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Bagri’s
speech video shown at trial US
court orders release of Sikh activist Charges
against Punj dismissed India,
China tie up on use of space Israel
lifts roadblocks
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Bagri’s speech video shown at trial Vancouver, December 4 Bagri, then a fiery 34-year-old preacher, rallied a crowd of frenzied Sikhs and shouted: “Until we kill 50,000 Hindus we will not rest.” He also shouted expletives against then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for having ordered the military to enter the Golden Temple in Amritsar a month before his July 1984 speech, Canadian Press reported yesterday. “Its consequences are going to be serious,” warned Bagri in the speech. “The government is responsible for this.” Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards three months after Bagri’s speech. Prosecutors have said Bagri’s fiery speech at Madison Square Garden in New York, in which he also called for armed action for creation of Khalistan, shows motive for his involvement in the Air India bombings less than a year later. Bagri and Vancouver millionaire Ripudaman Singh Malik are jointly charged with conspiracy and murder in two bombings that targeted Air India on June 23, 1985. The first blast ripped through Tokyo’s Narita Airport killing two baggage handlers. Less than an hour later, Air India flight 182 ‘Kanishka’ exploded off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 aboard. Toronto resident Neelam Kaushik, whose father O.P. Sharma died aboard the plane, said outside court that the tone of Bagri’s speech was “very inflammatory and provokes violence.” “My understanding of Sikhism is they believe in peace, they are very true believers in honesty and being a peaceful community.” She said those fighting for a separate homeland in India should not have brought such passions abroad. “Most of the people who were killed in the crash, they were Canadians, they were not Indians,” Kaushik said. Meanwhile, a prosecution witness who testified on Tuesday said he deliberately tried to sabotage the prosecution with his testimony, which he said he provided to bolster the defence for Bagri. Amarjit Ahluwalia said outside court he had refused to testify for the prosecution but later called defence lawyers to say his testimony could help their client Bagri. Ahluwalia told the court he sympathised with Bagri, but was against his call for the killing of 50,000 Hindus as revenge.
— PTI |
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US court orders release of Sikh activist Houston, December 4 Immigration officials never tried to deport Cheema to India — where, according to court records, he had been “repeatedly arrested and tortured” — but kept him locked up because he had helped raise money for Sikh militants. According to a report published by a San Francisco chronicle, the US Court of Appeals in San Francisco in a recent ruling stated that a non-citizen’s financial support to foreign terrorists does not automatically make one a danger to US national security. Since the government offered no evidence that Cheema was actually dangerous, the court said he must be released from jail. He could not be deported and was eligible for political asylum, Judge John Noonan said in the 2-1 ruling. The court also barred the deportation of Cheema’s wife, Rajwinder Kaur, who lives in Fremont with their eight-year-old son, and was accused by US immigration officials of aiding terrorist groups. She has not been jailed, the couple’s attorney, Robert Jobe, said. Cheema, who applied for asylum when he entered the USA with his wife in 1993, had been held in various federal immigration jails in California since November 1997. He admitted putting potential donors in touch with a Sikh militant leader, Daljit Singh Bittu, who was based in Pakistan and wanted by the Indian Government. He also admitted communicating with the leader of another militant group in 1995 and helping the leader’s wife escape
India. — PTI |
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Charges against Punj dismissed Sydney, December 4 The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions dropped the charges against Punj, Chairman of a Brisbane-based agriculture export company. “Justice has been done and I look forward to working with the same energy and enthusiasm as I did when I first started doing business in Queensland way back in 1978,” Punj said. It was alleged that Punj, a grain exporter, falsified a pest clearance document to allow 851 bags of alfalfa to be sent to Argentina. He was also alleged to have attempted to get an employee to take the blame for the forged document. During the first trial in June 2001, Punj’s married daughter Anita Aggarwal, a co-accused in the case, was indicted for perversion of the Commonwealth Act and sentenced to four months imprisonment by Judge Charles Brabazon. She had appealed against the sentence. Their appeal to the Court of Appeal against conviction and sentence was successful. The unfortunate incident had come as a blow to the approximately 10,000-odd Indians and Fiji Indians, who had a good profile amongst other communities in Queensland.
— PTI |
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India, China tie up on use of space Beijing, December 4 The first meeting of the India-China Joint Working Group (JWG) on Space has just concluded here with a high-level Indian delegation, led by Director of National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) R.R. Navalgund, describing it as “excellent”. “The first round of the JWG was held under two bilateral agreements for the peaceful use of the outer space signed in 1991 and 2001,” Navalgund said. “Some of the broad areas in which we like to cooperate relates to the applications of remote sensing in the areas of crop production forecasting, land and water resource management and natural resources,” he said. “The second major area of cooperation is how to use space data in disaster-related applications,” Navalgund said.
— PTI |
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Israel lifts roadblocks Jerusalem, December 4 The Surda checkpoint which had prevented vehicles from moving between Ramallah and some 40 towns and villages to the north, including Bir Zeit University, was opened “as part of ongoing efforts to improve the lives of the Palestinian population.” The statement also said that roadblocks east of the village of Halhoul and to the south of the Jewish settlement of Metzed had also been lifted, enabling traffic to travel freely between Bethlehem and the West Bank town of Hebron. Meanwhile Syria’s President agreed to a proposal to halt violence along Israel’s northern border if Israel promised to end flights over Lebanon and not attack its territory, a senior Western diplomat said.
— AFP/AP |
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Bank accounts of Muslim extremist groups frozen Karachi, December 4 The State Bank of Pakistan issued an order to commercial banks yesterday to immediately freeze the accounts of Khudamul Islam — formed by Massod Azhar after Jaishe-Mohammad, which is active in Jammu and Kashmir, was outlawed — Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan and Islami Tehreek Pakistan by December 12, spokesman Syed Wasimuddin said. The December 3 order means Khudamul Islam, Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan and Islami Tehreek have had more than a fortnight to withdraw their funds.
— AFP |
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Pak eases curbs on Lankans Colombo, December 4 Earlier, all Sri Lankans had to register with the local police after entering Pakistan with a visa obtained from their mission in Colombo.
— PTI |
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