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July 17, 2014

North Waziristan operation spoils fourth wife dream of father of 36

AFP

Internally-displaced Pakistani resident Haji Gulzar Khan Wazir (6L), who fled with his family following a military operation against militants in the North Waziristan tribal agency, poses for a photograph with some his children in Bannu. — Photo by AFP
Internally-displaced Pakistani resident Haji Gulzar Khan Wazir (6L), who fled with his family following a military operation against militants in the North Waziristan tribal agency, poses for a photograph with some his children in Bannu. — Photo by AFP

BANNU: The ongoing military operation may be making headway in clearing militant hideouts, but it has shattered the dream of one father of 36 children — to take a fourth wife.

Gulzar Khan is one of hundreds of thousands of people who have fled the North Waziristan tribal area since the army moved in to clear longstanding bases of Taliban and other militants.

Escaping the military advance meant leaving the 35-room house he shares in the North Waziristan village of Shawa with around 100 family members, including wives, children and grandchildren.

The 54-year-old grumbled that paying to transport his brood used up the cash he had set aside for his fourth marriage.

“The money I had saved was consumed in relocating my family from Shawa to Bannu and now I have again started saving and waiting for the operation to conclude,” he told AFP.

After giving birth to a dozen children each, Khan said, his wives had told him enough was enough.Read More »North Waziristan operation spoils fourth wife dream of father of 36

Wounded Tiger: A history of Cricket in Pakistan.

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wounded-tigerSupremely talented teenagers, Javed Miandad’s unappreciated role as a leader and the revolutionary impact of reverse swing on cricket are some of the striking themes of British author Peter Oborne’s insightful new book Wounded Tiger: A history of Cricket in Pakistan.

Wounded Tiger, a play on Imran Khan’s almost mythical ‘cornered Tiger’ speech before the 1992 World Cup final in Melbourne, aims to set things straight and go deeper into a world where cricket has “been entwined with national identity” ever since the days of the Raj. The current era of Pakistan cricket, the book highlights, also serves as metaphor for the situation the country currently finds itself in. But throughout the journey, Wounded Tiger also reminds its readers that the magic these men have been able to conjure up on the field, and are still capable of, can ultimately lead to national recovery.Read More »Wounded Tiger: A history of Cricket in Pakistan.