 |
Friday,
December 20, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
Decision on SOG upsets Army US pressure on Pak ‘not enough’
House
adjourned over Tehelka |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
GUJARAT POLL Sonia asks party men
to introspect VHP focus shifts to
Rajasthan
|
|
Decision on SOG upsets Army New Delhi, December 19 Although officially, the Army has been maintaining that the disbanding of the SOG is unlikely to affect counter-terrorism measures in Jammu and Kashmir, senior officers here say the announcement of the decision by the Jammu and Kashmir Government has already had a demoralising effect on the security forces. This, along with the state government’s decision to release some hardcore militants arrested by the security forces during various operations over the years, has already had a negative effect. As a result, there has been a spurt in terrorist attacks all over the state, say sources in the Army. According to reports, there has been a major effect on the counter-terrorism measures of the security forces, including the Army, as a result of the decision to disband the SOG. Sources say the SOG men, working closely with the security forces and helping them in fishing out holed terrorists, are no longer coming forward to provide information and be part of the operations. Since those who are a part of the group know that it has to be disbanded, they are no longer showing interest. The state government’s decision to hold those a part of the SOG accountable for various “deeds” is another impedement which the security forces feel has hampered the measures. On the other hand, terrorist organisations have apparently been emboldened and are going all out to create trouble in the state. This observation of the security forces comes in stark contrast to the claims of the state government, the Centre and Kashmir observers that the ground situation in the state has been improving. Intelligence reports and figures related to various terrorist activities point out that not only has there been no decrease in infiltration from across the border, even in December, but the number of attacks on the security forces has increased. This morning, two BSF jawans were killed in Kulgam following a grenade attack by terrorists. In another incident in Kudpora Achabal in south Kashmir on Tuesday, two Army officers were killed in an encounter with terrorists. Sources said such incidents were bound to increase as the state government’s decisions were taking the sting out of the security forces’ operations. Already, this month, six infiltration bids have been foiled. This is a major increase compared to no infiltration bids recorded during the same time last year. |
|
US pressure on Pak ‘not enough’ New Delhi, December 19 While asserting that the cross-border terrorism was still continuing despite assurance by Pakistan that it would stop encouraging it, the External affairs Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, said if the USA had exerted sufficient pressure on Islamabad, it would desist from indulging in its activities. Responding to supplementaries during question hour in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said though the menace had decreased, “The fact remains that cross-border terrorism is continuing despite clear announcement and assertion by the Pakistani President Gen Pervez Musharraf, and assurance from the international community that they will put pressure on Pakistan to desist from it”. While welcoming the pressure being exerted by the international community, Mr Sinha said India had to fight the menace on its own and expressed confidence that “We are capable and strong enough to wage and win the battle”. On resumption of dialogue with Islamabad, he said New Delhi insisted on the condition that cross-border terrorism had to be brought to an end before any meaningful dialogue was started. “Pakistan is sending mercenaries to carry out terrorist activities in India,” he said. Earlier, the Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Digvijay Singh, said no effort was being made to declare Pakistan a terrorist state. Mr Digvijay Singh, in his written reply, said since the military establishment in Pakistan continued to have the determining role in major policy issues, cross-border infiltration and terrorist violence have been going on. “There has been no change in Pakistan’s policy of support and sponsorship of cross-border terrorism against India,” he said. He said information regarding Pakistan’s support and sponsorship of cross-border terrorism against India was consistently shared with other countries in appropriate bilateral and multilateral fora as part of global efforts against terrorism. Pakistan’s continued involvement with cross-border terrorism has been widely recognised, he said and added that many countries had called upon Pakistan to fulfil its commitment to end the menace. |
|
House adjourned over Tehelka New Delhi, December 19 Accusing the BJP and its allies of trying to protect a “scam-tainted minister”, the Congress, the Left and RJD members demanded a statement from the government on the fate of the inquiry after the resignation of Justice K. Venkataswami as the head of the probe panel. The trouble began during question hour, when Opposition members, who had given notices of an adjournment motion and suspension of question hour, refused to hear replies by Defence Minister George Fernandes As Deputy Speaker P.M. Sayeed called Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Santosh Kumar Gangwar to give the government’s version during zero hour, Samata Party, BJP and Shiv Sena members demanded that they be heard before the minister spoke. As the din continued, there was slogan-shouting in the House, with Opposition members demanding “We want JPC” and Samata Party members Raghuanth Jha and Prabhunath Singh trying to counter it with “Murti chor, Bharat choro” (antique thief, leave the country). Vehemently protesting the Samata sloganeering, some Congress members stormed the well, but were persuaded to return to their seats by senior party leaders. |
|
GUJARAT POLL Ahmedabad, December 19 The BJP got 49.7 per cent votes and 70 per cent seats while the Congress got 39.3 per cent votes but fetched only 51 seats in this election. In 1998 the BJP had got 44.8 per cent votes and 117 seats while the Congress got 34.85 per cent votes. Even though as many as 12 BJP ministers lost the elections, eight BJP candidates, including Chief Minister Narendra Modi, got over 70 per cent votes in their constituencies. In 1998, only three BJP candidates had got more than 70 per cent votes. Thirteen BJP candidates got between 60 to 70 per cent votes. Interestingly, the highest percentage of votes (76.06) went in favour of Mr Bhavin Seth, the BJP candidate from Ellisbridge where sitting MLA Haren Pandya was denied the ticket. Mr Pandya had polled 77.4 per cent votes in 1998. Only one Congress candidate Mukesh Ghanvi got over 60 per cent votes. The results show that the BJP wave was particularly strong in areas where the intensity of communal riots and religious polarisation was the highest. While it held on to its position in North Gujarat, the BJP gained most in central Gujarat districts adjoining Godhra. BJP candidate from Naroda in Ahmedabad Maya Kodnani, an accused in the massacre of 90 persons in Naroda Patia, won by a margin of 1.11 lakh votes. The BJP also retained Asarwa, which covers Chamanpura, where former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri and 43 others were burnt alive in Gulbarg society. The party won this seat with a higher margin. Former Gujarat chief of the Bajrang Dal Haresh Bhatt wrested Godhra from the Congress while in the neighbouring Kalol seat, which witnessed many deaths at Delol village, BJP candidate Prabhatsinh Chuahan romped home easily. The BJP retained the Wadi constituency in
Vadodara. |
|
Sonia asks party men
to introspect New Delhi, December 19 Accepting the verdict of the people in Gujarat, Ms Gandhi emphasised that the Congressmen must introspect and regroup themselves after identifying the party’s shortcomings. Addressing the Congress Legislative Party here today on the eve of the winter session of Parliament coming to an end, Ms Gandhi castigated the BJP and the Sangh parivar for “preaching hatred and spreading poison during the Gujarat Assembly elections.” She made it clear that the Congress would confront and combat these dangerous trends uncompromisingly. Stating that the defeat in Gujarat must galvanise the Congress to face bigger challenges, Ms Gandhi said: “We are disappointed with the results but there is no room for despondency.” She warned that the Congress needed to be extra vigilant, especially in the 14 states ruled by it, so that the communal virus was not injected and propagated there. Ms Gandhi said the party had started analysing the reasons for its rout in Gujarat and would identify, acknowledge and rectify its shortcomings, both real and perceived. She called upon her party men to concentrate single-mindedly on the tasks ahead and remain steadfast in their commitment to “secularism, social harmony and combating communalism and bigotry of every kind.” |
|
VHP focus shifts to
Rajasthan Ahmedabad, December 19 Fresh from its
triumph in Gujarat, where nearly 85,000 parishad workers fanned out
for the success of the BJP candidates, the VHP now plans to focus its
“Hindu awakening” in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh which are due
for elections next year. The VHP has given “trishul diksha” to 3.6
lakh people in Gujarat in the past four years and wants to emulate the
example in other states. The VHP is so sure of its role in BJP’s
success in Gujarat that senior leaders of the parishad said it was not
any election fought by the BJP but by the VHP and Gujarat Chief
Minister Narendra Modi. “We were expecting 135 seats,” Mr Kaushik
J. Mehta, joint general secretary of VHP in Gujarat told The Tribune
here. The pamphlets distributed by the VHP before the Gujarat poll
asked the voters to choose between “Haji Bilal (the main accused of
Godhra carnage) and Ram Bakht” when they vote. There is little doubt that Mr Modi has emerged as the new hero of Hindutva in the eyes of the VHP and the older leaders like Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani are no longer its favourites. VHP
leaders feel that the Congress had condemned the Godhra massacre
belatedly and inadequately. “Narendra Modi said he would not let the
perpetrators of Godhra massacre rest in peace. But Congress leader
Shankersinh Vaghela suggested that Godhra may be a handiwork of some
Sangh parivar activists. Whom should we support,” Mr Mehta asked. “The
Congress is the root of pseudo-secularism and we will make efforts to
see that it does not come to power,” he added. Even as the BJP has
rejected the possibility of India becoming a theocratic state, the VHP
leaders want that every party should at least start accepting India as
a “Hindu country. Once this is accepted by all, the problems will be
solved,” insisted Mr Mehta, who left the BJP 13 years back to work
for the VHP. |
 |
| 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 | |
Videos
