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Friday,
February 8, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Parties
promise to rename Uttaranchal Coffin
politics mean: PM
BSP, SP
woo Muslims
Mental torture an offence: SC |
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Scheme for fast track courts Dam
oustees lay siege of Shashtri Bhavan Shaan is
favourite
Breach in canal: staff held guilty
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Parties promise to rename Uttaranchal Nainital, February 7 The Congress, which is the main challenger to the ruling BJP, has promised in its manifesto that on coming to power it would forward a resolution to the Centre for changing the name of the state from Uttarakhand. The CPI too supports the demand for the change in the state’s name. The demand to change the name of the state was first raised by the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), one of the regional parties which were in the forefront of the agitation for making the region a separate state. However, the BJP is opposed to the change in the name. The spokesman for the Congress, Mr Ramesh Pandey, says that the entire agitation for a separate state was based upon the name of Uttarakhand. But the BJP, which had hijacked the agitation after it was launched by the regional parties, popularity known as Uttarakhandi parties, insisted on giving the new state the name of Uttaranchal, so that it could claim the credit for its creation. In the process, he says, the BJP hurt the sentiments of the Uttarakhandis, because even in the “Puranas” and other religious books the region is identified as Uttarakhand and not as Uttaranchal. Almost 50 per cent population of the state is directly or indirectly related to the defence forces. Either they are families of serving defence personnel or ex-servicemen. During the Kargil was 107 martyrs belonged to Uttaranchal. All political parties are wooing this section. The BJP reminds this section how its government at the
Centre allotted gas agencies and petrol stations to the next of kin of Kargil martyrs, who were cremated with full honours. However, the Congress is raising the issue of coffin scam, much to the discomfiture of the BJP. Mr Pandey said while BJP leaders claim that the government had purchased alluminium coffins for the martyrs, in the Uttaranchal the bodies of the martyrs were sent in wooden coffins. “Where have the costly imported alluminium coffins gone? Will they be used for the ruling party leaders?” asks Mr Pandey sarcastically. The Chairman of the ex-servicemen cell of the Uttaranchal Congress, Lieut-Gen Madan Mohan Lakhera (retd) accuses the BJP of attempting to divide the ex-servicemen on caste lines by asking some ex-servicemen to seek admission for their wards in educational institutions against the reservation quota earmarked for their castes. The issue of the state’s capital is also being raised by various parties. The hilly areas of the state are divided into two regions — Gharhwal and Kumaon. Residents of both regions want the capital to be located in their region. The regional parties, as a compromise agreed on Garsain, a place on the border of Gharhwal and Kumaon. The CPI is in agreement with it. The BJP says that Dehra Dun is temporary capital of the state. Its leaders refuse to be dragged in the controversy. The Congress says that the issue should be decided by the new Assembly after evolving a consensus. Perhaps both parties know that the state has no funds to build a new capital. The people of the third region of the state, popularly known as “maidani ilaqa’, are, however, happy with Dehra Dun as its capital. The Uttarakhandi parties and the CPI want that the state should be given a special status like Jammu and Kashmir has been given under Article 371 of the Constitution. Their concept of Article 371 is that no outsider should be allowed to purchase property in Uttaranchal. The Congress maintains silence on the demand. The BJP says that it has already got special status for Uttaranchal from the Union Government, which will give special financial assistance for the state’s development. Dehra Dun-based journalist S.S. Wasu, says that the parochial demand is not in long-term interest of the state. Since the state has a great potential for religious and holiday tourism, it must invite the private sector from outside to develop infrastructure there. If the outsiders and debarred from purchasing property in Uttaranchal, both tourism and industry would suffer. |
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Coffin politics mean: PM Dehra Dun, February 7 The situation on the borders is tense and nothing ought to be said that might affect the morale of the troops. But, the Congress is indulging in politicising the coffin issue for just a few votes, Mr Vajpayee said addressing an impressive election rally here at the parade grounds. Asserting that there was no corruption involved in the purchase of aluminium caskets from abroad, Mr Vajpayee lamented that efforts were being made to undermine the morale of the security forces deployed on the borders. “I feel hurt because soldiers fighting on the border might be given to think that someone was making money in buying coffins for the martyrs,” he said. The country had to import the caskets as “we had decided to send the bodies of Kargil martyrs to their families so that their parents could see their sons before the last rites... No previous government had ever bothered to send the bodies of the soldiers, who died during war, to their families,” he added. The Prime Minister also took the opportunity to snub Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for his address to the joint sitting of the PoK National Assembly and said Kashmir would not be divided again and New Delhi would hold talks with Islamabad only after it stopped cross-border terrorism. “We have repeatedly tried to ensure friendly relations with them (Pakistan), but they always shattered our confidence — whether it was the Lahore bus yatra or the Agra Summit,” Mr Vajpayee said, adding that “We have learnt a lesson from Kargil that don’t be in a hurry to trust anyone.” The Prime Minister said now Pakistan was insisting on talks with India because the western countries had understood New Delhi’s stand on terrorism and were putting pressure on Islamabad to stop cross-border terrorism. “But what can we talk when Pakistan is indulging in cross-border terrorism.” On the formation of Uttaranchal and the debate on who gave Uttaranchal, the Prime Minister in his inimitable style tried to win over the voters in the BJP’s favour by saying that “yeh bahas bekar hai ki kisne Uttaranchal diya. Uttaranchal banaya Bhagvan ne. Sajaya prakriti ne aur rajya ke roop me nakshe me rekhankit kiya janata ne the debate on who gave Uttaranchal is superfluous. God created Uttaranchal and it has been blessed by nature and drawn on the map by the people.” Stating that Uttaranchal had immense potential in tourism, higher education and information technology, Mr Vajpayee expressed the confidence that Uttaranchal, too, would soon become self-sufficient. Earlier, Uttaranchal Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Khoshiyari said the BJP government with the help of the Centre had laid a strong foundation for the speedy economic growth of the state. |
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BSP, SP woo Muslims Deoband (Saharanpur),
February 7 As the Muslims hold the balance, the Samajvadi party candidate, Mr Virinder Thakur, has been trying hard to win them over. In order to win this important segment of voters, former Prime Minister V.P. Singh addressed a rally in support of the SP two days back. Mr V.P. Singh made a scathing attack on the BJP and portrayed it as a communal party. He cited numerous examples to drive home, the point to the Muslims that they are equal partners in the development of the country and their patriotism is second to none. Consequently, the fears and suspicion of a large section of Muslim population was allayed as maintained by Abdul Idris — a Muslim farmer of the area — in a talk with The Tribune. But a large number of other Muslims opined that their support basically depended on the attitude and “Fatwa” of the Moulvis of the Deoband school. The BSP led by Mayawati is also making assiduous efforts to win over the Muslims. Its candidate, Mr Rajinder Rana, is working hard to win over the Muslim voters. His calculations are that if the Backward Castes and Muslims combine, they can defeat the BJP. Mr Rana is being helped in his campaign by the Chairman of the Block Samiti who is an activist of the BSP and a Muslim. Besides, Ms Mayawati is also contesting from the adjoining Harora constituency. BJP candidate Thakur Rampal Singh Pundir is banking upon the anti-Muslim alignment amongst the Jats and Punjabis as well as Hindu voters which are otherwise in majority. The BJP calculations are based on the surmise that the political alignment with Mr Ajit Singh would pay the dividends. Mr Deepak Raj Singhal, president of the Deoband Municipal Committee is very confident about the victory of Thakur Pundir. But the local press seems to be prejudiced against the BJP candidate. INLD candidate Shashi Bala Pundir is also showing a lot of confidence. She had fought many electoral battles on the symbol of various political parties. |
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TRIBUNE
EXCLUSIVE New Delhi, February 7 Well-placed
sources here told The Tribune today that some of the recent “accidents”
which resulted in blowing up of vast quantities of ammunition could
well have been engineered by Pakistan’s secret service, the Inter
Services Intelligence (ISI). Leads to this effect have come up
following interrogation of some of the arrested suspects. The intelligence agencies have said in their reports that the ISI was encouraging terrorist outfits to target ammunition depots as part of a larger game plan to bleed the Indian economy white. Besides, the sources said attacks on Indian defence locations and ammunition depots would also adversely affect the Indian defence preparedness which is of crucial importance in view of the current military stand-off between India and Pakistan. Appropriate steps, both short-term and long-term, are being taken by the authorities in the light of the intelligence reports. The Centre had last year released a sum of Rs 700 crore to modernise and upgrade the existing ammunition depots. The funds are to be utilised over a period of three to four years. There are 17 major ammunition depots in the country. In most cases, the ammunition is stored in open areas because of paucity of facilities. According to estimates, if all ammunition depots in the country are to have ideal storage conditions, it would cost upwards of Rs 20,000 crore. There
have been four major “accidents” involving the defence ammunition:
the Bharatpur ammunition depot fire, the Pathankot ammunition depot
fire, another fire near Sri Ganganagar ammunition depot and the
mysterious fire involving more than 100 ammunition-laden trucks on the
outskirts of Bikaner which were coming from Bathinda. It is
estimated that ammunition worth thousands of crores has gone up in
smoke in these “accidents”. Officials of Ministries of Defence and Home are coordinating with each other in making fool-proof security arrangements for ammunition depots and for transferring ammunition and explosives from one state to another. The long-term measures being undertaken by the government include construction of underground storage depots, constructing air-conditioned underground rooms for storing missiles and other sensitive weapons and setting up barbed wire peripheral fencing around ammunition depots. A short-term measure being considered by the Ministry of Defence is to stop using altogether the civilian transport for moving explosives by road from one place to another. The recent fire involving ammunition-laden trucks on the outskirts of Bikaner is a case in point as all trucks hired in this incident were civilian. The
sources said for moving ammunition in most forward areas the Army made
it a point not to hire civilian trucks. But in other areas the Army
has been engaging civilian transport — after due verification of the
truck crew — for two reasons. One, to generate employment in the
civil sector. Secondly, because the Army does not have an adequate
transport fleet to ferry ammunition on its own. Now the authorities are making efforts to minimise the civilian involvement in ferrying explosives because the verification of the truck crew is not found to be reliable. |
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Mental torture an offence: SC
New Delhi, February 7 A Bench comprising Mr Justice R.P. Sethi and Mr Justice B.P. Singh, while acquitting a person of charges of cruelty against his wife leading to her suicide, said “cruelty” for the purpose of constituting the offence under 498A of the IPC need not be physical. “Even mental torture or abnormal behaviour may amount to cruelty and harassment in a given case,” Mr Justice Sethi, writing the judgement for the Bench, said yesterday. The Bench said the concept of cruelty and its effect varied from individual to individual and also depended upon the social and economic status to which such persons belonged. As per the prosecution case, Gananath Pattnaik’s wife committed suicide on account of dowry demands made by him and his family members. It was further alleged that the deceased was subjected to ill-treatment, harassment and cruelty. The trial court acquitted the accused of charges under Section 304B of the IPC but found him guilty under Section 498A holding that there was evidence to prove that the wife was subjected to cruelty. Pattnaik’s appeal in the Orissa High Court was dismissed. He then approached the Supreme Court in appeal against the high court order.
PTI |
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Scheme for fast track courts New Delhi, February 7 A sum of Rs 502.90 crore has been allocated to take care of special problems as well as upgradation of judicial administration. The amount is to be spent over a period of five years up to 2005. An amount of Rs 1.68 crore has already been released to various states. These fast track courts will take up cases pending for two years or more coupled with those of undertrials in jails. There are about two lakh undertrials in different jails and the government spends Rs 401 crore on their maintenance annually the rate of Rs 55 per day on each person. About 18 per cent of the undertrials are languishing in jails for more than one year. According to a jail official “the scheme will take care of such cases besides looking after human rights violations.” As on December 31, 2001, 919 courts had been established in the country out of which 579 courts were already functioning. These courts had disposed of 18,467 cases. But the monitoring mechanism of the fast track courts as on December 3 pointed out that the Punjab and Haryana High Court refused to set up the requisite number of courts as there was a dearth of judicial officers. Out of 36 courts notified for Punjab, only seven are functioning at present in the state. The Union Ministry of Finance had provided Rs 3.33 crore for this purpose. Under the scheme, a pilot project for computerisation and networking of courts in the four metropolises of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai had been undertaken at a cost of Rs 15 crore. |
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Dam oustees lay siege of Shashtri Bhavan
New Delhi, February 7 The protesters, led by Medha Patkar and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy, blocked the main entrance of the Bhavan from 11 a.m. and were demanding that the dam height should not be raised without completing the mandatory rehabilitation and environment requirements. Medha Patkar, addressing a hundred-odd dam oustees who had gathered at the gate next to Krishi Bhavan with their bag and baggage, said the Centre and the state government assured the apex court that all dam oustees would be rehabilitated before raising the height of the dam. However, no proper rehabilitation has been provided to a majority of the oustees whose villages will go under water if the dam height is raised from the present height of 90 metres, she added. Accusing the governments of misleading the court, she said if proper rehabilitation measures were not taken the tribals and the villagers would not move out from their present dwelling units.
PTI |
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Shaan is favourite Mumbai, February 7 Shaan bagged the top honours in the category beating other nominees, including Asha Bhosale, Sonu Nigam, Falguni Pathak, Chitra and Ustad Sultan Khan. Back in the metropolis after receiving the award last Saturday, Shaan told PTI that he was extremely elated to have won the prestigious award.
PTI |
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Breach in canal: staff held guilty Hanumangarh, February 7 Sources in the department said three employees, including two engineers, Balveer Singh Jhorar, assistant engineer, Ranjeet Singh Bootar, junior engineer, and a chowkidar Ramcharan had been declared guilty by the probing officer Mr Joginder Singh. The report says the three did not act with responsibility. It further says that the breach occurred in the canal when some cultivators tried a water theft. The cultivators breached the canal, which widened because of the pressure of water. The report alleged the attitude of the employees of the department was careless during and after the incident. When the breach occurred the chowkidar was only 1 km away from the place, but he did not report to the officials immediately. Later, he ran away from there after informing the officials about the breach on telephone, the report says. Similar was the attitude of the concerned assistant engineer and the junior engineer. The probing officer said in his report that the FIR of water theft was not initially registered. The report also suggested repairing the sides of the canals so that vehicles could run on these and rescue operations could be carried at the earliest. |
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New Delhi, February 7
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