The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Thursday, March 21, 2002, Chandigarh, India

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Cong set to defeat POTO
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 20
The Congress today said it was determined to defeat the Prevention of Terrorism Bill, 2002, in the Rajya Sabha tomorrow.

Worried over the large number of party MPs absenting themselves during the vote in the Lok Sabha, the Congress has issued a whip to its members to be present in the Rajya Sabha when the Bill is taken up.

The Opposition would have to muster all its strength to get the bill defeated in the Rajya Sabha given that the AIADMK and the NCP are likely to support the Bill. The BSP may also support the Bill or abstain from voting. With only a minor difference in the numbers of the Opposition and the government in the Rajya Sabha, the role of nominated members (11) and Independents and others (13) would be crucial. There are seven vacancies in the upper house.

Though the government has already declared its intention to call a joint session of both Houses on March 26 to get the POTO Bill passed, the floor managers of the BJP would try to seek a victory in the Rajya Sabha. If the government succeeds in getting the bill passed in Rajya Sabha, it would be a big setback for the Opposition.

While the BJP can bank on the AIADMK and the NCP for support on the Bill apart from the backing of its NDA allies, the going has become tougher for the Opposition with at least two MPs out of the country. Mr Manmohan Singh, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, is convalescing in a hospital here.

“It shall be our endeavour to see that POTO is defeated in Rajya Sabha,” Congress spokesman Anand Sharma said today.

Meanwhile, the Congress today called upon Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to clarify if he supported the stand taken by the RSS on minorities.

Mr Sharma said since some of the resolutions moved by the RSS at its Bangalore session were unconstitutional, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister should explain their position. “The Prime Minister should state if he disapproves the RSS resolutions or his loyalties to the RSS override constitutional requirements,” Mr Sharma said.

Manmohan Singh in AIIMS
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 20
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and former Finance Minister Manmohan Singh is under medication at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences. This explains his conspicuous absence from the House.

Speaking on conditions of anonymity, a senior Congress leader, who called on him, said: “He is recouping”.

Sources in the hospital and the party said that Mr Manmohan Singh, a diabetic, is suspected to be suffering from jaundice and has been under treatment for almost a week.

Nepal cops kill 25 Maoists; 7 officers die
Deuba rushes to Delhi for help
Gopal Sharma

Kathmandu, March 20
Nepal’s Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba headed for India on Wednesday to seek support in the country’s fight against Maoist guerrillas after fresh clashes on Tuesday night in which at least seven police officers and 25 rebels were killed, officials said.

Deuba plans to seek New Delhi’s help in the battle against the insurgency by the Maoists, who Nepal says receive training and support from outlawed Indian ultra-left rebels.

“India’s support in Nepal’s operation against the terrorists is crucial. I will discuss this on my India visit,” Deuba the Nepal’s Parliament before leaving.

India recently provided two helicopters to help Nepal fight the guerrillas.

The Maoists, who are fighting to replace Nepal’s constitutional monarchy with Communist rule, have stepped up attacks on government forces across the impoverished kingdom.

Defence Ministry spokesman Bhola Silwal said Maoist rebels killed at least seven police officers during a raid on a police post in Kailali district, western Nepal, late last night.

Soldiers repelled two other attacks by rebels at Kailali, some 600 km west of the capital, he added.

Silwal said soldiers gunned down 14 rebels in Rukum and four in nearby Bardiya district in west Nepal in separate gunbattles yesterday. Nine other guerrillas were killed elsewhere.

Last month it extended the state of emergency by three months to enable soldiers to crush the revolt.

Kathmandu says it needs more international support to fight the rebels, but officials have not specified what support Deuba would seek from his Indian hosts.

Nepalese authorities believe that rebel leaders may be able to elude government troops by slipping across the country’s open border with India, and that they slip back into the country to launch new attacks.

However, opposition parties warned against any deal that would leave Nepal’s security dependant on its giant neighbour.

“Nepal should not make the mistake of signing any agreements with India that would bring the country under India’s security umbrella,” said Madhav Kumar Nepal, leader of the United Marxist-Leninist Communist Party, Nepal’s main opposition party. Reuters, AP