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Saturday,
May 5, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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CBI seeks separate trial of Hindujas KPS Gill decries initiative on Kashmir MPs set up forum on culture Oppn grills govt over poor power supply |
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Politics turned into industry: Antony Shiv Sena to support
AIADMK in TN Hung Assembly
unlikely: TN CM Gowda flays Cong, BJP policies CANDIDATE
OUTSTANDING
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CBI seeks separate trial of Hindujas New Delhi, May 4 Special Judge R.L. Chugh asked the six accused — S.P. Hinduja, G.P. Hinduja, P.P. Hinduja, former Bofors agent Win Chadha, former Defence Secretary S.K. Bhatnagar and Swedish company A.B. Bofors — to file replies to the CBI plea by May 8 after their counsel insisted on being heard before the court passed an appropriate order on the issue. The court also rejected the Hindujas’ plea for exemption from personal appearance on May 8, the next date of hearing in the case. “Though I would like to avoid any observation of unpleasant nature, I do not understand why the accused S.P. Hinduja, G.P. Hinduja and P.P. Hinduja want to be exempted from the appearance on the one hand and ask for expeditious trial of the case on the other,” the judge observed. “We have the experience of three decades that trial of a case runs smoothly and with less obstruction in case the accused are present. Once they are exempted, there are some difficulties faced by their lawyers in the conduct of the cases and also difficulties are faced by the court in expeditious trial of the case,” he said, rejecting their plea. The court on March 30 had expressed displeasure over the absence of the Hindujas during proceedings in the case and refused to pass any order on their applications seeking exemption from personal appearance till further orders. The CBI’s application for separate trial of Hinduja brothers and three other accused follows a Delhi High Court order directing the probe agency to approach the special court for splitting up the trial of these accused from that of Kuala Lumpur-based Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi and former Bofors chief Martin Ardbo. As against these accused persons, Quattrocchi and Ardbo have not appeared before the court so far despite issuance of summons and non-bailable warrants (NBW). The CBI told the court that obtaining the attendance of Ardbo and Quattrocchi may take time. Extradition proceedings were going on in a Malaysian court against Quattrocchi while the outcome of the red corner alert issued by Interpol against Ardbo was still awaited, the agency said. Meanwhile, the trial court extended the NBW against the Italian businessman till further orders. On April 27, the high court had dismissed the Hindujas’ appeal against the trial court order denying them permission to leave the country. The CBI’s apprehension that the brothers might not be available for trial could not be said to be unfounded, Mr Justice S.K. Agarwal had observed. The high court had directed the CBI to move the trial court for splitting up the trial of Hindujas and the other accused, who have already appeared before the court, from that of Ardbo and Quattrocchi, in view of delay in their extradition. Directing the trial court to record evidence in the case preferably on day-to-day basis within six months, the high court had said if the CBI failed to do so, the Hindujas could move the trial court for permission to go out of the country. The Hinduja brothers have already challenged the high court order in the Supreme Court, saying it suffered from lack of compassion and sensitiveness to their legitimate needs and compulsions. If the order was sustained, it would amount to punishment of the accused long before the trial, they said. Claiming that no case had been made out against them in the charge sheet filed by the CBI, London-based S.P. Hinduja and G.P. Hinduja and Geneva-based P.P. Hinduja submitted that the trial of the case was bound to take a long time in view of the fact that several co-accused were yet to be produced in the court. The denial of permission to leave India would be arbitrarily unjustified and violative of their right to life enshrined under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners submitted. The Hindujas said CBI’s apprehension that they would not make themselves available to the court was an unfounded conjecture as they had investment programmes of about Rs 10,000 crore in India as well as substantial roots and, therefore, they could not stay away from this country.
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KPS Gill decries initiative on Kashmir New Delhi, May 4 Writing in the forthcoming issue of “Faultlines”, Mr Gill, who is known for his contribution in restoring peace in Punjab, avers that the Jammu and Kashmir peace process was like “chasing a chimera”. “On the face of it, the present ‘peace initiative’ in Kashmir does not appear to be ‘reality based’ in any meaningful sense, or to have any concrete strategic foundations”, says the former police chief adding that “it is by and large in the nature of a `fishing expedition’.” “This is not a plan; it is a gamble”, Mr Gill opines in his 17 page well-researched and painstakingly documented article declaring that “it is destined to fail for too many reasons”. The character of this initiative has, moreover, been substantially defined by factors extraneous to the conflict — such as specific pressure initiatives from the USA, especially during the period around the visit of the then President Bill Clinton in March 2000, and the desire to secure international approval, says Mr Gill in his article co-authored with Mr Ajai Sahni. Going deep into the factors which has influenced Mr Vajpayee’s much trumpeted Kashmir initiative, Mr Gill said, “It is clear that an unrealistic pursuit of peace can only defer violence and often magnifies it. The notion of `peace at all costs’ is self-destructive, and negotiations based on false premises and projections, and on unrealistic or divergent assessments of realities on the ground, inevitably result in greater escalation — though they may produce a temporary and deceptive lull”. The claim that the six-month-old ‘ceasefire’ has resulted in a radical transformation of world opinion towards India and support for its policies on Kashmir, moreover, takes inordinate advantage of the ambiguities inherent in the situation, Mr Gill points out. “A positive trend in favour of Indian position has been continuous since Pakistan’s Kargil blunder, and is more a consequence of what is happening in that country — and in the vortex of anarchy to its west in Afghanistan — than of the sagacity or efficacy of India’s policies in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan has, indeed, repeatedly shot itself in the foot over the past two years, and this is the actual cause of the tide of world opinion turning against it”, Mr Gill has said arguing that “enormous faith has been placed on the international community by India”. “It is, for instance, evident that the USA was pushing the idea of negotiations with the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), and Mr Clinton is known to have met their representative and lobbyist Ghulam Nabi Fai in Washington prior to his visit”, contends Mr Gill. Nevertheless, much of the ‘international and US pressure’ thesis in speculative, points out Mr Gill saying “of course, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s statement on the third extension of the ‘ceasefire’ in February 2000, did suggest that his government’s eyes were fixed firmly on the international response to its ‘peace initiatives’, perhaps more even than on the possibility of their success in securing peace in Kashmir”. The Prime Minister had stated, “The international community has also given overwhelming support, because it sees in it yet another demonstration of India’s sincere commitment to a peaceful and permanent solution to the Kashmir issue.” Questioning the Centre’s decision to have a dialogue with all and everybody, including the APHC, Mr Gill has observed that “there are two major difficulties with a dialogue with any of these entities”. “The first of these relates to the impact on legitimate democratic groupings and activities in the State” and the second critical difficulty is the fundamental question of the principle involved in negotiating with terrorists and their front organisaitions, says Mr Gill. Referring to the Hurriyat, Mr Gill said, “There is something absurd in accepting an organisation that has no democratic credentials, and whose members are unashamed Pakistani proxies”. Enormous faith has been placed on the ‘international community’ by India in its hope that Pakistan will eventually yield to cummulative diplomatic pressure or to the economic burden of sanctions. But Pakistan can yield neither to economic imperatives, nor to international pressures, nor, indeed, can it stop at any limited concessions that it may secure through negotiations with India — for it is no longer in control of extremism that it has created and nurtured, says Mr Gill adding that “it may, however, eventually yield to chaos”.
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MPs set up forum on culture New Delhi, May 4 Announcing the constitution of the forum here today, senior Congress member in the Rajya Sabha and the forum’s convener, Mr Eduardo Faleiro said names were pouring in from all sides for membership in the forum. He said a large section of the ruling party was also concerned over the extremist activities in the field of education and culture. Mr Faleiro said membership of the forum was open to all MPs committed to the national goals of democracy, egalitarianism and secularism and who visualise education and culture as powerful instruments for realising these goals. He said the forum was deeply concerned over the manner in which the present government was bringing about fundamental changes in all fields of education without the sanction of Parliament and mechanisms for evolving a national consensus on matters related to education. Film star and Samajwadi Party MP in the Lok Sabha, Raj Babbar, Rajya Sabha MPs, Kuldip Nayar and Dhammavirio were also present at the meeting. Mr Faleiro said the national curriculum framework for school education prepared by the National Council of Educational Research and Training and accepted by the government had no legitimacy and sanction. “We are opposed to the national curriculum framework on its merits.” |
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Oppn grills govt over poor power supply Dehra Dun, May 4 The Samajwadi Party MLA, Mr Ambirish Kumar, attacked the state government for its failure to provide adequate power and water supply terming the situation as “grim,”. He said, it was affecting the tourism season, one of the mainstay of the economy. Adding support to the SP member, Munna Singh Chauhan who recently parted ways with the SP demanded that the Power Minister must ensure the Assembly as to when the power and water supply situation would stabilise in the state. He said, it was a big problem as the entire state was reeling under over eight hour power cuts. The situation of drinking water supply was equally bad. Mr Ambirish Kumar further brought to the notice of the House that Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were creating trouble for the state by taking away extra power during the peak season, thereby creating problems for the state. During the lean period these two states did not take their share of 13 per cent of power from Uttaranchal while during the peak season they grabbed more than 25 per cent of total production. Joining the two MLAs, Isham Singh of the BSP and Kazi Mohiuddin of the BSP for expressed their concern over the poor supply of power and water in the state. |
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Mumbai HC rejects Bharat Shah’s bail plea Mumbai, May 4 Mr Justice S.S.Parkar held that there was a prima facie case against him and that the prosecution had enough material to implicate him in the crime. Bharat Shah was arrested on January 8 under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) on the basis of alleged telephone conversations he had with Karachi-based gangster Chhota Shakeel on extorting money from film personalities. The high court has twice rejected his bail while the trial court has turned down his plea for liberty on three occasions. Public prosecutors Vijaya Kapse-Tahilramani and Rohini Salian argued that Bharat Shah was very much aware that Nasim Rizvi, producer of film “Chori Chori Chupke Chupke”, was the front man of Chhota Shakeel and he also knew that the film was being made at the behest of the gangster. It was for this reason that he had financed the movie, they submitted. The judge, rejecting Bharat Shah’s petition, harped on an affidavit filed by the state which had referred to several telephonic conversations Bharat Shah and Rizvi had with Chhota Shakeel. Bharat Shah urged for bail on the ground that no prima facie case had been made out against him. He said the prosecution had not produced concrete material to implicate him. The case of the prosecution failed because of gaps in the evidence produced and the allegations levelled, his lawyers, V.R. Manohar and Vibhav Krishna, argued.
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Miss Universe contest live on Zee New Delhi, May 4 According to a release issued by the Zee, the pageant will be telecast live and exclusive on the Zee English channel on the day from 6.30 am. The channel will also carry a repeat telecast of the pageant on the same day at 8.30 p.m. The special, which also marks the 50th anniversary of the Miss Universe competition, will also mark international pop singer Ricky Martin’s first performance in his homeland in over a year. Martin joins international supermodels Elle Macpherson and Naomi, Campbell who will co-host Miss Universe 2001, and a panel of celebrity judges, including model, writer and actress Veronica Webb Polo, model Tyson Beckford, New York Post “Page Six” columnist Richard Johnson. |
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Shiv Sena to support AIADMK in TN Chennai, May 4 In a statement here, party state unit General Secretary S. Thenmaravan said the decision was taken in order to teach a lesson to the DMK, which he alleged, had failed to respect the constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Wherever there were no AIADMK candidates, the Sena would support the MDMK, he said. Recalling the past statements of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and Chennai Mayor M.K. Stalin, allegedly demeaning the Hindu religion, he appealed to the “true” BJP workers to work against the DMK in the election. The decision to extend support to the AIADMK had been conveyed to its General Secretary J. Jayalalitha, he added.
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Hung Assembly unlikely: TN CM Madurai, May 4 He claimed that his front had unified different castes and communities in the state. When the newsmen referred to his statement that the present alliance would continue even after the elections and asked if he could guarantee there would not be “communalism” with BJP at the Centre, he said: “The two years of the past regime were enough to prove that there was no communalism”. Referring to TMC leader G.K. Moopanar’s assurance that there would be no corruption, he said: “Mr Moopanar can give guarantee. I can’t say anything about it”. To another observation made by Mr Moopanar that people had forgiven Jayalalitha’s sin, he said: “At least Mr Moopanar has agreed that Ms Jaya has committed a sin”.
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Gowda flays Cong, BJP policies Madurai, May 4 Addressing a public meeting here, while canvassing for JD(S) candidate John Moses contesting from Madurai central constituency in the May 10 Assembly elections, he pointed out that while the new economic policies were promoted by the Congress, the present BJP-led government was pursuing the same, affecting the country. He also strongly criticised both parties for the communal tension in the country. The JD(S) was keeping equal distance from both the Congress and the BJP, he said.
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CANDIDATE OUTSTANDING Kolkata, May 4 Mr Chakraborty has been Bengal’s Transport and Sports Minister since the Left Front government came to power in 1977 with Jyoti Basu as Chief Minister. He has won the Assembly elections since 1977 from Belgachia (East) constituency with substantial margin and he will be contesting from the same seat as CPM candidate. But this time, the political scenario is quite different and he will be contesting against his own man, Sujit Bose of the Trinamool Congress. Mr Bose has been his main associate all through but recently, he joined the Trinamool Congress after being expelled from the CPM. Mr Chakraborty also was to face the same disciplinary action, but the party leadership did not go in for such drastic action against him and preferred to wait till the Assembly elections are over. Mr Chakraborty has been a controversial figure all through. He has been a Marxist and has his own way of practicing Marxism. He has been a friend of the working class and at the same time, he does not consider the management people his foes. He has his own way of thinking and practicing, and that is why, he has been in centre of controversy. The latest controversy that he brought in was his public admiration of Ms Mamata Banerjee and his close association with her. He could be often seen at various public functions, official meetings and social get-togethers with Ms Banerjee, who is now being considered to be the biggest threat to the CPM. CPM leadership did not approve of his style of functioning and his close proximity with Ms Banerjee. He has been repeatedly warned but those steps did not work. He continued to have his own way of functioning. And he has his arguments. “I am the Transport and Sports Minister of Bengal and Mamata has been the Railway Minister as well as Sports Minister and so our jobs had been identical, which made me come so close to her. I feel she has done a lot for Bengal as Railway Minister and I have no hesitation in admiring her works”, Mr Chakraborty would publically announce. He had also created controversy in the past by organising night-long gala dance-musical soirees with Bollywood film stars like Hema Malini, Shah Rukh Khan, Mithun Chakraborty and recently, Hrithik Roshan at Salt Lake stadium — contrary to the CPM’s practiced theory. The party leaders protested, but Mr Chakraborty ignored them and said he was organising those functions for some noble causes: to collect money to build a hospital for thalasemia patients or to help the floods or drought victims or sponsor Bengal’s sports personalities in the Olympics and so forth. Every function he arranged had noble reasons behind, he said, but he could not satisfy the party leadership. At one stage, there was a talk of his leaving the CPM and forming a new party with Mr Saifuddin Chowdhury and Mr Samir Putatundi, who had been his followers. Mr Chakraborty has realised that he would be fighting the toughest battle of his life — a battle against his disciple, his own men in the party, and Ms Mamata Banerjee. He has already been cornered and isolated in the district committee and the state leadership and became more lonely after Mr Jyoti Basu’s departure from power. Mr Basu had been his main protector during his bad days. But still, Mr Chakraborty has been gearing up to win the battle of ballot. He now roams from door to door, place to place to meet the voters. This time, Mr Chakraborty faces danger from within the party and the outside. The BJP has fielded a well-known medical practitioner, Dr Subir Bal and Mr Sujit Bose has the support of the Congress and the Trinamool Congress. |
MP RAISES ROYALTY RATES FOR MINERALS 25 MONKEYS DIE DUE
TO INTENSE HEAT SHEESHMAHAL TO BE
OPENED FOR 2 MONTHS LANGUAGE LAB TO PROMOTE ARABIC SURRENDERED
ULTRAS JOIN ASSAM RIFLES |
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