applications of his activities that his contributions extend to the construction of 12 mosques, 1
tomb, a number of dispensaries and community health centers.
It is rare that a person in single lifetime accomplishes so much. This is done only by men
who are endowed with special abilities by God and who prepare themselves through hard work
and devotion to fulfill the mission of serving mankind.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Monday, 28 March 2011
Pak-India semi final: Players at the practice nets
MOHALI: With two days to go for the ‘mother of all matches” between Pakistan and India, the teams are trying their best to focus on the game at hand and to go about their practice as business as usual.
The Pakistani players were out at practice for the big game at Punjab cricket stadium here Monday. Nearly all the players were seen practicing at the nets more than one-and-a-half hour.
After two days of continue practice, the players also focused on physical fitness today, but Misbah and Younis carried out batting practice while pacemen Umer Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Wahab Riyaz and Abdul Razaq bowled with full rhythms.
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Play Shahid Afridi like Anil Kumble
The Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi is a different bowler in this World Cup, and it shows. He’s the leading wicket-taker by far. Although the Indians have had no problems with Afridi’s bowling in the past, it would be a mistake to underestimate him. He dismissed four Sri Lankans in the league game Pakistan won, including fine players of spin like Dilshan.
What Afridi has developed since the last time we played him is a drift into the pads, which has got him a bunch of LBW and bowled wickets. His leg spin will be easy enough to read; it’s the drifter into the pads that we need to watch out for.
The more experienced players only have to remember how they played Kumble in the nets. Aravinda de Silva negated the threat from Kumble by playing him straight, treating him like an inswing bowler, and not a spinner. It meant avoiding cuts or pulls unless it was a long hop. India can do the same to Afridi.
Keep the pitch dry and bare
There have been suggestions that the Mohali curator Daljit Singh should be asked to prepare a bouncy, seaming track to expose the inexperience of the Pakistani top order. Fortunately, that will be hard to do in the heat of late March, because Pakistanwould certainly be better off than India on a bouncy track - Umar Gul is in great form, Wahab Riaz has pace and they can also call upon Shoaib Akhtar for one last hurrah. India has only Zaheer, and he relies more on swing than bounce and pace. Much better to stick to our spin-based gameplan. And let’s not forget, the Lankan spinners got as many wickets as their pacers against the Pakistanis, so it’s not as if they have mastery over playing spin. Pity we don’t have a good leg-spinner though, for the bouncy Mohali.
Check for the dew
Mohali generally gets a fair amount of dew in day-night games, but it’s not clear how much there will be at this time of the year. The World Cup has had only day games at Mohali so far, and the teams batting first have piled on the runs. But with dew, batting under lights may be an advantage. That’s something Dhoni needs to check before the game.
Be flexible with powerplays
India have failed to derive any advantage from the batting powerplays so far. They’ve either collapsed or been forced to take it in the 45th over when you can’t put it off any more. They should think of taking it earlier when they have two set batsmen at the crease. The only caveat is not to go berserk when they do take it - even six or seven an over, without losing wickets, would be fine.
\
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Sri Lanka may pull out of Pakistan tour
The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) efforts to convince teams to tour the country seemed to have received a setback following a discouraging response from the International Cricket Council (ICC) over Sri Lanka touring Pakistan later this year.
According to the ICC’s Future Tour Programme (FTP), Sri Lanka are due to tour in October but the board’s chairman DS de Silva threw the ball in the ICC’s court saying it will follow directives by the governing body on touring Pakistan.
However, the PCB, itching to get a positive response, has not received a positive response from the ICC yet.
“The ICC’s response on the matter is not encouraging,” a PCB official told The Express Tribune. “Although they haven’t given us a straight no, it’s officials seem reluctant to give their go-ahead for the series when we contacted them.”
Sri Lanka left midway through their last tour of Pakistan in March 2009 after an attack on their team bus left at least eight people dead while injuring several others, including players and team officials. In the aftermath, all tours to Pakistan were cancelled and the country was removed as co-hosts of the ongoing World Cup besides failing to earn rights to any major ICC event until 2015.
“The ICC is still not convinced about the security situation in Pakistan so it seems difficult that they’d give their approval. The PCB may then be forced to host the series at a neutral venue.”
The official, however, said the PCB will keep fingers crossed and will continue its effort to host the series.
“We haven’t given up and will keep on hoping and trying to convince them. We’ll also raise the matter in the ICC meeting next month.”
The PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt, who is expected to leave for India before the World Cup semi-finals, will attend that meeting scheduled to start in Mumbai on the day of the final. The chairman will be accompanied by the board’s chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed in the meeting where they are also expected to meet their Indian counterparts for talks of a bilateral series.
Friday, 25 March 2011
Pakistan Cricket Team Arrives in Mohali
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaQU6JzuHhw
Cricket World Cup 2011 has been kicked off after a glittering Opening ceremony in Dhaka. The event has been jointly hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Unfortunately Pakistan was stripped of its rights as co-host of the 2011 World Cup by the ICC on 17th April, 2009 due to concerns about the “uncertain security situation” prevailing in the country, especially in the aftermath of the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.
Arch Rivals Pakistan and India are placed in separate groups and Pakistani Skipper Shahid Afridi finds it attention-grabbing if both the teams would reach the Finals of mega event, scheduled to be held on April 2 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. But this situation is a matter of concern for none other than Bal Thakery as the Chief of Extremist Indian party, Shiv Sena, has threatened Pakistani cricketers if the team makes it to the final of Cricket World Cup 2011. Shiv Sena have had objected Pakistan-India cricket ties in the past too. Interestingly the venue of the World Cup 2011 Final is also the site of the 1991 pitch defacement by Shiv Sena activists in protest of a proposed one-day series between India and Pakistan.
According to a report published in The Hindu, Former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi said,
“You all know Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s views. If the Pakistan team reaches the final (scheduled in Mumbai), whether to allow them to play, the Sena chief will decide,”
A usual pressure tactic by Shiv Sena but This could probably be another reason for Pakistani team to reach the finals. This is not an ideal time for Pakistan team unfortunately after the Spot Fixing case decision against the Pakistani trio but Hopes are still high and If Pakistan Cricket team can make it to Finals of the Mega event it would definitely give a boost to the cricket in Pakistan.
Cricket World Cup 2011 has been kicked off after a glittering Opening ceremony in Dhaka. The event has been jointly hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Unfortunately Pakistan was stripped of its rights as co-host of the 2011 World Cup by the ICC on 17th April, 2009 due to concerns about the “uncertain security situation” prevailing in the country, especially in the aftermath of the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.
Arch Rivals Pakistan and India are placed in separate groups and Pakistani Skipper Shahid Afridi finds it attention-grabbing if both the teams would reach the Finals of mega event, scheduled to be held on April 2 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. But this situation is a matter of concern for none other than Bal Thakery as the Chief of Extremist Indian party, Shiv Sena, has threatened Pakistani cricketers if the team makes it to the final of Cricket World Cup 2011. Shiv Sena have had objected Pakistan-India cricket ties in the past too. Interestingly the venue of the World Cup 2011 Final is also the site of the 1991 pitch defacement by Shiv Sena activists in protest of a proposed one-day series between India and Pakistan.
According to a report published in The Hindu, Former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi said,
“You all know Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s views. If the Pakistan team reaches the final (scheduled in Mumbai), whether to allow them to play, the Sena chief will decide,”
A usual pressure tactic by Shiv Sena but This could probably be another reason for Pakistani team to reach the finals. This is not an ideal time for Pakistan team unfortunately after the Spot Fixing case decision against the Pakistani trio but Hopes are still high and If Pakistan Cricket team can make it to Finals of the Mega event it would definitely give a boost to the cricket in Pakistan.
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