Outlook English - Print Subscribers Copy Outlook English, 26 March 2018 | Page 13

MIRRORED INSPIRATION
“T
ORA Man Darpan
Kehlaye”, sings
Ban­­galore cop D. Roopa
Moudgil in a music video.
Having shot to fame when
she reported the allegedly
privileged treat-
ment AIADMK
leader V.K. Sasi­
kala received in
jail, she has turned
to fresh pastures.
“Proud to release
my music video.
This should be
the best tribute I
could have given to women
on International Women’s
Day,” she said. The song is
from the 1965 film Kaajal,
starring Meena Kumari
and Dharmendra. She des­
cribed the song as
inspirati­onal, cit-
ing the lines “Your
mind is like the
mirror. It is in the
mind—happiness,
sadness, success,
failure. If you can
think you can, you
surely will.”
RITES OF HARMONY
T
HERE are a few verdant meadows still
in the Kashmir Valley. At Noorpora, in
Pul­wama district, a funeral procession saw
Muslim boys bearing a deceased Pandit wom-
an’s body on their shoulders, while Muslim
women visited her house to offer condolences.
Noor­pora is one enclave where Pandit fami-
lies stayed back amid the turmoil. And when
Kamlavati, 80, pas­­sed away, neighbours offered
all the help they could. “We never left or felt
the need to leave. We have been living with our
Muslim neighbours in harmony and will con-
tinue to do so,” a relation of the deceased said.
A SUPREME BELIEF FOR OFFICE
I
T didn’t need a prop­
het to predict. Justice
Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui
of the Islamabad High
Court pronounced a
ver­­dict affirming the
com­­pulsory nature of the
Khatam-e-Nabuwwat
(‘finality of prophethood’)
oath. To become a public
servant in Pakistan, in pol-
itics, civil service, the mil-
itary or the judiciary, you
must “solemnly swear”
that you “believe in the...
finality of the propheth-
ood of Muhammad”. This
targets the Ahmadiyya
sect, who were declared
non-Muslims by Parlia-
ment in 1974. The 2017
Election Act’s attempt to
soften the wording led to
protests by hardliners, the
dismissal of law minister
Zahid Hamid, and a
court case over the Act’s
constitutionality.
Deep Waters In Gwadar
B
ELIEVE it or not, China could be building and operating
the multi-billion dollar Gwador Port, but Pakistani auth­­
orities are yet to give it the much-needed security clearance.
The National Assembly’s standing committee on finance
was told recently that the ministry of interior had not iss­
ued security clearance certificate to M/s China Overseas
Ports Holding Company Limited (COPHCL). The company is
building and operating the port. The information shocked
members of the standing committee, who asked the invo­
lved agencies to probe the matter and report back.
A Pakistani English daily, News International, repor­
ted: “The Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan
(SECP) has been directed to launch an investigation, the
NA committee said in a meeting held here at Parliament
on Tuesday under chairmanship of Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh.”
According to news reports, SECP executive director
Shaukat Hussain informed the
NA panel that the ministry of
A politician
int­­erior had not yet issued a secu­
cited reports
rity cle­­arance certificate to M/s
to say that
COPHCL-Pakistan, that is bui­­lding
COPHCL-
and operating the deep-sea port.
Pakistan,
He said that they had wri­­tten to
the ministry in Nove­mber 2014,
which is
but got no response so far.
building and
The ministry requires compa-
operating
nies involving foreign director-
Gwadar,
ships and subscribers to secure
has dubious
a mandatory clearance—the No
origins.
Objection Certificate.
Asad Umar, the PTI member
in the NA, alleged that COPHCL-Pakistan was a company
of unknown credentials. Referring to some news reports,
he said the article claimed the parent company of the
COPHCL-­Pakistan—the China Overseas Ports Holding Ltd—
was a one-room company registered in Hong Kong.
The chairman of the NA panel asked the SECP to probe
these allegations in order to determine the origin of the
parent company of COPHCL-Pakistan. The committee
also directed the SECP to submit complete profiles of the
parent company and its subsidiary.
The committee asked the SECP to review the security
clearance issue of COPHCL-Pakistan. The SECP also sub-
mitted documents in the standing committee. Its papers
showed that the three directors of the company hold only
three shares—one each for its three directors—and the
rest of its total 10 million shares is owned by the parent
company COPHL, which is based in Hong Kong.
The COPHL requested the SECP registrar for approval of
COPHCL-Pakistan’s name in August 2014. But the interior
ministry did not give a security clearance certificate.
26 March 2018 OUTLOOK 13