Basant as blasphemyWriting in Jang, Amjad Islam Amjad stated that in the era of medieval Muslim ruler of India Muhammad Tughlaq a Hindu in Lahore named Haqiqat Rai Dharmi had insulted the Holy Prophet PBUH and was punished with death by the local administration. On this the Hindu population of the city caused an uproar and killed a lot of Muslims to prevent Haqiqat Rai's death. But the death sentence was carried out on the day of Basant (Basant Panchami). The samadhi of Haqiqat Rai exists to this day near Lahore's Engineering University. While it is true that Basant is not a celebration of an insult offered to our Holy Prophet PBUH it nonetheless falls on the same day Haqiqat Rai was hanged and should therefore not be celebrated. Nawa-e-Waqt reported that the NWFP assembly passed a resolution asking for a ban on kite-flying on Basant. Daily Pakistan quoted Yusuf Salahuddin as saying that Basant as spring festival was started at the time of Muslim Emperor Aurangzeb and had nothing to do with Hindus. He said Allama Iqbal used to fly kites and enjoy the festival.
DNA test not good enough
Daily Pakistan reported that Lahore High Court had asked for expert opinion on whether to accept the evidence of DNA test. In two cases claims of paternity had been proved false on the basis of DNA test. Religious scholar Sarfraz Naeemi said DNA was not acceptable under Islam because it was not sure enough.
Gilgit terrorists caught in Peshawar
According to Jang, the companion of Niaz who was killed by gunfire from the body guards of the murdered Shia leader Agha Ziauddin Rizvi was caught in Peshawar. His phone number was found in the pocket of the dead terrorist. Both took part in the killing but Niaz was killed during the shooting.
'I did not make any deal!'
PPP leader Mr Asif Zardari was quoted by Nawa-e-Waqt as saying that during his incarceration he was kept in the cell where his father-in-law Bhutto was kept before his hanging. He said he was frequently marched in front of the place where Bhutto was hanged to scare him into making a deal with the government, but he had not.
Salma Ahmad reveals Junejo's corruption
Extracted in Jang, a memoir ('Cutting Free') of Karachi industrialist Salma Ahmad said that after she had acquired an oil factory in Karachi, prime minister Muhammad Khan Junejo met her and said she had done so without permission and must give him 60 percent shares in it. Because she did not want to take on a prime minister, she offered to give the factory to him, for which he prepared proper papers of sale and purchase. Thus she avoided being maltreated by bribing the prime minister. When she offered to 'buy' it he said his family never sold anything, it always bought things. Junejo took the factory in the names of his two children. Then General Zia included her name in his Shura, but her former husband Admiral (Retd) Fazil Janjua threatened that he would resign if she was taken. Frontier governor General Fazle Haq approached Zia and asked him why he was taking 'this cabaret lady'? After that Zia dropped her. She also narrated the incident of a JUP-supporting federal minister Afaq Shahid getting a car from her simply to vote in her favour.
Angel of death calls
According to Nawa-e-Waqt one Haji Farzand of Muridke was addressed by the Angel of Death Izraeel while he was performing hajj. The Angel said 'come with me'! Haji Farzand said spare me because here in Saudi Arabia I am without waris (heirs). The Angel kept repeating his request but waited till Haji Farzand had reached home at Muridke. After that a sudden heart attack took the man away.
'Namaz' behind PM without 'wuzu'
Sarerahe in Nawa-e-Waqt said that PML chief Chaudhry Shujaat was heard telling a gathering of PML members that he had seen some people running after the prime minister to say namaz behind him, but they did not care to do ablution (wuzu) first. After that Chaudhry Sahib held his ears in fear of Allah. Sarerahe said that the wuzu was ignored because there was fear that others might take the places close to the PM.
Shehbaz 'third time lucky'
According to Nawa-e-Waqt, PML leader Shehbaz Sharif after marrying Tehmina Durrani in London said that he had done it to achieve peace of mind (itminan-e-qalb). Another leader Ghulam Mustafa Khar — himself married 8 times and earlier married to Tehmina — said that he hoped that third time would be lucky for Shehbaz. The paper said that the divorce of second wife Aliya 'Honey' was not yet complete and that Shehbaz's son Hamza had also divorced his wife. Daily Khabrain reported that after marrying Shehbaz Sharif Tehmina Durrani had become vice president of PMLN. Daily Insaf reported that Nawaz Sharif had stopped talking to his brother after the wedding. It reported that soon a new PML would be announced and Shehbaz will give Tehmina the charge of establishing it in Pakistan.
Christian women exploited through 'nikahnama'
Quoted in Khabrain, Bishop John Malik of Lahore stated that as long as the minorities were not represented in the Senate the system in Pakistan would not be completely democratic. He said there was a legal loophole which enabled people to kidnap Christian women and convert them to Islam forcibly. After that they obtained nikahnama (marriage deed) that prevented the Christian women from being restored to their faith. He said Christian youth could not get admission to professional institutions because Muslims got extra marks for reading the Quran and Islamiyat which the Christians could not.
'We killed 150 terrorists in Wana!'
Quoted in Jang, corps commander Peshawar General Safdar Hussain said that the operation in Wana had killed over 150 foreign terrorists while a large number of them had been arrested. He said there were still around 100 at large in the area. In March 2004, there were 600-700 of them there. He said the survivors had fled in groups of four and were spread around in the country. There were 70,000 Pakistani troops deployed in South Waziristan while there were only 18,000 allied and Afghan forces on the Afghan side of the border. He said he had ordered 44 operations in one year.