 |
|
| Tuesday,
May 14, 2002, Chandigarh, India
|
|
||||
|
A moment of pride and grief for martyrs’ kin
Ludhiana, May 13 Brooding over the past, the relatives of 37 martyrs of the district, who attained martyrdom during Indo-Pak conflicts in 1947-48, 1965 and 1971 and proxy war in J&K, were seated together on the occasion. Although they are proud that their loved-ones have sacrificed their lives for the nation, but many a times they are not happy with the way they are treated afterwards. Shaheedi tan aurtan di hundi hai (its the women who are martyred), says the youngest woman present on the occasion, Ms Lakhwinder Kaur, widow of Sepoy Jagjit Singh, who laid down his life fighting militancy in Jammu and Kashmir on August 4, 2001. “Our husbands attain martyrdom leaving us behind only to be turned out by our in-laws and other people around who want to fleece us of all the money,” said 24-year-old Lakhwinder. “I am proud that my husband laid down his life for the nation. But who will look after me and my daughter, born three months after her father’s death? I became a widow just after eight months of marriage and my in-laws turned me out of their house. I am living with my parents and have vowed never to re-marry and live with the memories of my husband. Now I want to live with peace but my in-laws keep making claims on the family pension,” she said. Showing a cheque for Rs 30,000, she was handed over, she said the money would not bring her husband back but still it was some consolation. Lakhwinder epitomises the struggle of all the war-widows who face the similar problems in life, where the relatives want to fleece them of all the money, least realising their pain. Most of the war-widows Ludhiana Tribune spoke to echoed the same problems who were forced to live with a pain throughout their lives. Brig P.S. Toor (retd) a-was also of the same opinion. He said, “Neither the people nor the government of this nation respect its martyrs and a nation that does so can’t survive for long.”Most of relatives complained that the entire process of getting pension and compensation was very lengthy and they were harassed by the employees of the Sainik Welfare Board. Lakhwinder said she had not got the compensation although months had passed since her husband attained martyrdom. The Commanding Officer of 152 Infantry Battalion (TA) Sikh, Colonel T.P.S. Gill, said the war-widows were being honoured and given cheques of Rs 50,000 each as the National Defence Fund (Battle Casualties) was activated after Kargil operations only. He said it was very difficult for the Army to find out the families of martyrs after so many years. He had sent many persons from the battalion to go to villages and identify people and they could find only 37 such families, he added. He agreed that the condition of widows was bad as they were harassed by their relatives despite being cheated by the destiny. He said that some of them were so old and had children who did not look after them. While the eyes of some widows were swollen due to sobbing inconsolably, their enthusiasm to send their grandchildren for serving in the Army was still intact. Ms Sarjit Kaur (75) and a mother of a Sepoy Sandhu Singh said she was ready to send her two grandsons in the service of the nation. “I have already told the officers here to call them anytime they want them,” she said.  |
|
MC POLL Ludhiana, May 13 Although the main contest will be between the Congress candidates and those put up by the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and Bharatiya Janata Party combine, but the presence of a large number of Independents would significantly affect the outcome, and in some wards the Independents might spring surprises. In the present house, the SAD-BJP combine had 38 seats, followed by the Congress at 16 while Independents held 14 seats. The maximum number of candidates had filed nomination papers from Ward No 10 where, in all, 20 were in the fray, including Mr Kuldip Singh Janda and Mr Wassan Singh Goraya, both of whom were claiming to be the official nominees of the party, holding authorisation letters. On the other hand Ward Nos 62 and 69 would witness straight contests. Ms Shubha Malhotra (Cong) was pitted against Ms Priya Rani Malhotra (BJP) in Ward 62 and sitting councillor and member of the Finance and Contracts Committee of the Municipal Corporation, Mr Jai Parkash, would take onto Mr Avtar Krishan Tari of the BJP. The group leader of the Congress councillors and a strong contender for the post of the City Mayor in the next house, Mr Surjit Singh Ahluwalia, who had to shift to adjoining Ward No 46 from his present Ward No 47 due to rotation being given effect, was locked in a triangular battle with Praveen Goyal (BJP) and Mr Vishwa Vijay (Ind). Other wards to have three cornered contests were Ward Nos 3, 41, 45, 46, 59, 61 and 68 involving sitting councillors Mr Rajiv Katna (BJP) and Mr Balkar Singh (Cong). Thanks to the statutory reservation for women, a large number of candidates belonging to the fair sex were in the field, seeking election as city councillors, but the BJP appeared to have gone one step ahead. The party has the unique distinction of nominating a women candidate — Ms Sunita Aggarwal — from Ward No 16, which is an open ward with Mr Rajesh Mehra of Congress pitted against her. Interestingly, the rotation of wards had upset many an apple cart, including that of the City Mayor, Mr Apinder Singh Grewal, who opted out of the electoral battle after his Ward No 41 was declared as reserved for women. Similarly, the Senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Jagdish Prasad Loomba (Ward No 54), and the Deputy Mayor, Ms Santosh Aneja (Ward No 70), both of the BJP, were also not contesting this time. While Mr Loomba was learnt to have declined on health grounds, Ward No 70, represented by Ms Aneja had fallen in open category and her plea for nomination from some other ward was not granted. All the major political parties contesting civic elections were plagued with the problem of rebellion and having been denied the party tickets, quite a few rebel candidates had thrown in their hats, giving the official nominees, sleepless nights. A former councillor and an aspirant for the Congress nomination, Mr Satnam Ahuja, who had lost election in 1997, is contesting from two wards (Nos 63 and 66) where the Congress had put up Mr Ashok Thapar and Mr Sat Pal Puri, respectively. |
|
Cong mayoral nominees fear internal sabotage Ludhiana, May 13 Stakes are particularly high for three mayoral candidates of the party. They include Mr Nahar Singh Gill from ward 18, Mr Prem Mittal from ward 37 and Mr Surjit Singh Ahluwalia from ward 46. Despite the fact that all the three are placed comfortably as the candidates against them are not so strong, but these Congress candidates do not seem be prepared to take any chances. A supporter of one of these candidates remarked, ‘‘We are not concerned much about the rival candidates from other parties, but are worried over the possible sabotage from within the party’’. Mr Gill’s candidature from ward 18 was strongly resisted by Mr Milkiat Singh Birmi, MLA from Ludhiana Rural. Ward 18 falls in Mr Birmi’s Assembly segment. In fact Mr Gill was also a candidate for the Ludhiana Rural Assembly segment, while it was allotted to Mr Birmi. Mr Gill’s supporters too are apprehensive fearing that Mr Birmi’s supporters may harm his (Mr Gill’s) prospects. Mr Birmi has already distanced himself from the elections after he abstained from the selection committee meetings. He is not happy with the selection of candidates also as most of his supporters have been ignored during the selection process. Mr Ahluwalia’s situation is no better. In the incumbent corporation he was the leader of the Congress party. While this time he is contesting from ward 46, last time he had contested from ward 47, which has now been reserved for women. Although a strong candidate for the post of the Mayor, he also has many enemies and much opposition within the party. His main contestant will be with Mr Parveen Goyal of the BJP. Mr Goyal may not prove as difficult for Mr Ahluwalia as his own people within the party might prove. Similarly Mr Prem Mittal, a former Deputy Mayor, also does not face any significant challenge. He is contesting from ward 37, from where the BJP has fielded Mr Pran Jagota. Although Mr Mittal is not faced with any significant or pronounced opposition like that of Mr Gill or Mr Ahluwalia, still his supporters feel that his being the candidate for the post of the Mayor may prompt some people to work against him. ‘‘It is true of every party and more so for the Congress, where people start eliminating their rivals from within their own party’’, remarked one of Mittal’s supporters. However, this may be true of all three mayoral candidates of the party. |
|
|
Cell pleads for support to
Congress candidates Ludhiana, May 13 In a joint statement, Mr Balwant Rai Kapoor, Mr Sunder Lal Mehta and Mr Hans Raj Gagat, chairman, vice-president and secretary of the cell, respectively, have maintained that the success of the Congress in the municipal elections would further strengthen the hands of the Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, and would give impetus to his ongoing war against corruption. Functionaries of the cell further assured the people that the Congress government would fulfill its commitments of providing clean governance and better amenities to the rural and urban population. Activists observed that the government had initiated steps in the right earnest to ensure proper implementation of labour laws pertaining to ESI, provident fund, payment of minimum wages, bonus, gratuity and payment of overtime in private factories. Meanwhile, Mr Devinder Singh Bittu, SAD-BJP candidate from Ward No 40, held a series of meetings, which were addressed by several party functionaries and eminent residents of the area. He sought support of the electorate on the basis of development works carried out by his wife and sitting councillor, Ms Harpreet Kaur. Ms Sunita Rani, an Independent candidate from Ward No 14, has claimed that her election campaign was receiving overwhelming response from several parties, social groups and people. |
|
|
Cong, SAD-BJP workers clash at Bachat Bhavan Ludhiana, May 13 It happened during a meeting between officials of the district administration and the contesting candidates. The Congress and the Akali-BJP combine candidates started levelling charges against each other. They were being backed by their supporters in the jam-packed Bachat Bhavan. They were repeatedly asked by the organisers of the meeting not to criticise or blame other parties. However, nobody seemed to care. Meanwhile, supporters of the rival groups started raising slogans. While Akali-BJP workers were raising slogans against the Congress and its leaders, the Congress workers retaliated by raising slogans against the leaders of Akali Dal and the BJP. However, after some time better sense prevailed and the meeting continued . |
|
|
470 booths sensitive Ludhiana, May 13 Addressing a press conference in the afternoon here, the DIG said 470 polling booths and stations were found to be sensitive. Of these, 346 were polling booths and 124 were polling stations. In total, 948 polling booths and 348 polling stations have been set up in 70 wards of the city. He said the district would require additional police force and arrangements were being made for the same. About 4,700 police personnel were required for the conduct of fair poll, he informed mediapersons. He said the police has also formed 23 special patrolling parties and set up 35 special nakas in different parts of the city to maintain law and order. |
|
CM to visit city tomorrow Ludhiana, May 13 According to the District Congress Committee president, Mr K K Bawa, the Chief Minister will arrive in the morning. Besides holding meetings with the party leaders and workers he will address a public meeting. The venue of the meeting is yet to be finalised. |
|
|
PAU MOLESTATION CASE Ludhiana, May 13 Highly placed sources in the university revealed that the action has been taken after an inquiry report in the incident, which indicted the teacher, was submitted to the Vice-Chancellor last week. The Vice-Chancellor, reportedly, studied the report for some days and discussed it with senior officials of the varsity before taking action. This is the first reported case of its kind in the university. Dr K.S. Aulakh, Vice-Chancellor of the University, said as per rules, the accused is to be served a 15-day notice, and action would be taken after a reply was furnished by him. Dr Aulakh said that he had issued the notice to Dr Harmit Singh Thind, a Professor in the Department of Soils and after receiving his reply appropriate action would be taken against him. The inquiry committee, constituted by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) to look into the allegations of molestation levelled by a girl student against a faculty member, eight months ago, had held the latter guilty of molesting the girl but it had not recommended any action against him. The committee was headed by the Dean, College of Home
Science, Dr (Ms) S.K.Mann. An FIR has already been lodged in Sarabha Nagar police station against the accused. The PAU molestation case was the first in a series of a number of sexual harassment and molestation cases reported from different universities in the state to come up, including the much-publicised Saru Rana case of Punjabi University. |
|
Barely out posters
back on walls Ludhiana, May 13 Warnings issued by the district administration notwithstanding, various political parties continue to deface public property, much to the displeasure of all. Though similar warnings had been issued by the district administration last time too, these had had no effect on violators. Today, the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), Mr A.K. Sinha, told candidates that they would not be allowed to paste campaign posters at public places. Under the Prevention of Defacement of Property Act of 1997, defacement of private property invites punishment, but, disgusted with the way the legal system works, most persons prefer to spend a little money on removing the posters rather than lodge a complaint. Those who had lodged such protests at the time of the Assembly elections had drawn flak. “Why antagonise a man who may become your councillor in a few days,” says Mr Bharat Kumar, who lives here and prefers to spend a little money to get the mess cleaned up rather than confront the offenders. The law says that no one can put up posters, banners and slogans etc anywhere without the written permission of the owner of the building that may be private or public. The offending party, association, candidate or a person can be prosecuted and charged with causing wilful damage to the property of others. Mr Ashutosh Gupta, another victim of defacement of property (by supporters of Mr Bharat Bhushan Ashu, a candidate of the Congress from Ward 48), says that much as he would like to complain, he will not because he is sure that nothing is going to come out of this. Though, there is a lot of resentment in the city over the acts of defacement, not many persons have come forward to take on politicians. The problem seems to be serious in the walled city as well as posh areas. Officials of the district administration held a meeting with representatives of various political parties on Monday to tell them what action could be taken against them. Ms Geetika Jain, another person who lives here, says that citizens should not vote for candidates who deface property. Only a tough public stand can improve the situation. A notification issued by the administration educates citizens on the issue. The defacement of property included interfering with the appearance or beauty, damaging, disfiguring, spoiling or injuring in any other way. The property may be any land, building, hut, structure, wall, tree, fence, post, pole or any other installation. Pasting of posters on electricity and telephone poles or putting up banners on poles on roadsides are punishable acts. Offences under the Act concerned are cognizable — punishable with imprisonment for a term upto 6 months or fine upto Rs 1,000 or both. Under Section 3 of the Act, the government may take steps to erase any writing or remove any defacement from any property. |
|
|
Shopkeepers protest against cop’s highhandedness Ludhiana, May 13 The house was being constructed by Mr Vijay Kumar, who runs a stationery shop in the market. He is being allegedly harassed by ASI Ajit Singh Walia, who owns a house adjoining the plot of the shopkeeper. According to him, the trouble began a couple of months ago, when he bought the plot. The cop was allegedly interested in buying the plot as it was sold by his ancestors. The cop threatened him of dire consequences if he went ahead with the construction. According to Mr Vijay, when he started construction, the cop started harassing him. Many a time, he threatened labourers, brought policemen and raised questions over the construction. The shopkeeper alleged that he made several alterations in the construction plan to suit the requirements of the cop and to establish friendly ties with him. However, his suffering and harassment grew. He said yesterday a building inspector of the municipal corporation came with the cop and forcibly locked his house under construction. In a written complaint filed in this regard with the PAU police post, he alleged that the building inspector had demanded money from him saying the house was not being constructed as per rules. Mr Vijay Kumar produced all relevant documents of the case before mediapersons and claimed that he had sent several representations to the senior police officials complaining against the highhandedness of the cop, but to no avail. He said the cop had threatened to implicate him in some ‘terrible’ case, if he did not go according to his wish. Other shopkeepers in the market came out in support of Mr Vijay and raised slogans against the two officials. They also pasted posters on the walls accusing the two officials by name and demanding action against them. |
|
Plea to review taxation
laws Ludhiana, May 13 Prominent among the participants were Mr Pardeep Mittal, president, Akhil Bharatiya Aggarwal Sammelan, Mr Surinder Singla, Congress MLA and chairman of High Power Committee on Finance, and Mr Raj Kumar Gupta, MLA. A large number of delegates from almost all districts of Punjab attended the convention. The state chief of the body, Mr Amrit Lal Aggarwal, announced the formation of the women wing, youth wing, beopar cell, marriage bureau and the chartered accountants’ wing. He said the organisational base of the body would be expanded and the state unit would soon have at least one member from each family of the community. Mr Surinder Singla said the community needed to step up its participation in political activities so that it could mobilise opinion in favour of streamlining taxation laws and scrapping the outdated laws, which were often misused to harass traders. Mr Surinder Singla and Mr Raj Kumar Gupta, both legislators, were honoured at the function and were also named as patrons of the sammelan. The Akhil Bharatiya Aggarwal Sammelan president, Mr Pardeep Mittal, said the community had achieved a sizeable representation among elected representatives in various states and the National Capital. He called for concerted efforts to gain political strength so that the community could influence decisions at all levels. Announcing the nominations to various wings and state executive of the body, Mr Amrit Lal Aggarwal said Mr Kewal Krishan Gupta and Ms Manju Parkash would head the beopar cell and the women wing, respectively, while Mr Prem Kumar Gupta, Mr Hem Raj Garg and Mr Sanjeev Gupta were nominated presidents of the marriage bureau, the youth wing and the chartered accountants’ wing, respectively. Other office-bearers would be Mr Surinder Kumar Gupta (general secretary), Mr Devinder Kumar Gupta (treasurer), Mr Manoj Gupta (senior vice-president), Mr Jinderpal Gupta, Mr Om Parkash Aggarwal, Mr Ashok Kumar Bansal, Mr Sat Pal Aggarwal, Mr Subhash Chander Aggarwal (all vice-presidents), Mr Om Parkash Goel, Mr Prem Sagar Gupta, Mr Sudesh Gupta, Mr Prem Kumar Bansal and Mr Pushpinder Kumar (all secretaries). |
|
Two booked for snatching chain Ludhiana, May 13 Fraud alleged:
Poppy husk seized:
Travel agent held:
According to the FIR, the accused, along with Kamaljit Singh Doha, Dalip Bassi and Karnail Singh Bassi, allured Kuldip Singh of Akhara village with a promise to send him to the USA. He paid Rs 3 lakh to the accused, but they sent him to Thailand instead. Other accused in the case were still absconding. Arrested on theft charge:
The complainant had stated that he was going on his scooter, along with a friend, to Salempura village when the vehicle skidded and both of them sustained injuries. They were rushed to a hospital at Ludhiana, but when they returned to the accident site later, they found that their scooter had been stolen. Cases of beating:
The Sadar police has registered a case of alleged beating on the statement of Mr Bakshish Singh, a resident of Bholewal Kadian village, against Daroshidi, his sons, Rinku, Sher, Rana and Shinderpal, residents of the same village. The complainant had alleged that the accused took forcible possession of his land and when he asked them to vacate the land, they beat him up on Saturday and injured him. Dowry harassment:
Stolen scooter recovered:
Doraha According to a case registered at the Payal police station under Sections 452, 323 and 324 of the IPC, Ms Manjit Kaur of Ghangas village was attacked by her neighbour, Tarsem Singh, alias Kala. She got injured in the attack and had to be hospitalised. Illicit relations might be the cause of attack, the police said. Jagraon Kuldip Singh was also wanted by the Dehlon police in two other cases. Sahnewal
|
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
