Reverting to Islam is something that has always been part of cultural exchange that takes place between Muslims and non-Muslims. Bob Woolmer was no stranger to Pakistan. Being the coach of Pakistan’s cricket team at the time of his death, he was very familiar with the religion of Islam and Muslims. He had seen cricketers pray, some...
Pakistan Cricket Board has luckily been shown interest by four different corporations who all want to help launch Pakistan’s first ever international T20 league. Competing with everything that India does, Pakistan does not want to leave behind when it comes to cricket. Already with the banning of international matches in the country...
Pakistani drama and film actress Humaima Malik, answering questions about Bollywood, Wasim Akram, Veena Malik and Lollywood………
What should the modern Pakistani woman really be like?
The modern Pakistani woman needs to move on from ‘bolne ki ijazat chaiye’ to ‘bolne ki himmat chahiye’ status. She does not have to see the world from her burkha any more. She needs to stand up for her children. All the restrictions put on Pakistani women are man made. Our mazhab does not put any limitations or restrictions on women.
Many Pakistani female actors have relocated to Bollywood. Do you also propose to do that?
I will only do films that interest me. I could work in Bollywood, Hollywood or the Pakistani films. However, I can’t dance in the rain for a film.
There are Pakistani actors like Veena Malik who are famous for their controversial shows. Would you like to comment on her?
I don’t really want to comment on Veena or other Pakistani actors, because they are doing what suits them. Veena must have wanted that kind of exposure for herself. I think she’s perfectly suited for reality shows like Bigg Boss. She is the Rakhi Sawant of Pakistan. How can you expect her to do something meaningful? As far as I am concerned, I am too patriotic to leave my country and pursue a career anywhere else. Also, it makes better sense to be a star in your own country than do stupid television shows in some other country. You can’t compare Rakhi Sawant with Madhuri Dixit.
So are you saying that you are the Madhuri Dixit of Pakistan?
No. All I am saying is that Veena and I are different people, with different professional goals.
Given that Pakistan has certain views of code of conduct for women, did you face any issues when you became an actor?
I am a Muslim and proud to be one. I belong to an educated family. My parents supported my decision to become a model and actor. When my nikaah fell apart, they were supportive too. It all depends on the way you conduct yourself. I am not desperate for fame and publicity like a lot of others. The reason why I did my first film is because the director, Shoaib (Mansoor) is an intelligent man. Pakistan has made me a star today and I am grateful to my country for that.
You are better known as cricketer Wasim Akram’s girlfriend, than a model/actor? Does it help to have a celeb boyfriend?
If Wasim Akram is a cricketer, then I am an actor. So we are both celebs in our own right. Kisi ke saath coffee pee liya ya khana kha liya and everyone starts gossiping. I really wished that our friendship was not blown out of proportion. Why is it difficult for people to see us as just friends? Nobody even realizes that Wasim has young children and this kind of talk will only make things difficult for him. Just because I hang out with him does not mean I am dating him. But now the gossip mills are working over time and frankly I don’t care about the rumours. Wasim’s my best friend and someone I trust unconditionally. He’s also a great human being. We have a very strong bond and we’ve been friends for very long. Our friendship can only strengthen and might go on to another level. Inshahallah!
Do you feel that the Pakistani film industry is getting better?
It is sad that the political situation of our country is unpredictable at times. I am hoping that I get to work with intelligent and sensitive filmmakers of Pakistan. I am sure that our country will one day have a great future and so will our film industry.
The South African left-arm fast bowler Wayne Parnell has accepted Islam as his new religion. He, if selected in future, will now be third Muslim in current South African team along with Hashim Amla and Pakistan born Imran Tahir.
A South African news agency Independent Online published news that Wayne Parnell has converted to Islamic faith. Proteas’ team manager Dr Mohammad Moosajee confirmed the news by saying: “It was his choice to embrace Islam.”
Another South African news site also says that he has not finalized his Islamic name yet but it is likely to be Waleed. As of now he is Wayne Dillon Parnell.
Some forwarded text messages are of the view that Proteas ODI vice-captain Hashim Amla’s influenced Parnell’s conversion from Christianity to Islam. However, Parnell’s agent Ismail Kajee has denied this rumor.
Wayne Parnell, who is about to turn 22, was captain of South Africa’s team in U/19 WC 2008. He made his Test debut in 2010 against England after making his ODI debut in 2009 against Australia.
Parnell is a left-arm bowler who relies on his pace and is highly regarded as limited-over cricket specialist. In ODIs, so far, he has taken 31 wickets in 19 games. He is also known for his hostile, yorker-infested, spell against Pakistan in ICC World T20 Semi Final 2009 in Nottingham.
He has also represented Delhi daredevils and Pune Warriors in IPL 2010 and 2011 respectively. Currently, he is a team-mate of Rana Naveed-ul-Hassan and Umar Gul in Sussex county’s campaign in Friends life t20 in England.
The Pakistan squad comes bearing 56 medals as they return to the country today after a successful run at the recently-concluded Special Olympics Summer Games 2011 in Athens, Greece. Pakistan bagged 17 gold medals, 25 silver and 14 bronze medals while competing in a week-long event that featured 7,500 athletes from 180 countries around the world.
The 82-member contingent participated in eight sports including athletics, aquatics, badminton, basketball, bocce, cycling, football and table tennis.
According to the delegation head Ronak Lakhani, while it was important that the country managed to secure 56 medals, however, the Special Olympics of Pakistan’s aim was to encourage all athletes and ensure that every member of the squad was treated like a winner.
During the competitive week at the Games, some athletes made a bigger mark than others. Adeel Ameer, an 18-year-old came out victorious in the 100-metre run, high-jump and 4×100 metre events to become the most successful athlete in the squad, grabbing the top positions in the three events that he participated in.
Meanwhile, 11-year old Bakhtawar Gul secured two gold medals in the 100-metre run and long jump-events and a silver medal in the 4×100-metre relay race.
The Games, however, were not free of setbacks. Rahimullah Baig had to face a disqualification in the 800-metre run, but the 17-year-old spirited athlete never gave up hope and managed to win a silver medal in the 1500-metre run and bagged a gold medal in the 4×100-metre relay race with Ameer, Tahir Siddique and Sakhawat Ali, who also won silver medals in shot-put and the 200-metre individual race.
“Athletics team won the most medals for Pakistan,” coach Javad Arshad told The Express Tribune. “All my athletes have improved because of the strong domestic structure that we have in place to train them.
“We had been preparing these athletes for the last two years in their cities, while we began the camp for the Olympic Games four months prior to the event. It has paid off well.”
Meanwhile, Amir Munawar emerged as the only swimmer to win two silver medals at the 25-metre breaststroke and 25-metre freestyle events, whereas cyclist Sana Javed bagged a gold medal in the five-kilometre race and silver in 1000-metre event. Billawal Aslam secured one gold and two bronze medals despite a prior shoulder injury.
In the team sports, Pakistan men and women basketball teams won silver medals, while Suhail Khan and Rabia Saeed won badminton singles titles. Similarly, Mehwish Iftikhar and Arsalan Ahmed won table tennis singles events in their respective categories.
Source:Tribune
Pakistan proudly received a great honour on the eve of the Special Olympic Games in Athens when it was selected to carry the Olympic Torch from among the 185 participating countries at the historic opening ceremony scheduled for Saturday evening.
A young talented Pakistani swimmer Farah Vohra has been chosen to carry the torch which will be leading all the teams at the grand ceremony.
Farah Vohra, an athlete from Karachi has been swimming for the past six years and is competing in two events – the 25-metre backstroke and 25-metre freestyle, at the World Games.
Having met with a warm welcome upon arrival in Athens last Monday, the Pakistan delegation have spent the last five days enjoying the historic city and training alongside the sea.
Pakistan will be participating in eight sports competitions, which are athletics, aquatics, badminton, basketball, bocce (a ball game for low ability athletes), cycling, football and table tennis.
Chairman of the board Ijaz Butt told a media conference in Islamabad that senior batsman Misbah-ul-Haq would lead the team in the two one-day matches against Ireland on May 28 and 30.
“Afridi has been retained as a player in the one-day squad but the captaincy has gone to Misbah,” Butt said without elaborating the reason for the decision.
Afridi had captained the team to the World Cup semi-finals where they lost to India and recently also guided them to a 3-2 win over the West Indies in the ODI series in the Caribbean.
He has been leading the T20 and ODI sides since early 2010.
Earlier, it had been reported that the PCB was considering sidelining Afridi from the Ireland series. Afridi had confirmed receiving a letter from the PCB demanding an explanation of the remarks made on team management’s interference during the Caribbean tour, returned to Pakistan after the completion of the limited-overs matches.
Manchester United clinched a record 19th English league title after coming from behind to draw 1-1 at Blackburn on Saturday, as Wayne Rooney equalized with a controversial penalty.
Alex Ferguson’s team went into the penultimate match of the Premier League campaign needing just a point to end second-placed Chelsea’s reign and move past arch-rivals Liverpool in the alltime standings.
Blackburn, battling to avoid relegation, took the lead in the 20th minute through Australia international Brett Emerton and should have gone further ahead in the 65th minute when Martin Olsson headed against the post.
Five minutes later United striker Javier Hernandez went down as he tried to round Paul Robinson, with the goalkeeper making enough contact to send the Mexican tumbling.
Referee Phil Dowd went to consult his linesman, sparking ugly scenes as the United players surrounded the officials demanding a penalty.
Once order was restored, Dowd pointed to the spot — to the anger of the Blackburn contingent — and Rooney smashed his shot into the net for his 11th league goal this season.
The draw put United seven points clear of Chelsea, who host Newcastle on Sunday.
It was particularly satisfying for the England striker, who began his career at Liverpool’s city rivals Everton.
“I was terrified, the ref took a long time to give it. I had to compose myself, I’d been practicing all week,” Rooney told reporters.
“After the year I’ve had, with the ups and downs, this is for the fans and the team. For me personally, being an Everton fan, to win a 19th title is special.”
Ferguson has now won 12 championships since taking charge in 1986, when Liverpool reigned supreme with 16.
“It wasn’t an easy game. We went 1-0 down having given them a bad goal, but we kept on and we don’t give in,” the 69-year-old Scot said.
“It looked like it was not going to be our day, we’ve always had it difficult here. It is a local derby and they are fighting for their lives, looking for that point, but we kept going and that’s a good quality.”
On a big day for the northern metropolis, Manchester City sought to end a 35-year wait to win a trophy in the FA Cup final againstStoke City later Saturday.
In other Premier League matches, Blackpool remained in the relegation zone despite a thrilling 4-3 victory at home to ninth-placed Bolton.
Bolton led in the sixth minute through striker Kevin Davies but the home side took a 3-2 halftime lead through a double by D.J. Campbell either side of Jason Puncheon’s 19th-minute goal.
In-form loan striker Daniel Sturridge leveled the score eight minutes after the break, but captain Charlie Adam earned a vital win 10 minutes later to leave Blackpool behind Birmingham on goal difference, with both clubs on 39 points.
Wolverhampton joined Blackburn on 40 points with a 3-1 win at 13th-placed Sunderland, who guaranteed another season in the top flight last weekend.
Second-half goals from striker Steven Fletcher and George Elokobi clinched a memorable win for Wolves manager Mick McCarthy at his old club — where he failed to win a home Premier League game in 19 attempts.
West Brom moved up to 10th place with a 1-0 win at home toEverton, who will seek to retain seventh in the final round.
Youssouf Mulumbu scored the only goal in the 10th minute, while Everton had Russian substitute Diniyar Bilyaletdinov sent off for a late tackle in the 77th.
On Sunday, third-placed Arsenal host Aston Villa, while Tottenham visit Liverpool in a match that should determine fifth and a place in the Europa League next year.
Birmingham travel to mid-table Fulham, and Wigan host West Ham in a battle of the bottom two teams.
Police said Wednesday that arrested bookmakers had confessed to being behind death threats to former national wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider.
The 25-year-old abandoned the team in Dubai last November and fled to London, saying he had received death threats from bookies who wanted him to fix a match.
Haider said he was retiring from international cricket and applied for political asylum in Britain, but returned home on Monday after the government gave assurances about his safety and that of his family.
“We have arrested eight bookies and some of them have revealed they were behind threats to Haider,” police official Nasir Qureshi said from Sialkot.
“We have confiscated their data which has a number of international contacts and the investigation is still on.”
Qureshi said an official press conference could be called on Thursday.
“We have found a number of satellite telephones and diaries which have international contacts and we hope to get further details in the next 24 hours,” he added.
Haider last week announced that he was prepared to revoke his application for asylum and return to resume his career after meeting Interior Minister Rehman Malik in London.
On his return Haider said he had not yet decided on his future.
“I am happy to return and have got the kind of security promised to me. They have given me superb accommodation,” said Haider.
“There were some reasons when I left the team and went to Britain. I will spend some time with my family and haven’t decided on my playing future.”
On Monday, Malik said Haider had revealed some important details but refused to share them with the media.
The Pakistan Cricket Board said Haider had not made contact and only when he does, would a fact-finding committee take up the matter.
The committee, formed last year, found no clear motive behind Haider’s disappearance but termed him “mentally ill”. (AFP)
Pakistan’s openers took their time pursuing a middling target, seeing off the Kemar Roach threat and settling in at leisure against the rest of the West Indian attack. The outcome was an uneventful passage of play that lacked shots and appeals but had an abundance of defence. Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad built a platform from which Pakistan should push on to a 2-0 series lead, but the asking-rate had risen to close to six an over and, at the halfway stage of the chase, West Indies were a couple of wickets away from improving their chances significantly.
Runaway former wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider returned home from Britain on Monday after receiving government assurances about the safety of his family.
Haider, who turned 25 on Saturday, fled the Pakistan team’s hotel in Dubai on November 8 for the United Kingdom after saying he had received demands that he fix a one-day match against South Africa under the threat of death.
He arrived by plane in Islamabad on Monday and was escorted by security officials to Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s office where he met the minister, who had guaranteed his safety.
“I am happy to return. There were solid reasons behind my going to London and I am sure everyone realised that no one can put his career at stake for nothing,” Haider told reporters after the meeting.
With his younger daughter on his lap, Haider added: “I am happy the way I was given full security. I want to spend some time with my family and then meet PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) chairman (Ijaz Butt) which I will share with you.”
“Haider will be given full security as promised,” Malik said. “He is a citizen of Pakistan so there is no restriction on his movement. He has told us some facts which at this point of time we cannot share with the media.”
Wearing a casual shirt and jeans, Haider was earlier whisked away by security officials to avoid a scrum at the airport, where he also met his wife, daughters and brother, witnesses said.
The wicketkeeper was part of the Pakistan team in the series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates when he went missing on the day of the fifth and final one-day match on November 8.
He fled to London and announced his retirement from international cricket. A week later he applied for asylum there.
Last week Haider met Malik and, after receiving promises of safety for himself and his family, agreed to return home. He said he had also decided to withdraw his asylum request.
After his disappearance the PCB terminated his contract and formed a committee to establish the facts surrounding the dramatic departure.
But the three-member committee said there were no clear motives behind his disappearance and also declared him “mentally ill”.
After meeting Malik last week, Haider also said he would return to cricket.
“Since I have been given full assurances of safety, I have no reason to continue with my asylum application and after returning home I want to resume my cricket career,” he said.
The PCB said Monday that Haider had not yet been in touch with them.
“If he makes a contact, then only we will have to decide whether he will have to appear before the committee. He didn’t submit details sought by the fact-fixing committee last year,” PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar said.
Haider played one Test, against England at Birmingham last year, as well as four one-day and three Twenty20 internationals in a short career.
On his Facebook page Haider had also promised to name Pakistani players involved in match-fixing, but he never supplied the names.
British media reported that Haider was questioned by the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), the International Cricket Council (ICC) wing that deals with match-fixing claims, in London last year but that the unit did not find anything substantive to back up his allegations. (AFP)
Source:The News
Pakistan strolled to victory in the first one-day international against West Indies at the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia, Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq all contributing half-centuries as West Indies’ score of 221 for 6 was overhauled with more than eight overs to spare.
Legspinner Devendra Bishoo helped West Indies fight back as they attempted to defend 221 in St Lucia, before an unbroken 50-run stand between Asad Shafiq and Misbah-ul-Haq tipped the balance in Pakistan’s favour once again. Taking advantage of a pitch that flattened out as the afternoon wore on at the Beausejour Stadium, Mohammad Hafeez had put on 68 for the first wicket with Ahmed Shehzad and registered a 40-ball fifty but Bishoo removed both batsmen before Misbah and Shafiq’s partnership left Pakistan poised at 138 for 2 halfway through their allotted overs.
Hafeez had set about Pakistan’s chase with alacrity from the start, racing to 20 from just 10 balls without a slog in sight as he collected successive boundaries off both Darren Sammy and Kemar Roach. Hafeez displayed a silken touch on both sides of the wicket, pulling through midwicket and punching through the covers on the up on more than one occasion, but his innings almost came to a quick end when he top-edged a pull to send the ball swirling into the cloudy sky.
The wickets reduced Pakistan to 88 for 2 and brought West Indies back into the game, but with the seam attack unable to contain the batsmen and spin support for Bishoo unavailable Misbah and Shafiq soon settled. Both batsmen eased into the 20s with minimum fuss, capitalising on the regular loose balls from an unbalanced bowling attack.
