Page 22 - Pakistan Link - October 20, 2017

P22 – PAKISTAN LINK – OCTOBER 20, 2017 COMMENTARY
A ‘Positive Moment’ in United States-Pakistan Relations

n By Asif Shahzad nymity.
Islamabad “They were being shifted to a safer place
akistani troops shot out the tires of when captured by the Pakistani forces.”
a vehicle carrying a kidnapped US Pakistani officials bristle at US claims
P-Canadian couple and their children Islamabad is not doing enough to tackle mil-
in a raid that led to the family’s release af- itants, particularly the Haqqanis. After the
ter five years of being held hostage, a Paki- release of the family, they emphasized the
stani security official said on Friday. importance of co-operation and intelligence
US drones were hovering near the sharing by Washington, which has threat-
northwestern Pakistani area where Ameri- ened to cut military aid and other punitive
can Caitlan Campbell, her Canadian hus- measures against Pakistan.
band Joshua Boyle and their three children, Pakistan’s military indicated the family
all born in captivity, were freed, another se- were rescued shortly after entering Pakistan
curity official said. from Afghanistan, and a government official
Campbell and Boyle were held by the repeated that assertion on Friday.
Taliban-linked Haqqani network after being “We have been taking on the terrorists...
kidnapped while backpacking in Afghani- So we have taken action based on the intel-
stan, and their rescue marked a rare positive ligence that was provided by the US side,”
note in often-fraught US -Pakistan relations. said Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees
The family flew out of Pakistan on Fri- Zakaria.
day, according to a Pakistani airport official He added that he had no other details
who saw them. It was not clear whether they on the operation “maybe because they were
were bound for Canada or the United States. abducted in Afghanistan, they were there in
A senior Pakistani security source on Afghanistan, and that could be the reason
Friday detailed how the family were freed moment” for US -Pakistan relations, which ram tribal region and its adjoining areas, it why you have not heard much about it”.
following a car chase in the northwestern have frayed in recent years amid Washing- However, two Taliban sources with
tribal region bordering Afghanistan. ton’s assertions that Islamabad has not been knowledge of the family’s captivity said they
He said Pakistani troops and intelli- doing enough to tackle Haqqani militants Pakistan’s military indicated had been kept in Pakistan in recent years.
gence agents, acting on a US intelligence tip, who are believed to be on Pakistani soil. the family were rescued A US government source in Washing-
zeroed in on a vehicle holding the family as Trump, in a statement, said the release ton also said there was no indication the
they were being moved into Kurram tribal of the hostages showed Pakistan was acqui- shortly after entering family had been in Afghanistan.
agency near the town of Kohat, some 60 km escing to “America’s wishes for it to do more Pakistan from Afghanistan, The Haqqani network operates on both
(37 miles) inside Pakistan. to provide security in the region”. sides of the porous Afghan-Pakistani border
Agents from Pakistan’s Inter Services A second Pakistani security official, and a government but senior militants have acknowledged they
Intelligence (ISI) spy agency and soldiers at- speaking on condition of anonymity, said US official repeated that moved a major base of operations to Kurram
tempted to intercept the vehicle, but it sped drones on Wednesday had been seen circling agency in the tribal areas.
away, according to the security source. Kohat, suggesting US co-operation included assertion on Friday. The United States and Afghanistan say
“Our troops fired at the vehicle and sophisticated surveillance inside Pakistan. “We have been taking that safe havens inside Pakistan allow the
burst its tires,” he said, declining to be iden- Kohat is deep inside Pakistani territory, Taliban, including the Haqqani network, to
tified because he is not authorized to speak next to the eastern edge of Kurram agency in on the terrorists... So we plan and launch attacks against the Western-
openly to the media. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province - outside the have taken action based backed Afghan government and US and oth-
The kidnappers managed to escape, the Afghan frontier zone where US drones have er foreign troops that support them.
security official added, saying the troops in the past been tolerated by Pakistan. on the intelligence that The Taliban have been fighting for 16
wouldn’t fire at the fleeing captors for fear of The US embassy and the Pakistani mili- was provided by the US years to re-establish their ultra-Islamist re-
harming the hostages. The army recovered tary did not comment on the drone report. side,” said Foreign Ministry gime that was toppled in a US-backed mili-
the hostages safely from the car. However, a Taliban commander in Pak- tary operation over sheltering the al Qaeda
Army spokesman Major General Asif istan with knowledge of the hostage family spokesman Nafees Zakaria terrorist network that planned the Sept. 11,
Ghafoor told NBC News that the vehicle’s said US drones flying in the area prompted 2001, attacks on US cities.
driver and another militant had escaped to their captors to move them. (Additional reporting by Saad Sayeed
a nearby refugee camp. “We took care of this family like our in Islamabad; Writing by Drazen Jorgic, Kay
The family’s rescue has been hailed by own family members and special guests, but was decided to move them to a safer place,” Johnson; Editing by Neil Fullick and Nick
US President Donald Trump as a “positive after frequent flying of US drones on Kur- said the Taliban official on condition of ano- Macfie. Reuters)
Electric Honeycomb: Pakistani Teen in Scientific First

n By Umer Nangiana lication,” Mr Niazi tells the BBC in an interview at phenomenon to develop technologies that can be
BBC Urdu, Lahore his residence in Lahore’s posh Sukh Chayn sector. used in biomedicine and in printing.
With the slim stature of a teenage boy with In the country he comes from, not many his
nly 17 years old and he is already a curly hair and spectacles sitting firmly on his age would dare venture into avenues of learning
recognised scientist. Muhammad Sha- nose, the young scientist cuts a smart figure. other than conventional schooling. For Shaheer
Oheer Niazi’s research on electric hon- Anticipating the first question, he settles Niazi, the traditional classroom learning became
eycomb was recently published in the Royal down on a couch next to a desk laden with boxes boring at times. It was then that he turned to
Society Open Science journal. full of wires, motherboards and incomplete cir- other avenues such as books he received from his
Physicists have known the phenomenon of cuits. This is where he conducts his experiments. father and grandfather.
electric honeycomb for decades. It occurs when a How is an electric honeycomb formed? Mr At a very young age he was also introduced
layer of oil is placed in an electric field between a Niazi elaborates: “Electric honeycomb perfectly to the concept of self-learning. He was only 11
pointy electrode and a flat one - and the instabil- demonstrates how everything in this universe is when he first started taking online courses. He
ity caused by the build-up of ions applies pres- seeking equilibrium. Its hexagonal shape is the has taken 25 courses in different subjects from
sure to the surface of the oil - creating a beautiful most stable structure.” platforms like Coursera. For toys, he owns a tele-
pattern that looks like a honeycomb, or a stained In this case, he says, two electrodes are used; scope and tools for his scientific experiments.
glass window. a pointy needle on top of a flat surface with a thin “When I was a child I used to watch docu-
The high school student from Pakistan’s city layer of oil on it. High voltage from the needle mentaries on science with my grandfather and
of Lahore managed to photograph the movement makes ions bombard the surface of the oil, on read books on mathematics and other science
of ions that forms the honeycomb besides record- their way to meet the ground electrode. subjects,” says Mr Niazi.
ing the heat found on the surface of oil. No one “It is just like lightning striking the surface He has an inquisitive nature. His mind is al-
has done this before. of earth,” he says. But oil is a non-conductor. The ways abuzz with questions and then theories to
Electric honeycomb phenomenon was the ions start accumulating on the surface of the oil. explain them. Yet, he too seeks equilibrium. Mr
problem given to him at the International Young As the pressure increases, they create a depres- ing. He also recorded the heat produced through Niazi has a deep interest in music and art. He cre-
Physicists’ Tournament held in Russia last year. sion and manage to meet the ground electrode. their movement, a finding that needs further ates excellent pencil sketches and is a self-taught
Mr Niazi, and four other students, made up the In the process the surface of the oil loses its study. pianist.
first-ever team to represent Pakistan at the tour- shape, something it does not want. So within no He says he had been using the shadowgra- He was not expecting the media attention he
nament. Returning from Russia, Mr Niazi decid- time, honeycomb-like hexagonal structures ap- phy technique just for fun before he decided to is now getting. But he is glad he did something
ed to get his research published. pear on the surface of the oil. use it in his research. “I thought if I see my re- that made his country proud. He hopes to get into
It took him another year of work to come “The amount of energy that goes in equals search from that perspective, I might discover a reputable educational institution where he can
up with “novel ideas” before his paper was finally the energy that comes out and thus the flow of something new. That’s how I managed to photo- further his research in physics.
accepted for publication. He received the letter of electricity is efficient. This way equilibrium is re- graph the shadow of ion wind and it was added as Mr Niazi aims big - “I would love to win an-
acceptance just days ahead of his 17th birthday stored,” he sums up. Mr Niazi replicated the phe- novelty in my paper.” other Nobel Prize for Pakistan” - and he thinks
last month. nomenon at last year’s tournament. Mr Niazi says that using this technique an bigger - “Isaac Newton was 17 when his first pa-
“Your research is like your child, and you To prove his findings, he photographed the oil droplet can be manipulated without touch- per was published; I was 16 when I officially re-
feel out of this world when it is accepted for pub- ion wind demonstrating that the ions were mov- ing it. Engineers can use the visualisation of this ceived my acceptance letter.”

www.PakistanLink.com