UN still to decide taking up probe into Benazir Bhutto’s killing

After Pakistan made a formal request to probe Benazir Bhutto’s killing in December, UN officials are said to be analysing the UN procedures to conduct the probe.

The UN has yet to decide if the new Pakistani government’s request to have an investigation of former premier Benazir Bhutto’s assassination is to be acceded to, reported the Daily Times.

According to Brenden Varma of the office of the UN spokesman, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Paris this week and told him that the UN was analysing the Pakistan’s request and UN procedures.

There would need to be consultations with member states, he said and added that he had “no definitive news to give about the request for an investigation just yet”.

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PPP Protests Against Burning Of Benazir, Zardari Portraits

HYDERABAD: Activists of the ruling Pakistan Peopleís Party (PPP) on Thursday took out rallies and staged demonstrations against the burning and disgracing of portraits of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari in the Punjab cities.

Activists of the Sindh Peopleís Youth took out a rally, led by divisional president Ahsan Abro and others, with activists chanting slogans against the workers of the PML-N.

Another protest rally was brought to the Hyderabad Press Club, which was led by provincial minister Zahid Bhurguri, Amanullah Siyal, Aftab Khanzada and others. The protesters were carrying placards inscribed with slogans against the PML-N workers and demanding President Zardari to take action against those involved in damaging the portraits of the slain chairperson.

The protesters also set on fire the effigy of PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif. They said protesting against the decision of the apex court was the right of the PML-N but damaging the portraits of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari had hurt the sentiments of millions of supporters of the PPP.

Large contingents of police and Rangers were deployed to prevent violence as the PML-N workers were staging a demonstration at the press club when the PPP workers arrived.

Our Khairpur correspondent adds: The students wing of the PPP protested against the destruction of the monument of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi by the PML-N workers.

The students of the Shah Abdul Latif University staged a demonstration and alleged that the PML-N was instigating the PPP workers but said the PPP was a party of democratic personalities. They said the Supreme Court had announced the disqualification decision on merit.

However, they said, the PML-N was accusing President Asif Ali Zardari for the verdict. The tone of the Sharif brothers towards the president of Pakistan was intolerable, they said. They said if the Sharifs did not change their tone of criticism, then they will react.

The PPP women wing protested against the disfiguring of portraits of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. The women workers said the PPPP will not tolerate such acts of the PML-N.

Our Naushahro Feroze correspondent adds: Hundreds of activists of the PPP staged a protest and a sit-in outside the local press club against the disfiguring of portraits of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi and other cities of the Punjab.

The rally started from the PPP district office and went round the entire city before terminating at the local press club. The rally was led by Sadruddin Ujan, president PPP Lawyers Forum, Ubaidullah Rajpar, Shahnaz Ansar, district president PPP Women Wing, Bakhtawar Vistro and others.

The protesters raised slogans against the PML-N and the Chaudhry brothers. Speaking to a large gathering, the local leaders said Benazir Bhutto had sacrificed her life for democracy in Pakistan and its masses.

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A Tribute to Benazir By - Pir Nasirudun

This poem is by Pir Naseer-ur-Din Naseer of Goldra Sharif on Banzir's brutal murder. It stands fixed at Liaqat bgh near the palce where she was assassinated

PHOTOGRAPHER KA HAR BAAT SAY MUTTAFIQ HONA ZARORI NAHIN
------------------

Yeh takht-e-fakhra par tajdaar bethay hain
K teer-e-waqt ki zad main shikar bethay hain

Qaba-e-sabr kiyay tar tar bethay hain
Yeh kis ki yad main sab sogwar bethay hain

Ujard gaya hay yeh kis badnaseeb ak gulshan
Yeh kis kay sog main log ashakbar bethay hain

Wo Asifa ho, bilawal ho, yah ka bakhtawar
Nadhal gham say ba-gird-e-mazaar bethay hain

Teray jiyalay teri rah main BENAZIR ab bi
Liyay huway dil-e-ummeed-war bethay hain

Na bhool paayain gay ta zindagi khuda shahid
Wo teray saath jo lamhay guzar bethay hain

To aaj apny jiyaloun ko dekh to aa kar
Sehmain huway sitam-e-roozgar bethay hain

Wo tourd saktay nahin ab kisi be soorat main
Jo ehd tuj say kiyay ustawar bethay hain

Yeh kum hay kiya k tery ba’ad be yeh diwanay
Liyay saroun main wafaa ka khumar bethay hain

Tassallian unhayin denay ko aaey ga ab koun?
Teray ghareeb sar-e-rah guzar bethay hain

Jinhain guman tha k day tuj ko mout shaayad maat
Wo bazi jeet k be aaj har bethay hain

To mar gayee magar ab b diloun main zindaa hay
Kiyay huway pah adoo, sharmsar bethay hain

Yeh gham koi teray bachoun say poochay jo tuj ko
Khud apnay hathoun, lehed main utaar bethay hain

Daraz umr ho afaaq1 main bilawal ki
Jo apnay nana ki ik yaadgar bethay hain

Hay khanwada-e-bhutto ko teray azm pe naaz
Jo lut chakay hain magar ba-waqar bethay hain

Hawa ki sheh ph jo ouncha urday teray dushman
Thami hawa, to wo misle-e-ghubar, bethay hain

Tamaam shehr hai khamoush, band hain bazaar
Udas, teray aqeedat-guzar bethay hain

Nikal k un ko dikha day zara jhalak apni
Teray lehed pe teray jaan-nisaar bethay hain

Teray siwa unhain aa kar uthaiay koun k jo!
Lagaiay dil say gham-e-rozgar bethay hain

To who khateeba, khatabat ko naaz hay jis par
Teri he yaad main sab dil-figar bethay hain

To apni zaat main kia BENAZIR ban k uthi
K teray ro’ab say fitnay hazar bethay hain

To aik chaand jo teergai k halqay main
Tou aik gul k teray gird khaar bethay hain

To aik hoor shamail, to who haya paikar
Ko log sar teri seerat peh waar bethay hain

Bilawal, Asifa, Bakhtawar, aur Zardari
Liyay huway alam-e-zulfiqar bethay hain
Hay aarzo k teri maghfirat ho aur unhain
Ata ho sabr jog am say do chaar bethay hain

Milain gi tuj ko shifa’at shafi-e-mehshar ki
Pa-aiy duwa sulaha-e-kabar bethay hain

NASEEER un say zayaan kar koi kiya ho ga!
Jo ap apnay maseeha ko maar bethay hain

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Zardari targeting Benazir’s close aides considered threat to his supremacy

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari considers his critics and supporters of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, as rivals and a potential threat to his supremacy, a Telegraph report suggests.

Zardari has initiated disciplinary action against Dr Safdar Abbasi and his wife, Naheed Khan, a close associate of Bhutto, for their open criticism of his rule.

Another senior Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader, Aitzaz Ahsan, has been snatched of his Central Executive Committee membership, as Ahsan played a leading role in the movement to restore the former Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was sacked by former President General Pervez Musharraf.

"We have not yet been issued notices, but Aitzaz is first and we will be next in line," the newspaper quoted, Abbasi, as saying.

Naheed Khan had charged Zardari of running the party as a ''one-man show'', and termed his leadership as a complete failure. She also accused Zardari of abandoning Bhutto's political vision.

Sources said that Zardari was particularly irritated when Abbasi, her wife, and Ahsan visited Bhutto's sister Sanam in London recently. Zardari considered the meeting as a conspiration against his leadership, as Sanam had earlier been presented as a possible successor of Benazir Bhutto, following her assassination, by some senior party leaders.

Sources also added that close associates of Zardari aired false news about romance between Fatima, Bhutto's niece, and Hollywood actor George Clooney to malign her image and dent her authority as a potential future leader of the party.

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The mandate of the UN commission

The mandate of the UN commission that will probe the 2007 assassination of former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto will not exceed six months and will not extend to conducting a criminal investigation, according to a UN letter.

In a letter to the UN Security Council, UN chief Ban Ki-moon, said that after extensive discussions with Pakistani authorities and members of the Security Council, "it has been agreed that the international commission should be fact-finding in nature and that its mandate would be to determine the facts and circumstances of the assassination."

"The duty of determining criminal responsibility of the perpetrators of the assassination would remain with the Pakistani authorities," Dawn quoted Ban's letter, as saying.

The UN Secretary General made the announcement on the independent panel on Wednesday at a banquet hosted by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.

Pakistan had called for a UN commission to probe the assassination of the two-time Prime Minister who was killed at a campaign rally, after her supporters were angered by conflicting accounts from the then-government of how she died.

UN sources said the UN enquiry panel was likely to be headed by Chile's UN Ambassador Heraldo Munoz.

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Higher Education! Isn't it a waste?

A few years ago, it was a trend of the young graduates applying for the scholarships and enrolling them to the foreign universities, more and more students appearing in the NTS - National Testing Service quizzes for different scholarships; most of them for foreign universities, and least of them strengthening the universities of the country.

I don't know what would be the future of those vacuumed in foreign countries, now as the funds to HEC - Higher Education Commission are no more available.

But a question I must ask, whether the returning folks from the foreign countries have the facilities of research, labs, and opportunities for grooming their work over here. NUST - National University of Science and Technology has acquired acres of land for campus in Islamabad, has offered number of scholarships to the students in foreign countries, but I don't think would have strengthened the laboratories and research tombs they are decorating these days.

I am the one who has witnessed the PC - 1 of the boundary wall for a 20,000 acres of Gomal University, and the laboratories & libraries of the university seems ghost houses. Hazara University is offering more than 65 degrees in different disciplines, but many of departments lacks basic necessities to proceed with practical work of under graduates.

I don't know what the hell would those Ph.D's do, when they'll back here, most of them expecting a massive salary packages in universities, not the research & development work they were expected for. Who would offer them same, when HEC is on it's knees!
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Policy makes higher education a waste!

A few days ago, in a post, "Higher Education, Isn't it a waste?", which stated the folks getting in to the trouble, while higher education commission gets in to severe crisis after a cutoff in the budget. In a response to this post, few of my friends quoted it as a rubbish, that how can be the higher education a waste for the country, what actually is the reason that the higher education seems a waste to me. I would suggest that I am also in confidence that in Pakistan, the policies followed are most of the dumb shit. e.g. when higher education is being debated today, who cares about the primary and the secondary education. Millions of Dollars are being spent for the scholarships and the research purposes, but the conditions of the standard in the government schools and even in the most of the privately operated schools is pity. I would quote the conditions of the working days in primary education, if is average, the primary schools are operating for only 72 days in a year academically. I don't know how can students of such systems can be a better option for the higher education.

One of my friend wrote here that, "I fully agree isn't it a waste., better to have more ministers and people have the status of minister rather than giving scholarships to deserving students", for that my brother, I would only say that I am also not in favor of having a clone of ministers roaming here and there, with nothing to do, just like same I am also not interested and would not like to see a clone of Ph.D's wandering here and there in this country, like many of other unemployed young graduates, where the research institutions, laboratories and universities have nothing to do any thing. I have witnessed many professors just practicing a campus politics and kitty parties, as they don't have any work to do, because the laboratories and research facilities doesn't exist. I am only saying that, "Isn't it a waste, that existing professionals are doing nothing, and suppose many are yet to come!"
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Torture of PSF office-bearer condemned

THE Peoples Students Federation (PSF), Punjab, has condemned the alleged torture of PSF Punjab general secretary and demanded the Pakistan Peoples Party leadership take notice of the incident.

Addressing a press conference at Lahore Press Club on Saturday, PSF Punjab General Secretary Zohaib Butt and other office-bearers alleged that he (Zohaib Butt) was tortured when PSF activists were chanting slogans for restoration of student unions and rights of students during the district convention of the party at Kasur on Jan 30.

They alleged that some men of Pakistan Peoples Party Central Executive Committee member Ch Manzoor Ahmed were responsible for torture of the PSF Punjab general secretary.

They said the Pakistan Peoples Party leaders sitting on stage during the convention acted as silent spectators and did nothing when Zohaib Butt was being tortured. They demanded the PPP either abolish its student wing or give proper representation to it and solve its problems.
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Introduction to National Students Federation (NSF)

One of the oldest progressive student organisations in Pakistan. Began as the student wing of the Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP). Exhibited electoral supremacy in student union elections through the 1960s and early 1970s. Was at the forefront of the movement against the Ayub Khan dictatorship in 1968. Experienced a split in early 1960s when a pro-China faction broke away and formed the Democratic Students Federation (DSF). Electoral influence started to vain from 1973 onwards as another faction broke away and formed the Liberal Students Federation (LSF).
In the late 1970s and 1980s the NSF became part of the progressive electoral alliances, the United Students Movement (USM) in Karachi and the Progressive Students Alliance in Punjab. Currently the NSF has a small presence in a couple of colleges in Sindh, Punjab and Azad Kashmir.
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Scholarship Resources

Various scholarships are available to Pakistani students for studies abroad or within the country, especially at postgraduate level. A brief list of major scholarships and funding resources is provided below.

Details of various international & national scholarships:-

* International Scholarship Resources

* National Scholarship Resources
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