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July 18, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Pervez came with empty mind: Pandits
Atalji shor nahin karte: Jaswant Jaswant flays
Pak scribes |
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Govt lacked preparation: Left Congress: govt bungled NEWS ANALYSIS
KASHMIRI SIKHS-V Kukis call for bandh in Manipur today 6 convicted for giving secrets to Pakistan
10th Plan to focus on mental health Task force on unorganised labour
No fresh FIR
for same offence: SC Govt submits records to Nanavati panel 28 landslip
deaths in Uttaranchal
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Pervez came with empty mind: Pandits New Delhi, July 17 Pakistani President was “repeatedly saying that he would come here with an ‘open mind’. But after the summit, it appears he had come here with an empty mind and closed outlook,” said Ramesh Manvati, spokesman of Joint Working Council (JWC) of Panun Kashmir and Panun Kashmir Movement. Omar personally
disappointed The Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Omar Abdullah today said he was disappointed that the summit meeting between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf ended without a joint declaration. “It’s a personal disappointment to me that the Agra summit ended without a joint declaration,’’ he said here. Arrest Hurriyat
leaders: VHP The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today termed as ‘traitors’ the Hurriyat leaders for blaming India for the failure of the Agra summit last night and demanded their immediate arrest for declaring that the ‘separatist struggle’ in Jammu and Kashmir would continue with renewed vigour. Senior VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore told a press conference, “Yeh log is desh mein rah kar, isi desh se deshdroh kar rahe hain. Inhe to turant arrest kar lena chahiye.’’ Hurriyat leader Shabir Shah had earlier blamed India for the deadlock, while supporting Pakistani President’s stance that Kashmir was the core issue between India and Pakistan and its resolution would end all other problems confronting the two nations. He threatened that the separatist struggle would continue with more vigour and determination. The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) held the ‘insincere approach’ of India and Pakistan towards resolving the complex issue of Jammu and Kashmir as the ‘main reason’ for Monday’s impasse in the summit. Indian, Pak heart saddened: Gujral Former Prime Minister I. K. Gujral said that the failure of the summit would have saddened every sensitive heart both in India and Pakistan who were wishing for an improvement of relationship between the two countries. Mr Gujral said the civil
societies on both sides have been seeking this fraternal relationship for quite some time. “Unfortunately, the army leadership in Pakistan is both rigid and doctrinaire in its attitude. That led to the breakdown (of talks),” he said. He said that in the meantime, it was important for the Vajpayee government to work out its agenda for ending alienation within Jammu and Kashmir. Result expected: Samata The Samata Party, a constituent of the
NDA, said there was nothing unexpected about the outcome of the Indo-Pak summit. Party spokesman Shambhu Srivastava said in a statement, that to term the outcome as failure, is, being grossly unfair. Kashmir can’t be
subject of talk: seer KANCHEEPURAM: Sankaracharya of Kanchi Mutt Jayendra Saraswathi said the outcome of the summit was not unexpected and asserted Kashmir could never be a subject of talks. “Kashmir can never be the subject of talk. Only the cross-border terrorism and the ceasing of it can be...,” he said. Pak should shun rigid stand: RSS NAGPUR: The RSS today said unless Pakistan gave up its rigid stand on Kashmir, Prime Minister Vajpayee’s reciprocal visit to Pakistan would be of no use. Spokesman M. G. Vaidya said “unless Pakistan gives up its rigid stand on Kashmir, nothing is possible. Vajpayee’s reciprocal trip will also not bear any fruit”. Make summit details public: Laloo PATNA: RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav said the Prime Minister should make public all the crucial proposals agreed upon by India and Pakistan during the Agra summit. “The people of India have the right to know the proposals contained in the draft. Mr Vajpayee should make public all the crucial proposals contained in the draft declaration on which the two sides had given consent as also other proposals on which there was disagreement,” he said.
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Atalji shor nahin karte: Jaswant Agra, July 17 New Delhi was determined to persevere. It had anticipated hitting such a roadblock and was not going to give up continuing the dialogue which has been resumed with Pakistan after its misadventure in Kargil in 1999. This was in keeping with India’s abiding vision of good neighbourly relations as the global objective was not transitory. Without being aggressive or side stepping any question, Mr Jaswant Singh listed the points of differences without sounding any jarring note. He steadfastly refused to dwell on the confidentiality of the summit and consistently extended all courtesies whenever he referred to the Pakistan President and his counterpart Abdul
Sattar. The encounter with journalists, including a few from Pakistan, had its lighter moments with Mr Jaswant Singh throwing up some cheeky one-liners. That indeed must have set the stage for Mr Sattar to adopt similar atmospherics, rather raising the temperature. On the issue of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee raising the issue of cross-border terrorism with General Musharraf vigorously, Mr Jaswant Singh said in a calm voice, “Atalji to shor vor nahin karte (Atalji does not raise his voice.)” To another query whether India was instrumental in blocking General Musharraf’s pilgrimage to the Dargah of Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer, the Minister said in his inimitable style, “Mujhe to moka mila hai ki mein Garib Nawaz ke pass jane ka parantu Garib Nawas ke pass tabhi ja sakenge jab Garib Nawaz ka hukum ho (pilgrimages are only made when the Divine commands).” When a woman journalist from Pakistan asked Mr Jaswant Singh a question, the Minister felt there was some mistake in her count of the number of conflicts that India and Pakistan have had since 1948. “Did you say seven wars?” he asked by way of clarification. The correspondent was quick to say that she had prefaced her question by saying, “several, several wars.” He then responded to her “thesis.” When another correspondent from Pakistan posed his question by standing up, Mr Jaswant Singh urged him to take his seat before answering. “Aap tashreef rakhe (please be seated.)” |
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Jaswant flays
Pak scribes Agra, July 17 At a post-midnight briefing by External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Nirupama Rao, Pakistani journalists shouted angrily alleging that President Pervez Musharraf had been denied an opportunity to address a press conference after the summit had collapsed. She along with some other senior officials were mobbed by a group of journalists from Pakistan.
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Govt lacked preparation: Left New Delhi, July 17 “It appears there were some at the top level who played their own role in seeing that the talks, for which Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had taken a welcome initiative, do not succeed”, a resolution of the CPI said here. “The failure to reach an agreement during the summit talks has led to disappointment among vast sections of people in India and Pakistan, and also abroad, who had looked forward to a breakthrough in the course of these talks”, the CPI said. The CPI hopes that mutual recriminations will be avoided and fresh opportunities arising during the UN Assembly Session and the invitation extended to Mr Vajpayee for visiting Pakistan, will be sought for resuming talks at the topmost level. Appealing to people in India to exercise restraint so that the atmosphere remains conducive for
resumption of talks, the CPI resolution said Pakistan had to realise that cross-border terrorism could not be allowed to continue if
relations between the two countries were to improve and problems of poverty, hunger and development were to be solved in this sub continent. Almost on the same lines, the CPM Politburo said, “It seems the Vajpayee government, while extending the invitation to the Pakistan President did not make sufficient preparations for laying the groundwork for the summit”. “The fact that the two sides could not come to an agreement on the issues to be tackled is disappointing”, the CPM said. Stating that the party wanted the dialogue to continue, the CPM Politburo said while Kashmir was one of the major issues which had to be discussed, it was unfortunate that Pakistani side could not take up other important issues which could have contributed to further improvement of atmosphere between the two countries. |
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Congress: govt bungled New Delhi, July 17 Congress spokesman Jaipal Reddy said minimum hopes of the party from the summit had been belied, but desisted from calling the summit a failure. Hitting out at the
government, Mr Reddy said the handling of summit was characterised by “shoddy preparation, lack of homework and an ad hoc approach.”
This, he said, had weakened the projection of India’s case regarding the blatant sponsoring of terrorism by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir. He said the Prime Minister should call an all-party meeting to explain the factors that led to the negative outcome at the summit. Accusing the government of lacking a focused approach, Mr Reddy said “the lop-sided briefing by our Information Minister gave an excuse to Mr Musharraf to indulge in tough talk and get away with it. Our government
spokesperson failed to rebut any of the points made by General Musharraf.” Mr Reddy said the government had failed to take initiative with regard to such vital issues as nuclear stability in the Indian subcontinent.
“Our media-management was miserable. Our diplomatic naivety glaring,” he said. Claiming that the government seemed to be groping in the dark regarding India’s vital interests, Mr Reddy called upon the government to take the country into confidence as to how the summit ended. The Pakistan spokesman, he said, was speaking untruth but the government met these charges with “stony silence.” The Congress leader said even after the summit was over, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh had failed to take the country into confidence as to how the whole thing ended. “In fact, the government allowed an impression to get drawn that it was speaking in different voices, operating on different wavelengths,” Mr Reddy said. |
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NEWS ANALYSIS New Delhi, July 17 The Agra summit may have been inconclusive but was not a failure and President Pervez Musharraf was optimistic about desired results being achieved in the future course of re-engagement, Mr Sattar said. Contrary to the mood of the official Pakistan delegation, which had started the blame game soon after word leaked that the proposed Agra joint declaration was floundering, Mr Sattar’s media conference followed a pattern and was more or less on the lines of the one addressed by his counterpart in India, Mr Jaswant Singh earlier. The two leaders had a meeting of minds and the progress at Agra was a foundation for continuation of dialogue. He even said if there was more time an understanding on the Agra declaration could have been thrashed out. The only new spin from the Pakistan Foreign Minister was his definition of India’s concern on cross-border terrorism. Concerns at the border would be addressed by Pakistan but the dividing line at Kashmir was not a border and only a line of control. India had not stated anything on the line of control, he added. Mr Sattar virtually quoted from the failed draft of the Agra declaration to elaborate the main issues that were discussed. Kashmir was the central theme but the two sides also talked on peace and security and narcotics and terrorism. The blame game if any was subtle. He did say that the Pakistan side had requested that arrangements be made for President Musharraf to address the press and for some inexplicable reason the request had not been met. As for reports about “invisible hand” derailing the Agra summit, Mr Sattar said he had not seen it. He did not deny it either. He reiterated that the Pakistani President had said in his controversial breakfast meet with Indian editors and described the violence in Kashmir as an indigeneous struggle by the people there. He talked about 75,000 persons perishing in the Kashmir struggle. The Pakistan Foreign Minister suggested that India should provide travel documents to Hurriyat leaders to travel to Islamabad. However, the topic did not figure at the official level talks, he admitted. He was careful not to join issue directly with anything that Mr Jaswant Singh had said in his press conference at Agra and tackled questions on the subject by referring to the known viewpoint of Pakistan during the run up to the summit. Third party mediation was not discussed and as for commentators who felt that the talks had failed they were at 180 degrees variance from the assessment of the Pakistan Government. |
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Effigy of Pak President burnt New Delhi, July 17 The protesters led by Mr Pamma, the party president, applauded Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for his stand on Kashmir. They also demanded that Pakistan should be declared a “terrorist state” and that India must raise this issue at the International level. |
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KASHMIRI SIKHS-V Mohan Nagar (Raisinghnagar), July 17 It is no mean achievement when religion has taken a low priority among the new materialistic generation. Such has been their unshakeable belief that it is hard to find a Kashmiri Sikh who is a ‘patit’ — cuts his beard, consumes intoxicants and disobeys the rites and traditions of the Sikhs. In doing so they stand apart from even the large Sikh populace which settled in the region after the advent of the Gang (Bikaner) canal in the thirties. Tall, well-built, fair-complexioned men with flowing beards are a common sight in the villages and so are the equally graceful women. In the words of Sant Gurbaksh Singh Jammu wale, head of the community, it is hard to find a truer Sikh than the ones at Sriganganagar. Elders of the community said their forefathers embraced Sikhism when they were being forced to become Muslims. “Since Hind ki Chadar Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib
sacrificed his life to safeguard us, how can we even think of betraying him ? It is not that we force our youngsters to adhere to our thoughts and beliefs, but they do it of their own will and in deference of the supreme sacrifice of the Guru, which has no parallel in history,” they pointed out. A distinct feature of the Kashmiri Sikhs is that they first construct a gurdwara
wherever they settle down. It does not matter even if the new settlement has only a few families. The day for them begins with a visit to the gurdwara and attendance by everybody at all festivals and other occasions is a must. A case in point is Chak 22 NP which has a cluster of mud houses, but boasts of a small beautifully constructed gurdwara at a cost of Rs 5 lakh. Similarly, the community is constructing a big two-storeyed gurdwara at Raisinghnagar, work on which is still underway. It is also heartening to note that nobody is illiterate and even old men and women can sign their names and read a bit. They frown upon a person who cuts his hair and consumes intoxicants and point out that a few who did so have had to migrate elsewhere and go in for intercaste marriages. The adherents to the faith also do not marry into families which break traditions and many times this has posed a lot of problems for them. The first of such problems is finding a suitable match for their sons and daughters. Given the erosion of values among today’s generation elsewhere, they are forced to marry among the same community. Many times they have to seek a suitable match among their brethren settled in Jammu and Kashmir. The marriage is a simple affair and expenses are kept to the bare minimum. Everybody participates and contributes his or her bit for the newly weds, but dowry is unheard of. Similarly, widow remarriage is encouraged and there are many instances of widows remarrying after their husbands were killed on their way to India or got separated during Partition. The Deputy Sarpanch of Kararwali, Mr Mohan Singh, regularly goes to Pakistan to meet his brother and sister-in-law who were captured during their journey to India and forced to embrace Islam. Another striking feature is that they have not given credence to the increasing number of sects and orders that have cropped up in Punjab and elsewhere during the past many decades. For them, Guru Granth Sahib is their Guru and they bow to his command only. To be concluded |
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Kukis call for bandh in Manipur today Imphal, July 17 The outfit stated that no traffic should ply on the national or state highways during the bandh. The organisation appealed to all sections of people to shun communal sentiments and live in a congenial atmosphere as one Manipuri community.
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6 convicted for giving secrets to Pakistan New Delhi, July 17 Additional Sessions Judge H.S. Sharma in his order yesterday sentenced six persons to five years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 200 on each in the case. With these six the number of convicts in the case has gone up to ten. The six convicts are S.P. Anand, Babu Ram, Jaswant Rai Anand, K.N. Pandey, N.P. Dutta and Ramesh Chand. In 1994 the court had sentenced four others — Kailash Prashant, Ram Asray, Jagdish Prashad and Kuldeep Singh in this case. All accused were charged with the violation of Sections 4 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act. The prosecution had examined 46 witnesses in support of the case. In August 1990, the special branch of the Delhi police had received an information that accused Babu Ram was handing over some crucial secret documents to one of the officials in Pakistan High Commission endangering national integrity. Later the police arrested Babu Ram along with nine others, who were involved in the offence. The Judge in his order said “our soldiers at the border sacrifice their lives, they are not afraid of their enemies but are afraid of people like these accused within the country.” “Those who at one point of time played with the security and integrity of the nation, cannot be permitted to take shelter under their old ages,” the order said. “The accused herein did not keep in mind that by leaking important information to foreign agents for few hundred rupees had not only endangered the lives of others but their own lives” the Judge observed.
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10th Plan to focus on mental health New Delhi, July 17 Addressing a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his ministry here on Monday evening, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr
C.P. Thakur, said the project was estimated to cost Rs 150 crore. He told the members that epidemiological data indicated that mental disorders affected up to five per cent of the population. He pointed out that there were less than 20,000 beds in 37 mental hospitals, about 3,000 beds in general/ medical colleges and only about 3,000 psychiatrists and 2,000 other mental health professionals, who were unevenly distributed. |
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Task force on unorganised labour Bhopal, July 17 Mr
K.M. Acharya, Principal Secretary, Labour, Madhya Pradesh Government, will be its convener. Its other members are: Mr Tara Singh
Vyogi, an INTUC leader of the state, Mr Kamal Singh Dhruve, president, Tendupatta Pluckers District Union,
Mandla, Ms Manorama Joshi of SEWA, Indore, Dr Ilina Sen, who is working for the contract labour in Madhya Pradesh, Mr
K.P. Kannan, a labour economist, and Ms Shashi Jain, former joint secretary in the Union Labour Ministry. The task force will study the present socio-economic status of the unorganised labour in the state with special emphasis on employment, income, social security and skills and will identify sectors where unorganised workers predominate. It will review the existing laws covering the unorganised labour and suggest changes wherever needed. It has been asked to review the present programmes and schemes for the protection and development of the workers and assess their impact. It may recommend new programmes and schemes. It will examine employment and income opportunities especially in context of the changing economic environment and recommend a policy in the tune with the needs and demands of the future labour markets. |
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Gandhian Sailen Chatterjee dead New Delhi, July 17 Sailen Chatterjee (78) was witness to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and reported the tragedy for “India Opinion” of Natal in South Africa. He worked for the United Press of India, Hindustan Standard, Anand Bazar Patrika and Kesari, the paper founded by Lokmanya Tilak. |
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No fresh FIR
for same offence: SC New Delhi, July 17 Allowing an appeal filed Kannur Deputy Collector T.T Antony and 14 police officials, challenging filing of fresh FIRs against them in the 1994 Kuthuparamba police firing case, the court said registration of such an FIR would be “clearly beyond the purview of Sections 154 and 156 of the CrPC...and abuse of the power of investigation.”
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Govt submits records to Nanavati panel New Delhi, July 17 The commission had asked the Home Ministry to submit these records, which were collected by the Justice Misra Commission probing the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, as it would help in getting a proper picture of the mob violence.
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28 landslip
deaths in Uttaranchal Guptakashi, (Uttaranchal), July 17 Rudraprayag District Magistrate S.K. Lamba said while most of the pilgrims in Kedarnath had been evacuated, at least 200 were still stranded in Kedarnath, Gaurikund, Sonprayag and Sitapur. A rescue team is being sent to evacuate them, Mr Lamba said. He said the exact damage could not be ascertained so far. Army, ITBP and police officials have reached most of the affected areas for relief and rescue works.
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