S |
| Monday,
July 16, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Pervez
shuns even Pak media
Ajmer
gets ready to receive Musharraf Pervez to
pass by captured Pak tank |
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Wounds
have healed, but scars remain Pak, India
‘must learn from EU’ Troops
withdrawal not related to summit: MoD Crafts at
emporium impress Begum First Lady
prays for talks’ success 3 recipes
win Begum’s heart Shiv
Sainiks ‘purify’ Rajghat Demolished
part of haveli being rebuilt Ten court
arrest over PoWs issue IAF
copters rescue 2 British girls Protests
on truce extension Probe against former Collector
begins
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Pervez shuns even Pak media New Delhi, July 15 At the tea party hosted by Pakistan High Commissioner here yesterday, where the entire contingent of about 100 Pakistani journalists was present, no questions could be posed to Mr Musharraf. The scribes were told to wait for a day more. Mr Musharraf spent nearly half-an-hour at the tea party talking to Hurriyat leaders. The visiting scribes spent the time talking to former Prime Minister V.P. Singh, Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav, Amar Singh, Raj Babbar and Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt about what could be done to strengthen Indo-Pak ties. The Hurriyat leaders later gave an account of their meeting with Mr Musharraf to the scribes who felt that the controversy over the invitation to Hurriyat for the tea party would not affect the summit. The visiting scribes had their own criterion for treating the summit successful. “Mr Musharraf and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee should try and agree on a mechanism of dialogue and a time-frame. Mr Vajpayee should also agree to a return visit to Pakistan,’’ said Irshad Ahmad Haqqani, Senior Editor, daily Jung. It is not mere economic compulsions of Pakistan and India that are having a strong bearing on the political discourse. The people of Pakistan, the visiting scribes said, had seen Lahore and Kargil in the past two years and most of them realise that war would not yield a solution. Aftab Iqbal, Chief Editor of the Lahore-based Sirat, said: “Even a political solution to the Kashmir issue is difficult and an emotional answer has to be found. India’s poet-Prime Minister is one man who can find such a solution.” Chaudhary Riffat Sarosh Faisal, Chief Editor of Urdu daily Ghareeb, said people of Pakistan were reeling under rising prices and wanted an early solution to the Kashmir issue. Maintaining that an early solution to Kashmir was not possible, Peer Sufaid Shah, who works for the only Pushtu newspaper in Pakistan, said that hardliners on both sides had to be gradually convinced. “The constituency of peace needs to be broadened and cultural exchanges strengthened,” he emphasised. Pointing to the common historical past of the two countries, Syed Faseih Iqbal, a former Senator and Editor-in-Chief of the daily Balochistan Times, said: “I have fond memories of Allahabad which we left during Partition.” Sikandar H. Lodhi, Chief Reporter of daily Nawa-i-Waqat, and Qaisar Mehmood Butt of The Statesman said some give and take on both sides was inevitable to yield permanent peace. |
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Ajmer gets ready to receive Musharraf Ajmer, July 15 A red carpet welcome awaits Pakistan’s military ruler, who assumed presidentship late last month, with the local administration leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that the trip to the shrine of the revered sufi saint is one of his most memorable ones for the President. While the three committees at the dargah comprising the “nazim,” “dewan” and “khadims” (Anjuman Syed Zadgan) have completed all preparations with regard to the President performing the ziarat, the local administration is giving last minute touches at various places so that the visit goes off without any glitches. While an unprecedented security seige has been laid in the city with the local police and the paramilitary forces, including the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and sharp-shooters being deployed at strategic positions, special care has also been taken by the local administration get the Circuit House in shape, if the General decides to take some rest either before or after visiting the dargah. As per reports, the local administration would be spending almost Rs 1 crore on the visit, which would also add a new leaf in the dargah’s history. While the entire city has been spruced up with roads being remetalled and even some repairs being carried out at the Ghoogra helipad, where the IAF helicopters would land with President Musharraf and his entourage. Of the total amount about half has been spent on refurbishing the Circuit House itself, which had been closed almost 15 days before President Musharraf’s visit. The security forces have been keeping a round-the-clock vigil at the Circuit House, which is situated on a hill top with a water pond around it. According to the local administration, the route from the helipad to the dargah, which is about 10 km, would be sanitised hours before President Musharraf’s arrival. Policemen will be deployed all around the helipad and along the route from there to the dargah. The shops in the bazar leading to the dargah will remain closed in preparation for the visit. Incidentally, the shopkeepers’ association of Ajmer’s dargah Bazar and Dhan Mandi have decided to wash the market place after the visit of President Musharraf. This is in retaliation to the washing of the Minar-e-Dargah in Lahore after the visit of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. General Musharraf would be the second Pakistani President to visit the city. Earlier, in the mid-eighties President Zia-ul-Haq had also come for pilgrimage to the shrine and was accompanied by Mr Nawaz Sharif, who then was the chief of Punjab in Pakistan. As per the programme, President Musharraf is to reach Sanganer airport in Jaipur and then would be taken to Ajmer by four IAF helicopters after a brief 10-minute stay. He would be received at the airport by Governor Anshuman Singh and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. He would return to Jaipur in the evening to take the special PIA plane back to Islamabad. At the dargah, President Musharraf is expected to offer a “chadar” on the “Mazar of Khwaja” Moinuddin Chisti before performing the ziarat. He would be welcomed at the Nizam Gate by the “khadims” and at the Buland Darwaza by the “dewan” of the
dargah. |
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Pervez to pass by captured Pak tank Ajmer, July 15 The green-coloured tank with the number T-3-110 embossed on it, was captured during the 1971 war and parked at the gate of the 19th century Residency-turned-Circuit House. Ironically, General Musharraf saw action in the war that ended in Pakistani surrender. The Pakistan President is scheduled to stay at Circuit House, built on a hill and overlooking the beautiful Anasagar lake. He will rest there for about 20 minutes after offering prayers at the Dargah of the 12th century Sufi saint revered across the world for his message of peace. The Dargah, located in a congested locality, will be closed for ordinary pilgrims at 10 a.m. tomorrow but rituals will continue without hindrance. The Dargah last saw a Pakistani President when Gen Zia-ul-Haq came to pay obeisance on February 22, 1987. ‘Khuddam’ (servers) at the shrine said he was so moved that he extended his visit by more than half-an-hour. President Musharraf himself comes from a family with strong mystical beliefs. He had expressed a desire to pray at the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi, but the visit was called off for security reasons. General Musharraf and his wife will be received at the ‘Nizam Darwaza’ by the Dargah Nazim, a descendant of the Sufi saint, office- bearers of the Anjuman Khuddam and the Administrator of the Central government-appointed Dargah Committee. President Musharraf is bringing with him the “chaddar” (a cloth covering) to be offered at the Dargah. “He will make an offering at the Dargah if he desires, it is up to him. We will give him “tabarruk” (prasad) after he prays, like any other devotee,” Anjuman secretary Syed Sarwar Chisti said. He will also be presented two “chaddars” to be offered at the shrines of two revered Sufi saints in Pakistan. Before leaving for Jaipur, the President will freshen up at Circuit House which has been spruced up for the occasion, reportedly at a cost of Rs 30 lakh.
UNI |
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Wounds
have healed, but scars remain Mohan Nagar (Raisingh Nagar), July 15 Over the years the wounds have healed but the scars of step-motherly treatment at the hands of “our” government still rankles. Old-timers observe that though terrorism raised its ugly head in the border state decades later for them it started in 1952 when Kashmiri Sikhs were forcibly carted off to the far-flung areas despite their repeated pleas for rehabilitation in Jammu and Kashmir only. “We identified with the culture and milieu of the state since our forefathers were originally Kashmiris who had embraced Sikhism following the martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru”. A protest was organised against this policy at the camp in Jammu but nothing came out since the government had already made up its mind, they added. According to their estimates, apart from Hindus, more than 35,000 Kashmiri Sikh families alone were butchered by raiding parties of Pathans and units of the Pakistani army alike. Those in the interiors did not have time to make to the big caravans and were taken prisoners or simply put to the sword. Many were captured and their fate is anybody’s guess. While the generation born immediately after Independence has some memories of the hardship faced by the community in India, the elderly recall the looting, rapes, atrocities and the bloodshed with a shudder. Apart from the hurt of losing fellow brethren, the feeling of leaving a fairly affluent lifestyle and their orchards of almond, apples and grape vineyards still rankles. The land was so rich that anything grew. The living was good and everybody was happy, recall several octogenarians of the area. Most of the people living here were displaced from Mandhri, Surang, Kangar, Jhande, Saglain, Moora, Rakh, Awera, Jhanna, Kacheli, Sayan, Bagla Sikhan, Raj Pathi, Dher and Thakka villages. While some refugees were given small plots of land initially, the others were asked to stay in the camps till the decision of the Indian compliant filed before the United Nations was settled. “Not many came to know till later that the UNO had ordered a ceasefire and the Indian Army, which was on its way to occupy the entire area forming Jammu and Kashmir State, including the area now called PoK, had to stop in its track. A few more days and the Army would have been able to secure the three districts. It was a monumental blunder that Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru committed, which resulted in an unwarranted bloodshed, and we are still paying for it,” the elders of the community opined. Later when we confronted the refugee camp authorities, they (the authorities) were initially evasive but later said Muzzafarabad, Poonch and Mirpur districts were now effectively under Pakistani occupation. We were also told that there would be a referendum in the Kashmir valley. This came as a bolt from the blue and whatever hopes we had of returning home were shattered, they said. “But we insisted that we do not want to go to any place where we had nothing in common with the local people and would prefer to be settled in Kashmir only. But this was not in the scheme of things of the then government which did not want a considerable population of Sikhs settled in their midst”. Not wanting to confirm this impression, the state government formulated a plan and the then Finance Minister Mirza Afzal Beg grandly announced that 800 families had been given land in various parts of the state. For fear of antagonising the rest of the Kashmiri Sikhs, the helpless were herded out to “condemned” places like Sriganganagar, Alwar (Rajasthan), Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh), Bhopal, Tipri, Indore and Kolkata. “People who had not stayed in camps are still trying to get their claims registered for land left behind in the occupied Kashmir. Only a couple of acres of land was given to them although many owned 50-60 acres of farm land back home. Even the ownership the land allotted to the Sikhs in Jammu rests with the government and farmers only enjoy tenancy rights till date”, the elders revealed. No one knows this better than the 85-year-old Sant Gurbaksh Singh, popularly known as Jammuwale Sant. He is credited with leading many of the caravans which fought every inch of the way from Muzzafarabad in 1947. He also fought with the government for getting the Sikhs settled in Jammu and Kashmir and was jailed many times for leading agitations. He also met the Rajasthan Chief Minister Mohan Lal Sukhadia who refused to allot land free of cost to the refugees but agreed to give land at less than the prevailing market rates. |
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Pak, India ‘must learn from EU’ Tehri (Uttaranchal), July 15 Mr Bahuguna said, the coming together European community was a good example for us to learn a lesson. Efforts should be made to join hands in trade, cultural development, education and even in the matters of defence. The recent developments in Nepal should sound alarm bells for south Asian countries. The time had come for all of us to introspect, he added. He said the need of the hour was to preserve natural resources through joint efforts. The present situation in Afghanistan, Kashmir, Nepal, Burma, Sri Lanka and Pakistan had led to environmental degradation. The two of the most pressing issues were species survival and ecological imbalance. Mr Bahuguna said initiatives for peace in Kashmir should be taken at Musharraf-Vajpayee meeting but at the same time joint strategy should be formulated to preserve the ecology of Kashmir, which was being threatened by insurgency. “India and Pakistan share water of rivers emerging from the Himalayas and it becomes mandatory for both countries to maintain ecological balance”. Mr Bahuguna recalled that the massive deployment of Army on the Kashmir border in 1947 had resulted in a large-scale poaching as the troops indulged in killing rare species like ibex, blue sheep, urian, the big horned sheep, antelope and snow leopard. |
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Troops withdrawal not related to summit: MoD New Delhi, July 15 “It is a routine movement and is in no way linked with the current summit talks,’’ a Defence Ministry spokesman said when asked about reports in a section of the media. He, however, refused to divulge the number and schedule of the troops withdrawal. Media reports said that today 20,000 troops were to be withdrawn over the next two weeks.
UNI |
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Crafts at emporium
impress Begum New Delhi, July 15 During her breezy visit to the two floors of the seven-storeyed emporium here on Tolstoy Marg, Mrs Musharraf examined with the help of a magnifying glass the intricate carvings on an eight-foot high decorative green stone sculpture by Padamshri Sudanshu Sahu, silk carpets from Kashmir and Kanchipuram sarees and bangles. At the end of her visit to the emporium lasting just 35 minutes, Begum Sehba wrote in the visitor’s book: “This has been an educational experience. The crafts are very good and exceptional in some instances. ” The Assistant Manager of the Central Cottage Industries Corporation of India, Anubha Marwah, and the showroom Manager, Mr Harbinder Singh, appeared nervous over the conduct of television crew and camerapersons. They looked around helplessly as the TV crew stepped into enclosures protecting rare and priceless artefacts, decorative sculptures and masterpieces. Chaos prevailed while a visibly hassled Mrs Musharraf visited the carpet section to take a look at the Kashmiri carpets. Here, she was treated to some almonds, nuts and sweets. Unable to find a foothold to get an exclusive shot, photographers threw all courtesy to the winds and did not think twice before climbing atop a pile of carpets with their dusty shoes. Mrs Musharraf chose to make a quick exit. She lost no time in stepping into a white Ambassador along with the wives of the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan and the Pakistan High Commissioner to India. |
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First Lady prays for talks’ success Fatehpur Sikri (UP), July 15 “Aaj ka din khush-haal ho hum sab ke liye (let today be a day of peace and well-being for all),” Begum Sehba said after she offered a “chaddar” and tied a thread at the Dargah where it is believed that all wishes come true. Asked if she would come back to the Dargah again, she said, “Let us hope something positive comes out, then Insha Allah (God willing).” The Begum, who flew in here in an MI-8 helicopter from Agra where the summit talks are being held, was received at the Badshahi Darwaz by Peerzada Ayazuddin Chisti, the 16th descendant of Salim Chisti, and was led to the dargah where she spent around 15 minutes and offered fatiha (a special prayer).
PTI |
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3 recipes
win
Begum’s heart Agra, July 15 “Begum Sehba after having her lunch with us has asked for the recipes of these three dishes she wants to take with her to Pakistan,” General Manager of Amar Vilas Rajesh Jhingon told PTI. The food served for Begum Sehba, also included mixed ice-berg salad.
PTI |
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Shiv Sainiks ‘purify’ Rajghat
New Delhi, July 15 Mr Jai Bhagwan Goel, northern unit chief of the Shiv Sena, said the activists sneaked past policemen guarding the Rajghat memorial and sprinkled the black marble slab with ‘Ganga Jal’ and cow urine as a priest chanted holy verses to cleanse it. A Delhi police spokesman told Reuters that the activists were arrested for creating a nuisance at a public memorial. Hindus consider the water of the Ganga and cow urine sacred and use them in religious, purification rituals. “By purifying the Rajghat, activists of the Shiv Sena have paid true homage to the martyrs of the Kargil conflict,” Mr Goel said in a statement. General Musharraf, reviled by many in India as the architect of the bloody Kargil conflict in Kashmir two years ago, visited the Rajghat on the banks of the Yamuna ahead of a summit between the two bitter foes yesterday. He was accompanied by his wife Sehba. Mr Goel had last week said the Rajghat would be “desecrated by the visit of General Musharraf and would need to be cleansed as per the Hindu tradition. Meanwhile a column of Rapid Action Force was deployed today in the Neharwali Haveli amidst threats that the Shiv Sena activists would “purify” it with “Ganga Jal” after the visit of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to his ancestral home yesterday. The column had been deployed in the haveli area since this morning to prevent any attempt to disturb peace. “There is no need to cleanse the haveli now as the God himself has washed it during the night long rains,” local MLA Shoaib Iqbal said.
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Demolished
part of haveli being rebuilt New Delhi, July 15 The room of the haveli, which was owned by orphaned children, Ripu Daman (20) and her younger brother Zenny (11), was demolished due to security reasons. The Supreme Court issued a suo motu notice following the demolition of the room and the case was enquired into by Additional Session Judge (ASJ) S.M. Chopra. The decision to reconstruct the room was taken following the report submitted by the ASJ yesterday. The reconstruction of the room is being done under the supervision of local MLA Shoaib Iqbal. The reconstruction will be completed within three or four days, the MLA said. However, there was opposition from another resident of the haveli Raj Kumar Jain who said the room was on encroached land. He approached the local influencial persons to pressurise Shoaib Iqbal to stop reconstruction of the room. Jain said if the
reconstruction of the room was not stopped, he would approach the court for stay order against the reconstruction. There was tight security deployed at the entrance of the haveli to stop any untoward incident from happening. |
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Ten court
arrest over PoWs issue Agra, July 15 Carrying placards and demanding release of 54 PoWs, around 50-60 human rights and social activists, besides relatives of PoWs took out a march from Amar Vilas Hotel, about 2 km from Jaypee Palace, where the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit was being held. “We wanted to meet President Musharraf and apprise him of our plight,” said Vipul Purohit, whose father, a flight lieutenant, has been missing in action since the 1971 war. The march, in which there were members of the Human Rights Action Committee of Agra and Pehchaan, a social organisation, was stopped at the Amar Vilas itself.
PTI |
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Bandh in Alwar Alwar, July 15 While most markets did not open, activists of the party tried to shut down some shops forcefully.
PTI |
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IAF copters
rescue 2 British girls New Delhi, July 15 The two girls — Kathaline Allen Martha and Choe Rebecca McNeal, aged between 15 and 18 years, were part of a team of 17 British school- children who were trekking between Kurgiak and Habong beyond the Shinshung La Pass with altitudes ranging between 15,000 and 18000 ft. A distress signal from a satellite transponder was intercepted early on Friday that pinpointed towards the trekking team somewhere in the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh. The Indian Air Force, on receipt of the information, immediately launched two Cheetah helicopters from the “Himalayan Dragon” squadron in Sarsawa for a search and rescue mission. The two Cheetahs flew to Manali and started their search mission from Bhuntar. However, due to bad weather and low clouds in the hilly region, they could not proceed beyond Keylong and returned with an unsuccessful attempt to Bhuntar. Meanwhile, the IAF launched a bigger Mi-17 IV helicopter from the “Mighty Armour” squadron to assist the two Cheetahs in their mission mainly because of it having a better range and endurance. The Mi-17 IV helicopter, in spite of worsening weather conditions and low fuel figures, continued search for more than an hour with no success. The leader of the expedition informed the crew that these two girls suffering from acute high-altitude sickness needed to be evacuated to lower altitudes at the earliest. The two young girls, along with an escort, were taken aboard the helicopter and were evacuated to Manali by 2 p.m. where first aid was given to them. |
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Protests
on truce extension Imphal, July 15 More than 1,000 auto-rickshaws drove in a rally from Thangmeiband Thau ground to all important roads here. Rickshaw pullers in thousands will also take out a rally across Imphal valley tomorrow against the ceasefire, reports said, adding that the campaign against the ceasefire by the six-body United Committee was on in rural areas.
PTI |
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Probe against former Collector
begins
Hanumangarh, July 15 In a complaint to the Lok Ayukta, Mr Ram Singh had alleged that the former District Collector was pressuring him to withdraw the contempt of court case filed against him. The president of Gurdwara Singh Sabha said in his complaint that he had filed a case of contempt of court against the former Collector and other officials for not following the courts directions over the issue of widening the flow-route of the Ghaggar. Mr Ram Singh alleged that the former Collector had ordered investigation by unconstitutional means of the records of Gurdwara Singh Sabha and Guru Harkishan Public School, being run under his chairmanship, to pressurise him to withdraw the case.
Mr Ram Singh could not depose before the Investigation Officer, because of health reasons. The Investigating Officer recorded statements of the Assistant Registrar (Cooperative Committees), Mr M.R. Khanna, and the Tehsildar, Mr Subhash Vig, who had carried investigations of the records of the gurdwara and the school. |
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