Is Azharuddin witness to Shoaib, Ayesha staying in a hotel?

Hyderabad, April 4 (IANS) Are former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin and his wife Sangita Bijlani witness to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and his 'first wife' Ayesha staying in a city hotel?

If one believes the family friends of Ayesha Siddiqui, who claims to be Shoaib's first wife, Azharuddin and Sangita were staying in the same hotel where the Pakistani cricketer and Ayesha were sharing a room after their 'marriage' in 2002.

The claims are significant as Shoaib, who is set to marry Indian tennis star Sania Mirza later this month, is refusing to accept Ayesha as his first wife. While admitting that he signed the 'nikahnama' or marriage document over phone in 2002, Shoaib said he presumed that the girl on the other side was the one whose photographs were sent to him.

The Pakistani cricketer has denied meeting Ayesha, the daughter of M.A. Siddiqui, a former official of Saudi Airlines.

However, Ayesha Sunday told some television channels that Shoaib met her several times during his visit to Hyderabad, they spent time together and that she has witnesses to prove this.

Ayesha also claimed that two employees of Taj Residency, where she shared a room with Shoaib, were ready to testify.

Siddiqui's family friends in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, said the couple, during their stay at the hotel, also met Azharuddin, now a Member of Parliament, and his wife Sangita.

While Shoaib claims he never met Ayesha, the latter insists that they met on several occasions since 2001 but the cricketer, who was not a big star then, lost interest in her due to her being overweight.

Ayesha's family has already released copies of the 'nikahnama' issued in Pakistan and signed by Shoaib. A video footage of a Man of the Match presentation ceremony after the India-Pakistan practice match in Hyderabad in 2005 is also being seen as proof. Shoaib had said at the ceremony that Hyderabad is the home town of his wife.

After the match, the Pakistani team was also feted with a dinner at the residence of Ayesha in Banjara Hills.

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I’m not gay: Maradona

Young Maradona Rebello had to do some very strange and unconventional things in his debut film Pankh, like get smooched by a man and go completely nude in front of his screen mother, played by Lilette Dubey.

Confesses Maradona, “It’s been a harrowing time for me. I’ve given the role everything because I believed in the film. It’s the story of a pushy mother and a male child who’s pushed into the movies dressed as a girl. My character grows up confused about his sexuality. I had to do many things that didn’t come naturally to me because I’m a straight guy and I had to kiss a man, get pushed around by him.”

Worst of all was the cross-dressing scenes. Shivers Maradona, “When I came on the set in a dress wearing stocking and lipstick my director Sudipto-da freaked out. He was so apologetic. He asked everyone to leave the sets. I told him to chill. But in the nights I just couldn’t sleep. I was harrowed. Luckily my parents supported me. They saw the film and loved my performance. My mom didn’t flinch even when I stripped in front of my screen-mother.”

The character has changed Maradona’s life. “I know I’m straight. But playing a guy confused about his sexuality can shake you completely.” The boy can breathe a sigh of relief about his second film Dunno Y ...Na Jaane Kyun. “Here I’m completely straight. In fact I’m straight in Pankh as well. But throughout the film I had to keep trying to prove to the world that I am not gay.”

At the climax of the film Maradona had to take off all his clothes and show his screen mom Lilette Dubey he’s a man. Explains Maradona, “Right through the film she keeps taunting me that I am no man. Finally in a fit of rage I had to undress and show her that I am a man. It was a very difficult scene to do. Fortunately Lilette Dubey made me very comfortable. Before the scene she hugged me and said it’d be fine. And it was.” Worst was the plight of being kissed by a man. “My co-star Amit Purohit had to kiss me right here at Marine Drive. Luckily it was the night and not too many people were around.”

Ironically in his second film Maradona has an affair with his sister-in-law married to his gay brother. “I can’t reveal much about the part. But I got to work with screen divas like Zeenat Aman and Helen. Not bad for my second film.”

As for being accepted as a gay role-model after the release of Pankh Maradona says, “Why not? If people of either sex find me attractive I’m fine by it as long as I remain happily heterosexual in real life.”

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Pakistan tables long-awaited constitutional reforms..

The Pakistani government introduced a constitutional bill in parliament Friday, transferring President Asif Ali Zardari's sweeping powers to the prime minister and possibly ending months of political wrangling.

The set of reforms, known as the "18th Amendment Bill", is expected to be passed by the two-chambered parliament, effectively turning Zardari into a titular head of state.

The development may help calm political opposition to Zardari, but the government faces mounting pressure from an assertive Supreme Court to reopen corruption cases against the president after it threw out a controversial amnesty law in December.

"I suspect that after the signing of the 18th amendment, it (the political environment) is going to change," said Samina Ahmed, South Asia director for the International Crisis Group.

"Part of the problem is structural. Nobody knows where the locus of authority lies."

Because of that uncertainty, she said all branches of government are trying to expand their powers at the expense of the others.

"There's a little bit of muscle flexing all around."

But if the 18th Amendment goes through smoothly, the centre of authority goes to the parliament, "with the judiciary interpreting" -- possibly leading to a less assertive bench.

"It will settle down," Ahmed predicted.

But analysts say that even as a ceremonial president, Zardari would still yield considerable influence from his position as head of the Pakistan People's Party, the country's largest political party.

The PPP was once led by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, Zardari's wife, who was assassinated in December 2007.

Under the proposed constitutional amendments, the president will loose his key powers, including the authority to dissolve the national assembly and appoint powerful military chiefs and the chief election commissioner.

The bill gives the prime minister final say on dissolving the national assembly and appointing the heads of the armed forces. The bill also shifts Zardari's powers to appoint judges to a commission comprised of senior judges and government figures.

Farah Ispahani, a senior PPP leader, said it was wrong to say the bill "stripped" Zardari of his powers, "as he himself sought to restore the constitution to its original form without the amendments imposed by dictators."

Most analysts, however, say Zardari only agreed to the reforms reluctantly after intense political pressure.

"FOCUS OF STORMS"

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, a staunch Bhutto loyalist, will emerge as the powerful head of the government after these constitutional reforms are adopted. Analysts say his role will come under increased scrutiny in future.

"You think that the prime minister will become stronger after these amendments but I think now I will be the focus of all storms," Gilani told parliament before the introduction of the bill.

"These proposals will strengthen democratic institutions."

The reforms would also abolish the two-term limit on prime ministers, allowing Nawaz Sharif, a two-time former prime minister and now opposition leader, to contest for a third term after general elections due in 2013.

Under the bill, provinces will get greater autonomy, while the mainly ethnic Pashtun North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan gets a new name as "Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa" in a bid to represent its dominant population.

The legislation is likely to be passed by far more than the two-thirds super-majority needed in parliament because it has been drafted by a parliamentary committee made up of all political groups.

No date has been fixed for its adoption.

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Don't do deals with Iran: US to India, Pakistan....

WASHINGTON: The United States is "encouraging" India and Pakistan to not conduct transactions like their gas pipeline with Iran at a time when it's engaged in sensitive negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear programme.

The US "has encouraged our friends in the government of Pakistan to try to seek alternatives," assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs Robert Blake said on Thursday in a briefing about his recent trip to India, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Asked if the issue of Pakistan signing a contract with Iran about a gas pipeline had come up for discussion in Islamabad, Blake said he had told Pakistanis that "people have been talking about this pipeline for a long time, but I think there continue to be many challenges, and to actually building the pipeline."

"So nonetheless we have encouraged our friends in the government of Pakistan to try to seek alternatives," Blake said noting, "Our concerns about the government of Iran are very well known."

"And given its current unwillingness to address its international obligations and international concerns about its nuclear programme, we don't think that this is the time for such transactions to be taking place with Iran."

Same goes for India, he said when asked to comment on India planning to resume talks with Tehran on the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline after three years.

"This is a very sensitive time in negotiations with Iran, and we would prefer that all countries not conduct such transactions with Iran at this time,for the reasons that I already outlined," Blake added.

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Happy Week end.......

Dear friends have a happy week end and enjoy yourself..................

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