Boiler Blast Landhi Factory in Karachi 3 killed

A factory boiler exploded in a factory in Landhi area here killing three persons and injuring three others.

A boiler of chipboard making factory in Landhi industrial area exploded with loud blast on Saturday setting the premises on fire. Three workers got severe burns were succumbed to their injuries in hospital while other three injured were being provided medical aid at the hospital.

Two fire tenders reached to the factory and extinguished the blaze.

Beach cleaning campaign concludes

The three-day beach cleaning campaign organised by DHA at Sea View beach concluded with fanfare here yesterday. Acting City Nazim Ms. Nasreen Jalil was the chief guest of the function. More than 3,000 students of DHA schools, 1,000 teaching staff and a large number of janitorial work forces participated in the massive cleaning of the beach with great zeal and enthusiasm.

The students reaffirmed the motto “do not litter, let Karachi glitter.” Ms. Nasreen Jalil speaking on the occasion appreciated the positive initiative taken by DHA to keep the beach and the city clean and beautiful. She said that CDGK would soon construct two sewerage treatment plants in the city. These plants would treat and clean the toxic sewer of the city before it is discharged into the sea.

PPP expedites efforts to defuse MQM, ANP tension

KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has expedited its efforts to restrain both its allies, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party (ANP), from observing strikes on May 12, in a bid to avoid conflict in the city.

Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah called on Sindh Governor Dr Ishrtaul Ibad Khan late on Wednesday evening at the Governor’s House in this regard. He left for the Governor’s House soon after attending a series of meetings with cabinet members belonging to the PPP at the CM’s House. He is likely to meet the ANP leadership in this connection.

No official handout was issued by the CM’s House about the chief minister’s lengthy meetings with some of his cabinet members. However, a spokesperson of the CM said that the meetings were related to the forthcoming budget. According to him, the chief minister had called some of the ministers and MPAs belonging to his party to discuss the current budget and the new fiscal year’s budget.

Sources privy to the matter told Daily Times that political issues, particularly the tense situation that is arising as May 12 approaches, came under discussion. The sources claimed that some of the PPP ministers advised the chief minister to declare an official holiday on May 12 to avoid any untoward incident on the occasion.

The sources said that some of the ministers also suggested for an early imposition of commissioner system in the province. They reiterated their stance and said that the present local government system has not only failed to deliver but it is also creating political problems for the provincial government. They referred to the initiatives made by the Punjab and Balochistan governments in this connection.

CJ to visit Karachi ahead of May 12: Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry is scheduled to arrive on May 8 for a three-day visit of Sindh.

He is scheduled to arrive at Hyderabad on the evening of May 8. According to the schedule, the chief justice would attend the oath-taking ceremony of the Sindh High Court Bar Association. On the second day, he would leave for Tando Adam to inaugurate a judicial complex. On the same evening, he would arrive in Karachi via Hyderabad and meet the judges and lawyers here. On the third day, the chief justice is scheduled to visit the Karachi Central Prison besides attending other events. On the same day, he would leave for Islamabad.

It is pertinent to mention here that it would be his first official visit to the Sindh after his restoration. On May 12, 2007, while he was a deposed judge, he had made an attempt to visit the city which had resulted in large scale violence.

Zardari, Altaf on the same page against militancy

President Asif Ali Zardari and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain held an important meeting at Churchill Hotel in London on Sunday.
During the meeting, both the leaders discussed country’s security situation in general and of Karachi in particular. On the occasion, Altaf Hussain expressed his party’s reservations regarding some police officers of Sindh following violence in Karachi, a private TV channel, quoting sources close to the meeting, said.
Talking to newsmen after the meeting, Altaf Hussain said Talibanisation is a threat to Pakistan and it’s a conspiracy to break up the country. “We have to rise above party politics and join hands to meet this challenge,” he added.
He said there was a consensus in the meeting that militancy will be elimiated at every cost. He said law-enforcement agencies are working to crush Talibanisation. He regretted that Taliban had not surrendered their arms after the implementation of Nizam-e-Adl in Swat Valley.
He said situation in Balochistan is very critical. “We have to demonstrate unity to help our Balochi brethren.”
Responding to a question, Altaf said, “Nawaz Sharif should also be taken on board. I respect Nawaz Sharif’s reservations but the country at the moment needs unity and the PML-N Chief should support the government."
According to sources, CCPO Karachi Waseem Ahmed has also arrived in London.
Sensing the gravity of the challenges the country is currently confronted with, President Zardari and Altaf Hussain renewed their commitment to jointly take the country out of the crisis.

Transporters to observe wheel jam strike on 12th

National Transport Ittehad Karachi Chairman Salim Khan Bangash announced on Friday that transporters will observe a wheel jam strike in the city on May 12 against the killing of four transporters and the torching of public transport vehicles in the recent violence in the city.

Bangash said that during the recent mayhem, rioters gunned down two drivers and two conductors and also set ablaze nine buses, 24 minibuses and six dumpers, which caused a loss of about Rs 20 million to the transporters. “As many as 25,000 minibuses, 10,000 coaches, 5,000 local buses, 60,000 motor rickshaws and 25,000 cabs ply on different roads of Karachi on a daily basis. Around 95 percent of the private transport in

Karachi is owned by the Pakhtoons and their future after the recent riots, has been put at stake,” he said. He blamed that men of a particular ethnic group were involved in this crime however, the Karachi police has registered cases against unknown attackers despite our indication of the responsible elements.

“Taliban are not present in Karachi and only an ethnic group is propagating it in order to damage the interest of Pakhtoons. “Over 0.7million people of Swat and FATA have been internally displaced due to the fight between security forces and militants there. A large number of these displaced people are heading towards Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi to take refuge at the houses of their relatives who are already settled in these cities,” he said.

Pakthoons in Karachi are striving to earn their livelihoods and none of them are involved in terrorism. “Why are the transporters in Karachi being continuously harassed in the name of Talibanisation while they are plying their vehicles on the roads of Karachi to earn a livelihood for several decades?” he questioned. He said that not only were the vehicles torched, but also the shops and houses owned by the Pakhtoons torched during the recent violence.

‘Land mafia behind new wave of killings in Karachi’

By M. Ziauddin

LONDON: The Karachi land mafia is behind the new wave of killings in the city, Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq has claimed.

‘The mafia is playing the three coalition partners, the PPP, the MQM and the ANP against each other with these blind, but broad daylight murders,’ he said while talking to Dawn.

The minister who was on his way to Germany via London to attend an education conference also claimed that the purpose of the land mafia was to keep the coalition government unsettled enough to be able to carry on its nefarious activities without let or hindrance.

‘They have the money and the fire power and Karachi’s land is gold mine. They buy people and those not on sale they terrorise and those who refuse to be terrorised they kill,’ he said.

But where is the government? He was asked. ‘We are doing our best. We have formed committees, there is a core provincial committee comprising five MPS each from PPP and MQM, and there is also one federal core committee comprising two MNAs each from PPP and MQM. We meet regularly and try to put out bilateral fires. We need to have similar arrangements with the ANP as well,’ he added.

He said every time Asfandyar Wali Khan and Altaf Hussain talked to each other on telephone it would be followed by a new wave of killings which he said indicated that there was a hidden hand which did not want the MQM and the ANP to reach an understanding.

He was not sure how the May 12 strike call given by the ANP and opposed by the MQM would play out and said he was keeping his fingers crossed, ‘I am sure the president would intervene and mediate between the MQM and the ANP’.

When his attention was drawn to the miserable plight of the education sector in the rural Sindh, he said he was aware of it and was trying to bridge at least the gap that has emerged in recent years between the rural and urban Sindh on the education front.

‘Recently I revived a multi-million-dollar World Bank programme which was discontinued in 2007 for recruiting teachers with the right qualifications,’ he added.

He also agreed with this correspondent that the physical infrastructure in the rural Sindh was in pathetic condition with even cities like Sukkur, Larkana having no suitable roads and there being no properly motorable link roads within the rural part of the province.

‘That is why many of our voters have started demanding that we hand over the rural Sindh towns as well to Mustafa Kamal,’ he said light heartedly.

He admitted that Mr Niamatullah Khan, the former Jamaat-i-Islami Nazim of Karachi, and the current one had done wonders with the city ‘and we hope those responsible for rural Sindh infrastructure would also do the same’.

‘You see most of the elected local councillors are not even matriculates and many are too unforgiving to govern even handedly. Some are said to have refused to issue death certificates to those whose family members did not vote for them. We cannot do much about them. They are protected under the sixth schedule which expires in August this year,’ he added.

He said the PPP was all for the revival of the deputy commissioner’s institution, ‘but the MQM says its does not want its extension to Karachi and Hyderabad. We are trying to get them on board’.

When asked why even meritorious students from the rural Sindh were not allowed admission in the prestigious institutions of Karachi like the Dow University of Health Sciences and the NED University, he said the provincial core group had taken up the matter with the governor.

‘We have proposed that a quota should be reserved in both the rural and urban institutions for students of the two parts of the province.

There is a rural quota in the Karachi institutions but it is reserved only for the city’s suburbs like Gadap,’ he added.

ANP expresses reservations over joint investigation cell

The Awami National Party (ANP) has expressed reservations over the establishment of the joint investigation cell to curb terrorism in the city.

On Sunday, Sindh Home Minster Dr Zulfiqar Mirza announced the establishment of a joint investigation cell, comprising of officials from the police and intelligence agencies. In a statement issued on Monday, ANP Spokesman Qadir Khan said that the cell’s creation meant that the provincial government did not trust its police.

“The law and order situation in the city can be improved by the mutual collaboration by the public and the police force,” he said. He stated that his party did not trust the role of the investigation cell. “If the Sindh police cannot extract information from culprits in custody, how can people trust them then?” he asked.

Stating that the police should now look for criminals in its ranks and kick them out, Khan regarded the establishment of the joint investigation cell as a slap across the face of the police. He went on to say that if the police hand people over to the joint investigation cell just on suspicion it should be considered a violation of human rights.

NATO ships exercises with Pak Navy today

KARACHI: The ships of the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 will undertake two-day exercise with Pakistan Navy vessels in the open sea from today.
This was announced by the Commander of the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1, Rear Admiral Pereira Da Cunha.
He was talking to newsmen onboard Portuguese ship Corte Real at Karachi Port on Sunday. Commodore Jamil Akhtar, Chief Staff Officer to the Commander Pakistan Fleet, was also present on the occasion. Admiral Pereira said that the exercise would help foster cooperation.
Five ships consisting of Portuguese, Canadian, Spanish, Dutch frigates and a German tanker will participate in the exercise. Four Pakistan Navy ships as well as its air units will also take part in the exercise. Commodore Jamil Akhtar spoke of Pakistan Navy’s longstanding ties with NATO and said that this visit of its ships is also a manifestation of good bilateral relation of our navies and is mutually beneficial.

Land mafia?: Rs 150m plot ‘saved’ from encroachment

By Irfan Aligi

KARACHI: The City District Government Karachi (CDGK) nearly lost a high-valued plot of land located in Karachi Administrative Cooperative Housing Society (KACHS). The plot had been partly encroached upon and is CDGK’s property through defunct KMC. The plot measures 1,500 square yards and it has an auction value of Rs 150 million.

Talking to Daily Times, District Officer (DO) Land Enforcement Abdul Malik said that he had sent Deputy DO Shakir Zaki to the plot to stop the ongoing construction.

When this reporter contacted Zaki, he told Daily Times that Baloch Colony police station had started construction of a police post on the plot, which was stopped on Thursday.

Zaki further said that the plot was handed over to CDGK’s Engineering Department in 1992 and originally was the property of the defunct KMC, which is now a part of CDGK after the devolution of powers.

Replying to a question, Zaki said that the area police had started construction of a police post on CDGK’s plot, citing the reason to be the escalating criminal activities in the park opposite CDGK’s plot.

According to Zaki, the police have assured him that they would submit an undertaking to the CDGK, stating that the police post would be removed and the possession of the plot would be handed over to the CDGK without delay whenever the CDGK would demand the plot back.

Zaki said that the construction of the police post has been stopped while he has asked the police to contact the Karachi DCO for permission to use the plot.

On a question, Zaki alleged that the KACHS administration has falsely claimed ownership of the plot and has allowed the police to take possession of the plot and proceed to construct a police post but now the police have been told that the plot is CDGK’s property.

Sources in CDGK told Daily Times that officers concerned from defunct KMC in collaboration with the area police were involved in the encroachment plan of the plot.

When this reporter contacted defunct KMC Land Director Tariq Naseer for his comments, he expressed his ignorance over the issue. He also said that the plot was not listed within the limits of his legal jurisdiction.

Replying to a question, Naseer refuted his involvement in any encroachment scam and further said that is this scribe has an authentic report then it should be published at all costs.

Talking to Daily Times, Baloch Colony police station SHO Hyder Ali Zaidi said that it was the KACHS administration’s decision to construct a room for the police check post, not on the plot but at the rear bank of the sewerage line.

The purpose to establish the police check post was to curb the street crimes in the area, he said while adding that the plot was not encroached upon.

The establishment of the check post by the residents of the area was a manifest of their trust on the police and they have further assured their cooperation to assist the area police for better services, he said. (DT Report)

Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed: a profile

Justice Sabihuddin Ahmad, who had an illustrious career as a jurist was born in 1949 in Hyderabad (Sindh). He obtained his early education from different parts of the country, his M.A from Punjab University in 1969, and LLB from the University of Karachi.

Justice Ahmed enrolled in the legal profession in 1972 and started his law practice with a leading lawyer, Khalid M. Ishaque. He was also a member of the Sindh High Court Bar Association and the Supreme Court Bar Association, and appeared before superior courts in important civil and constitutional cases.

He was a founder-member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and served as its vice-president from 1987 to 1990. He also participated in several international conferences on human rights and allied issues. He contributed several articles to newspapers and periodicals on constitutional human rights issues.

He was elevated as a judge of the Sindh High Court (SHC) in January 1997. He also participated in several international judicial conferences inside and outside the country, and was elected as a member of the International Advisory council of the International Centre for Promotion of Human Rights, as well as the steering committee of the South Asia Forum for legal education on gender issues.

He was appointed as the SHC chief justice (CJ) on April 28, 2005, after the elevation of the then-SHC CJ, Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, to the Supreme Court (SC). He was deposed by former president, Gen. (retd) Pervez Musharraf, on November 3, 2007, after the proclamation of emergency and the imposition of the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO).

Justice Ahmed, however, accepted a reappointment offer by the present Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government a as judge of the Supreme Court and re-joined the judiciary in September last year. He had been serving as an SC judge since.

He was also a member of a five-member SC bench that was dealing with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif’s review appeals in their disqualification matter. The five-member bench had suspended the SC judgment last month and ordered the restoration of Shahbaz Sharif as the Punjab Chief Minster.

During his 11-year-long judicial carrier, he delivered many landmark judgments in constitutional, human rights, service and civil matters. While dealing with cases of missing citizens, he took serious notice of the indifferent attitude of government in ascertaining the whereabouts of missing persons and observed that protection of life and liberty of citizen was responsibility of the government.

He also took suo moto notice over siege of Sindh High Court and city courts by miscreants on May 12, 2007 prior to the arrival of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry in Karachi.

In his recent SC judgment in a human rights case regarding bonded labourers, he declared that High Court had the plenary powers to positively enforce fundamental rights not merely against “public authorities but even private authorities” observing habeas corpus petitions could not be dismissed on the grounds that alternate remedies were available to detained persons. He was also a member of Board of Trustee of Aga Khan and Board of Governors, Hamdard University.