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Friday,
April 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Fernandes to visit Gujarat New Delhi, April 18 In another development the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) general secretary E. Ahmed met Mr Fernandes and requested him not to withdraw the Army from Gujarat. Mr Fernandes would not only see the rehabilitation work at the relief camps but would assess the prevailing law and order situation. Mr Fernandes would be accompanied by the Minister of State for Defence Harin Pathak during the tour to the state. The visit of Mr Fernandes is also significant in the wake of General Padmanabhan’s statement yesterday indicating that the Army would be withdrawn from the state as the situation had returned to normal there. Mr Ahmed, a member of Parliament, told Mr Fernandes that the presence of the Army had substantially helped in controlling the riots in parts of the state. He said the minority community had confidence in the impartiality of the armed forces and hence the personnel should not be called back. Meanwhile, prominent citizens appealed to General Padmanabhan to reconsider his proposal to withdraw the Army from Gujarat. AHMEDABAD (PTI): At least 90 per cent of students belonging to the minority community have boycotted the second phase of Secondary and Higher Secondary Board examinations, that began in some parts of Gujarat amidst tight security on Thursday. Badruddin Saikh, a member of Gujarat Relief Committee, claimed that 90 per cent of 14,000 minority students have boycotted the exams. The boycott came in the wake of rejection of their demands by the government to shift the examination centres to safer places due to continued communal violence in the state. 
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Shanta may be dropped New Delhi, April 18 But the move will materialise next month only when Mr Vajpayee is expected to reshuffle his Cabinet. The Union Cabinet reshuffle is expected after the Parliament session ends on May 15, well-placed sources told TNS today. Mr Shanta Kumar’s loss is likely to be the gain of his bete noire, Mr Suresh Chandel, the Lok Sabha MP from Bilaspur. Mr Chandel, a former President of the Himachal Pradesh unit of the BJP, is a close confidante of Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal. Mr Chandel was promoted and groomed by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi when he was the BJP General Secretary in charge of Himachal Pradesh. Sources said the BJP high command had decided to come down heavily upon indiscipline in an effort to gear up for the general election, which according to an influential section within the BJP, may not be too far away. It is in this regard that the Vajpayee government has decided in principle to punish Mr Shanta Kumar for his outburst against the beleaguered Gujarat Chief Minister on a television programme even though he has given a written apology to BJP President K. Jana Krishnamurthy. In unusually hard and categoric language, Mr Shanta Kumar said in his letter of apology: “I am really very sorry. I had no intention of acting in such indisciplinary way. I am a devoted and disciplined worker from my childhood since last 50 years. I regret for such public statement made by me.” Mr Shanta Kumar had recently annoyed the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal during the Ayodhya crisis when he had reportedly said: “BJP ko VHP netaon se ab nijaat le leni chahiyee” (The BJP should now get rid of these VHP leaders). After this incident, VHP Secretary Onkar Bhave had rung up Mr Shanta Kumar and asked him bluntly as to why the BJP was not getting rid of the VHP. |
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