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Tuesday,
January 29, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Demolition at Ayodhya no conspiracy: Advani BJP downplays VHP leaders’ remarks
‘Settle disputes prior to temple construction’ |
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Jharkhand Governor Prabhat Kumar quits Salary for sitting idle! Couple jailed for murder bid 10 hurt in
clash J&K tableaux win first position
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Demolition at Ayodhya no conspiracy: Advani New Delhi, January 28 “Neither the state government nor the organisers of the movement nor my party had intended the demolition to take place and can not be accused of having conspired to pull down the structure something which could have been done without congregating the mass, if ever there was such an intention”, he told the Liberhan Commission, going into the demolition issue. Deposing as a witness once again before the commission, he said, “The illegal part of whole movement was the demolition, which was not even remotely contemplated by anyone connected with the movement, and the entire movement was maligned by being charged with a conspiracy to demolish the disputed structure”. Mr Advani denied that he had ever made appeals from the microphone on December 6 asking the kar sevaks to block the paramilitary forces at the entry point at Ayodhya towards the site of kar seva. The minister said if situation in Ayodhya had got out of control it was not due to the lack of paramilitary forces, but “because of the expectations of the organisers that a judgement by court would come in time and it could not come and the Central and state governments failed to approach the Supreme Court in this regard”. Asked whether the conversion of the Line of Control into a permanent border would help India and resolve the Kashmir issue, Mr Advani said, “If you are to discuss with an adversary a contentious issue, you cannot start with a position, which may be the agreed solution. He, however, noted the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had been publicly saying that the LoC should be made into a border. On the issue of suggestions for making the LoC into international border, Mr Advani said, “I believe that when the Simla Agreement was reached at between Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Ms Indira Gandhi in 1972, after the last war between the two countries, that was the undeclared agreement. That was what I understand.” |
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BJP downplays VHP leaders’ remarks New Delhi, January 28 “As far as the BJP is concerned, all efforts will be made to resolve the issue through negotiations or wait for the court verdict. We have always acted as facilitator to find a solution to the problem”, said party spokesman Sunil Shastri refusing to comment on remarks of the VHP leaders. To repeated questions on the party’s stand on the remarks by the VHP leaders as some BJP MPs too had shared the podium with them at the rally, he declined to comment saying “the deadline of March 12 by the VHP is still very far. As far as the BJP is concerned, all efforts will be made to resolve the issue through negotiations or court verdict”. Mr Shastri said the Prime Minister had appealed to all to wait for either of the solutions and that the matter regarding the acquisition of the undisputed land sought by the VHP had been referred to the Law Minister. “I can’t comment right now on the handing over of the undisputed land in Ayodhya claimed by the VHP for temple construction. |
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‘Settle disputes prior to temple construction’ New Delhi, January 28 Party spokesman Jaipal Reddy today said the construction of a temple at Ayodhya could not be allowed to start unless the non-controversial nature of the temple plan was ensured in a foolproof fashion. “The temple plan of the VHP is such that the sanctum sanctorum (Garbha Graha) is to be built on the disputed site. It is therefore, imperative that the issues relating to the disputed site must be settled finally before the construction of the temple begins anywhere. The references about the expeditious judicial settlement of the issue is meaningless and infractious in the absence of an unambiguous undertaking by the VHP to abide by the verdict of the Supreme Court,” Mr Reddy said. He said on account of their “stale tactics,” the VHP’s yatra received poor response from the people. “But the Prime Minister has conferred respectability on the yatra by receiving a delegation of the VHP. While the meeting between the Prime Minister and the VHP may not be objectionable by itself, its timing is unfortunate. |
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Govt appeasing VHP: CPM New Delhi, January 28 “This is a way of keeping alive the patently disruptive demand of the VHP. The only response the government should have given is that this is a matter for the courts to decide”, a statement of the CPM
Politburo said here. “The BJP-led government is conniving with the disruptive game of the VHP and the RSS which has dangerous implications for the country’s unity and communal harmony”, the statement said. Describing the Centre’s decision to refer the matter to the Law Ministry as “another step to appease the VHP”, the CPM said Defence Minister George Fernandes’s statement that the VHP had agreed that the dispute could be resolved through a court decision or a negotiated settlement was “also false” as “at no time have the VHP leaders accepted this stand”. At the VHP rally at Ramlila Grounds, soon after the meeting with the Prime Minister, the self-styled representatives of the Hindu community had announced their intention to go ahead with the temple construction after March 12 even if the government did not clear the legal hurdles. |
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Jharkhand Governor Prabhat Kumar quits New Delhi, January 28 The resignation of Mr Prabhat Kumar, former Cabinet Secretary, comes in the wake of reports that Chairman and Managing Director of Flex Industries Ashok Chaturvedi footed bills worth Rs 1.3 lakh for the parties thrown by him. The issue came to light after Mr Chaturvedi was arrested by the CBI while allegedly bribing Chief Excise Commissioner
Somewhat Mishra. Of the three parties for which Mr Chaturvedi admitted having paid the bills, two were hosted while Mr Prabhat Kumar was already Jharkhand Governor. The issue rocked the Assembly session in Ranchi with the Opposition demanding his recall. As the demand grew stronger, the Governor came here and had a meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K. Advani. Sources said he was advised to put in his papers as the government did not want to face any more embarrassment over the issue.
PTI |
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Salary for sitting idle! Hanumangarh, January 28 The office was opened about three decades ago for proper management of water under the Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojna. In 1995, the office, however, was assigned the job of looking after the tubewells, installed to pump out logged water in the area. Last year in April, the tubewells installed were removed, as the scheme could not yield desired results. With this, where the scheme worth crores of rupees flopped, the employees of the Water Management Division were also left with no work to do. In May, 2001, the status of the division was lowered and it was brought under the command of an Assistant Engineer from an Executive Engineer. Presently 12 employees, including the Assistant Engineer, two Junior Engineers, junior accountant, two junior clerks, two pump operators, three Class IV employees and a driver, are employed. Many posts are lying vacant in the office. Sources said so much waste material had been placed in the office that the staff did not have any place to sit. The employees had no work to do. They after marking their attendance either went back to their homes or sat idle in the office. A jeep and a truck of the office stood parked without being used, the sources said. |
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Couple jailed for murder bid Hanumangarh, January 28 Balkar Singh filed a complaint with the Pilibangan police on October 27, 2000, stating that Lohar Singh and his wife Vimla along with Surjeet had beaten up their relative Duli Singh. Lohar Singh and his wife allegedly hit Duli Singh on his head with sharp-edged weapons. Duli Singh was seriously injured and admitted to a hospital. The police on December 18, 2000, filed a case against the three accused under various sections of the IPC. During the hearing proceedings one of the accused, Surjeet, died and the case against him was withdrawn. |
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10 hurt in clash Jaipur, January 28 Trouble broke out when pigs entered
the venue of the feast of a minority community and the organisers
tried to push them out which was objected to by members of a Scheduled
Caste community living in the adjacent area of Adarsh Nagar,
Inspector-General of Police (Law and Order) A.K. Jain said. PTI |
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J&K tableaux win first position New Delhi, January 28 Tripura and Ministry of Railways secured the second and third positions, respectively, in the best state tableau that took part in the parade, a press note said here. The Chhau dance, presented by Kolkata-based East Zone Cultural Centre, won the first prize in the schoolchildren category.
PTI |
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