Christian community protests burning of the Holy Quran

GAINESVILLE: The Christian community in Lahore protested against the proposal of a Florida church to burn copies of the Holy Quran.

Hundreds of Christians gathered outside the Lahore Press Club on Thursday and staged a protest against the plan.

They raised slogans against the authorities of the church and burned an effigy of the pastor.

Addressing the protestors, leaders of the Christian community said the Holy Books have descended from God and show the right path to humanity, it is the moral duty of every person to protect the Holy Books and pay respect to them.

The leaders said they will support Muslims in raising their voice for the honour of the Holy Quran.

Church defiant

The Church shrugged off global outrage and vowed to go ahead with a Quran burning ceremony amid growing fears it will ignite a wave of Islamic rage.

Condemnation rained down from top US officials, the military, the Vatican and other religious and world leaders, but the church refused to halt plans to torch the Islamic holy book on Saturday’s anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

“As of this time we have no intention of canceling,” Pastor Terry Jones told a press conference here Wednesday, adding his evangelical church, the Dove World Outreach Center, had received numerous messages of support.

Jones had indicated he was praying for guidance on whether to go ahead with the incendiary event after warnings from US Afghanistan commander General David Petraeus that US and allied troops could be targeted in revenge.

“We understand the general’s concerns and we are still considering it,” Jones said, but swiftly added he had been contacted by a special forces soldier who told him “the people in the field are 100 percent behind us.”

Love, donkeys and Pakistani cricket

Following the accusations of suspected match-fixing hurled at Pakistan’s cricket team, a plethora of explanatory theories have been put forth. Some, like the Pakistan Team Manager Yawar Saeed, discount the view that the cricket team is ‘institutionally corrupt’ whilst the more diehard of enthusiasts have instantly suggested that it is merely an Indian-manufactured conspiracy. Furthermore, some – who have been disillusioned by the team’s objectionable conduct – have resorted to leading a procession of donkeys through the streets of Lahore and pelting them with shoes. Of course, there are some, like Veena Malik (Mohammad Asif’s ex-girlfriend) who have capitalized on this opportunity just to unleash a personal vendetta.

Unfortunately, the core issue – of the team’s fraudulence – cannot be rectified by tossing rotten tomatoes at innocent donkeys. There must be a more instructive response to this debacle which, in this context, can only be reaped through the ICC Cricket Code of Conduct. This essentially outlines a set of regulations that govern the conduct of ‘professional players in the sport of cricket’ and indicates that the players may be eligible to the following punitive actions in the event of match-fixing:

a)     Fined a percentage of their salary

b)    Banned from a number of matches or

c)     Banned for a number of years or for life.

Broad’s throw aggravated finger injury: Zulqarnain

LAHORE: Pakistan’s injured wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider has blamed England’s Stuart Broad for aggravating his finger injury that has ended his tour of England that still has two Tests, two Twenty20s and five One-Day Internationals remaining.

Haider, who top-scored for Pakistan in the second innings at Edgbaston, had the ball thrown at him by Broad after his follow-through that, as the batsman took evasive action, hit Haider’s hand. A subsequent x-ray showed a hairline fracture that ruled Haider out of the third Test starting tomorrow at The Oval and out of the remainder of the tour as well after just one appearance.

“Broad’s throw hit my right hand quite hard and that aggravated the injury that I had on my little finger,” Haider told The Express Tribune. “If you look at replays, it clearly shows that his throw hit my right hand before hitting my shoulder.”

Broad was fined 50 per cent of his match fee by the match referee Ranjan Madugalle for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct after he pleaded guilty but the fast-bowler, according to former Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar, often got away with his on-field antics due to his father Chris Broad, another match referee.

The fast-bowler was also involved in a ball-tampering row in a Test against South Africa where television cameras clearly showed the bowler stopping the ball with his spikes.

While there was no official complaint by the South African authorities, the referee’s failure to take action against England’s fast-bowler after the incident had also irked Gavaskar as well as former England captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan.

Haider was due to consult a specialist in London today after which the full extent of his injury was to be ascertained. He replaced the under-performing Kamran Akmal in the playing eleven for the Edgbaston Test that Pakistan lost by nine wickets.

While Haider’s form remained indifferent behind the stumps, his half-century in the second innings saved Pakistan from an innings defeat.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2010.

BMW’s latest 5 Series model launched in Pakistan

LAHORE: Dewan Morors Lahore pulled no stops when it launched the new BMW 5 Series sedan on Sunday. Amid the life-sized posters of the car, the numerous plasma television sets, roaming spotlights and sharply dressed sales executives stood the sixth generation of the manufacturers world renowned 5 Series.

The event was a classy black tie affair, living up to the executive appeal of the car itself. The guests, BMW’s clients and car enthusiasts, sampled delicious hors d’oeuvres as they were a given a thorough tour of the car.

The new model in the 5-series comes after a hiatus of eight years and is a huge improvement on its predecessor. Built on an entirely new platform the new 5 Series boasts the largest wheelbase in its class, though it borrows some of its deign cues from the current 3-series.

The manufacturer continues to offer its customers more advanced technology built vehicles as it incorporates eight years of research into the new model. A Flex-Ray high-speed vehicle network architecture (for more agility), new torque splitting all-wheel-drive (also known as Dynamic Performance Control), refined i-Drive (for an additional driving aid), and BMW’s Efficient Dynamics technology for minimizing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are just a few of the new high technology features that come along with this vehicle. It also comes with increased horsepower and an 8-speed dual-clutch gear box (i.e. DSG).

Musharraf expected to return in September

LAHORE: Former president Pervez Musharraf is expected to announce his election manifesto in September on his return to the country.

This was announced by All Pakistan Muslim League Chief Coordinator Chaudhry Shahbaz during a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Sunday.

He said the former president will face all charges against him, adding that the government is even free to probe Nawab Akbar Bugti’s assassination and the Lal Mosque carnage.

Shahbaz also disclosed the merger of the All Pakistan Muslim League and PML-Q in the days ahead.

India claims, Pakistan denies that drill at Wagah toned down

While the Indian media said that the daily display of choreographed aggression by Pakistani and Indian soldiers at the Wagah border has been toned down because of knee injuries to the participants, the Pakistan Rangers denies the report.

The Hindustan Times quoted a senior Indian Border Security Force officer, Himmat Singh, as saying “We had proposed a lowering of the aggression in the gestures during the daily parade, and subsequently took a unilateral decision to implement that.

“Now, the Pakistan Rangers have also agreed to the proposal, and toned down their drill.”

However, spokesperson for Pakistan Rangers, Punjab chapter, DSP Nadeem Raza said that while it was agreed that Pakistani soldiers would refrain from aggressive staring and fist gesture, they would continue with the familiar boot stomping and “professionalism”.

The exaggerated boot-stomping that was a major feature of the ceremony had, Singh said, resulted in guards on both sides suffering “mild-to-severe” damage to joints, particularly the knees.

Ganders and geese

As the international press put it, in a rare show of unity this week amidst the republic’s fractious politicians agreed to convene a national conference to try to sort out the terrorism factor. The last time the national lot got together on the same topic was two years ago and the grand meeting fizzled out into nothing.

This love-fest was prompted by the suicide bomb attack of July 1 on Lahore’s Data Darbar shrine that killed 42 worshippers (majority members and all of the deprived variety) and injured some 200. What is known as the Punjab Taliban is the main suspect. This act of violence was unanimously – politicos, religiosos and all – vociferously ‘condemned’ and the country saw many protests, demos and city shut-downs. A somewhat different reaction to the event of May 28 when in two ‘places of worship’ of a minority community just under 100 people were slain as they prayed and a larger number were injured. The reaction of the majority – politicos, religiosos and all – was comparatively rather muted. It raised no suggestions for a national get-together.

So, majority is majority and minority remains minority — and never the twain shall meet. The constitution, the laws, and the national mindset dictate that what is sauce for the gander is not sauce for the goose.

Going, going, gone!

It’s been reported that the UN Consulate in Lahore had expressed an interest in purchasing the provincial Governor House. This news follows the decision of the Government of Punjab to “rationalise” some of its landholdings by “privatising” them; which is a fancy way of telling people you’re going to auction something that actually belongs to the public.

The Governor’s House in Lahore is built around the tomb of one of the cousin’s of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. It’s said that the cousin was a great patron of sports, and near his grave is a kushtee gumbaz dedicated to wrestlers and kabaddi-wallahs. The land around the tomb and kushtee gumbaz was taken over by the British when they bought the Punjab. In fact, the governor’s mansion is built on and around the tomb. It’s said you can see the sarcophagus in a chamber under the dining room.

The Governor’s House in Lahore is spread over 90 acres and has one of the largest residential gardens in this part of the world. Of course, since there’s a 20-foot wall surrounding the place, very few people have actually seen the inside of the place, despite the efforts of the present incumbent to open its doors to the awam.

Last year, when the Government of Punjab’s overdraft with the State Bank was fast approaching its limit, someone came up with the idea of selling some of the prime land that belonged to the government throughout the province. In Lahore, properties like the chief justice’s official residence and, of course, the Governor House, were said to be on the list.

Order to block nine websites with blasphemous material

LAHORE: A Pakistani court has ordered the authorities to block access to nine websites including Google, Yahoo and YouTube for allegedly offending Muslims with blasphemous material.Judge Mazhar Iqbal ordered Pakistan’s Telecommunications Authority to block the websites due to “material against the fundamental principals of Islam and its preaching,” according to a copy of the judgement obtained by AFP.

Pakistan shut off Facebook for nearly two weeks last month in a storm of controversy about a competition to draw the Prophet Mohammad and has restricted access to hundreds of online links because of blasphemy.

Iqbal announced a short version of the order in the eastern city of Bahawalpur on Tuesday and released a written detailed order on Wednesday, lawyer Latifur Rehman who brought the petition for the ban, told AFP.

Family attempt suicide in Lahore; three dead

LAHORE: Three people including two girls died when a family of five consumed toxic pills in an attempt to commit suicide on Wednesday in the Shahpur area of Lahore.

Sources said that 40-year-old rickshaw driver Akbar took poisonous pills along with his wife and three daughters due to poverty.

They were shifted to Jinnah Hospital where Akbar, 10-year-old Nazia and six-year-old were pronounced died while mother Muzamil and 14-year-old Beenish survived.

Muzamil told DawnNews that they were upset because of financial difficulties and rising inflation and yesterday they had a quarrel over the issue after which they collectively decided to commit suicide.