Chandigarh, March 17
Acquittal of Ripudaman Singh Malik (58) and Ajaib Singh Bagri (51) in the Kanishka bombing case has come as a disappointment not only to the families of victims but also to Justice B.N. Kirpal, a former Chief Justice of India, who headed a commission of inquiry into history’s worst-ever mass murder in the air 20 years ago.

Members of the family of Ripudaman Singh Malik and leaders of various Sikh organisations, however, heaved a sigh of relief maintaining that the verdict has vindicated their stand that Sikhs were not involved in this dastardly crime and all attempts to tarnish the image of the community have been judicially negated.

All 329 persons on board Air-India’s Flight 182, Montreal to London, were killed when a Boeing 747 aircraft exploded and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Ireland, on June 23, 1985. A Canadian court yesterday acquitted both accused, saying the witnesses were not credible.

One of the four main suspects, Talwinder Singh Parmar of Babbar Khalsa International, was killed in an encounter with the Punjab police in 1992, while the fourth, Inderjit Singh Reyat, after confessing involvement in the crime, had turned approver in the case.

The Tribune reporters were able to track down not only some of the families of the victims in Tarn Taran, Ludhiana, Karnal and Chandigarh but also managed to speak to relatives of both Capt S.S. Bhinder, co-pilot of the ill-fated aircraft, and Ripudaman Singh Malik, one of the main suspects in the case, in his ancestral town of Ferozepore.

Five members of the family of Mr Lachman Dass of Ludhiana had died in the crash while Mr Ram Raj of Shoian village, also in Ludhiana, had lost four members of the family in the 1985 air disaster.

Mrs Amarjit Kaur Bhinder, widow of Capt S.S. Bhinder, was also disappointed over the verdict “as we expected it to be the other way round.”

Mr Kashmiri Lal Gupta (72) of Tarn Taran, who lost four members of his family in the bombing, said that the verdict was hopeless as “our last hope” of punishing the perpetrators of the crime had vanished. “The Canadian government has failed to give justice to the families who lost their near and dear ones in the crash,” he added.

Mr Tarlochan Singh, Chairman, National Commission for Minorities, and Member of the Rajya Sabha, said the verdict had vindicated the stand of the Sikh community that it was not behind such a “dastardly act which claimed so many innocent lives”.

He said the costliest and perhaps one of the longest trials had brought to an end a concerted vilification campaign against the Sikh community. “There should be a national inquiry to find out the truth as to which forces were behind this ghastly crime,” he added.

A senior Akali leader and SGPC member, Mr Manjit Singh Calcutta, said the judgment in the Kanishka case by a Canadian court has come as a great relief to the Sikh community. He alleged that there was a deep-rooted conspiracy, hatched by certain Indian intelligence agencies, to defame the community.

He said a true Sikh could never think of killing innocent persons.

Jalandhar, March 17
Shocked over the acquittal of two accused in the Kanishka tragedy by a Canadian court, the family of Sukhwinder Kaur and her two sons, who had died in the bombing in June 1985, has demanded death for perpetrators of the crime even as the NRI Sabha, Punjab, has sought re-investigation in the case.

After a 19-month-long trial in Canada, a Vancouver-based court yesterday acquitted Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, the prime accused in the Kanishka bomb blast case, saying that sufficient proof could not be provided by the prosecution.

“Oh God! The killers should be hanged for they had taken away our innocent children forever. No other measure can give me solace.

All I want is that the killers should be hanged,” says 80-year-old Nasib Kaur of Bara Pind, whose, 36-year-old daughter-in-law Sukhwinder Kaur, 11-year grand-daughter Parminder Kaur and nine-year-old grandson Kuldip Singh had died in the accident. “The tragedy changed our life forever as I was waiting for my children when I received the rude shock.

While my elder son had died in an accident in Vancouver in 1975, my younger son lost his life in an accident 15 days after the Kanishka tragedy,” rues Ms Nasib Kaur, who, is putting up in her house along with her daughter-in-law, Ms Gurdev Kaur.

Ms Gurdev Kaur, however, differed a bit as she felt that since tragedy had already bruised their lives, nothing much could be changed even if the killers were hanged.

“Saza mile na mile, ine saalan baad ki farak painda hai,” feels Gurdev Kaur.

Meanwhile, Mr Amarjit Samra, patron of the NRI Sabha, Punjab, has observed that a re-investigation into the case could provide justice to families of victims.

“They (the court) must have given the decision on the basis of investigation and documents. But at the same time, the fact remains that somebody has done it. So, whoever, has done it should be given severe punishment.

If it has not been done by the two accused, efforts should be made to find out the real culprits,” said Mr Samra. He, however, said families of victims were still awaiting justice.

Mullanpur Dakha (Ludhiana), March 17
Twenty years may be too long a period for people here to remember the Kanishka air crash. But for Lachhman Das, who lost five members of his family, it has been a haunting nightmare eversince. The acquittal of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, the two main accused in the Kanishka bombing case, has come as a rude shock to the people here in general and the families of the victims in particular. There is anger, exasperation and even disbelief as to “how could the Canadian system of justice fail to procure enough evidence to convict them.”

Eighty-year-old Lachhman Das, who has been living in Canada since 1984, said, his faith in the Canadian Government had got shaken. He lost his wife Naseeb Kaur, daughter Bhagwanti and three grandchildren Sudesh, Bobby and Sunil in the tragedy. “Even the conviction would not have meant much to me as my world collapsed there and then, but punishment “to the guilty” could have been some consolation”, he told The Tribune at the residence of his younger daughter Prem Lata here today.

Lachhman Das originally belonged to the nearby Mohi village. Mohi, he said, was the worst hit in the Kanishka tragedy as it lost 10 persons. Besides five members of his family, four members of the family of his friend Pandit Ram Lal of the same village also died in the same crash. Pandit Ram Lal lost his son Devinder, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren in the tragedy. Now, he is dead and the rest of his family has moved out of Mohi. Besides, there was another family which lost its son-in-law in the same crash.

At Mohi village, people expressed dismay and disgust over the acquittal of the accused. Rajinder Singh, a neighbour of Pandit Ram Lal, said they had great expectations from the Canadian system of justice. “But the system seems to have succumbed to some pressure”, he argued while adding, “Ripudaman is a multi-millionaire and must have saved himself with his resources, while the Canadian Government could not gather evidence against him”. He observed that the whole world knew as to who were the culprits and at the end of the day both of them were acquitted. 

Amritsar, March 17
To counter the ‘propaganda’ that senior Congress leaders had close links with Kulwant Singh Kanta, the kingpin in the kidnapping of Prabir Singh, a student of local DAV school, the Congress today released pictures of the main accused (Kanta), with Mr Parkash Singh Badal, President, Shiromani Akali Dal, here today.

Mr Jasbir Singh Dimpa, a Congress MLA and Mr Harminder Singh Gill, General Secretary, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, claimed that the picture was taken at the ancestral house of Mr Badal at Badal village during the previous Lok Sabha election in 1999 where Kanta had been invited by the Akalis to disrupt the elections in which Congress nominee Jagmit Singh Brar had won against Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal. They also claimed that Congress party had procured three video films, which would prove beyond doubt that Badal had close links with Kanta and other persons of shady character.

Mr Dimpa announced that he would resign as an MLA if the photographs and video films were proved to be fake. When asked if Congress party had negatives of the pictures in its possession, Mr Dimpa quipped that video films would be played at press conferences, which would be arranged in the next few days.

Earlier, it was alleged that Kanta had close links with Congress leaders, including Mr Dimpa and Mr Ashwani Sekhri.

Mr Dimpa and Mr Gill alleged that Mr Jagdish Singh Walia, a former Chairman of Markfed and a senior Akali leader had attended the bhog ceremony of Bikramjit Singh, alias Fauji, and an accomplice of Kanta who was killed during cross firing. Mr Walia also gave Rs 30,000 to the family of the deceased, they alleged.

Mr Dimpa sought a CBI inquiry into the connections of Kanta with politicians. He said he would immediately resign as an MLA if anybody would prove that Kanta or any of the abductors of Prabir had any connection with him. He said, taking moral responsibility, Mr Badal should quit politics as it had been established that he had links with the ‘anti-social’ elements.

Patiala, March 17
Increased spending on power supply is set to take the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) back to its loss-making days after a brief euphoria when the board had recorded a marginal profit of Rs 175 crore. The board was likely to record a loss of Rs 1100 crore this financial year due to extraordinary power purchases as well as fall in its projected revenue.

The PSEB had seen a record jump in the money spent on power purchase. The board, which had recorded power purchase of around Rs 1600 crore last year, would be purchasing nearly Rs 3,000 crore worth of power during this financial year. Paradoxically even though the board has distributed more energy, its revenue had remained nearly at last year’s figures of Rs 6,000.

This, sources said, was because the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Authority had not accepted the hike in rates proposed by the board had and decreased rates in all categories of consumers. This, the sources said, had placed the board in a very precarious position as it might be forced to even further jack up its power purchase in the forthcoming paddy season.

The board had this year not only been hit by increased power purchases but also a decrease in hydel power generation. Power from hydel generation had decreased by more than 24 million units this year with the board getting less power from the Bhakra project as well as its own hydel projects.

The sources said the situation was such that no amount of efficiency parameters, including reduction in the transmission and distribution losses, could offset the loss, likely to be suffered by purchasing power. They said the process to improve the transmission and distribution system by going in for a number of sub-stations and grid sub-stations would also eat into the revenue of the board in a short time.

The financial position of the board could also have an impact on the proposed unbundling exercise. The Engineers Association of the Board had moved a proposal to separate only the transmission wing of the board. Its general secretary H.S. Bedi, while talking to TNS, said the board should not go ahead with a dismantling process, recommended two years back, but see the ground realities as well as example of other states like Maharashtra who had not dismantled the distribution wing of its power utility.

Mr Bedi said the board should continue to keep the distribution and generation wings of the board together to ensure maximum coordination between both departments during the coming paddy season. He claimed that creating distribution companies at this stage would be suicidal as the necessary infrastructure had not been established at the grass root level. He said though the state government had already been granted an extension to complete the unbundling process till June this year, another extension could be easily availed to ensure any unbundling exercise did not have an adverse impact on the PSEB. 

Jalandhar, March 17
In the absence of any regulatory authority to keep track of the functioning of various centres providing a one-year certificate course in nursery teachers’ training (NTT), thousands of students opting for the course every year are being taken for a ride.

Since most of the centres have been established on the campuses of Guru Nanak Dev University-affiliated colleges, the trainees are taking admission without even enquiring about the recognition and affiliation aspects of the course. None of such courses being conducted in the city has been recognised by any regulatory authority, including the National Council for Teachers’ Education (NCTE) or the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT).

The fact that the trainees taking courses from such centres are considered ineligible for any appointments conducted by the state or Central Government-run schools comes to their knowledge only when they appear for such interviews. The students taking courses from such unrecognised bodies are also likely to be considered ineligible for the posts likely to come up for pre-primary classes that would be opened in 500 rural schools of the state.

Ms Jagjeet Kaur, an NTT passout from a centre set up at the Lyallpur Khalsa College for Women, realised this when she recently went to the District Employment Exchange office in the city. “I was told that I could not be registered for employment. I made all efforts to convince the officer that I had duly completed the course and even presented her my certificate but she told me to produce a recognition number of the All-India Women Educational and Training Society, New Delhi, provided to it by any government for running the course,” she said.

The student said she went back to the college and was simply told that the society concerned headed by a Kanpur-based person was registered with the Government of Delhi instead of any specific government-run educational body. Her father, Mr Sukhdev Singh, said he felt cheated because a signboard put outside the college read that the course was instead registered with the Government of India.

When The Tribune contacted the Principal, Ms Arvind Arora, she was caught unawares as she said she was not sure as to what kind of recognition the course had. Interestingly, teachers taking the classes said the course was being run in affiliation with the NCERT. But a copy of the prospectus available from the college admission counter clearly mentions that the course was just being run on the NCERT pattern, indicating that the course was not affiliated to the council but was simply following its pattern.

Similarly, the Banarasi Dass Arya College for Women in Jalandhar Cantonment is offering the same course under the Mother Teresa School of Teachers’ Education based in Chandigarh. The centre is even taking students who are just Class X pass. This course also does not have any recognition from any regulatory authority.

Mr S.S. Randhawa, Director, SCERT, confirmed that any trainee taking any kind of course from such societies or trust would be considered incapable of taking any kind of state government jobs. 

Chandigarh, March 17
A Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court comprising Mr Justice SK Mittal today issued notice to the Punjab Additional Director-General of Police Mohd Izhar Alam and Chandigarh Inspector-General of Police on the petition filed by Malerkotla MLA Razia Sultana.

The MLA, who recently resigned from the post of Chairperson of the Punjab Wakf Board, has prayed that the investigation of her complaint that she was kept locked inside her Chandigarh office by cops to prevent her from attending a meeting of the board be handed over to the CBI.

Ms Sultana is the wife of Mr Mohammad Mustafa, Inspector-General of Police. Her locking, she had alleged, was the handiwork of ADGP Alam, with whom she has a running feud over the control of the Wakf Board. Mr Alam is the official member of the board.

Stating that though she has complained to everybody who matters but no action has been initiated against the accused, Ms Sultana has prayed that the investigation be handed over to the CBI.

Rajada (Amritsar), March 17
Sarpanches, panches and nambardars of seven border villages in the Ajnala-Ramdass sector today rose against the proposal of the government to construct a bundh on the Ravi.

The villages are Darya Mussa, Malakpur, Langarpura, Kot Razada, Dangai, Bajwa and Dujjowal close to Ramdass.

They threatened to launch an agitation if the government tried to implement the proposal which, they said, could destroy their livelihood.

In a statement, they said, about 1,000 acres would be rendered useless and uncultivable if the government went ahead with the proposal.

They alleged that the government was trying to suppress farmers and was undertaking proposals that would badly affect them.

In a missive addressed to the President, the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister and the Defence Ministry, they alleged that a team from the waterworks wing had arrived in their villages on March 15 and taken 'false' thumb prints of some illiterate villagers on blank papers in order to pursue the proposal.

Patiala, March 17
Development activity in the city has been given another fillip with the Finance and Contract Committee of the Municipal Corporation passing estimates of development works worth Rs 4.10 crore.

The estimates were passed at a meeting of the committee which was chaired by Mayor Vishnu Sharma yesterday. The committee gave the green signal to as many as 81 development works at the meeting.

The meeting also passed a proposal to allocate Rs 2 lakh each to every Councillor to enable him to conduct development works in his ward according to his discretion. This demand had earlier been voiced by the councillors who had claimed that they needed this money so that they could ensure urgent needs of their ward could be taken care of immediately. The councillors had claimed that sometimes delay in the conduct of development works had an adverse impact on the corporation as well as the ruling party and that they should be allocated some funds to cater to emergency needs of their wards. The proposal was supported by the Mayor.

Among the major development works which were passed today included the proposal to broaden all roads in the Sanauri Adda area besides broadening of roads from Railway Crossing Number 22 to 23 and 23 to 24. The road going from Railway Crossing number 23 to Model Town, Dhillon Marg, Raghubir Marg and also from Number 23 to Bachhittar Nagar and Jagdish Ashram.

In another major development, the road from Leela Bhawan Chowk to Amar hospital will be four laned.

The corporation has also passed the estimate to remake the portion of the Sanaur road and Seona road which were dug up to lay sewerage in colonies in the area. The meeting also passed a proposal to spend another Rs 50 lakh to provide street lights in areas.

Mayor Vishnu Sharma said that it would be ensured that all development works were completed in time. He said within one week tenders would be floated for all the works and that the work would start by April.

Bathinda, March 17
In a bizarre incident, Jalandhar Singh, a resident of Chak Bakhtu village of this district, allegedly killed his father, Balvir Singh, over a property dispute.

Mr Kapil Dev, SSP, said deceased Balvir Singh, father of two sons, was residing with a son, Mr Rajwinder Singh, while the accused was living separately.

He said the accused demanded his share of property from his father while the deceased was relucant to divide the property.

On March 14, Jalandhar Singh came to the house of his brother and had a clash with his father.

When the latter denied the division of property, the accused got agitated and started beating his father with a heavy wooden stick.

The badly injured, Balvir Singh, was admitted to the local Civil Hospital, where he succumbed to the injuries today, he said.

A case in this connection was earlier registered under Section 307 of the IPC but after the death of Balvir Singh it was converted into an offence of murder under Section 302 of IPC at the Nathana police station.

Amritsar, March 17
Students preparing for pre-medical entrance tests conducted by various government and private medical colleges are in a state of confusion as two or more colleges are holding the test on the same day.

Students usually apply for admission to more than one institute. The clash of dates may cost them a chance to appear in other centres for which they have applied.

According to information, Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences (SMIMS) and private colleges in Maharashtra have announced May 1 as the date for test. Similarly, entrance tests of Mahatama Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram, Maharashtra, and Bhartiya Vidhya Peeth are scheduled to be held on April 17. Also, Uttaranchal CPET and tests conducted by the Jawaharlal Institute of Post-Graduate, Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Pondicherry, and St. John Medical College, Bangalore, would be held on May 29.

Dr Ashok Nandwani, a complainant, said every year students face a similar problem. But this year, dates of entrance tests being conducted by eight colleges were going to clash.

Students and their parents have urged the government, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and other authorities concerned to find a solution to the problem.

He said authorities and various medical institutes should coordinate through the IMA so that such a problem did not arise in the future.

Patiala, March 17
The Department of Public Administration of Punjabi University today organised a ICSSR-sponsored regional seminar on “Comparative evaluation of welfare programmes in north-western regions” on the campus here today. Prof S.L. Goel, emeritus fellow, UGC inaugurated the seminar and Dr. S.P. Verma, Professor, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi delivered the key-note address. Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor Mr Swarn Singh Boparai presided over the seminar.

In his inaugural address Prof S.L. Goel remarked that the welfare of the state was the most important foundation of any community. Dr Goel lamented that welfare schemes in our country had only been ornamental. He also requested the scholars to give input to the government for formulation of better welfare schemes for the under-privileged and deprived sections of the society. Talking about the work done by the NGOs’ Dr Goel pointed out that a number of NGOs were bogus and a mean to siphon off money provided by the government agencies for the welfare of common people.

Dr S.P. Verma while delivering the keynote address stressed that the government should make reappraisal of the various welfare schemes. He expressed shock that our founding fathers had a vision to see India and emerging star of democracy and to be role model for the other countries to follow but we could not score the expected results. In his holistic approach towards welfare programmes run by central and state governments he pointed out that constitutional amendments and stringent rules would be of little help for making the welfare schemes successful and that only dedicated efforts would bear fruit.

In his presidential address Vice-Chancellor Swarn Singh Boparai stated that vital element of sincerity was missing which was a basic reason for the failure of welfare schemes in our country. He further said that Punjabi University had come forward for providing technical and professional education to the residents of the area through its neighbourhood campuses. He narrated that establishment of Yadvindra College of Engineering at Talwandi Sabo and the plans to start Medical College in Ratwara Sahib, starting a Regional Centre at Mansa and another engineering college in Rampura Phul were some of the steps in this direction.

Earlier, Dr S.S. Tiwana, Professor and Head, while welcoming the guests introduced the theme of the seminar. Prof S.P.S. Virdi, Dean Academic Affairs, proposed a vote of thanks. Punjabi University Registrar Dr Param Bakhshish Singh was also present.

Amritsar, March 17
The third day of international symposium on Nuclear and Radiochemistry (NUCAR-2005) was devoted to the advances in Radio Analytical Chemistry (RA) and the Chemistry of Fission and Activation Products (CFA). In Radio Analytical Chemistry, research papers were read by Professor A. Chatt from Canada, Dr R. Greenberg, the USA, and Professor H.A. Das, the Netherlands.

These scientists highlighted versatility of neutron activation analysis and provided information on new innovations on the use of this technique for speciation of toxic metals. They contributed research papers in Radio Analytical Chemistry.

In the afternoon, more than 140 research papers were presented in poster session. The papers presented were on three major subjects - Chemistry of Actinides, Application or Radioisotopes and Radio Analytical Chemistry, Result on Chemistry of Uranium, Plutonium, Neptunium etc. in Nuclear Fuels, Fuel Reprocessing and Waste Management has been reported.

Fatehgarh Sahib, March 17
National Annual Technical Function (Techfair 2005) of Baba Banda Bahadur Engineering College, Fatehgarh Sahib, will be inaugurated tomorrow.

Dr D.S. Hira said this year more than 600 students from 47 different colleges from all over the country will be participating in the two-day technical fair.

He said leading The Tribune will be the media sponsor of Techfair 2005 the other sponsors include Reliance Infocom, Career Launcher, Chandigarh, UNICON Industries, Jalandhar and Mukat Pipes, Rajpura.