J A L A N D H A R    E D I T I O N

Chakki River
Causeway opens; permanent bridge by year-end
Pathankot, October 7
General public, businessmen and tourists from Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and other parts of the country, who go to hill stations in Himachal Pradesh after crossing the Chakki bridge, near Kandwal, 11 km from here, on National Highway 20, had been put to a lot of inconvenience due to washing away of a temporary bridge on the river. But they have pooled their resources to make a causeway.

District Status For Pathankot
BJP rakes up issue with Sukhbir Badal at sangat darshan
Pathankot, October 7
The issue of giving Pathankot the status of a district had been given a quiet burial many years ago. However, sensing an opportunity, the BJP raked up the ghost once again when the Zila Banao Sanghrash Committee, working under the aegis of the District BJP, submitted a memorandum to the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, at the much-awaited Sangat Darshan programme, held at a local marriage palace here today.

All-India Youth Federation discusses communism and youth’s Maoist tilt
Jalandhar, October 7
“We have learnt a lot many lessons from the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc, hence, we are not mechanically copying Marxism, Leninism and Maoism,” said Sandosh Kumar, president of the All-India Youth Federation (AIYF), who had come here to take part in his organisation’s conference.

Tarunbir murder: Wife, her second husband nabbed
Jalandhar, October 7
Love on the Internet cost dear to Tarunbir Garg, a Pehowa resident, as the woman he married in March this year murdered him with the help of her second husband Sanjiv Kumar, a resident of Goraya, and escaped.

Marital feud: Army man commits suicide
Hoshiarpur, October 7
Regular feud between an Army man and his wife and the harassment of the former by members of his in-laws’ family, has compelled him to commit suicide at Dharampur Devi village in the district on October 3.

Chakki River
Causeway opens; permanent bridge by year-end
Bharat Bhushan Dogra

Pathankot, October 7
General public, businessmen and tourists from Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and other parts of the country, who go to hill stations in Himachal Pradesh after crossing the Chakki bridge, near Kandwal, 11 km from here, on National Highway 20, had been put to a lot of inconvenience due to washing away of a temporary bridge on the river. But they have pooled their resources to make a causeway.

The people, mainly businessmen and labourers working in small industrial units, put in their efforts to construct the causeway by laying stones, sand and soil to make it working.

The temporary bridge was washed away by flash floods in the Chakki river about two months back. The washing away of the temporary bridge had hit the traffic and cut off areas of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh with each other.

The people of the area, with the help of owners of industrial units and crushers decided to take the initiative and ensure smooth traffic.

With the opening of the causeway, the people who had been covering a distance of more than 20 km through Lodhwan village, will be benefited.

A permanent bridge on the Chakki river which was about 118 years old and fell in Punjab and Himachal territories, was washed away in the August 2007.

A visit to the site revealed that construction of a permanent bridge was in progress. According to sources, the bridge would be completed by the end of this year.

District Status For Pathankot
BJP rakes up issue with Sukhbir Badal at sangat darshan
Ravi Dhaliwal/TNS

Pathankot, October 7
The issue of giving Pathankot the status of a district had been given a quiet burial many years ago. However, sensing an opportunity, the BJP raked up the ghost once again when the Zila Banao Sanghrash Committee, working under the aegis of the District BJP, submitted a memorandum to the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, at the much-awaited Sangat Darshan programme, held at a local marriage palace here today.

The Sangharsh Committee president Rakesh Sharma said the town should be given the status of a district, due to its geographical importance.

Moreover, he claimed, the town was a gateway to Himachal Pardesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Another reason forwarded by Sharma was that if the town was given the status of a district, the sagging industry could be revived.

The Sangat Darshan was planned and executed by transport minister Master Mohan Lal and people from far away places came to the venue to apprise the Deputy Chief Minister of their difficulties. The district administration had made elaborate arrangements to make the exercise a success and the official machinery was present in full force.

Notwithstanding the fissures, which have surfaced between Master Mohan Lal and the BJP state leadership over the last few months, things went as planned, although there were apprehensions that things might go awry due to the rift.

The proceedings started three hours behind schedule as Sukhbir failed to arrive on time. Before coming to the venue, the SAD President laid the foundation stone of a 350 metre long bridge, which will be constructed at a cost of Rs 33 crore over the Chaki river near Mirthal and Abadgarh villages.

Once it is completed, people of nearly 27 surrounding villages will benefit. Later, Sukhbir also laid down the foundation stones of three water supply schemes in various villages.

All-India Youth Federation discusses communism and youth’s Maoist tilt
Sarbjit Dhaliwal and Amaninder Pal
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 7
“We have learnt a lot many lessons from the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc, hence, we are not mechanically copying Marxism, Leninism and Maoism,” said Sandosh Kumar, president of the All-India Youth Federation (AIYF), who had come here to take part in his organisation’s conference.

In an interview to The Tribune, he said, “Marx, Lenin and Mao gave us a broad model of ideology and political system. But how to use the model to make it suit Indian conditions, is to be decided by us.”

When asked about the weakening of the Communist movement in the country, Sandosh said the first division of the Communist Party in 1964, and later collapse of Communism in Russia and other countries in early 1990s, gave a big blow to the Communist movement in India and elsewhere.

However, the question which dominates the minds of young comrades here is why were most of the youth becoming Maoists, especially in the Red Corridor, and not joining the mainstream Communist parties. Nearly 1,000 delegates of the AIYF held a detailed discussion on the issue. Privately, most of the AIYF delegates admitted that the mainstream Communist parties had failed to live up to the expectations of the common people, especially youth, who have started turning towards Maoists and other radical movements.

“Though the Communist ideology has started staging a comeback in most of the erstwhile Communist countries, it has not yet reached a stage where it might influence global occurrences on the economic and political front,” said Taigo Vieira, president of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDA).

Vieira, who belongs to Portugal, claimed that the WFDA had a presence in 120 countries and 160 youth bodies were affiliated to it.

Commenting on Maoist activities in India, Vieira said the people’s democratic struggles, focused on unemployment, poverty and unjust war imposed by imperialists over poor nations, had better chances to be successful.

“There is abundant political space in India to build democratic struggles and eventually a regime change. In such a scenario, killing of innocent tribesmen and policemen was condemnable,” said WA Jayantha, general secretary of the Communist Youth Federation of Sri Lanka (CYFSL).

Sri Lankan delegates appreciated the efforts of India with regard to the rehabilitation of Tamils displaced during Eelam war IV.

When asked about the youth’s tilt towards Maoists in the Red Zone, Dr Tamonash Bhattacharya from West Bengal said it was because the “militant action” of the mainstream Communist parties was not in full swing.

He said Rightist forces, led by Mamata Banerjee, were supporting Maoists. There was a need to launch a greater Left movement to fight unemployment, corruption, exploitation and accumulation of wealth in a few hands. He said unilateral decisions such as giving land to industrialists of the CPM in West Bengal proved damaging to the Communist movement in the country. 

Tarunbir murder: Wife, her second husband nabbed
Tribune News Service

Nidhi and Sanjiv Kumar in police net in Jalandhar. A Tribune photo

Jalandhar, October 7
Love on the Internet cost dear to Tarunbir Garg, a Pehowa resident, as the woman he married in March this year murdered him with the help of her second husband Sanjiv Kumar, a resident of Goraya, and escaped.

With the arrest of the woman, Nidhi, and Sanjiv, the police claims to have solved the Tarunbir Garg murder case.

Owing to clues it got from the scene of the crime (an apartment), the police succeeded in tracing the criminals.

Addressing the media, ADCP S.K. Kalia said through the interrogation of the family members of Sanjiv in Bara village, near Goraya, the police came to know that Sanjiv had been missing from his home and had even received a phone call from Nidhi.

The police conducted raids and nabbed Sanjiv and Nidhi from their relative’s house in Phagwara, Kalia said. The ADCP said during interrogation, the accused admitted to have pushed Tarunbir Garg off from the sixth-floor apartment after a fight.

Nidhi had hired the flat in Sanjiv’s name and had been putting up there with her third husband Tarunbir Garg since September 23. As their relations soured, Nidhi called Sanjiv and hatched a conspiracy to kill Tarunbir, the ADCP added. A case of murder has been registered against the duo who would be produced in a local court tomorrow.

Marital feud: Army man commits suicide
Our Correspondent