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Monday,
August 4, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Rights
violations in PoK under fire at UN meeting Kashmiri Pandits’ poser to human rights panel Modi hits out at human rights panel
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BJP ready to face poll, says Venkaiah Shahabuddin ready to surrender after Aug 7
Train cops
in forensic sciences, say experts NEWS ANALYSIS Apang sworn in
Arunachal CM CBI gets
vital clues in Pandya case SP
(Customs) caught taking bribe
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Rights violations in PoK under fire at UN meeting New Delhi, August 3 In his address at the 55th session being held in Geneva, chairman of JKLF diplomatic committee, Shabir Choudhry said the life of two million people in the northern areas was hell and Pakistan treated the region as an “occupied land”, according to a copy of his address made available here. Terming the area as the “last colony” after the British rule, he spoke of the denial of basic “human rights and unfair treatment to the people” and said “no opportunity is given to the people even to express their grievances.” Flaying Islamabad for forcibly occupying the land, the JKLF leader said “the Pakistan Government had no legal right to control the region and deny people of Gilgit and Baltistan their basic human rights.” In a compliment to New Delhi, Shabir Chodhury said on the other side of Line of Control “despite dominant gun culture, political activities are allowed to all sections of the Kashmiri community”. Another senior separatist leader Shaukat Kashmiri raised objection to terming PoK as “Azad Kashmir” and said the puppet regime in the PoK was trying to mislead the world by claiming it as “free” so that they could hide the gross human rights violations in the area. The separatist leader said the so-called “Azad” Kashmir was being ruled by despots nominated by Pakistan while the occupied northern areas were without any constitutional status and the people were even denied self-rule. “Political activists standing up for the rights of the people are harassed and tortured,” he said and exemplified a recent attempt on the life of Balawaristan National Front leader Nawaz Khan Naji, who was fired upon by people in uniform. Shaukat, who was speaking on behalf of the European Union of Public Relations, said the socio-economic indicators of the PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan in terms of health, education, gender equality, communications remain “shockingly low” while on the other hand, religious schools preaching communal hatred and training camps for terrorists continue to mushroom with the blessings of Pakistani rulers. He urged the UN sub-commission to recommend the setting up of a special mechanism to examine the dismal human rights situation in Pakistan and the parts of Jammu and Kashmir forcibly occupied by it.
— PTI |
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Kashmiri
Pandits’ poser to human rights panel New Delhi, August 3 The miniscule minority community, which was forced out of Kashmir to be scattered all over the country as
“refugees”, note that “each selective killing of Pandits by the Islamic militants intending to cleanse the valley of Hindus was akin to the Best Bakery case.” “There are numerous cases where Pandits were brutally killed and their bodies mutilated. Why didn’t the NHRC or any such body take cognizance of these,” asks Rajinder Kaul
Premi, whose famous poet-author father Sarwanand Kaul Premi and brother Virender Kaul Premi were murdered in April 1990. The 64-year-old Premi and his 27-year-old son were dragged out of their home in Anantnag district on April 29,1990 and abducted. Their mutilated bodies were found two days later. According to government statistics, 454 Pandits have been killed and around 25,000 of their houses burnt down but not a single case has been tried. While differing on the figures, Kashmiri Samiti President Sunil Shakdher said “each killing tells a nerve-wrecking tale still the country was unmoved”. To cite a few cases of brutal murders, two armed personsbarged into the house of telecom engineer
B. K. Ganju in the Kanyakadal area of Srinagar on an early morning of March, 1990. Apprehending trouble, Ganju hid himself in a drum putting gunny bags over himself. However, the assailants located him and pumped bullets into the drum. His wife pleaded with them to kill her and their three-year-old daughter also but the assailants retorted “there should be somebody to mourn his death”.
— PTI |
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Modi hits out at human rights panel Ahmedabad, August 3 “It is in the interest of public that they know how many persons have been punished and to what extent in all incidents of communal riots across all states after the Independence”, Mr Modi said at a function organised by Gandhinagar Nagrik Cooperative Bank to give financial assistance to those killed in Akshardham temple attack. Taking exception to what he termed as “mentality to specific targeting of Gujarat”, Mr Modi said a group that was conspiring to malign Gujarat was still active in the state and elements harbouring such intentions would not be spared at any cost”.
— PTI |
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Hurriyat
ready to discuss all issues, says Bhat New Delhi, August 3 The All-Party Hurriyat Conference will be led by the newly elected chairman Maulana Abbas, and two senior leaders of the 23-party amalgam Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Abdul Gani Bhat. The Kashmiri Committee will be represented by its chairman and former Union minister Ram Jethmalani, Ashok Bhan, Dilip Padgaonkar, V.K. Grover, Shanti Bhushan and Javed Laiq. Talking to The Tribune, Professor Bhat said the Prime Minister’s Srinagar address had infused fresh hope of finding a resolution to the vexed issue. He said the Hurriyat was ready to discuss all issues for the restoration of peace in strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir. When asked whether the talks would confine to the whole of Jammu and Kashmir, including those parts held by Pakistan and China, Professor Bhat said, “When we talk of Jammu and Kashmir it is the complete geographical entity that we have in mind and not the sovereign boundaries laid out by power.” Asked about the recent remarks by the hardline Pakistani Jamiat Ulema Islam chief, Maulana Fazal-ur Rehman, that the Simla Agreement should be the guiding principle for resolving the Kashmir issue, he said, “I would not like to comment on what should be the guiding principle.” Following the Hurriyat leaders’ meeting Mr Jethmalani is expected to visit Islamabad later this week and expectations are that he could meet militant leaders based across the Line of Control. The Hurriyat leaders will also meet British High Commissioner Rob Young, Ambassadors of the European Union and envoys of the Organisation of Islamic Conference during their stay in the Capital. The talks by the three-member Hurriyat delegation comes a mid allegation that the Rs 10 lakh seized by the Delhi Police from Gulam Mohammad Sheikh, a former lecturer of physics in an Anantnag college, had reportedly emanated from Pakistan and was allegedly sought by Syed Ali Shah Geelani. |
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Jamali sees hope on Kashmir issue New Delhi, August 3 “When I talked to Mr Vajpayee, I felt he was sincere about talking and that has given me all the more impetus. My assessment is very positive”, he said in an interview to BBC World. Mr Jamali had spoken to Mr Vajpayee on telephone a few days after the latter announced his fresh initiative to mend fences with Pakistan during his visit to Srinagar on April 18. Mr Jamali said in his view Mr
Vajpayee was a leader “with whom we can break the deadlock” on
Kashmir. — UNI |
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Police restrained from arresting Hrithik Roshan Mumbai, August 3 The bunch of petitions would come up for hearing before Justice
V.M. Kanade tomorrow. One petition was filed by them on July 28 while three others were filed yesterday, Roshans’ lawyer Dipesh Mehta told PTI. The petitions urged the High Court to quash the criminal proceedings launched against the Roshans in a magistrate’s court by Jayantilal
Gada, Managing Director of Popular Entertainment Network Ltd. It also urged the court to stay the prcoeedings and restrain the Khar police from arresting them. It also sought quashing of an order directing the police to investigate the complaint of alleged cheating and criminal breach of trust registered against Hrithik and his father Rakesh Roshan.
— PTI |
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BJP ready to face poll, says Venkaiah Hyderabad, August 3 Speaking at a party state council meeting at Champapet here, he said the situation was “very favourable” for the BJP, which would go to the polls based on its performance under the leadership of Prime Minister
A.B. Vajpayee. Stating that the BJP would not deviate from the core issues like construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya, the Uniform Civil Code, abrogation of Article 370, introduction of an anti-conversion law and providing one-third reservation for women in Assembly and Parliament, Mr Naidu hastened to add that the party would not thrust its ideologies on its allies. Referring to the Opposition’s demand for shifting the Best Bakery case outside Gujarat, the BJP President said it would set a bad precedent and would amount to questioning the independence of the judiciary. Besides, it would threaten the federal set up of the country. Countering the Congress’ demand, he reeled out figures of the cases registered in Gujarat between 1985 and 92. “While 5,734 cases were registered during the period, only 97 ended in conviction and only two went for appeal,’’ he said, asking as to what the Congress had to say about it. The BJP President announced the appointment of Minister of State for Railways Bandaru Dattatreya as chairman of the state-level election management and campaign committee. Earlier, Mr Nallu Indrasenna Reddy, who was elected unopposed as the party state unit president, asked the party workers to create awareness among the people about various Central schemes being implemented in the state. Two resolutions pertaining to irrigation projects and agriculture in the state were passed at the meeting.
— UNI |
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Mixed response to simultaneous poll plan New Delhi, August 3 Election administrators feel that Mr Advani’s proposal could be impractical due to political and Constitutional difficulties in its implementation. Former Election Commissioner (EC)
G.V.G. Krishnamurthy said though Mr Advani’s suggestion was “good”, any amendment to the Constitution for the purpose was an “intractable” proposition and synchronisation of parliamentary and Assembly poll was “impractical”.
— PTI |
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Shahabuddin ready to surrender after Aug 7 Patna, August 3 Responding to a question, Mr Shahabuddin said he was waiting for a final ruling of the court in Siwan, his Lok Sabha constituency, which would take a final view on his plea for bail. The controversial MP accused Bihar (DGP) D.P. Ojha, who had issued the arrest warrant against him in connection with the case of kidnap and murder of a
CPI (ML) activist three years ago, accused the senior police official of being an agent of BJP and eyeing the post of the governor after his retirement. “Mr Ojha is an agent of the BJP and nurtures high politcal ambitions,” he said. Mr Ojha had also requested the Chief Minister to order a CBI inquriy into the alleged involvement of Mr Shahabuddin in a bank robbery in Gopalganj distirict early this year. The RJD MP said Mr Ojha was trying to step into the footsteps of former Bihar IG, D.N. Sahay, who after his retirement, joined the Samata Party and became the Governor of Chhatisgarh. Meanwhile, senior Samata Party leader and Railway Minister Nitish Kumar said today that the arrest of controversial RJD MP Shahabuddin was not a big issue, but it had been blown up into “a high voltage drama” to divert people’s mind from the spate of kidnappings in the state. Mr Nitish Kumar told reporters here before leaving for his parliamentary constituency “the arrest of Shahabuddin is not a big issue as is being projected by the media. What is needed is a strong will to implement the orders of the Director General of Police (DGP) D P Ojha for his arrest.” The minister said instead of requesting the government to order a CBI probe for the alleged complicity of Shahabuddin in the looting of Rs 20 lakh from a rural bank in Gopalganj district this year, the state police could make an inquiry into the case on its own.
— PTI |
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Train cops in forensic sciences, say experts New Delhi, August 3 Sources said in April this year forensic experts met the Chairman, Criminal Justice System Reforms, Justice Malimath, and requested him to give more freedom on legal authority to visit the crime spots. However, Justice Malimath is learnt to have told them that since the forensic fraternity is too small in the entire country and cannot manage without the support of the state police forces, this may not be immediately possible. For that it has been suggested that policemen in the country be trained in forensic sciences. They, in turn will visit the crime spots, collect clues and deliver these to the forensic experts. But even after the suggestion was made, the police forces do not have an accredited Crime Scene Technician, who is supposed to have the knowledge of both forensic sciences and police investigations. Experts are also believed to have raised this issue of having a technician in the police forces with the Union Home Ministry but nothing concrete has emerged so far. The technician collects the clues which can link the crime, criminal and the victim and knows how to collect, preserve and dispatch these. Police crime teams are also not adequately equipped for preliminary testing of clue material for developing finger prints, footprints, detecting blood spots, explosive material and narcotics substance. They are also expected to carry a photo-kit and sterilised special suit to avoid contamination. While states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat have a good expertise in finger prints, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh are lagging behind. Worst are Sikkim, Goa, Uttaranchal and Pondicherry which have to bank on other states as they do not have infrastructure for specialised techniques. |
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NEWS ANALYSIS New Delhi, August 3 It would also strengthen the argument in favour of imposing similar restrictions on those who aspire to fight Assembly and Parliamentary elections as the Supreme Court has ruled that contesting elections is not a fundamental right, nor a common law right. Deputy Prime
Minister L.K. Advani had recently advocated restrictions on public representatives from contesting elections for violating the norm. Many political parties, including the BJP and the Congress had reacted favourably to the judgement. Though India was one of the first countries in the world to launch the family planning programme after Independence, it unfortunately failed to achieve the desired result and make a dent on controlling the population growth, which the apex court has termed as “torrential increase”. Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee and Haryana Government counsel and senior advocate P.P. Rao had strongly defended such restriction on people’s representatives saying that the Act passsed by Haryana was a “first step and a small beginning” at grass-roots level and was in conformity with the National Policy on Population (NPP). Mr Rao had said that the public representatives had to be a role model for the people. If they were found not practising what they preached, nobody would take them seriously. Both eminant jurists were of the view that since the panchayati raj institutions were the grass-roots level bodies to implement the NPP, any law imposing restrictions on its functionaries for holding office for having more than two children, was a good law. Though the NPP had emphasised on popularising the norm, it did not have much impact. The only option to enforce the norm on all citizen could be through a legislation, they added. China, the most populous country with over 1.3 billion people, has enforced one-child norm on its citizen and has been encouraging no-child norm. As a result, the population growth in China, which in the sixties and seventies was more than that of India, had come down considerably in the eighties and nineties. The Supreme Court was categorical that any restriction on the public representatives from contesting election did not violate the right of freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion as laid down in Article 25, nor does it violate Article 14 (right to equality before law) and Article 21 (right to personal liberty). |
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Apang sworn in Arunachal CM Itanagar, August 3 Governor V.C. Pandey administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr Apang and then to the 37 others, of which three are Ministers of State. However, the present Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Tamiyo Taga, could not take oath because of technical reasons. Later, talking to mediapersons, the new Chief Minister said his government would work for the repeal of the Arunachal Pradesh Organised Crime Act and give the District Council status to Changlang and Tirap districts.
— UNI |
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CBI gets vital clues in Pandya case New Delhi, August 3 CBI sources told UNI today that the inquiry into the Haren Pandya murder case has provided crucial inputs about Ahmedabad resident Rasool Khan, who has emerged as a major link. “He is suspected to have planned the conspiracy to eliminate the BJP leader,’’ the sources said. Haren Pandya was killed by unidentified assailants in his car outside a park in Ahmedabad in March this year. The assailants reportedly wanted to avenge the killing of Muslims in the riots that broke out after the Godhra massacre last year. The CBI later arrested seven persons in connection with the murder. Since Rasool is believed to be hiding in Pakistan, the assistance of the Interpol is being considered to trace him and bring him back, sources said.
— UNI |
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SP (Customs) caught taking bribe New Delhi, August 3 CBI sources said here that SP of Customs (Preventive Unit) S. K. Das was arrested from Barihat red-handed on the basis of a complaint filed by the drug dealer. The official had demanded Rs 12 lakh for clearing a consignment of the drug dealer. Mr Das, who had demanded the amount in two equal instalments, settled for Rs 3 lakh as the first instalment. He will be produced before a court tomorrow.
— UNI |
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