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DAWN WIRE SERVICE

------------------------------------------------------------------- Week Ending : 19 April 1997 Issue : 03/16 -------------------------------------------------------------------

Contents | National News | Business & Economy | Editorials & Features | Sports

The DAWN Wire Service (DWS) is a free weekly news-service from Pakistan's largest English language newspaper, the daily DAWN. DWS offers news, analysis and features of particular interest to the Pakistani Community on the Internet. Extracts from DWS can be used provided that this entire header is included at the beginning of each extract. We encourage comments & suggestions. We can be reached at: e-mail dws@dawn.khi.erum.com.pk dws%dawn%khi@sdnpk.undp.org fax +92(21) 568-3188 & 568-3801 mail Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Limited DAWN Group of Newspapers Haroon House, Karachi 74400, Pakistan TO START RECEIVING DWS FREE EVERY WEEK, JUST SEND US YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS! (c) Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Ltd., Pakistan - 1996 ******************************************************************** *****DAWN - the Internet Edition ** DAWN - the Internet Edition***** ******************************************************************** Read DAWN - the Internet Edition on the WWW ! http://xiber.com/dawn Pakistan's largest English language newspaper, DAWN, is now Pakistan's first newspaper on the WWW. DAWN - the Internet Edition will be published daily (except on Fridays and public holidays in Pakistan) and would be available on the Web by noon GMT. Check us out ! DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS

CONTENTS

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NATIONAL NEWS

Altaf wants early compensation for victims Another PAF officer held on drug smuggling charge Appointments no more to be made on quota basis: SC Smuggler held with uranium samples PAF officer confesses to smuggling heroin US Pakistanis to be issued travel cards ---------------------------------

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Mergers, acquisitions of sick units proposed PSO sale may trigger race for regions oil Public sector reform: rising unemployment Importance of small-scale industry in Pakistan Duty-free imports under NDRP KSE 100-share index shows gain of 3.55 points ---------------------------------------

EDITORIALS & FEATURES

Believing the worst about ourselves Omar Kureishi Will the business respond? Sultan Ahmed 13th Amendment in perspective M.B. Naqvi -----------

SPORTS

Sri Lankas Sharjah win and the betting game Is the balance titling in favour of the islands? 2-year ban clamped on Aamir Sohail Cricket circle stunned over ban on Aamir Sohail Waqar gets injured; blow to Pakistan on tour Zahid, Afridi break county contracts Jansher keeps countrys flag flying high

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NATIONAL NEWS

970418 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Altaf wants early compensation for victims ------------------------------------------------------------------- M. Ziauddin LONDON, April 17: Altaf Hussain, the self-exiled leader of the MQM wants the government to make immediate arrangements for the earliest re- possession of homes of those of his party supporters and workers who had fled their localities in the last four or five years to escape persecution and harassment by the Haqiqis who, he said, were still being backed by the agencies. Next, he wants the government to pay cash compensation immediately to the families of those MQM supporters and workers who fell victim to what he called the custodial and extra- judicial killings. In a wide-ranging interview with Dawn on Thursday last (April 10) at his modest home-cum-office, in the unpretentious Middlesex House on Edgware high street, a lower middle class locality of London, a seemingly cool and collected Altaf Hussain gave a graphic description of the sufferings of those families who, he said, were ousted from their homes in the last four years by the Haqiqis to punish them for supporting the MQM. They left their homes to save their lives and are now living either with their relatives or in rented houses. They want to go back home now that they have voted their party back into power, he said. But, according to him, even some of the ministers who won their elections from these no-go areas have not been able to return to their homes even though they drive in cars flying the national flag. Same is the case with a number of our MPAs and MNAs. EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS Mentioning the plight of the families whose wage earners had died in custodial and extra-judicial killings Altaf Hussain said his party could no more keep these people from losing their patience, they are hungry and destitute. They have nobody to support them. The Khidmat-i-Khalq committee of the MQM can provide succour only to a limited extent. He said the PML-MQM agreement had mentioned both these points, and in his opinion it was time the PML delivered without losing further time. He answered in the negative when asked if he was thinking of issuing any ultimatums or giving any deadlines to the government for fulfilling the agreed promises. But he asked Mr Nawaz Sharif to use his prime ministerial powers more effectively now that he has succeeded in removing the dreaded constitutional clause of 58(2)(b). In this connection he mentioned the Tuesday-Wednesday (April 8-9) action by the rangers in Karachis district central during which, he claimed, the rangers insulted and harassed the people by forcing them to submit to a body search. He said when he asked the Sindh chief minister and then the prime minister about the matter the two pleaded total ignorance and denied that the government had anything to do with the rangers action. Now here is the dilemma. The rangers come directly under the interior ministry. But I also know what had happened when Nawaz Sharif in his previous tenure had wanted the rangers to take control of Punjab governor house. Now who actually controls the rangers? he asked. The interview was conducted in an austerely furnished office of Altaf Hussain which you reach after passing through three other rooms, the first a small one furnished with a reception counter and a couple of chairs, the second seemed like a class room with probably 25 chairs and the third was the office of his secretary Tariq Mir where Altaf Hussain received me to take me to his office next door. Facing these rooms is a hall partitioned by a screen, the relatively small portion serving probably as a dinning room and the bigger one containing a large table probably for conducting conferences. AGENCIES BLAMED Mr Altaf Hussain blamed the previous government of Ms Benazir Bhutto and the agencies directly for the custodial and extra- judicial killings and said even the presidential proclamation dismissing her government had mentioned the charge and the supreme court had upheld the proclamation. But still nothing is being done against Ms Bhutto. Why? Was the charge levelled against the government only an excuse to get rid of her government? he asked. He disagreed when told that Ms Bhutto could have been used as a scapegoat by somebody who was actually behind the persecution of the MQM and said if she had disagreed with these killings she should have resigned. He did not disagree when asked if in his opinion the Army was behind the agencies whom he had accused of backing the Haqiqis. He said the common sipahi and even the middle level officer had no enmity towards the MQM, but some of the generals who had wanted to protect the prevailing degenerate feudal system had taken upon themselves to persecute and eliminate the MQM. I have appealed to General Jehangir Karamat a number of times to help remove the gulf that has been created between the MQM and the Army due to the wrong policies of some of his predecessors. I have appealed to him to come forward and help remove all the misunderstandings between the MQM and the Army, claimed Mr Hussain. FEUDALISM Asked why he thought some of the previous army chiefs were against the MQM, he said it was actually the feudals who feeling threatened by the middle class phenomenon of the MQM had persuaded these generals to get rid of the MQM. When reminded that the army at one time had accused his party of trying to divide the province of Sindh and then separate it from Pakistan, he denied the charge vehemently and said all this was cooked up by the said army generals, they concocted it all and then had brigadier Haroon announce it to the press. He said at that time he had asked the accusers to take the case to the Supreme Court and if the court found him guilty he had offered to be hanged from Minar-i-Pakistan. He recalled that sometime later the Army had distanced itself from the allegation. He said the late General Asif Nawaz had moved against him on June 19, 1992, because he had decided to turn the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) into Muttahida Qaumi Mohaz (MQM) and was planning to make the formal announcement to the effect on August 14, 1992. He thought while a middle class party at the urban Sindh level was considered a nuisance by the feudals and their influential friends, they were not at all prepared to tolerate for even a day such a party at the national level, so they decided to go for the kill in June 1992. I dont see any other reason for the persecution of the MQM since we have not looted the national treasury, we are not bank defaulters, neither are we bribe-takers. Those who commit these crimes have gone scot free, but those who do not indulge in these things but talk of bringing about a revolution of middle class who are educated and capable of running and administering the government are given the wrong end of the stick. Why? Altaf asked rather rhetorically. BEGS EXTENSION He rejected the entire theory when told that the matter between him and the late General Asif Nawaz was personal and the latter had launched the operation against the MQM because he (Altaf) had reportedly recommended that general Aslam Beg be given extension instead of promoting the former. He said the recommendation was not made by him alone it was a consensus recommendation made by all the IJI leadership. But even if it were true that I alone had made the recommendation, which constitution and which law says that a party which had a strong base in a large area of the country should be bulldozed just because the recommendation, if accepted, would have hurt the career of one individual? He said the nation was passing through very difficult times and it was hardly the time for indulging in personal vendettas. I have requested General Karamat to constitute a committee to find out the real reasons for launching the Army action against the MQM, added Mr Hussain. CONFLICT WITH ARMY When asked why instead of waiting for the army to take the initiative in this regard, the MQM itself did not act to avoid a conflict with the Army, he said the MQM had already taken the first step by joining hands with the PML and helping it form the government in Sindh, and now it was the responsibility of the other side to reciprocate.  You see I am no personal friend of Nawaz Sharif. I have reached an understanding with him simply because he does not represent the feudal classes. He is an industrialist. An industrialist is an improvement on the feudal any time. And I hope he will do something to dislodge the feudal system. Also, since he was given a massive mandate by a large part of Pakistani population I hope he will bring about revolutionary (I am using this term in its positive sense) changes aimed at improving the economy, enhancing the living standard of the common man and bringing education within his reach, he maintained. But, he said, it was time for the thinking and responsible elements in the Army to find out the reasons for the MQM  Army confrontation and do something to end it and if we are found guilty on some counts we will readily accept the responsibility and try to correct our mistakes. He said Mohajirs had always been regarded as the allies of the Army, we have fought side by side with the army in the former East Pakistan and as a matter of fact the Sindhi nationalists have always accused the Mohajirs of being agents of the Army. The Mohajirs have no conflict of interest with the Army. Our struggle is against the feudals. If feudalism is eliminated, educated middle classes take over the reins of the government, corruption will be eliminated, the economy will improve, which in turn will help the Army which today is facing an acute shortage of resources. And if the economy became strong the defence capability of the country will also become strong. NO PLANS TO RETURN He said he had no plans to return to Pakistan in a hurry because according to him he still feared that he would be killed as soon as he set foot on Pakistani soil. He defended his decision by referring to the murders of Murtaza Bhutto, and that of his own elder brother and nephew, and the irony is, Murtaza was the brother of a sitting prime minister and now his own brother-in-law is being accused of murdering him. He, however, admitted that it was not very easy to give the lead and guide the MQM sitting in London. He also agreed that it was an expensive kind of a struggle. But he said he was being adequately funded by contributions from his supporters all over the world. MQMS DISSOLUTION When it was suggested to him that he would help reduce the present pressure on the Mohajirs by removing the red rag of the MQM from the sight of its persecutors, for the time being by dissolving it, he said he was not prepared to bow before the oppressors, why should I dissolve the MQM. The MQM is not doing anything against the constitution and neither has it done anything against the law of the land. He said Mohajirs had been made to suffer economically and politically and they had been consistently denied their share in power. When told about the perception in some circles that since the advent of the MQM, the mohajir youth had neglected studies and taken up arms, he said if that were true why there was peace and tranquillity and how so much development work was done in the province between November 1990 to June 1992 when the MQM was a coalition partner in the then Nawaz Sharif government. When told that some circles allege that during that period the MQM allowed its youth to pass examinations by using unfair means, he vehemently denied the allegation and said that MQM had launched a campaign against such practices and referred to a number of speeches of his in which he had exhorted the Mohajir youth to equip and arm themselves with education and skills. He said if it was claimed that the army operation was launched in urban Sindh to recover arms then why such operations had not been launched so far in Punjab, the NWFP and Balochistan, dont they have guns there. He also asked if the other political parties did not do things that the MQM was being accused of doing. When told that principles were all right but at times to save a situation it was prudent to play politics, he said he even did that by resigning from the MQM leadership when asked by some of the then top officers of the Army,  but nothing changed even after that, mohajirs were continued to be persecuted, killed and maimed. But he said he was still prepared to listen to any logical suggestion short of dissolving the MQM. HAQIQIS When asked about the Haqiqis he said he was not against their political activities, what he objected to was their policy of using brute force to establish their political supremacy. He disagreed when told that the MQM had also been accused of using strong arm tactics to overcome their political opponents. Mr Hussain suggested that all those who use the gun to establish their political supremacy should be apprehended, even if they belong to the MQM. When asked what he considered more important  the countrys economy or the interests of the mohajirs  he said both. If the economy is not taken care of, God forbid, we might have to auction the country itself, but it is equally important to attend to the immediate problems of the Mohajirs which are related to their very existence. He said he completely endorsed Nawaz Sharifs economic package but thought nothing could be achieved without first eliminating the prevailing corruption, no amount of contributions from well-wishers would save Pakistans economy until and unless corruption is eradicated. He said he had already asked the overseas mohajirs to contribute generously to the prime ministers debt retirement fund. Mr Hussain said he would appeal to the people of Karachi and Hyderabad to file their tax returns honestly and repay their bank loans in time setting an example for others. MILITARY PURCHASES To a question he agreed that military purchases, which normally run into hundreds of millions of dollars and sometimes even more than a billion, offered huge commissions therefore, it was necessary that these deals as well as the military budgets were closely scrutinised by the National Assembly. When asked what he had done so far to win over the alienated elements in rural Sindh, he said the MQM had sacrificed the office of the chief minister to reassure the rural population that the MQM posed no threat to the Sindhis. In his opinion real change in the society would come only if the governance was done through local representatives enjoying full powers. He said it was not enough to hold local bodies elections. These bodies should be given real power as well and even the police personnel should be recruited from the areas where they are posted. He said he was not an economist but his political instinct told him that half of the countrys economic problems could be overcome by resorting to local government system. When told that his efforts in this direction were not yielding the desired results perhaps because he was making them from the narrow ethnic platform and if his members were to make the same efforts from the platforms of national political parties instead, they would probably become more effective, he disagreed and said in the first place with the conversion of Mohajir Qaumi Movement into Muttahida Qaumi Movement the ethnic stigma should disappear from the MQM, and secondly he pointed out that the mohajirs in the past had joined all these national parties but they were never given the importance their population merited by these parties. Now we are a national party not an ethnic party, why should we join any other party, all Pakistanis interested in middle class revolution should join us instead. He disagreed when told that it was all right to claim that MQM had become a national party, but when arguments are forwarded in favour of the party, they always tended to focus on the interests of mohajirs. To prove his point he asked two youngsters to join the interview. One claimed that his name was Ataullah Kurd and that he was a Balochi and the other said he was from Yousuf Zai tribe, a Pukhtoon and his name was Shahid. The two claimed that they were MQM organisers in their respective areas for which they had suffered imprisonment, torture and harassment. Altaf Hussain agreed that Karachi was not solely a mohajir city and that people from other provinces were also settled there in large numbers, but pointed out that while the people from Punjab, the NWFP and Balochistan had their provinces to fall back on, the mohajirs had nothing but Karachi as their line of defence against any oppression or exploitation. QUOTA ISSUE When asked why he had raised the issue of quota in the PML- MQM agreement when he and Nawaz Sharif both say that merit should be sole criteria for government jobs, he said as long as there existed the quota system for federal jobs he would continue to demand job quotas for the Mohajirs in keeping with their numerical strength. He promised to do away with quota system if and when MQM came into power. When asked if there was any possibility that at some future date the MQM would sit in the opposition at the national level considering the fact that so far the MQM had not joined the federal government, he said his party had already forwarded the name of one person for the federal cabinet but he did not know when the gentleman would be inducted. He said the MQM had placed no conditions on its joining the federal government, neither had it insisted on being given specific ministries. He, however, said, the MQM had asked for two or three cabinet posts but settled for one when the prime minister said he could offer only one portfolio at the moment. He said the MQM did not insist on either the number of portfolios, or on the appointment of its nominee as the governor and had even sacrificed its right by giving up the post of chief minister, we have done all this in the larger interest of peace and amity. But, he said, when the problems of even the basic nature are not resolved after the lapse of so many days, the MQM was justified in recording its protest. When told that MQMs overseas activities like their world-wide protests focusing on human right violations in Pakistan and their allegations of corruption against political governments do more harm to the image of Pakistan rather than help their cause inside Pakistan, Altaf Hussain said that his party had been left with no option but to stage protect rallies against the use of oppressive methods against the MQM inside Pakistan.  Let them stop the atrocities against our party and we will also stop the world-wide protests. And as far as corruption is concerned, everyone in the world knows that there is one party in Pakistan which is not corrupt and that is MQM, he asserted. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970417 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Another PAF officer held on drug smuggling charge ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, April 16: The intelligence authorities on Wednesday arrested another Air Force officer believed to be an accomplice of Squadron Leader Mohammad Farooq who was arrested in the United States for smuggling heroin, a spokesman for Pakistan Air Force told Dawn. Squadron Leader Qasim Bhatti was arrested from Karachi by the Inter- Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence and brought to Islamabad for interrogation, the spokesman said. Bhatti, based at Chaklala Airport in Rawalpindi, was missing since April 9 when the US officials had arrested Farooq, he said. Qasim Bhatti had made a telephone call to Farooq in the US on April 9 but after failing to receive any response from him, he went underground, the spokesman said. Presuming that his friend had run into some trouble, he escaped from Rawalpindi. He said that Bhatti was being traced by the intelligence agencies since April 9 but he had left for Karachi apparently to escape abroad. I must confess that the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Military Intelligence helped us to manage their arrest. An act of an individual has damaged not only the image of the PAF but also Pakistan, the spokesman said. We are ashamed of him, he said. The spokesman said that the PAF had received information about the arrest of Farooq from US authorities the same day (April 9). The US officials had kept it secret to arrest other colleagues of Farooq and it was perhaps this reason that even the Pakistan embassy was not informed by the US authorities about the incident. The Air Chief was leaving for Haj on that day and he was informed about the incident at the airport, the spokesman said. Since then Air Marshal Abbas Khattak had been pursuing the case and being kept informed about the latest developments, he added. The spokesman said the Air Chief had instructed that Bhatti should be handed over to the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) officials for interrogations and to ensure that such a case was never repeated in future. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970417 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Appointments no more to be made on quota basis: SC ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, April 16: The Supreme Court held on Wednesday that appointments in the service of Pakistan on the basis of quota system could not be made anymore as the period specified for such recruitments had already expired. The court observed that the quota system had not served national interests; on the contrary, it had generated parochial and class feelings, resulting in disunity. In its detailed judgment on a writ petition filed by candidates for the post of civil judges-cum-judicial magistrates in Punjab, the court disapproved of the practice of making appointments on quota basis even after the expiry of specified period for such recruitments .We deprecate the above conduct (appointment on quota basis) on the part of defaulting departments, the court observed. The petition was dismissed on March 31 last. The detailed judgment was released on Wednesday. Appointments on the basis of quota were first provided for 10 years in the 1973 Constitution. Later, it was extended for another 10 years through a presidential order by Gen Zia-ul- Haq. The 20- year period had expired on September 14, 1993. After this authoritative pronouncement by the highest court of the country, fixing of quota under clause 2, Article 27 would be unconstitutional. The court, however, appreciated clause 1 of Article 27. Article 27(2) says :  No citizen otherwise qualified for appointment in the service of Pakistan shall be discriminated against in respect of any such appointment on the ground only of race, religion, caste, sex, residence or place of birth. The court held that fixing quota on regional basis was contrary to Islamic injunctions. After discussing a judgment of the Federal Shariat Court in the Nusrat Baig Mirza vs government of Pakistan (PLD 1992 F.S.C.) case, the court observed that the Holy Quran enjoined that there was no difference between human beings on the basis of race, colour and territory.  The fittest person who is strong and trustworthy is to be employed. It is evident that the concept of zone or quota system runs counter not only to clause (1) of Article 27, read with Article 2- A and Article 25 of the Constitution, but also to the commandment of Allah as ordained in the Holy Quran, the court held. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970417 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Smuggler held with uranium samples ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent RAWALPINDI, April 16: A notorious smuggler, wanted in several international cases of drug trafficking and gun-running was arrested on Wednesday here allegedly with two kilograms of fine quality heroin worth Rs 20 million, a .30 bore pistol and a few samples of uranium, used in atomic bombs. Munawar Shah, an ex-army officer who retired with the rank of major, was arrested on his way to Islamabad airport where he was to deliver the heroin and samples of uranium to an unidentified carrier, Colonel Sanaullah of the Anti-Narcotics Force in Rawalpindi said. The man was going to the airport in a Toyota Corolla car (RPP-9788) when he was intercepted on Peshawar Road by an ANF raiding party. During the search ANF recovered the heroin and uranium samples from concealed parts of the vehicle. Preliminary investigations revealed that Munawar Shah was to deliver the consignment to an unidentified passenger of a UK- bound flight. Raja Altaf, another known drug dealer was reportedly to receive the heroin and uranium samples at Londons Heathrow airport, Colonel Sanaullah added. Raja Altaf was arrested in a heroin smuggling case a few year ago in Peshawar. Later he obtained bail from a local court and managed to escape to London, the official said. ANF has also found some documents which suggest that Munawar Shah reportedly has links with international gangs of arms smugglers operating from Central Asian States, Saudi Arabia and Europe. The ANF official said the agency had been on the trail of Mr Shah for the last three months. He did not give any further details about the uranium samples recovered from Mr. Shah. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970416 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PAF officer confesses to smuggling heroin ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shaheen Sehbai WASHINGTON, April 15: The PAF officer arrested for heroin smuggling after a dramatic sting operation by DEA agents in New Yorks Manhattan area, was charged in a US court on Tuesday where he confessed his crime, according to a complaint filed in the court. The operation was set up by a confidential DEA informer, identified in the complaint as CI (confidential informer), who had promised Sq. Ldr. Farooq Ahmed Khan, acting under the assumed name of Sultan, to bring a buyer to purchase the two kilograms of heroin for $160,000 at a McDonalds restaurant located at the crossing of 34th Street and 10th Avenue in Manhattan. Legal experts said the next stage of the case would be formal indictment of the accused who had been provided with a legal attorney to contest his case but he had decided to plead guilty. Sq. Ldr Farooq Ahmed Khan was produced before Hon. James C. Francis, US Magistrate Judge, Southern District of New York and was charged under US Code Sections 812, 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(A). His case was approved by Assistant US Attorney Mei Lin Kwan-Gett. According to the complaint filed by Special Agent Donald Bailey of the DEA, who acted as the buyer who met Farooq at the McDonald restaurant on April 9, the accused wanted to see the money first before he handed over the heroin which he was carrying in his bag. Bailey informed the Court that CI was a paid informant of the DEA who had been providing reliable information in the past that had led to arrest and conviction of numerous individuals for violation of the federal narcotics laws. On or about April 8, 1997, the CI spoke by telephone with an individual who identified himself as Sultan, who told the CI that he would be arriving in New York City the following day with approximately two kilograms of heroin. The CI told Sultan that he knew of a buyer who was willing to pay approximately $160,000 for two kgs of heroin. On April 9 Sultan called the CI and told him that he was in New York City. They arranged to meet at the McDonald where Sultan provided him with a sample of the heroin. Sultan told CI that once he saw the money, he would provide rest of the heroin. Sultan also told CI his name was not Sultan. Baileys complaint in the court said CI informed him and he went to the McDonald acting in his under-cover capacity as the buyer. He was told that the heroin was of a good quality and Farooq wanted to see the money. I telephoned other DEA agents who drove up to the intersection outside the McDonalds restaurant and showed Farooq approximately $100,000 through the car window which later drove off. I and Farooq went into the McDonald inside the bathroom where he opened his garment bag and took out two plastic bags filled with a tan powdery substance. We discussed conducting similar transactions in future months and Khan told me he could probably provide me with three kilograms of heroin next month. He then packed his plastic bag and we exited the McDonald. At 8.40 pm on April 9 I alerted an arrest team who arrested Farooq with 2090 gross grams of powder that tested positive for presence of heroin. After other DEA agents arrested Farooq and he was advised of his rights, he signed a statement in which he stated, in substance and in part, that he had brought two kilograms of heroin to New York in order to sell it for approximately $160,000. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970414 ------------------------------------------------------------------- US Pakistanis to be issued travel cards ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON, April 13: The Pakistan Government is considering issuing a green card to Pakistanis who have acquired US citizenship to enable them to travel freely to Pakistan without obtaining visas. Pakistan Ambassador to US, Mr. Riaz Khokhar told a gathering of community leaders he had already sent his recommendations to the prime minister to implement such a scheme and various aspects of the proposal were being considered. Pakistani American leaders had complained that they were not allowed dual citizenship which caused them a lot of problems as they had to obtain Pakistani visas for their US passports. The Ambassador said the Embassy was already issuing five-year visas to such Pakistanis and he was prepared to even issue 10- year visas. When a Pakistani complained that overseas Pakistanis were treated as dogs by the Customs and police at the airports, the Ambassador said everybody else is also given such treatment by these agencies.

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BUSINESS & ECONOMY

970413 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mergers, acquisitions of sick units proposed ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dilawar Hussain KARACHI, April 12: Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activity in Pakistan is concentrated mainly among the Multinational companies and that too in the pharmaceutical sector, though sick industrial units could be a key area where the benefits would be significant. This was stated by speakers at a seminar on Mergers and acquisitions in Pakistan organized by the Corporate Finance Society 97, MBA-IV the graduating class of May97 of the IBA, on Saturday. Dr Abdul Wahab, the director of IBA, said that there were several aspects to the M&A activity in Pakistan such as the small size of local companies and the problems of management of huge corporations. Elaborating, he said that due to their small size, Pakistani companies were unable to compete globally, while we lack the management capabilities to take care of large corporations. He drew the attention to the PIA and Pakistan Steel where it was, he said, difficult to manage 25,000 employees. Other aspects to the M&A activity, he said, were that it killed entrepreneurship of employees and enhanced the political and economic power of the conglomerates. M&A activity has its benefits as well as problems, said Dr Wahab and added that the benefit would depend on the motives behind the activity. If it is antisocial or to obtain monopolistic power, it would be damaging. Mr.Kamran Faridi, MD Citicorp Investment Bank Ltd. said that the concept behind M&A is to enhance shareholders value, create liquidity and raise demand, adding that we need large, liquid, efficient M&A market. He emphasised on the safety nets for workers and employees who are laid off due to M&A. Mr.Shabbir Diwan, Executive Director, Gatron Industries opined that the mergers of local companies so far had all been paper mergers. He cited the mergers of Raza Textile with Omer Fabrics and Allied Spinning with Taj Mills of the same group. He advocated the acquisition of sick units, whose carryover losses could be adjusted by profitable companies against their earnings. Mr.Moazzam Malik, Director, BMA Capital Management said that there was no formal role of M&As prior to 1990 but as market grows, the activity would receive tremendous boost. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970414 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PSO sale may trigger race for regions oil ------------------------------------------------------------------- Muhammad Aslam WHO WILL be the successful bidder after the government offers the controlling shares of Pakistan State Oil for sale to the private sector under its privatisation programme sometime in June? This is being debated in oil circles but there is no ready answer as it could well be one of the toughest corporate fights among the world oil giants ever witnessed in this part of the world. No prospective world investor having resource and back-up facilities would like to give a virtual walkover to his rival in the bidding for a blue chip share such as PSO. Holding a market share of 75 per cent in the retail petroleum products distribution network, an annual sales volume of Rs 82 billion, assets of Rs 16 billion and above all, a market leader in more ways than one, the PSO is certainly an attractive investment bait. World oil market leaders, notably Mobil Corporation, Shell Pakistan and British Petroleum (BP) are said to have already taken positions with a vow to fight to the last as the bait has many cross-border ramifications for the winner. There are three contenders for the PSO bid while others oil giants may join the race later. Privatisation of PSO has a relevance for those who have already a big stake in the Central Asian oil business both retail and exploration as it could well provide the missing link for the retail business here. And this factor, including the proximity of the possible source of supply, put the Mobil Corporation on the top of prospective buyers of PSO. After having bought a lubricant plant here, Mobil Corporation will enter the retail oil business possibly by the next month. Sitting in Islamabad its country manager could be instructed to join the race for the PSO shares. Data on the subject is already being collected by the bidders. There are no resources or any other technical problems for the three possible bidders as none could beat the other on these counts, said an oil expert adding the Mobil could have an edge over others for more than one reasons including its strong oil base in the Central Asian countries. Shell (Pakistan), an equally resourceful contender, already holding 20 per cent of the retail oil market share here, or Rs 30 billion annual turnover might have an obvious bidding disadvantage. Under policy guidelines laid for the essential commodities, the government is bound to discourage any sort of monopoly and opt for an open market competition policy to ensure fair prices for the consumers. Caltex might not have much of a say in the retail market because of its modest five per cent market share if Shell wins the PSO bid. The bosses of Shell Pakistan if they really intend to protect their retail business here into the 21st century will have to seek refuge in same fool-proof device compatible to the magnitude of Pakistans new century unfolding oil scenario. But owing to its contribution in restoring customer confidence in the quality of products and new customer-related concepts including Retails VISUAL Identity (RVI) qualify Shell Pakistan to be one bonifide bidder. British Petroleum (BP) after the recent visit of its president is also very much in the battle arena but is still to show its cards. Whether it will opt for oil exploration, chances for which are not that bright or the retail business is not clear but it surely could be one of the PSO stake bidders. Caltex Corporation Pakistan appears to be not that enthusiastic about the PSO battle as its high-ups seem to be more than satisfied with their market share of 5 percent in the retail business. Having strong presence in the gulf and the South Asian region, the big question is this why Caltex is a reluctant retailer in an expanding market, with a growth rate of 10 per cent, many may well ask. But Caltex people like to work in low- key. However, its groups recently launched corporate identity campaign focusing on building value for customers through improved services has shown astounding success in the Gulf. Corporate identity The launch of the new identity the world over has changed the old one. Let us see how caltex does business after the sale offer of the PSO share. It might also be one of the bidders to protect its interests. There are fear in some quarters that foreign oil giants could form a cartel to manipulate POL prices at the retail level after the privatisation of PSO, the only counter-balancing force and it is essential that three should be more than one retailers working under the free market economy system. But oil analysts allay these fears. Shell, Mobil, BP, Caltex and some others have stakes in all the countries but are engaged in healthy competition to pass on the benefits of world price decline to billion of their consumers. However, the question may well he asked why the government should privatise an enormously viable and profitable corporate entity at all. Successive former governments, owe PSO too much as in difficult periods it has lined up funds from foreign markets, on the strength of its credit worthiness to fill in official resource gaps. Ruling at Rs 270 for a 10-rupee share (Peak at Rs 425), with a good dividend record and reciepient of Corporate Excellence awards for successive years, PSO could be an envy of any investor. But the government needs money under its recently launched National Debt Retirement Programme and might not have some rethinking on the issue. Official refuge Many oil analyst say PSO has its own identity in addition to playing the role of an official refuge and should not be bracketed with the six units and other utilities such as Sui Southern Gas and Sui Northan gas. There is a difference between the losing and earning companies. The debt of 30 million dollars is too big an amount to be repaid through the sale of national assets. Irrespective of an academic discussion on the issue, the government is not inclined to look back and is expected to go ahead with its privatisation plan and after June PSO might have a new management. Who it could be is too early to say after winning the biggest financial battles in the corporate history of Pakistan. Shell, BP, Caltex and Mobil all have are equal chance. But after the delayed deregulation of retail distribution network by July 1998, the oil business for customers might not taste the same as during the last five decades. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970414 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Public sector reform: rising unemployment ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr Mahnaz Fatima AN EXPECTED corollary to the recently announced fiscal package is the public sector reform which is intended to downsize public sector corporations and relieve some 150,000 workers from their jobs with a view to reducing government expenditure. The financial sector reform, under the World Bank dictates, is expected to relieve some 40,000 banking employees. The Municipal Training Institute is being abolished whose utility and importance was favourably evaluated in 1994-95 because of which it was allowed to continue. And, many more departments will either be downsized or abolished. The above steps are indeed surprising as they come from a peoples government whose first responsibility should be towards the majority comprising the low-income or poor segments of the country. While one may not expect the government to continue to provide jobs in the public sector endlessly into the future, the least that could be expected of a peoples government is a continued sense of responsibility to those it employs already, at least, until such time that the private sector is able to absorb those off-loaded by the public sector. To show the already employed the door when the size of the economy is not big enough to absorb them is an act of callousness that was least expected of a peoples government and is a move which, if adopted, will only be condemned. Already, privatisation has relieved lakhs of workers shattering the theoretical myth that privatisation would lead to greater efficiency, reinvestment, and job creation. So, the private sector that is once again claiming a major share of the national resources by way of fiscal concessions has yet to demonstrate practically the contribution that it can make to the countrys economic development in general and employment creation in particular. Until then, the jobs of the public sector employees should be provided security by the peoples government. Bold decisions It might be argued that there is a need to take bold decision in the interest of reducing the burden on the national exchequer. One would then wonder as to how bold could a decision be that is directed primarily against the powerless low-income and poor people when courage should be directed against the harmful powerful segments of the society. For example, if fiscal imbalance is to be reduced, then the first bold initiative ought to be directed towards the levy of agricultural income tax in a meaningful manner in all the four provinces of the country. If there is a desire to be even more courageous, then a further demonstration is required in striking at the roots of the mother of all evils and corruption in the society which is absentee landlordism. So, a real bold measure would be to give land to the tiller and allow ownership of land only to those who would till it themselves. To take measures against the powerless poor is more an act of cowardice than courage that is typical of capitalistic thinking being perpetuated in the country with the intellectual support of neo-classical economists who also take only an accounting view of the public sector problem because of a sheer paucity of their training in the area of management and administration. One could only be aghast to read about a proposed move of banning labour unions in the banking sector in this day and age of modern management whose practice should actually render a union redundant rather than having to ban it. The success of management practices can be gauged from a voluntary decline in the union memberships. A forced ban on unions is a strong indicator of poor management practices. Also, as explained in many of my previous articles on institutional decay and administrative corruption in Pakistan, the rot in public sector organisations is actually at the top and the laziness / poor work ethics at the lower rungs is a manifestation of unethical and unacceptable administrative practices that have remained in vogue at the top for many years. A truly bold public sector or institutional reform package would comprise a massive reshuffle in the top two to three layers of management. This step ought to be complemented by the appointment of independent boards whose members would have an impeccable track record of good professionalism, character, and high integrity and would contribute to the organisation as if it were their own prime responsibility. Also, board members should not be allowed to serve on more than two boards at a time so that they are not overburdened and are able to concentrate on the organisation they are supposed to turn around. Minority tyranny So, the brunt of public sector reform ought to be directed at the real causes of public sector problems and away from the powerless lower-income groups facing the threat of retrenchment. Otherwise, people will be justified in concluding that the majority are being tyrannised by the minority who can force their way into the corridors of decision-making because of their networks, influence, power, and also wealth that they have been able to amass by now. It will be little wonder then that while the government has held conventions of special sections of businessmen, industrialists, and farmers; no national convention was planned, at least, until April 8, for the workers and labour unions. As mentioned before in one of my articles on privatisation a couple of years ago, the policies that are claimed to have been developed with consensus will not be a true reflection of the national sentiment until such time that the important interest group of workers and labour unions is also made an active party to deliberations. One would expect the current elected government to begin to integrate workers into national decision-making as it is a government that was given a heavy mandate by all segments of the population and not just by the special publics who have been provided an audience with the Prime Minister thus far. If fiscal imbalance is such a serious problem that it will be costing lower-level public sector employees their livelihoods, then one wonders about the rationale behind the individual income tax breaks given recently to the salaried classes especially when the revenue impact through an increased tax base was not even reported by the economic wizards of the country at the helm of affairs. First, keeping the revenue impact close to the chest of governments economic experts is an act of moral irresponsibility and professional / intellectual cowardice. For, it clearly shows that they wish to evade public accountability after emerging as champions of accountability during the Moeen Qureshi interlude. Second, to give individual tax breaks at a time when the government is finding it difficult to retain its employees is poor fiscal planning and management, to say the least. Also, the buck of a poorly planned fiscal package should not be passed on to the businessmen and industrialists as it is the professional and moral responsibility of the government-employed economic experts to point out the bugs to the cabinet and the Prime Minister. And, they should be doing their earnest in saving the country from more unemployment and the government from another catastrophe. Victimisation It is not acceptable to throw out those hired by the last Benazir government under garb of merit. For, no one can imagine PML aligned workmen to be more meritorious than those aligned with the PPP. If, however, the PPP aligned workers are creating administrative problems to tarnish a PML government, then they ought to be disciplined rather than being thrown out for they too are jobless citizens of the country in dire need of jobs. And, if severed, then it will be viewed more as an act of political victimisation rather than a true pursuit of merit. Before closing down government divisions, it should be considered important to evaluate their utility for the economy and the society. For, shooting them down from a strict narrow accounting approach that the countrys public finance experts choose to follow is a practice that is becoming increasingly more repugnant the more it is followed. No reform package can even be termed as an effort at reform if it tries to solve one problem by creating yet another more serious one. So, no economic reform package can come closest to economic reform worth the name if it aggravates another grave economic problem of unemployment that the proposed public sector / financial sector reform packages, in the works, are likely to do. As it is, the officially reported rate of unemployment and underemployment is grossly understated due to either faulty or inapplicable definitions of unemployed and employed used in the calculations that I have been pointing out for the last two years. The government economists, however, continue to endorse these understated rates of unemployment for they might, otherwise, cease to remain in the good graces of the powers that be in the country. For, acceptance in the government circles appears to be the culminating point in the careers of neo-classical economists that they strive for even if it is at the expense of a sense of responsibility towards the people that social scientists should be discharging first and last. Career ambitions Given these career ambitions, one should not be too surprised to find yet another public sector / financial sector reforms package that might again attempt to sweep the problem, of a high rate of unemployment and underemployment in the country, under the rug. At this point, one cannot help mentioning the MCB and the Allied Bank which were turned around with least or no human cost. While privatisation might have been a factor behind its happy turn-around, there are numerous examples of not-so-successful and unhappy private sector organisations coupled with examples of some successful organisations that functioned efficiently and happily in the public sector as well such as the Millat Tractors Ltd. end of the day, it is top management expertise and the ability to take a holistic view that is the name of the game. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970414 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Importance of small-scale industry in Pakistan ------------------------------------------------------------------- S.A. Naseer Rizvi THE SPEEDY industrial development of East Asia is the result of the success achieved by the countries of this region in small-scale industry. Even an economic superpower like Japan had to start from small-scale industries. G.C. Allen writes in his book titled Short Economic History of Modern Japan that the silk weaving industry was in the hands of peasants, confined to their small homes. It was the same in the case of cotton, wool and other textiles. The book, Asia Pacific-A timely View also explains how Taiwan and other under developed countries of East Asia took a start and created history by their rapid economic development. The promotion of small scale industry helps in achieving many objectives particularly solving the unemployment problem to a considerable extent. Moreover, it does not require huge investment and foreign exchange help. The industry may also help in solving the problems of the returning migrants from Middle East and other countries. Small industry uses relatively more labour intensive techniques and can generate employment for the expanding labour force. It can also be a considerable source of foreign exchange earnings, as it uses the relatively abundant factor of production, labour. It is actually an efficient user of the scarce factor, capital and has better linkage of other sectors of domestic economy. The role of small scale industry is also appreciable as far as its contribution to the GDP is concerned. The share of small scale manufacturing sector in GDP has increased from 3.6 per cent to 5 per cent during the period 1972-73 to 1985-86. Similarly the share of small scale industry in total manufacturing has increased from 23.3 per cent in 1972-73 to 27.5 per cent in 1985-86. These results are based on constant growth rates for different periods as assumed in National Income Accounts. According to the available statistics, although the contribution of the small scale sector to GDP does not appear to be very high, it is nonetheless an important sector in many other respects, especially in terms of employment generation, exports and better linkages with other sectors of the domestic economy. It is estimated that about 80 per cent of the total industrial labour force is currently employed in the small scale sector. The employment generated in the small scale manufacturing sector has been much larger than that generated in the large manufacturing sector. The small scale sector is also an efficient user of the scarce factor capital. If we use the incremental capital output ratio to measure the efficiency of capital, it is only the small scale which is a more efficient user of capital than the large scale sector. Small scale industries have great potential for earning foreign exchange. It is stated in the Sixth Five Year Plan that the engine of export growth will be agro-based and small scale industry. The plan envisages a 15 per cent per annum increase in the exports of output of small scale and cottage industries. The share of manufactured goods in total exports has increased \considerably over time. It is difficult to determine the contribution of small scale industry to total manufactured exports. However, a few items have been identified which are mainly produced by small scale industry. These items include ready-made garments, hosiery, carpets, rugs, footwear, marble items, surgical instruments and sports goods. The share of these items, taken together in total exports, increased from 7.53 per cent in 1972-73 to 16.93 per cent in 1993. In manufactured exports, it increased from 24.76 per cent to 31.25 per cent during 1972-73 to 1984-85. The growth of this sector creates demand for domestic capital goods industry. Small scale industry also acts as a training centre both for workers and entrepreneurs. As it uses less sophisticated machinery, workers get training easily and in a shorter time. Entrepreneurs with their acquired skill in small business, can move towards bigger business. Notwithstanding the fact that small scale industry has not been given a significant role to play in the countrys economic development, yet this sector does contribute greatly to value-added in the manufacturing sector. It is clear that for the last four years, that small scale manufacturing has been growing steadily and at a greater rate than large scale manufacturing. The small scale industry expanded more rapidly in the period 1969-70 to 1980-81 than in the 1963-64 to 1969-70 period, due to certain factors. For example the Pakistani rupee was devalued drastically in 1972 which improved the competitiveness of the small scale industry with the large scale sector. The Nationalisation of Industry and labour legislation of Z.A. Bhutto government also forced investors to move to small scale industry. The small scale sector in India was classified by the government into three groups: 1. Cottage and household industries which provide self-employment on large scale. 2. The industries sector involving investment in machinery and equipment upto Rs one lakh and situated in towns with a population of less than 50,000. 3. Small scale industries comprising industrial units requiring investmen in fixed capital upto Rs 10 lakhs and in case of ancillaries upto Rs 15 lakhs. With the establishment of large number of small scale industries in India, the contribution of this sector in exports has increased. Major exports of this sector are items such as leather goods, ready-made garments, engineering goods etc. In 1972, exports of this sector were Rs 150 crores, which increased to Rs 845 crores in 1978 and to Rs 2,580 crores in 1984-85. If cottage and small scale industries are put together, the total exports value was Rs 4,557.6 crores and share in total exports was about 2 per cent. This further increased to 25.3 per cent in 1985-86. (Ref. Indian Economy by Karnati Singaiah). Pakistan scenario In Pakistan, the task of development of the small scale industry is largely assigned to the provincial governments, whereas actually it should be dealt with at national level. Lack of funds is a major constraint on the expansion of small scale industries. However, since the commercial banks and other financial institutions are under the control of central government, the provincially controlled small scale sector faces problems in availing of credit facilities. Moreover, the small scale sector also faces difficulty in providing the required guarantees for the loans. Hence, the considerable speed of development of this sector could not be achieved. In view of this the central government must find out a way out to solve the problems of the small scale industry, so as to enable the industry to contribute more and more in the countrys exports. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970417 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Duty-free imports under NDRP ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, April 16: The government has restored a number of benefits to overseas Pakistanis who send remittances through normal banking channels with a view to build up foreign exchange reserves under the Prime Ministers National Debt Retirement Programme (NDRP). Official sources said the rules which govern usual foreign remittances, the senders are not only entitled to higher rate of interest and tax exemptions but can also import a number of duty-free goods like vehicles etc. Under the home remittance scheme, the beneficiary of remittances of $0.2 million and above will be entitled to import a car free of duty and sales tax. These sources said that the benefits given under the Economic Reforms Act 1992, which were discontinued by the Benazir Bhutto government now could be once again availed by overseas Pakistanis. Trade circles believe that the restoration of these benefits will help improve foreign remittances from overseas Pakistanis. It is a timely decision by the government because it will not only help to restore the confidence of Pakistanis abroad but also of prospective foreign investors in our policies, said a leading industrialist. Under the Economic Reforms Act 1992, all foreign remittances received through normal banking channels are exempted from income tax and the authorities can also not ask its source for income tax purposes. Such remittances are also exempted from wealth tax for a period of six years (as per Wealth Tax Act), which will lead to a saving of about 15 per cent i.e. 2.5 per cent per annum. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970417 ------------------------------------------------------------------- KSE 100-share index shows gain of 3.55 points ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, April 16: Leading shares on Wednesday recovered modestly as institutional traders covered positions at the lower levels enabling the market to give an improved performance but it is pretty difficult to predict that consolidation forces are now at work in the rings. However, relatively better performance turned in by the broader market did suggest that a change for the better was already visible and there was possibility of sustained turnaround by the next week. It was perhaps in this background that the index did not breach the barrier of 1,500 points as widely speculated, although there was no change in the background news both from the political and law and order fronts, dealers said. News of factional killing is there but investors seem to have decided to follow the markets technical demands rather than being influenced by disturbing incidents in the city, they added. They said even a modest increase in the index ahead of four closures could well signal the return of bull market and was what was going to happen when the trading resumed after holidays. The KSE 100-share index showed an extended fractional gain of 3.55 points at 1,523.16 as compared to 1,519.09 and did not breach the barrier of 1,500 points as widely speculated earlier. Contrary to predictions of a big sell-off owing to a long weekend ahead as the market will close for Eid holidays from Thursday and re-open on next Monday, strong technical support was evident, which enabled the broader market to perform a bit better. The evidence of strong support at the lower levels tells that the current downward drift is overdone and the market could witness a sustained bull-run in the post-Eid holiday sessions, analysts said. They said the interesting feature was that the market behaved properly without the PTC vouchers, which witnessed a renewed sell-off followed by news of weaker GDR. It was the most active scrip, falling 15 paisa at Rs 26.70, the most attractive buying rate for any prospective investor, on 14 million shares. Its PTCL A lot was also actively traded for the first time after several months apparently on some foreign support and accounted for 3 million shares, off 55 paisa at Rs 26.50. Insurance shares led the market decline on active selling on the perception that owing to high incidence of carlifting in the city their profits would be much lower because of higher claims from the car owners. All fell under the lead of Adamjee, Century Insurance and PIC. Among the leading MNCs, which suffered fresh setback Burshane Pakistan, Shell Pakistan, Siemens, Lever Brothers and Telecard were prominent, falling by Rs 2 to 4. PSO, which has been under pressure owing to news of privatization came in for active short-covering at the lower levels and finished recovered by Rs 2. Others to follow it were Sapphire Textiles, Mari Gas, Engro Chemicals and Quice Food. But the biggest rise of Rs 7 was noted in Bata Pakistan, which surged to Rs 44 on turnover of 2,000 shares. Volume fell to 40m shares from the previous 55m shares owing to weekend considerations. The most active list this time was topped by PTC vouchers, lower 15 paisa on 14m shares, followed by ICI Pakistan, up 15 paisa on 10m shares, Hub-Power, higher 30 paisa on 6.500m shares and Dewan Salman, easy five paisa on 3m shares. Other actively traded shares were led by FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, higher 20 paisa on 1m shares followed by Dhan Fibre, up 15 paisa on 0.500m shares, D.G.Khan Cement, higher 20 paisa on 0.210m shares and PICIC, unchanged on 0.139m shares. There were 295 actives, which came in for trading, out of which 152 shares fell, while 73 rose, with 70 holding on to the last levels. ------------------------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIBE TO HERALD TODAY ! ------------------------------------------------------------------- Every month the Herald captures the issues, the pace and the action, shaping events across Pakistan's lively, fast-moving current affairs spectrum. Subscribe to Herald and get the whole story. 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EDITORIALS & FEATURES

970414 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Believing the worst about ourselves ------------------------------------------------------------------- Omar Kureishi I once wrote that national self-denigration had become a cottage industry and of all the people in the world, we Pakistanis were prepared to believe the worst of ourselves. The real Paki-bashers were the Pakistanis. Thus when some outfit that calls itself Transparency International declared Pakistan to be the second most corrupt country in the world, it was accepted lock, stock and barrel, without reservations, without a murmur of protest. Nobody wanted to know how such a damaging and damning conclusion had been arrived at, and most of all who Transparency International was. What was the source of their funding? Was it a truly independent organisation dedicated to the promotion of virtue and rectitude or was it serving some hidden master. Was it the puppeteer or the puppet? I use the example of Transparency International because we ourselves accorded to it the exalted status of a second Daniel. For some mystifying reason, unless we collectively suffer from an inferiority complex, we accept the world of a foreigner as gospel and dont give a fig about what we may have to say ourselves. Nothing better exemplifies this than the betting and match-fixing scandal in cricket matches that has re-surfaced, carrying the seed of the destruction of the Pakistan cricket team. There have been rumours about betting and the involvement of players for a long time. Nobody took these rumours seriously. When Pakistan lost the semi-final at Lahore in 1987 World Cup, allegations were made by some vested-interests or super-patriots that something was not quite right about the result. Indeed a former test cricketer directly accused certain parties of having made a killing. No one seriously believed this. But consider the changed scenario of the 1996 quarter-final at Bangalore against India. There were not just allegations of a sell-out but a near-certainty. Angry cricket fans openly accused the team of being in the pay of bookies, the players were threatened and the travelling plans of the team were changed to avoid the wrath of the public. Wasim Akram had to move from his residence and he told me recently that even now he receives obscene telephone calls. In the case of one caller, he accused Wasim Akram of having bought an island in the Pacific. What had changed between 1987 and 1996? What had changed was that the late though hardly lamented Ad Hoc Committee had acted, with wild abandon on charges made by the Australians, Shane Warne, Tim May and Mark Waugh. No matter what the members of this Committee may say now, at that time they gave the definite impression that they were inclined to believe the Australians. That these charges had been made after 5 months of the bribe-offer did not strike this Committee as being suspicious. Nor did these Australian players offer any kind of proof. That they provided signed statements long after the story had done its rounds was an after-thought, a blatantly bogus attempt to legitimise what was a bit of mischievous scandal-mongering. The Sunday Telegraph of London asked me to do a story on these allegations and I told them, tongue in cheek, that I had my own theory. They wanted to know what it was and I said that I believed that a bribe had been offered to the Australian players and they took the bribe! There was circumstantial evidence to suggest that the Karachi test match had been thrown. The wicket on the last day was crumbling and the ball was turning square. Shane Warne and Tim May should have been unplayable. Yet Pakistans last pair put on 50 runs and the winning runs came from an easy missed stumping. The Sunday Telegraph told me that they would check it out with their legal department and then come back to me and told me to write it. Which I did and it was duly published. The point I wanted to make was that anyone can make allegations and if Shane Warne and company can be believed, why not my version? I suggest that the bribery and match-fixing allegations gained credibility only because they were made by foreigners. Had the same charges been brought out by some Pakistani players, they would have been dismissed out of hand or attributed to some ulterior motives. I had written then that the Ad Hoc Committee should have been supportive of the players and considered them to be innocent unless they had the sort of evidence that would hold up in a court of law. The irony is that this is what is now being asked from Aamir Sohail. I have the greatest affection and respect for Javed Burki who has been a friend of mine for many years but I find it strange that he should now say that the PCB should wait and then should anyone be able to back up their assertions, then they should look into it. I wish he had himself followed this course of action when the allegations first surfaced. The matter has now taken a serious turn and it should not be left to the PCB. In a convoluted way they are party to this whole sordid business and if an inquiry is to be held, and it should, the inquiry should be by an independent body. There is a lot at stake. The image of Pakistan cricket over the years has been a murky one and we have been drawn into all kinds of controversies and in the bargain have been called cheats. I think this kind of nonsense should be brought to an end. I think that Aamir Sohail should not have gone public if he had any proof but then he had been pushed to the wall. The whole affair does no credit to him nor does the PCB emerge with any glory. I find it very sad that we have such a low esteem of ourselves and even sadder that we care so little about national self-respect. I do not subscribe to the view that we are a nation of cheats. We have our share of cheats but so do other countries, probably even more. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970417 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Will the business respond? ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sultan Ahmed SUCCESS and failure of the Nawaz Sharif government depends on the extent of positive cooperation it receives from the bureaucracy and businessmen. He can transfer, suspend and sack errant bureaucrats, however senior they are, but cannot do the same with industrialists and businessmen nor replace them, except very partially with foreign investors who are reluctant to invest when our own investors are dragging their feet. So he has gone all out to win them over at a time when they are rejoicing over the return of the businessmens government with an overwhelming mandate and assertion of Mr Sharifs superamacy over the President Leghari by defanging the dreaded Eighth Amendment. Not only the Prime Minister is a businessman but also the commerce and interior ministers who are very close to him. And several ministers have investment interests in business enterprises. The Chief Minister of the Punjab is a businessman. And Finance Minister Sartaj Aziz was told when he addressed the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry that the National Assembly had 35 businessmen as members, which means a hefty 15 per cent representation. PML members elected to the NA and Senate from Karachi are businessmen. Not necessarily because of such heavy representation of big business in Parliament, but because of Mr Sharifs personal conviction that the businessmen can also do for the country what they had done for themselves, he thought he ought to go all out to unleash their energies to revive and revitalise the economy now going downhill alarmingly. He has done all that they wanted, and with incredible speed, as acknowledged by them. And he has promised far more, and quickly, if he is convinced of the need for it. He followed up his radical fiscal package by sweeping off 229 anomalies in it that had hurt the manufacturing sector while helping the importers, at one go on April 13, as promised by Commerce Minister Ishaq Dar the evening before. He has promised many more packages following the generous agricultural package, which would revive the sick industries, shrink the large public sector with its colossal waste, vast inefficiency and rampant corruption, accelerate the exports, reform the financial sector and make the utility companies more efficient and less corrupt. Going all out to meet their demands he has slashed personal income tax by a half, and announced substantial corporate tax relief from July 1. And he had reduced import tariff from 65 to 10 to 45 per cent and done away with the 10 per cent regulatory duty on imports. He reduced sales tax from 18 per cent to 12.5 per cent, and he has exempted machinery for new industries from sales tax altogether. And he has swept away the anomalies that arose following the package by removing 229 of them at one stroke. He has let businessmen off the hook of the income tax officers and allowed them file their tax declarations through a simple process of self- assessment. Chairman of the Central Board of Revenue Hafeez Ullah Ishaq says that a simple one-page Urdu income tax form is being introduced with minimal entries, unlike the elaborate form of last year, to facilitie minimum contact between tax payers and the assessors. He claims the PMs tax reforms package is so radical that none of the 192 countries in the world had ever envisaged such drastic changes in the tax regime. And the CBR has set up a committee to eliminate all other fiscal anomalies within a month. The Sindh government too is studying the means to set up one- window facility for commercial tax payers and is to send the report of a seven-man committee to the Federal Task Force within ten days. All that is likely to be incorporated in the report of the Tax Reforms Commission headed by Syed Qureshi which will be reflected in the annual budget in June. Having got all they wanted and more, what will the businessmen do in return? Will they pay the reduced taxes in full? Will they return the bank loans where the default has risen to Rs 140 billion and save the sick banks? Will they invest more and use less of bank funds and more of their own funds and speed up economic growth, particularly industrial growth which has been an abysmally low 4.5 per cent for the last three years? Will they export more, and more of the value-added, and clean up their trade practices, particularly in the export sector where their unethical conduct has hurt the exports? Will they pay fair wages to their workers and give decent dividends to the share holders? Voicing such expectations Mr Sartaj Aziz told the FPCCI that the businessmen should now think less of their own profits and more of saving the economy that had been shattered and try to profit through higher economic growth. Will the businessmen accustomed to their high profits and the usual devious ways of hiding that from taxation officer, their partners and shareholders bring about such a total change in their business culture and become good corporate citizens? It is relevant to ask that if the foreign companies can pay full taxes, take less loans from banks and repay the loans promptly, pay the workers and share-holders well, keep up the quality of their products and have large financial reserves for future expansion, why cant Pakistani companies do likewise? Not all the foreign companies are big, some of them, as in pharmaceuticals, are small and yet they do well. They have to do that as otherwise their chairmen and managing directors will be changed by share-holders abroad who insist on quarterly reports and assured good profits, like the Fortune 500 companies of US which have reported rise in profits by 23.3 per cent in 1996. A situation in which 300 textile mills pay less tax than ICI even in the good days of the textile industry is unacceptable; but that happens as sponsors of such companies own a majority of the shares and the development finance institutions which had lent vast sums to them do not interfere to check vast abuses in such companies. And the too many dubious auditing firms in Pakistan certify their accounts as good and the government does not use its cost accounting machinery to make detailed studies of a few of such defaulting industries and their flourishing owners. When it came to the quality of our export products Mr Sartaj Aziz said 90 per cent of Malaysias products were ISO 9000 approved, while not even 5 per cent of Pakistans products was. In fact, in Pakistan where plugs and sockets seldom fit, only 40 of its products have ISO rating, while 4,000 products in India enjoy it. We certainly are a world apart from any kind of export boom at a time when ISO 9000 rating is becoming more and more imperative. It is easy for us to declare this year as the exports year, or 1997-98 as the oil and gas year to look for more energy sources or 2000 as the Visit Pakistan Year. What matters is not targets and declarations but performance, and sustained quality performance. Some persons are describing Mr Sharifs reforms packages as a gamble which may not pay off. But what other option has he? Surely he cannot increase the taxes, raise interest rates further, make the utilities more expensive and give greater authority to the bureaucracy to become too stern with everyone and in the process pocket far more loot. If he fails now it will not be the failure of the government, it will be the greater failure of the country itself, and the result may be the bloody revolution of which Mr Sharif has spoken of and not another elections and another set of politicians in power. Sceptics of supply-side economics in our context do not realise that demand management had its very long run in Pakistan. What does the rigid import policy which has per force been relaxed in recent years, the high import duties of 120 per cent and more, checks on money supply and credit, high interest rates close to 25 per cent mean if not demand management. Where demand management has failed miserably is in the exploding public sector with its 1,032 corporations and autonomous bodies consuming too much and producing too little that has left the government now with a borrowing of Rs 74.3 billion from banks against the target of Rs 44 billion for the whole year and a total national debt of Rs 2,200 billion. That is what makes it important and urgent to revive the 4,0000 sick industrial units, produce more, export more of the value-added, increase employment and collect larger taxes from them. We have no other option. The economy is in an absolute and total mess. Economic growth this year may be 4.5 per cent instead of the projected 6.3 per cent. And industrial growth may be 4.5 per cent instead of the targeted 7.2 per cent. Inflation is around 15 per cent instead of the targeted 8.5 per cent. And the budget deficit may be 6 to 7 per cent against the targeted 4 per cent because of the fall in revenues. The situation is so bad even the caretaker government had to raise over two billion dollars as short term loans. Some businessmen at the FPCCI meeting told Mr Sartaj Aziz the sharp fall in reduction in taxes should not mean fall in revenues and rise in the deficit. The businessmen who are now tearing up tax demand notices and throwing them on the faces of the CBR staff have to rise to the occasion and fulfil their promise to the PM. If they fail that will be a manifest breach of faith and betrayal of their public commitment. The business community is on trial and if they fail, it will be only at grave risk to themselves and the country as a whole in a period of acute economic crisis. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970414 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 13th Amendment in perspective ------------------------------------------------------------------- M.B. Naqvi BY defanging the Eighth Amendment, Mian Nawaz Sharif has normalised the Constitution. It, more or less, completes the framework of parliamentary democracy in the country. This is not the achievement of democratic ideals by itself. It merely makes it possible to begin approximating towards the democratic goals. We have to see the progress in perspective, both in terms of past and what lies in future. This is not the first time that defenders of parliamentary democracy have tried to seize the initiative and deprive the head of the state of real, or imaginary, extra or reserved powers to veto the representatives of the people by torpedoing the whole elected system. It will be recalled that way back in 1953, Governor General Ghulam Muhammad had discovered certain reserve powers in his office, a la Government of India Act 1935 (as amended for Pakistan), although no one thought that these powers had any place in the constitution of a free country. He dismissed the government of Khawaja Nazimuddin unexpectedly and shocked both the parliament and all democrats by his arbitrary, and what most people thought was illegal, action. He followed it up in quick succession by bringing in an outsider as the prime minister and later forcing him to reconstitute the cabinet as he wished at gun-point. Democrats retaliated in 1954 by making the head of the state obliged to accept the advice of the PM and not to take any arbitrary action. Ghulam Muhammad waited for a few months and then retaliated. He dismissed the Constituent Assembly to which British parliament had transferred sovereignty over Pakistan and whose creature he himself as governor-general was. It is a sad story of how the superior judiciary behaved in this case by ultimately upholding the GGs action. Next round was in the dark days after the country had been led to disaster by two chief martial law administrators, viz Gens. Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan; it had suffered a humiliating defeat, and was dismembered. With 5,000 square miles of West Pakistani territory and 95,000 prisoners of war in Indias hands, the people in the remainder of Pakistan decided that the chapter of the presidential system, bogus democracy and military rule must be closed; henceforward there should be parliamentary democracy. They wrote themselves the Permanent Constitution (1973) in which the president was reduced to a political cipher; no official notification could be published in the gazette unless the presidents signature had been countersigned by the PM. This was to ensure that no head of the state would play any games with democratic processes. However, with the capricious behaviour of the then PM and as a result of exigencies of Pakistani politics, the PM made himself vulnerable and the generals resumed power. The next general, for good measure, hanged the prime minister to ensure his own longevity and security. He tacitly acknowledged the changed climate of opinion in the country regarding the Constitution and democracy by declaring that he was not abrogating the Constitution. He only put it in abeyance (whatever that could mean). What had happened was that the Constitution had been overthrown and the reality was that the military made one mans will prevail as he wished. But eventually even he, having tried all the gimmicks was forced to restore democracy  partly in order to please the western powers which were bankrolling him through loans and credits. But the manner of doing so is worth remembering; it underscores what the 8th Amendment was for and when it came to be used, it elucidated many facts about current Pakistan politics. Zia first began by convening a nominally elected Parliament. But he made sure that no party was allowed to participate, while most parties had also boycotted it. Having framed such an assembly of political non-entities after making sure of his own presidentship through a fake referendum, he was forced first to permit the formation of a party inside the Parliament and later he was confronted with demands for lifting Martial Law. He proposed a deal: let the parliament constitutionally create a National Security Council in which four top generals  including himself, the topmost generals  would sit with PM and two other elected ministers. This council was to have the power to declare Emergency during which the military would take over the government,perhaps for a specified period. Realising the implications, such as are visible today in Turkey, the National Assembly led by Muhammad Khan Junejo refused. Zia came back with another proposal: let it pass an amendment, nominally for protecting his Islamic reforms, in which he slipped in the Section 58(2)(b) and he will lift martial law. Assessing the gravity of situation and exacerbated by eight years of martial law, the Parliament caved in. That is how the generals made sure of their supremacy over all the elected system by giving president the power of life and death over the entire elected system. We can now look back and see how the 58(2)(b) powers have been used. In brief nine years, four sets of elected national assemblies with governments responsible to them plus all the provincial assemblies and governments responsible to them have been dismissed by the presidential fiat. The people have been shown by implication that the locus of true power was the army and the generals had the last word. The fundamental basis of democracy had been knocked out by the lesson implicit in thus unceremoniously sending the elected representatives of the people home. This argument of force is hard to refute. The exercise of that power was by itself a negation of democracy and what that did in the succeeding period after every incident of such an exercise: it reminded all politicians of the true distribution of powers in the polity and this awareness was reflected in their conduct. The deputies did not feel free to act. Instead, the National Assembly and the politicians in it behaved erratically, indeed corruptly, largely because their raison d etre of being the supreme authority in the state was denied to them; in frustration they would indulge in petty personal politics. Although there are many reasons why corruption has flourished in this country, the fact of extra-parliamentary authorities breathing down their necks has contributed a good bit of impulse toward corruption. This argument has to be taken note of. There is a certain plausibility: Military takeovers are nothing new in this country. The art of maligning the politicians is old, well-tested and organised. Somehow people have come to believe, as a result of almost 50 years of systematic and orchestrated propaganda that the politicians are uniquely corrupt and inefficient  as if people in every other walk of life are efficient or more honest. The question arises: would the military not intervene in future, especially when economic difficulties force the government to take painful decisions or things are otherwise bad? Would it resist taking over? Who can say that they would not. The true defence of a democracy lies in the hearts and minds of the people. In a society that is predisposed to believe that the military is all powerful and that whenever it feels the urge to take over (i.e. whenever it finds conditions conducive to such an action) it can, there is reason to believe it will be strongly tempted to. But it need not always be so. Once the people decide that they would defend democracy, such a likelihood simply disappears. At this particular point of time a military takeover is not considered likely at all. There are three good reasons. First the western opinion would simply not let that happen and Pakistan, one way or another, is in no shape to defy the West. Secondly, economic conditions are so bad that a military regime will find it hard to manage the situation, without the democratic sanction behind the government. Indeed no dictator can hold the fort now. Thirdly, times have changed. The Pakistan military is not stupid. It knows that the climate of opinion in the country does not favour another takeover, no matter what the conditions may be. They know that another adventure this time round may produce unexpected reactions; there might even be resistance. One way or another, Pakistan is in no shape or condition to withstand the consequences of another military takeover and the military realises it. To revert to the rejoicing that most Pakistanis are indulging in, it has to be said that they are justified. But we should also remember that whatever has been achieved is only a preliminary correction of a distortion in the political framework. It will now enable the government, if it has  and it certainly has  a democratic mandate to take the democratic road in its true spirit. Thus the outlook is bright. The context is a many-sided or multiple crises. These are grave crises and would involve painful choices. Only a free and strong government can tackle the situation. Fortunately we have a government with a massive mandate from the people. It is well-placed to tackle the issues, if it adopts the correct methodology of involving the people; not merely listening to the people but asking them to participate in decision-making and in execution. The democrats have to be democrats and should avoid like plague the old bureaucratic mental habits of being frightened by difficult situations and resorting to states of emergency and taking panicky action as senior bureaucrats think appropriate. The best way of going about the business is to invite the people to participate in all significant discussions, asking for advice regarding the main methods of tackling the situation or problem. There are not many options left. The hard ones would require strong popular support anyhow; why not involve them in decision-making through widespread consultations? Democratic methods define a functioning democracy. That is where our salvation lies. Ours is certainly a pluralistic society par excellence. Let all the flowers bloom in the sense that let all the opinions be aired, collated, sifted and thrashed out. Remember how Mohammad Khan Junejo went about the business of signing the Geneva Accords on Afghanistan. The difficult solutions or decisions by the government must necessarily have the sanction of active expressions of favourable opinion among as wide a section of people that take interest in the particular such matter. That is the way to go about the business. Controversy is not to be shunned or shut out or suppressed. Let all opinions be aired and argumentation take place. The government and other sections must continuously go on informing the people about the state of affairs by correctly defining the problems and discussing ways and means of solving them. Near-consensus can always be evolved on matters in a fairly short time, thanks to modern facilities. If the government is not afraid of democratic methods, the outlook despite genuine difficulties will remain bright, although many bad laws, social practices and customs remain to disfigure the society.

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SPORTS

970414 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sri Lankas Sharjah win and the betting game ------------------------------------------------------------------- Lateef Jafri THE Sharjah Cup, an annual cricket feature staged in the Gulf, was duly and deservingly carried away by Sri Lanka who put up a satisfying and all-round better performance than the other finalist, Pakistan. The losers had some glimmer of hope in the earlier phase of the match when the world champions had plummeted to 67 for three or in the last stage when the Lankans were tied down by the bolts of Wasim Akram and the clever off- breaks of Saqlain Mushtaq. The second victory of the team from the pearl island in the sheikhdom must have lifted their confidence after a Test battering in New Zealand. It must have saved the face of the tournament organisers, who were being roundly deplored for fabricating the results in the round-robin encounters for earning hefty profits for themselves and the notorious betting cartels. The Sri Lankan triumph, with only four balls to spare, would not have been possible without the responsible batsmanship of their veteran Aravinda de Silva, who hit an unbeaten 87 in a serene and assured way. In the whole competition he stood head and shoulders above the rest of batsmen with an aggregate of 410 runs in five matches. Arvanidas 134 in the return tie against Pakistan may have been more aggressive when his bat moved like a scimitar but his effort in the final was an organised one. There was poise and ease in his manners to meet the challenge at hand; he was hardly forced into a ruffled attitude, even though Jayasuriya had left him and the opener, Kaluwitharna, had paid the price for impetuosity. Even in the last overs he was not prepared to indulge in crudities and guided his side safely to success. It can by no logic be explained why Pakistan had been shaky and slow in their innings apart from the gutsy knocks of Ijaz Ahmad and Inzamamul Haq, who lasted upto the last wicket. Salim Malik, the senior-most member of the outfit and having the experience of English county battles, was excruciatingly slow. One expected him to take the initiative but he did not show the courage to open out. Though a half-century was recorded by him but his contribution could not much help the cause of the team. Later from 185 for four at the fall of Malik the whole innings folded up for 214  under no circumstance a difficult target for the Lankans to chase. Whatever may have the difference in the quality and level of bowling the fielding of the Pakistan squad and the field-placing by the captain left much to be desired. The lethargic approach to pick up and throw the ball back to the stumps was regrettable. Besides, the field arrangements of the captain was two flawed to be true. So many hits that could have been saved by placing men in the deep went straight to the boundary. The Sri Lankans, time and again, found gaps and their score soared to the consternation of the Pakistani supporters. It is still incomprehensible why fielders were not placed to guard deep third man, deep fine leg, mid-wicket and long off. The Sri Lankans, on the contrary, had sentries at the deep to save boundaries. Pakistans 214 may have gone up to a more challenging total had the Lankan captain not adopted a tactical approach on the field. Their fielders were comparatively more alert and agile. Besides, at the latter part of the Pakistan innings it was clear to all that their tactics was based on giving Inzamam lesser strike, which affected the run-rate. The Sri Lankans win would have enhanced their morale and confidence for the upcoming Test duels against Pakistan on their soil, thanks largely to poor batting of the Pakistanis and below-par captaincy of Wasim Akram, whatever may have been his bowling effort. One of the top competing teams would have emerged victorious in the triangular but debate is still going on if the round-robin matches in the Sharjah Cup were genuine or manipulated to inflate the purse of the organisers who had aligned themselves with the bookies and the betting cartels to fleece the cricket fans. The triangular started on the right note, much in accord with the form of the national outfits when Sri Lanka crushed the minnows, Zimbabwe, by seven wickets. But the imposing stadium of the emirate was empty, barring the players enclosure. Who would have seen the Zimbabweans in action? The star attractions, India and the West Indies, busy in Test encounters in the far- off Caribbean islands, had not come. Certainly the Sharjah Cup management and the gambling bureaux would not have arranged the competition without manipulating high profits. The interest of UAE cricket  to boost the game in the Gulf  was not involved since they were not an invitee to the contest and even their presence would not have helped the cause of those running the international cricket show in Sharjah. The second fixture in the double-league tournament between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was a drama enacted to mislead the followers of the game and upset the calculations of the large number of enthusiasts who would have put their money on one team or the other, believing that the test of strength was going to be true and not false. Sri Lankas 243 in 50 overs was a reasonably good score with two aggressive knocks of Marvan Atapattu (94) and Aravinda de Silva (97). The challenge was stiff but the target was not unattainable. With sensible and brisk batting Pakistan were 173 for four in 38 overs. Quite a good effort and march to catch up with the Lankan total. Pakistan were going grand, opined the onlookers or those watching the tie on the television. But suddenly in ideal batting conditions the whole middle and lower order crashed for 224. Was it a hoax, irresponsible effort by the Pakistani batsmen or the Sri Lankans were too difficult an obstacle to be overcome? The foreign observers were at one to say that the Sri Lankan victory was a gift to them on a silver platter. The third match finished in accord with form; Pakistan outplayed Zimbabwe by 93 runs, the latter becoming an easy victim to the former with four of their batsmen run out, risking needless scores. The result in the reverse league match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was a replication of the first one in which the former stumbled for just 200 from 156 for 5, losing the duel for the second time. The fifth tie in the programme was a deception through and through for all to see when Zimbabwe earned a verdict against Sri Lanka. The analysts of the game couldnt believe their eyes when the last Lankan batsman returned to the pavilion at 153, their lowest score in the series. Most of the middle and lower order players did not lift their bat to the ordinary pace and spin attack of Zimbabwe. The tournament was going according to the planning of the gamblers and the organisers to fleece the fans. Pakistan was not to lose its last round-robin encounter and had to enter the final of the competition for the bookies and the officials of CBFS had to be saved from losses. Why Pakistan should be a competitor in a tournament, where there are open match-fixing and betting cartels are busy to turn upside down the outcome of the matches. If at all the argument is proffered that betting is an international evil in which Sharjah plays a major role, fabrication of the results through match fixing would degrade the value of cricket. It will topsy-turpy the form of the team and hit the confidence of the players, their own global rating. The boards of the cricket-playing countries, as also the International Cricket Council, should take up this issue in a serious way and try to remove this evil. Perhaps betting cannot be eliminated in totality but deceit in the shape of match-fixing cannot be sidestepped for long; it has to be ended the sooner the better. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970414 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Is the balance titling in favour of the islands? ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mohammad Shoaib Ahmed AS the curtain goes up on the 1996-97 Pakistan-Sri Lanka Test series, it is worthwhile to have a look at the history of encounters between the two rivals. Even a cursory glance at the past results should suffice to show that Pakistan has maintained the upper hand. The Test rubbers played in Pakistan especially have been dominated by the home team. In all Sri Lanka- Pakistan have so far contested seventeen Test matches. Pakistan have to their credit nine wins as compared to the three achieved by the Sri Lankans. Bandula Warnapura was leading the side that came here in 1981-82 when Pakistans cricket was gripped by controversies. No less than nine prominent cricketers had refused to play under Javed Miandad. The Board didnt select any of the rebels in the first two Tests, instead they fielded a raw side. Saleem Malik greeted the Sri Lankans with a century on his Test debut at Karachis National Stadium. Tahir Naqqash, Rashid Khan and Saleem Yousuf also made their mark against the tourists. The side, though packed with youngsters, made short work of the final. But the tables were almost turned in the next Test. Stand-in skipper Duleep Mendis had the home side struggling in the second Test in Faisalabad. Pakistan averted the follow-on by the skin of their teeth. Then on the final afternoon, they had to battle it out grimly for saving the match. The star-turned-rebels were however back in the Pakistan side in the third and final Test in Lahore. The Sri Lankans had no answer to the fiery pace of Imran Khan, then arguably the most lethal fast bowler on the scene. Zaheer Abbas, an excellent batsman posted an enterprising hundred at Gaddafi Stadium, denying the visitors a chance of making inroads into the Pakistan batting as they did in Faisalabad. Four seasons later the Sri Lankans came to Pakistan under the captaincy of Duleep Mendis, a hard-hitting right-handed batsman. The visitors were blasted in Karachi and Sialkot. They managed an honourable draw on the batting paradise of Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad. Thus for the second time running, they drew a Test in Faisalabad. Although Sri Lanka were humiliated in the 1985-86 series here they discovered Aravinda de Silva. The perky right-hander won great admiration by notching two magnificent hundreds in three Tests. He was a picture of confidence all the time and was particularly severe on Imran Khan, hauling him for sixes quite regularly. Ravi Ratnayeke may never forget the Sialkot Test. Maintaining nagging line and length, he ripped through Pakistans batting line-up, claiming as many as eight wickets in the first innings. Todate this remains the best bowling figures ever by a Sri Lankan in a Test innings. Sri Lanka, however, lost the Sialkot Test. Pakistan toured Sri Lanka later in the same season. They confirmed their clear-cut superiority over the hosts in the very first Test. The exploits of Mudassar Nazar and Tauseef Ahmed overcame the resistance offered by eleven Sri Lankan players and two umpires. In the Colombo Test, however, Pakistan fell victim to some dubious decisions which marred the game before it was awarded to the home side. They were not prepared to let go the chance of beating Pakistan by hook or by crook. A lot of umpiring decisions were questioned. The third and final Test was drawn and the series remained locked at 1-1. Four years later, Imran Khan was the captain in the 1991-92 series against Sri Lanka. The Lankan skipper was Aravinda de Silva. On the whole, the three-Test rubber between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was a low scoring affair. In Sialkot almost six hours play was lost due to poor light and bad weather. Even Pakistan could have won the Test but for a tenacious fightback from left-handers, Sanath Jayasuriya and wicketkeeper Hashan Tillekeratne. Twice in the match, both were involved in crucial partnerships to keep alive Sri Lankan hopes. In Gujranwala, after 36 overs had been bowled on the opening day in 152 minutes, no more play was possible. Faisalabad had the best weather of the series. There was no outright result. Pakistan, after conceding a 19-run first innings lead, won by three wickets in the end, also taking the series by a 1-0 margin. In 1994-95 season, Pakistan were scheduled to play three Tests in Sri Lanka but elections in that country forced the cancellation of the second Test for security reasons. Against the awesome duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, the Sri Lankans were decimated to humiliating defeats by 301 runs and innings and 52 runs in the two Tests. In the first Test at Colombos P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, Pakistan owed their 301 run victory to Saeed Anwar, who blasted 94 and 136, and Wasim Akram, who starred with the ball to take the match bag of eight for 73. The consolation for Sri Lanka was Aravinda De Silvas 127 in the first innings. Wasim and Waqar were at their deadliest in the third Test at the picturesque Asgiriya Stadium in the hill resort of Kandy. The deadly Ws were in no mood to allow the opposing batsmen respite as they reduced them to their lowest ever total of 71 in 145 minutes off 28.5 overs. The pair bowled unchanged to gobble up four of 32 and 6 for 34, respectively. Inzamam-ul-Haq steered Pakistan to a position of strength as he churned a graceful 100 not out, batting at No. 7, to help Pakistan to a lead of 286. The debacle of first innings was almost repeated when Sri Lanka slumped to 78 for six but spirited knocks from Tillekeratne and fellow left-hander Ruwan Kalpage raised hopes of averting an innings defeat as they shared a record partnership of 131 but Waqar proved formidable. His five for 85 gave him a match haul of 11 for 119. The ever-improving Sri Lankans were the earliest visitors to Pakistan in 1995-96 season. This was in late August 1995 as Arjuna Ranatungas men arrived to play three Tests and an equal number of One-day Internationals plus two three-day first-class matches. Former captain Saleem Malik, for his alleged role in a bribery scandal, and his brother-in-law Ijaz Ahmed and off-spinner Akram Raza for being his comrades in arms, were out of contention for the Pakistan squad. Wasim Akram may have been in line for the captaincy but, instead, Rameez Raja was chosen to lead Pakistan mainly due to his Mr Clean image. He started on a most positive note though, when he led his team to an innings and 40 runs triumph in the inaugural Test at Peshawars Arbab Niaz Stadium. Sri Lanka struck back by winning the next two Tests, and Ranatunga joined the ranks of W.G. Grace, W.J. Cronje and Saleem Malik as being one of the four captains who turned a 1-0 disadvantage into a 2-1 win in a three-Test rubber. Left-arm fast bowler Chaminda Vass, alongwith Muttiah Muralitharan, played a major role in Sri Lankas triumph against Pakistan. The present batch of the Sri Lankan cricketers, led by the versatile Arjuna Ranatunga, appear quite talented and promising. They are known for playing positive cricket everywhere. The skipper himself takes pride in entertaining crowds with breathtaking strokes. So we are in for exciting 15 days cricketing extravaganza. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970417 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 2-year ban clamped on Aamir Sohail ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ilyas Beg LAHORE, April 16: Famous Test opener Aamir Sohail has been banned for two years from all sorts of cricket activity for accusing some teammates of betting and gambling and criticising former Test captain Javed Burki. Announcing the decision on Wednesday before a crowded Press conference at the PCB headquarters at the Qadhafi Stadium, Disciplinary Committee chairman Talat Ali Malik (himself a former Test opener) said that the stylish batsman has been punished for violating the Code of Conduct by levelling unsubstantiated allegations against fellow-players. Talaat Ali Malik said that Aamir Sohail refused to provide any documentary evidence to substantiate his allegations when he appeared for ten minutes before the committee on April 14 (Monday), the date on which he had been asked to plead his case. Instead, Aamir Sohail handed over a signed statement of three lines which stated: Whatever evidence I had, has been given to the Ministry of Sports, Government of Pakistan, and I have been advised to convey the same message in front of the Disciplinary Committee. The committee chairman said that the meeting on Monday was also attended by another member Ashraf Qureshi (Rawalpindi). However, former Test medium- fast bowler Sikandar Bakht could not come to Lahore to attend the meeting due to indisposition. I talked to Sikandar Bakht the other day and also today (Wednesday), only a little before this Press conference. The decision of banning Aamir Sohail has full backing of Sikandar and all concerned, asserted Talat Ali Malik in a raised voice. The committee chairman faced a volley of questions from the mediamen and, at times, would lose his cool while replying to some naive queries. Job of the players is to go and play cricket on the grounds rather than taking over the role of administrators. Aamir Sohail and all the other players are fully aware of the clauses of the Code of Conduct, which have also been signed by them and which has been prepared in line with the guidelines of the ICC Code of Conduct, roared Talaat Ali Malik in anger. While replying to a question about the cricketing ability of the banned player (Aamir Sohail), the committee chairman agreed that, without any doubt, Aamir Sohail was one of the best players in the game today and that was the reason why he was feeling pained to announce the punishment. Aamir should have served Pakistan cricket by playing in the playfields rather than indulging in this unhappy war of words, said the committee chairman. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970418 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Cricket circle stunned over ban on Aamir Sohail ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent KARACHI, April 17: Former chief cricket selector Hasib Ahsan has termed the ban imposed on Test opener Aamir Sohail by the PCB as `unfair. In an interview here on Thursday the former off-spinner said the verdict to ban Pakistan opener for two years was done summarily without giving a fair chance to the player. He said the PCB and its disciplinary committee should have followed due process before coming to a decision but they sidetracked every norm of justice and gave the verdict which may destroy the cricket career of a prominent Test star who had served Pakistan well in the past. The only honest course open before the PCB and the disciplinary committee was to invite all those who were accused by Aamir Sohail of betting and bribery and recorded their statement while dealing with the so-called breach of code of conduct by Aamir Sohail, he added. The former Test spinner said instead of cross-checking all facts about the allegation the committee met and took a summary decision. Hasib said the player was not given justifiable opportunity to defend himself which is the basic requirement of normal justice. He said had Aamir Sohail failed after getting proper chance to defend himself, sterner action could have been taken. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970418 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Waqar gets injured; blow to Pakistan on tour ------------------------------------------------------------------- Samiul Hasan COLOMBO (Sri Lanka), April 17: Pakistan has lost the key pacer for the two- Test series against Sri Lanka as Waqar Younis fractured his third bone in his left foot to be sidelined from the tour. Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram is already on the casualty list and is unlikely to figure in the first Test starting at Khatterama Stadium on Saturday to leave Pakistan without its two most dangerous and match- winning opening bowlers who between them share 538 wickets in 106 Tests. While Akram is suffering from a shoulder injury, Waqar Younis complained of pain in the foot on Thursday morning when he was undergoing work-outs for the second days play against a local outfit. Dr Dan Keisal, team physiotherapist, immediately expressed his fears which were confirmed after the lunch break when Waqar Younis returned to the Police ground on crunches with his leg plastered from foot to knee. X-ray reports revealed a hair-line fracture in the third bone of the left foot with a four-week advice for treatment from the orthopaedic surgeon. Although Waqar Younis was as stunned as his other members knowing nothing about how he got injured, there were indications that the speedster slipped on the swimming pool while chasing his pal, Mushtaq Ahmad. The other version being given is that Waqar twisted his foot while bowling on Wednesday. Waqar bagged three wicket for 33 in 11.3 overs. The team manager, Nasimul Ghani and Mushtaq Mohammad, have sent an SOS for a replacement of Waqar Younis who is expected to return on Sunday by Air Lanka. However, the two concerned officials have yet to get in touch with PCB officials as everything is shut out for at least four days because of Fridays Eid-ul-Azha. Sources tipped Abdul Razzak and Fazl-i-Akbar as one of the likely replacements. One feels here that in the absence of Wasim and Waqar, an experienced bowler was needed and at this stage there is no other seasoned bowler like Aqib who snapped up 47 wickets in the domestic season. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970414 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Zahid, Afridi break county contracts ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Reporter KARACHI, April 13: Mohammad Zahid and Shahid Afridi have declined county offers on the advice of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Zahid and Afridi were to formally sign the contracts with Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire respectively in the city on Saturday. The officials of the two counties, along with the agent of the two players, had flown from England on Thursday. But the two budding youngsters approached Majid Khan, Chief Executive, PCB, in Sharjah and sought his permission which was refused. Majid had laid the term that if the two counties spared the players for India (in May) and Sri Lanka (in August), he had no objection. Nevertheless, the county officials rejected this condition. They are likely to fly back to England on Monday. Zahid was offered a 60,000 pound sterling contract while Afridi was offered 75,000 pound sterling for a season. So far, the PCB has not announced any compensation to the two players nor has it promised them places in the Pakistan team till the Sahara Cup in Canada. It is interesting to note that Majid Khan, in official statements, has emphasised that he had nothing to do with the players contracts with the counties. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 970414 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Jansher keeps countrys flag flying high ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Reporter Jansher Khan, the wizard of world squash renowned for his amazing powers of retrieval and concentration, displayed his phenomenal stamina and skill in a marathon two hours and six minutes final to wear down Scotlands Peter Nicol by three games to two in the prestigious British Open at Cardiff. It was the hardest match the second after the epic Jahangir Khan  Geoff Hunt battle of 1981 in this very tournament  with which Jansher Khan earned the sixth successive crown, the score being 715, 912, 815, 158. The left-handed highlander, Peter Nicol, currently ranked world no three, entered the British Open final for the first time, downing Australias World No Two Rodney Eyles in the semi final. Though a loser, he demonstrated astonishing progress during the past four years coming up from 160 places down to emerge potential threat to top players. It is indeed a great tribute to his professional touch and grit that should serve as an example to the younger squash players. Nicol is 24, four years less than World Champion Jansher Khan. Pre-tournament favourite Jansher Khan played true to his form and survived despite several questionable decisions, mostly against the title holder, by referee Brian Gurnertt. The Khan exercised extraordinary restraint in a highly tension packed title bout. Maintaining Pakistans peerless position in the event, Jansher Khan has started the 1997 Circuit in a whirlwind fashion by winning the first super series, British Open, following his victory in the Australian Open. But not long ago he was hardly over a point ahead of Australias Rodney Eyles when the world ranking was announce in January this year. His wins in Liz (Austria) on March 9 and in the British Open, would however increase his lead on computer notwithstanding the zero point for pulling out of the four PSF approved tournament. The Khan had paid the penalty for his abrupt withdrawal from last years four tournaments. No wonder he has now announced that he would take part in almost all the super series and major tournaments during the course of current year to reestablish his stronghold on the world rankings. Has success in the coming tournaments depends on his complete fitness as the challenge is becoming more tough with Egypts Ahmed Brada, Canadas Jonathan Power, Australias Dow Jenson and Scotlands Peter Nicol posing potential threat to the Khan supremacy. Jansher Khan is fully aware of the challenge awaiting him and he had made his ambition quite clear by setting his eyes on a new record of victories in the British Open and also increase his winning record of eight wins in the World Open scheduled in Kuala Lumpur from November 49. As against this bright and brilliant performance, it is a matter of great concern that brothers Zubair Jahan Khan (world no 10) and Zarak Jahan Khan (world no 18) could not make any headway in the British Open and were beaten in the first round. None of our other players could qualify for the main round of the championship. There exists tremendous gap between the world champion Jansher Khan and our other players as we have not found, so far, a real and potential youngster capable of following in the footsteps of Jansher Khan, who emerged as world class player in the era dominated by Jahangir Khan. Todays youngsters are getting much better facilities and incentives from the Pakistan Squash Federation and the PIA too is providing all possible facilities to the colts and regular players. But it only indicates that players lack professional commitment to the game. Woe betide the period, after Jansher Khan declines, for he cannot always guarantee to carry the heavy burden of winning all the tournaments in the wake of growing challenge. Back to the top.

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