Why Qazi linked Osama to Nawaz SharifColumnist Nazeer Naji wrote in Jang that Qazi Husain Ahmad of Jamaat Islami had stated that Osama bin Laden had offered to fund Nawaz Sharif for bribing MNAs against Ms Benazir Bhutto, but Nawaz Sharif had never accepted the story as true. Now Qazi Sahib was confessing to having met Osama a number of times but not accepting any deal with him. Ms Bhutto had protested that Osama had made the offer but at present she was in the process of coordinating policy with Nawaz Sharif and had not repeated the accusation. Why was Qazi Sahib so interested in maligning Nawaz Sharif who had never met Osama? Quoted in Khabrain Jamaat IslamiÂ’s leader Amirul Azim said that Qazi SahibÂ’s interview was three months old and had been taken out of context and published at the behest of the government.
America will not favour QaziÂ’s beard
Sarerahe in Nawa-e-Waqt wrote that Qazi Hussain AhmadÂ’s charge that Osama bin Laden had offered to help Nawaz Sharif defeat Ms Bhutto was perhaps meant to create a gulf between PPP and PMLN or to seek favour with the Americans. But Qazi Sahib was not playing his political cards with great wisdom. America may not care too much for his beard after all.
Burqa-clad boys in ladiesÂ’ meeting
According to Khabrain two boys, thinking they would get a nice time, entered a Majlis of Shia ladies on the chehlum of Imam Husain in Dera Ghazi Khan. Misled by hostile sectarian myths, the two boys took burqas and entered the Majlis but were quickly identified as boys. The guards opened fire whereupon one got killed. The other boy was caught by the men who broke his arms and legs.
‘A fish in America’s pitcher’
As reported in Nawa-e-Waqt Dr Israr Ahmad of the Tanzim Islami said that Pakistan was no longer a free country after 9/11. It was in fact a fish swimming about in the pitcher of American domination while it was thinking it was swimming in the ocean. He said Pakistan was neither Islamic, nor a welfare state, nor democratic; and that Muslim League after Jinnah was grabbed by self-seeking people.
May God save Nawaz Sharif!
Writing in Jang Nazeer Naji stated that when he read that an ex-ISI officer had accused Nawaz Sharif of having contacts with Al Qaeda he was greatly worried about his survival. In Pakistan its first premier Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated, General Ayub died tortured by the thought of his friendsÂ’ betrayal, Bhutto was hanged and General Zia died through terrorism. Nawaz Sharif, he thought, was lucky to escape death in 1999 when he was deposed.
Beard in the air force?
Daily Nawa-e-Waqt editorialised that an officer of the Pakistan air force had been penalised because he broke the regulation against keeping a beard. The MMA had protested in parliament against the punishment. The paper thought that the said officer had the right to keep the beard as his religious duty. After all Pakistan was created on the basis of Islam and a beard was an Islamic duty. WerenÂ’t the Sikhs able to keep their hair in the Indian air force?
Indian Muslims should be wise!
Columnist Zafar Agha wrote in Khabrain from New Delhi that after the bomb attacks in Lucknow and Varanasi it was feared that the Hindus would take to the streets and start killing the Muslims. But the chief of the grand Hindu temple in Varanasi (Sankat Mochan Mandir) got on the loudspeaker and announced that no Hindu should be provoked. The routine in India is that the Muslims are first provoked by the extremist Hindu elements like the BJP to start coming to the streets in large numbers, after which the Hindu crowds attack them. But Indian Muslims canÂ’t understand this and continue to be ruled by emotion.
Imran Khan most popular in Held Kashmir
Columnist Javed Chaudhry wrote in Jang that leader of Held Kashmir Yaseen Malik who was recently in Pakistan asked his audience, ‘Do you know who is the most popular Pakistani leader in Held Kashmir?’ He himself answered that it was Imran Khan. The columnist wrote that Yaseen Malik was the foremost leader from across the LoC who was doing backdoor diplomacy for uniting the two Kashmirs. He was invited by the Indian prime minister and enjoyed old relations with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and had the confidence of President Musharraf whom he called ‘our president sahib.’
Poverty and custom
Sarerahe wrote in Nawa-e-Waqt that, according to a survey, poverty in Pakistan had increased while customs around marriages had intensified. This had resulted in the marriageable young men and women not getting married at the right time. Because of poverty and because of rising prices most families were scared off wedding customs which had actually become more widespread.