While almost all top leaders of the government and opposition parties have filed nomination papers, under protest, Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf, is the only exception.

He insisted elections under Musharraf had already been rigged.

Majority of the heads of the political parties have filed papers from two seats. Those who filed papers include PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto (Larkana and Khairpur) , PML chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain (Gujrat and adjacent district Sialkot) , Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif (Lahore), JUI Amir Maulana Fazlur Rehman( Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan), former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi ( Attock and Bhawalpur), JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed (Nowshera), Asfandyar Wali Khan (Charsadda), Mahmood Achakzai (Pishin) and Farooq Sattar (Karachi).

Bhutto said her party would take part in elections under the protest though she is convinced that the elections would be massively rigged. She, however, did not entirely rule out the boycott if all other opposition parties agreed.

Attorney-general Qayyum Malik said nominations of Nawaz Sharif are likely to be rejected because of his hijacking Musharraf’s plane in 1999. He said Shahbaz would also be disqualified to contest due to a plea bargain before being exiled in 2000.

Former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz opted out of the electoral process amid reports the PML leadership is against granting him the party ticket.

Imran Khan tore down the nomination paper in front of reporters and said he would strongly support the boycott of elections when the All Parties Democratic Movement meets in Lahore on Thursday.

He asked the opposition parties not to take part in the elections being held under the PCO, in emergency with judiciary slaughtered and media freedom severely curbed.

Shredding nomination papers, Imran said he would not be a part of a fraudulent election. “I cannot thump desks again in Parliament for another five years,” he said.

Imran said elections were a trap, as their participation would legitimise the illegal and unconstitutional actions of Musharraf. Imran brushed aside the PPP decision of taking part in the elections under the pretext of “not leaving the field open for the PML,” saying they had reaped the benefits of elections’ boycott in 1985.

“After just three years, they were in a position to form the government,” he recalled. Substantiating his viewpoint on the boycott of elections, Imran contended that it was time for the politicians to bury the “doctrine of necessity” once for all.

The PTI leader said he foresaw no chances of judiciary being revived to its pre-November 3 status. He expressed his disappointment at the APDM leaders’ filing of nomination papers despite a boycott threat.

Imran Khan expressed his full confidence in Muhammad Nawaz Sharif . He said that Nawaz Sharif would not take part in election. Imran said three senior PML-N central leaders had assured during the APDM meeting that he would not become part of the “illegal” election. 

Dubai, November 27
Indian artist M. F. Husain, a self-confessed fan of Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit, has booked an entire show of her comeback film “Aaja Nachle”, releasing in theatres in the UAE on Thursday.

The famous painter, now living here, has reserved 194 seats for the 2 p.m. show at Lamcy Cinema on the day for special guests from all walks of life.

Madhuri had been missing from the acting scene for quite some time after her marriage to US-based surgeon Dr Sriram Nene.

Husain said movie tickets for “Aaja Nachle” would act as “invites” and would have his autograph and a sketch of the Bollywood diva.

“I’ll also be exhibiting paintings of Madhuri in the foyer of the theatre. I have made these paintings based on her great hits,” he told the Khaleej Times.

“In fact, the paintings are a part of the series I have undertaken and will be exhibited sometime next year as my tribute to Bollywood, the biggest and greatest movie industry in the world.” Husain is currently painting a series of huge panels that depict the glorious 100-year history of the Indian cinema for the exhibition titled, “From the Silver Silence of Dadasaheb Phalke to the Golden Dazzle of Madhuri Dixit”.

Dixit told the paper that she was “overwhelmed by his gesture of booking a theatre for my comeback film. I feel very flattered indeed”.

About his muse, whose blockbuster “Hum Aapke Hain Kaun” he claims to have seen 67 times, the artist said, “She is the quintessence of classical Indian beauty and womanhood. I want others to enjoy the film with me. — PTI 

A National Accountability Court (NAB) will take up corruption cases against brothers Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif in Rawalpindi on December 5, a senior NAB official confirmed here.

Deputy prosecutor general Zulfiqar Bhutta said the cases against the Sharifs were activated in August this year before Nawaz Sharif had made his failed attempt to return from exile in September. Interestingly, the warrants of arrest issued against Nawaz before his September 10 landing in Islamabad were still valid and Sharif could be arrested if the NAB so wanted.

“I have no idea whether NAB chairman has withdrawn the arrest warrants or not,” the deputy prosecutor general said.

“Nawaz Sharif may appear before the court when the Rawalpindi accountability court no 4 takes up one of the cases in the first week of December,” one PML-N leader said when contacted. “The arrest warrants are valid though there is no sign of any action against the Sharifs after their return on Sunday, and so far the warrants have not been served,” the NAB official said.

NAB chairman Naweed Ahsan while exercising his discretionary powers under the NAB Ordinance had issued the arrest warrants which he had yet not withdrawn.

LTTE chief Vellapulai Prabhakaran today vowed to carry on the struggle of the outfit to establish a separate state in the north and east of Sri Lanka, as a top defence official in Colombo went on record saying they would soon get the LTTE leader.

“Thousands of our fighters are standing ready to fight with determination for our just goal of freedom and we will overcome the hurdles before us and liberate our motherland,” Prabhakaran said in his speech, which marks heroes day for the LTTE each year and coincides with his birthday. The copy of his speech was e-mailed to newspaper offices.

Meanwhile, defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was quoted in French news agency AFP as saying the LTTE leader, who marked his 53rd birthday on Tuesday, would be his last if all goes as per plan. “We are after him. We are specifically targeting their leadership,” he told the news agency.

He also referred to the Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan problems saying India intervened in their national interest then as part of its regional expansion plan. “India signed an accord with the Sinhala state without the consent of the Tamils. The Indo-Lanka Accord was not signed to meet the aspirations of the people of Tamil Eelam. India tried to enforce that accord with the strength of more than 100,000 Indian forces, with the power of the agreement between two countries and with the assistance of treacherous Tamil paramilitary groups. However, even this ill-considered solution, which did not even address the basic national aspirations of the Tamils, was blocked by the chauvinistic Sinhala state,” he said.

Prabhakaran added that today the international community was making the same mistake that India made many years ago. “Even the countries that are the guardians of the peace efforts succumbed to the deception of the Sinhala state and listed our freedom movement as a terrorist activity. What we find most incomprehensible is the fact that these same nations, which labelled us terrorists, not so long ago fought in defence of their own freedom,” he added.