By Dr. Yaseen Iqbal Yousafzay, Sheffield (UK)
In 2006, we were in Kabul in connection with the 80th birthday celebrations of the legendary poet, journalist and writer, Ajmal Khattak. One morning I asked the renowned poet Saif-ur-Rahman Saleem (a contemporary of Khattak Sahib), what is the uniqueness of Ajmal Khattak? He smiled as usual and said, “I can’t forget this and since then I have a great respect for this man. I was setting with Dost Muhammad Khan Kamil at his BalaKhana when a young boy wearing a khaki sheet covering his chin entered the room. Dost Muhammad Khan looked at him and said! O’ boy! Should I arrange a safe exit for you or you really want to die? The boy said! Kamil Saib! If I ran away, my cause will become the cause of an outlaw a criminal. No. I would not do that.”

NWFP Assembly through a unanimous resolution on Friday demanded of the federal government to rename the Peshawar International Airport as Bacha Khan International Airport so the services of Bacha Khan for the Pakhtun nation could be acknowledged.

Moving the resolution in the house senior minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour urged the house to support this resolution as Bacha Khan was great Pakhtun leader and his services for the Pakhtun nation were recognised by the world. He said Bacha Khan fought war against the British imperialist power therefore monuments in the country must be built to pave tribute to the great leaders.

Bashir Bilour before moving the resolution requested the speaker to relax the rules and allow him to table the resolution in the house. The house unanimously supported the resolution and demanded of the central government to rename the Peshawar International airport as Bach Khan International Airport.

By Sher Alam Shinwari

During the previous MMA government in the NWFP, Nishtar Hall remained shut for five years causing a serious setback not only to performing artistes but also dealt a severe deathblow to cultural activities in the Frontier capital.

The rationale behind the closure of Nishtar Hall was not without reason. Some unscrupulous sponsors and financiers exploited unsuspecting theatre buffs by staging dramas with vulgar dances, immoral dialogues and below-the-belt humour that was in utter contrast to the social norms and traditions of Pashtun society.

It aroused indignation among the stakeholders and even a stratum of the artistes raised their voice against these so-called ‘art promoters’, urging the then government to purge stage of such people who were minting money in the guise of holding ‘cultural activities’.

The News International

MARDAN: A grand jirga here Wednesday asked the terrorists and miscreants to leave the area and decided to establish peace committees to purge the area of outlaws.
Political activists, representatives of non-government organisations and religious scholars attended the jirga, which was convened by the District Nazim, Himayatullah Mayar, at the police lines.
Speaking on the occasion, the nazim expressed concern that some elements in guise of Taliban were slaughtering people and government officials, and attacking CD shops, girls’ schools and police stations. The district nazim said cooperation of local people with the law-enforcement agencies was necessary to maintain peace.
Former chairman municipal committee Mardan Haji Arshad Khan said foreign hands were behind the militancy prevailing in various parts of the country. He supported formation of peace committees at police station and union council levels and asked people to join the committees.
In his speech, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Akhtar Ali Shah said development and prosperity could not be achieved without peace. The jirga approved several resolutions: All terrorists and criminals should leave Mardan; an armed force will be established for peace; committees will be constituted within one week and would resolve disputes and problems in the district; peace committees would discuss related issues with the district government and will round up those disrupting peace in the region.

G.N. Mughul

KARACHI: WAPDA is charging about 50 percent more tariff on electricity from all the three smaller provinces viz. Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan vis a vis Punjab, through the courtesy of NEPRA.
The enquiries further reveal that NEPRA has fixed about 50 percent more tariff on all the three smaller provinces on the ground that the Electric companies viz. Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO), Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO) and Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO), supplying electricity to Sindh, Balochistan and NWFP respectively, have been found sustaining huge losses vis a vis the companies of Punjab.

KABUL: Awakened Youth Association Wednesday demanded that the year 2010 must be named after great freedom fighter and proponent of the philosophy of non-violence Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, popularly known as Fakhr-e-Afghan and Bacha Khan.