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Dalits, Jats live amicably in Gharwal: sarpanch
Minister warns ‘casteist’ forces
Bus service cancelled
Villagers block traffic after dhaba murder
School ground or an oil field!
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Watchman found dead
Irate students smash Principal’s car
Notification issued for Rohtak poll
Two die as power cable falls on them
Speaker in Fiji for conference
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Dalits, Jats live amicably in Gharwal: sarpanch
Gharwal (Sonepat), September 3 Dalits and Jats were living like brothers here, said village Sarpanch Phool
Singh, who belongs to the Balmiki community, while talking to The Tribune at his village today. Deceased Baljeet’s father Hawa Singh, mother Parvati and brother Satbir Singh, too, corroborated his statement. As much as 50 per cent of the total 5,500 residents of the village were Dalits. Relation among persons belonging to different castes were cordial and any incident of caste violence had never taken place in the village, said avillagelder Tek Ram. The Sarpanch and Baljeet’s family members blamed some politicians and a section of the Press for terming the incident of torching of Dalit houses as caste clash. Condemning the torching of Dalit houses in Balmiki Colony, deceased Baljeet’s brother Satbir Singh and father Hawa Singh said that it was only an irate mob of some youths. It should not be termed as Dalit-Jat clash. CPM district secretary SN Solanki, who came to Baljeet’s house to condole his family, told The Tribune that the incident of torching of Dalit houses had taken place in the presence of DC and SP and they should be suspended for their inaction. Mr Solanki, who had met Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, along with CPM Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat, yesterday morning, expressed surprise over inclusion of names of Baljeet’s five brothers in the FIR lodged against 23 persons on the charge of torching Dalit houses. Corroborating his statement, Sarpanch Phool Singh said that they had been falsely implicated as none of the Baljeet’s five booked brothers Bijender, Satbir, Rajbir, Satish and Prem Singh had left the village since the murder of their brother, according to a ritual of remaining at home till `terehavi’ of a deceased member of the family. Mr Solanki said that the CPM delegation had also brought the matter of false implication of Baljeet’s five brothers to the notice of Union Home Minister, who had assured to take up the matter with Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda. A young villager Vijender blamed some of the Dalit leaders for making an attempt to inflame passions of the members of their community by giving provoking statements. He further said that several prominent Dalit leaders, including BSP leader Mayawati and LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan had only visited the Balmiki Colony but they forgot to visit Baljeet’s house to express shock over his murder. Meanwhile, Phool Singh demanded at least Rs. 25 lakh as compensation to Baljeet’s family over his murder. Besides Baljeet, one of Hawa Singh’s nine sons, Raj Singh, a Head Constable with the Haryana Police, had already sacrificed his life in an encounter with some criminals in Rohtak two years ago, he added. |
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Minister warns ‘casteist’ forces
Kaithal, September 3 Mr Singh, who was on his first official visit here after taking charge in the state Cabinet, said that the present Congress government had initiated steps to implement its election manifesto which benefited farmers and other sections of the society. He cited the waiving off of power bills amounting to Rs 1,600 crore for rural consumers, increase in compensation amount for the land to be acquired by the government, abolition of lottery from the state etc as measures taken for the benefit of people. But he lamented that some forces, which wanted to destabalise the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government, had started fomenting trouble in some parts of the state. Referring to recent disturbances at Gohana and at Gurgaon last month, Mr Birender Singh said that some political forces wanted to get political mileage out of creating trouble. He warned that the government would be tough with such elements and not allow them to damage the spirit of brotherhood which prevailed among the people of various castes and communities of the state. Mr Birender Singh said that the recent power crisis in the state was the result of fall in the power generation in the northern grid which was caused by closure of Nathpa Jhakri power generating units and repeated faults at the Panipat Thermal plant units. He assured the government was taking steps to increase power generation in the state. Work on 600 MW power station at Yamunanagar, 1000 MW at Faridabad and 600 MW at Hisar would soon start and the feasibility of setting up another power generating unit at Jhajjar were also being explored. Earlier, the Finance Minister addressed district officials at the Mini Secretariat here where he was welcomed by the Deputy Commissioner Mr B.S. Malik. Mr Birender Singh urged the officials to form such schemes that each place got benefit of industrialisation and better employment opportunities. He warned that if industries were concentrated in one or two areas in the state it would create imbalance in the economic development. He also expressed concern over the fall in agriculture production during the past few years. He said the crop system should be diversified to increase production. He said the government had announced a new industrial policy to boost investment and increase employment opportunities. Mr Dillu Ram, MLA Guhla, Mr Satinder Rana, MLA Rajound, Mr S.P. Ranga, SP, Mr R.C. Verma, ADC and other officials were also present. |
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Bus service cancelled
Sonepat, September 3 According to official sources, this step has been taken after the burning of a Haryana Roadways bus of Sonepat depot at Phagwara by a violent mob after the Gohana incident. This bus had left Rohtak depot around 9 am on Thursday for Amritsar. When it reached Phagwara near Jalandhar a violent mob of Balmikis forced the passengers to alight before setting it on fire. |
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Villagers block traffic after dhaba murder
Gurgaon, September 3 The SHO of Sohna Police Station, Mr Inderjit Singh, told the irate villagers that the police suspects the personnel to be a relative of the former Director General of Police, Haryana, Mr Mahender Singh Malik. The relative of Mr Malik is said to be holding the rank of Sub-Inspector and is posted at Nuh. It was only after the SHO identified the relative of the former DGP and gave an assurance that the culprits will be arrested within 24 hours that the villagers relented. The SDM and the DSP of Gurgaon reached the spot to pacify the villagers. Last night three youths, one in police uniform having two stars on his epaulet, shot at Nand Kishore of Lukawas at a dhaba owned by him. The name of the dhaba is “Sher-e-Punjab” and is located in the village. The assailiants had gone to the dhaba in a car. Mr Nand Kishore, who had sought voluntary retirement from the CRPF about two years back, had set up the dhaba after he quit service. According to Mr Ram Narayan, brother of the deceased, two days back the youths had come to the dhaba and were asking for liquor. They got into an altercation with Nand Kishore. The FIR has been registered at the instance of Mr Ram Narayan. |
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School ground or an oil field!
Ambala, September 3 Mr Kaushik said the liquid, which has been detected under the school ground, is not fuel. “Last year, oil had overflowed due to a flood. That oil has accumulated under the ground and there is no further inflow of oil there. The official concerned has been informed,” he said. While the district administration officials are yet to visit the school, local residents are increasingly getting worried since last year in August, 2004, after the floods, there was a major fire in the school. The school peon, Rajinder, had sustained burn injuries. The reason for the fire could not be exactly pinpointed then. Now, with the detection of the liquid, which seems to be fuel, it is presumed that similar liquid could have caused last year’s fire. The oil has been detected at a depth of barely 1 foot. During a visit to the school, one can smell the pungent odour of the oil, which seems to have enveloped the whole school. When a pit was dug up, within minutes oil began to flow into the pit. The liquid was black in colour with a strong odour. Earlier this week, work had been started to construct a toilet in the primary wing of the school. The work was left midway when it was felt that oil was coming out of the ground. Thereafter, two days back, work was initiated to construct a room in the senior secondary wing of the school. When the labourers were digging up the area, they found that oil was coming out of the ground. They informed the school Principal, who had the digging stopped. Yesterday, a fire was detected in a garbage area adjoining the school. Immediately, the pit, which had been dug up, was filled up and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) officials were informed. The fire was brought under control. Today, officials from the IOC took away samples of the oil. The officials said only after laboratory testing the nature of the oil would be clear. A Government Senior Secondary School teacher said there are 530 students in the primary wing while there are 613 students in the secondary wing. “We find it difficult to sit in the classrooms. While the problem of smell has been persisting for the past couple of weeks, the discovery of oil under the school is a matter of grave concern,” she said. She opined that the school should be closed till the problem was solved. “However, nothing of that sort has happened and the school is functioning as usual. The authorities concerned must take a serious note of this development,” she said. She demanded that the fire brigade authorities must be kept on standby to meet any eventuality. A school student said the students feel uneasy in the school and they have also stopped bringing their tiffins. “The pungent smell is strong. Also, for the new room, the pit has been dug near the water tank. We have to cross the area for drinking water,” he said. The problem seems to have intensified after the monsoon this year. Now, large patches of oil can be clearly spotted on the school playground. There is an overpowering odour in the area where the patches can be seen. Ever since oil has been detected in the school, local residents have been visiting the school to have a look at it. |
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Watchman found dead
Yamunanagar, September 3 As per information, the industrialist, Mr Sanjay Panjwani, had left the town along with his family on August 31 and left Ram Bhadhur behind to guard the house. The body was noticed by Bhawani Parsad, another watchman of Mr Panjwani today. The body was lying in a room on the roof of the house against a table. Bhadhur used to live in that room. When the police reached the house, it found the house ransacked, sources said. A case under Section 460 of the IPC has been registered. It could not be known what the assailants took away from the house as Mr Panjwani was yet to return. |
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Irate students smash Principal’s car
Sonepat, September 3 According to a report, they also assembled outside the Principal’s office and raised anti-management slogans. They also threatened to go on an indefinite strike if the hike was not withdrawn immediately. Irate girl students alleged that the hike was announced without any prior notice and the hike was unjustified. The girl students also pointed out that the management had increased Rs 100 per month in the mess fee and Rs 1,200 annually in the hostel charges. They also announced that their agitation would continue till the hike was withdrawn. |
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Notification issued for Rohtak poll
Chandigarh, September 3 Polling will be held on September 28 and the election process will be completed by October 3. The byelection is taking place to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister of Haryana, from the seat. Earlier the Election Commission had announced that the counting of votes would take place on October 1. |
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Two die as power cable falls on them
Sonepat, September 3 According to police sources, the deceased were identified as Narinder, owner of the house, and his 12-year-old son Rahul. His wife, Mrs Sunita also sustained serious burn injuries who was immediately hospitalised at Ganaur. Residents of the area blamed officials of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) for the lapse and demanded stern action against the erring officials. |
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Speaker in Fiji for conference
Chandigarh, September 3 More than 300 Commonwealth parliamentarians will gather in the Fiji Islands to assess progress in achieving various United National Millennium Development Goals.On his way back, Mr Chatha will visit China, the USA and Germany for studying parliamentary activities in these countries.
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Sonepat, September 3
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Sonepat, September 3
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