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SGPC row: SAD calls Sikh's congregation on July 27
Chandigarh: Ruling Shiromani Akali Dal would convene a congregation of Sikhs on July 27 in the Golden temple premises to chalk out a strategy to counter Haryana government's decision to form a separate Gurudwara management committee.
"The congregation will decide upon steps to fight the assault on Sikh religion, religious institutions and the Sikh Gurdwara Act by Bhupinder Singh
Hooda-led Haryana government," a party statement said.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was among the key functionaries of SAD who attended the five hour-long meeting, the statement said.
The party's Core Committee also expressed satisfaction over the action taken by the Centre so far over the issue.
The Centre, through a communication to Haryana Chief Secretary SC Chaudhary yesterday, had asked the government to impress upon the state Governor to withdraw his assent to
'Haryana Sikh Gurudwara (Management) Bill passed by the state assembly last Friday.
The Core Committee asked the Union Government to follow up its action of declaring the Haryana Act "unconstitutional" with appropriate steps to make it null and void as it was a breach of the Constitution of India, the statement said.
It cautioned Congress government in Haryana against "interference in Sikh religious affairs" and its attempts to "sow divisions" in the community.
It also opined that, constitutionally, the issue did not lie within the state government's jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, a meeting of SAD office bearers, SGPC members and other representatives has been summoned here on July 22.
— PTI
SGPC row: Haryana govt asks Centre to withdraw its letter
Chandigarh: The Haryana government today asked Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to "forthwith withdraw" the letter asking Governor to withdraw his assent to the Bill for creation of a separate SGPC for the state.
Giving example of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee, which manages affairs of the Sikh shrines in the national capital "with no say of Amritsar SGPC in it", the state government in a letter to the Centre also asked it to direct the Punjab government not to interfere into affairs of
Haryana.
Yesterday, Union Home Ministry wrote to the Haryana Chief Secretary stating legislature of Haryana had no competence to pass the Haryana Sikh Gurudwara (Management) Bill 2014 and assent granted by Governor should be withdrawn.
Haryana Cabinet Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala in the letter to the Union minister took exception to the letter and asked him to "forthwith withdraw" it.
The letter, a copy of which is with PTI here, says "assertions (in the communication of the Centre yesterday to Haryana Chief Secretary S C
Chaudhary) alleging incompetence of Haryana legislature to enact law within its territorial jurisdiction is an insult to 2.5 crore people of the state and their elected legislators." "The stance of the Centre is a total negation of right of legislature of Haryana flowing from Articles 245 and 246 of the Constitution," the letter said.
He made reference of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee saying "Parliament under constitution has enacted a separate Sikh Gurudwara Act on December 30, 1971 pursuant to which Amritsar SGPC has no say or control over the Sikh gurudwaras in Delhi." Takht Hazur Sahib, Nanded at
Maharashtra, Takht Patna Sahib Bihar (two of top five temporal seats of Sikhs) are not governed by SGPC
Amritsar, he said.
"Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his party is putting unwarranted pressure and playing politics on this issue of self determination and governance of Sikh religious shrines in Haryana by Sikh community of
Haryana," he said.
The legislature of Haryana has exercised its legislative power under Constitution to ensure grant of right of self governance, self determination and service of
Gurdwaras, Surjewala said.
"To negate this right of Sikhs and Punjabi communities of Haryana is to question the honour of every
Haryanvi. This is neither acceptable nor warranted," the letter says.
The Bill was enacted in accordance with provisions of Section 72 of the Punjab
Re-Organisation Act 1966 vide which states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Chandigarh were carved out as separate identities, Surjewala said.
"The successor state Haryana is well within its right to constitute a separate body through an Act for management of Sikh religious shrines within its own territorial jurisdiction," he said.
Surjewala said that "to force the dictate of Amritsar SGPC over the management and control of Sikh religious shrines of Haryana to the exclusion of Sikh community of Haryana is neither morally correct nor legally tenable or constitutionally permissible".
In his letter, Surjewala also brought to the notice of the Centre "alarming fact" that Badal had drafted his ministerial colleagues, MPs,
MLAs, elected Amritsar based SGPC members and other party leaders to Sikh shrines in Haryana to "resist" HSGPC from taking control over these institutions.
"Many such leaders have entered various Sikh shrines of Haryana with armed police personnel of Punjab," he
said. — PTI
EC announces bypoll for two Punjab seats
Chandigarh: The bypoll for two vacant Assembly seats in Punjab will be held on August 21, Election Commission said today.
"Elections will be held for Patiala (Urban) and Talwandi Sabo Assembly seats on August 21," an election office source said here, adding that Model Code of Conduct came into force in the two constituencies from today.
The process of filing nomination papers will start from July 26 and counting will take place on August 25.
The two seats fell vacant after sitting Congress MLAs Capt Amarinder Singh and Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu resigned from these segments.
Amarinder resigned from the Patiala (Urban) seat after he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Amritsar seat defeating BJP heavyweight Arun Jaitley.
Talwandi Sabo seat fell vacant few months back when Congress MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh deserted the party to join the ruling SAD.
The 117-member Punjab Assembly has 57 SAD MLAs, Congress strength is 43, BJP has 12 and there are three independents. — PTI
MH17 probe: Ukraine govt accuses pro-Russia rebels of destroying evidence
KIEV: Ukraine on Saturday accused Russia of helping separatist insurgents they say shot down Malaysian airliner MH17 try to destroy evidence at the crash site.
"The Ukrainian government officially announces: terrorists with the support of Russia are trying to destroy proof of this international crime," Ukraine's government said in a statement.
Pro-Moscow rebels had removed 38 bodies from the crash site to a morgue in the insurgent-controlled city of Donetsk where "specialists with clearly Russian accents" said they would conduct autopsies, the statement alleged.
Separatist forces were also blocking access to the site for Ukrainian investigators and international observers and searching for lorries to transport the wreckage to Russia, the statement claimed.
An AFP crew at the scene of the crash on Saturday said that armed rebels were preventing journalists from accessing the site and shot in the air to warn them back.
One rebel commander said that dozens of bodies had been removed to the morgue in Donetsk as rescue workers under their supervision continued to collect body parts.
"27 bodies were taken away" this morning, the insurgent commander said, refusing to give his name.
A group of international observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said that they hoped to return to the crash scene Saturday afternoon after only being granted very limited access to the site by armed rebels a day earlier.
World leaders have called for unfettered access to the crash site to allow for a full investigation into Thursday's apparent shooting down of the jet, that killed all 298 people on board the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
Investigators from the Netherlands and Malaysia have already jetted into Ukraine with the hope of heading out to scene of the crash.
Kiev said earlier Saturday that rebels had agreed with a trilateral group of mediators to set up a security zone around the site.
Ukrainian authorities have accused the rebels of shooting down the plane in a "terrorist act" and released a recording of what they claim is an intercepted call between a rebel commander and Russian intelligence agent discussing how they had hit the jet.
The rebels though allege Kiev's forces were responsible for downing the plane and Russia's defence ministry says it has evidence indicating that Ukrainian missile systems were active in the area.
— AFP
Russia providing heavy weapons to Ukrainian rebels:
Pentagon
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon has alleged that Russia continues to provide the separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine with heavy weapons and other military equipment, in addition to financing.
“We see no hint that Russian support for the separatists has ceased. In fact, we believe that Russia continues to provide them with heavy weapons and other military equipment, financing as well. And they continue to allow these Russian fighters to enter Ukraine freely,” Pentagon Spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters.
“We have acknowledged that some tanks, some personnel vehicles have made their way across the border. It has been a steady, concerted campaign by Russia’s military to continue to support and resource, advise these separatists,” he said.
His remarks came after President Barack Obama pointed towards Russia-backed Ukrainian separatist for shooting down a Malaysia Airlines jet by a surface-to-air missile that killed all 298 people on board along the Ukraine-Russia border.
“We see strong evidence that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was hit by a surface-to-air missile at an altitude of about 33,000 feet and that the missile was launched from a location near the border that is controlled by Russian separatists,” Kirby said.
“This incident obviously occurred in the context of a conflict fueled by Russian support for Ukrainian – for these Russian separatists and that support has included arms, materiel and training,” he alleged.
“As we investigate who did this and why, this terrible tragedy underscores the need for Russia to take immediate and concrete steps to deescalate the crisis in Ukraine and support the Ukrainian government’s plan for a ceasefire and peace settlement,” he said.
Kirby said, the missile itself, the SA-11, which is the one Pentagon believes was used to down Flight MH17, is a sophisticated piece of technology.
“It strains credulity to think that it could be used by separatists without at least some measure of Russian support and technical assistance,” he stressed.
But, refrained from giving any evidence of this, when asked.
“There have been incursions across the border by Russian aircraft. We don’t have any reason to suspect that they have not provided some measure of support on the other side of that order. These paramilitary forces that we do not talk about as much anymore certainly didn’t act or behave or organize or resource like some ragtag militia,” he said.
“So nobody is suggesting that Russian military advice and assistance hasn’t somehow crossed that border. It’s just unclear exactly how much and when and who. Again, that’s what the investigators are going to look at and we’ve got to let them do that,” Kirby said.
The United States, he said, is closely monitoring the situation along the Russia-Ukraine border in view of the shooting down of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17. — PTI
Child rape case
Parents, residents take out protest march
BANGALORE: Public anger mounted over the alleged rape of a six-year-old girl in a public school as hundreds of people staged protests here today demanding action from
the police who have detained eight persons for questioning.
Agitated over no arrests being made and venting their anger against the school management, parents joined by others staged a silent march and demanded answers from Police Commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar who addressed them.
"We are hugely pained by the incident ... have trust in the police," Auradkar told unconvinced protesters who gathered in front of jurisdictional HAL
Police Station after their march from Vibgyor High School, where the rape incident took place on July 2 but came to light on July 15.
The police chief himself had to rush to the venue as protesters, mostly parents of students at the school, demanded his presence after senior police officers failed to calm their anger over alleged "inaction" to punish the school and arrest the guilty.
Speaking to reporters, Auradkar said "... there was a delay, lot of delay in actual incident happening and the
reporting; 2nd July this happened and 14th July the complaint was brought to the police station." He said. "In spite of that, we are making all the efforts, and I assure all the people that
give us another .... I'm not talking about weeks or months, give us another day or two, because we want to bring the culprit to the book- who is real culprit and who cannot escape the clutches of law." Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Kamal Panth said, "The investigation is going
on ... around eight-nine persons have been detained here, we are questioning them and we have questioned more than 90 people so far."
"Initial inputs given to us are not very specific, so we have to verify all these things. We are going through all the footage and we are examining the teachers, the attendants, all the staff who were present there on that particular day." Panth said.
Auradkar said police officials were working round the clock to crack the case but since it involved a minor girl, they had to deal with it "carefully and respond sensitively" keeping the victim in mind.
Panth said the child could not be repeatedly called for probe and ".... we have to cautiously investigate the case." A team of 20 officials was involved in the probe, he said.
Protests have erupted since the incident came to light, forcing the government to announce a series of steps including its decision to amend the Goonda Act to bring the rape accused under its ambit.
The girl was allegedly raped by "unknown persons", according to the police, but parents allege that the school staffers were involved and are enraged over its authorities alleged attempt to "hush up" the case.
Reflecting the growing anger, a parent said, "... for sending kids to school, we want this issue to be
resolved; the culprit should be arrested because we don't want the culprits to be roaming around the school,
as our kids are going to school, anything can happen." "... we don't want our kids mind to be
disturbed; until this issue is resolved, we will not send them to school," a parent said. — PTI
Gaza death toll crosses 300 as UN chief rushes to Middle East
Gaza/Jerusalem: Stepping up its offensive, Israeli military killed 26 Palestinians, including eight members of a family, in overnight raids on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, taking the death toll to more than 300 in the 12-day long conflict that has displaced thousands.
Three Israeli soldiers were injured in northern Gaza in exchange of fire and evacuated to a nearby hospital for treatment, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said today.
An IDF spokesperson said, "over 40 terrorists have been killed in the Israeli operation and 21 others arrested".
An Israeli soldier has been killed and five others injured since the launch of its first massive ground offensive in the Gaza Strip in five years this week.
Israeli forces backed by artillery and air strikes launched the ground offensive on Thursday with the army saying the objective is to strike a "significant blow to Hamas".
Israel withdrew ground troops from Gaza in September 2005, and last mounted a major ground operation in 2009.
More than 300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed and over 2,200 injured in the Israeli attacks.
Over 40,000 have been displaced in Gaza since the start of Israeli operation, UN sources said.
The displaced have taken refuge in 34 UN shelters "where relief workers are facing a tough challenge providing them basic necessities under difficult conditions," a Gaza-based UN source told PTI.
The number of people in Gaza seeking sanctuary from the conflict with Israel nearly doubled yesterday, the UN said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will leave for the Middle East today to help end the conflict between Israel and Palestinians.
"The Secretary-General is extremely concerned that this escalation will further increase the already appalling death toll among Gazan civilians," Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said.
Feltman said Ban is currently reviewing a request by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas which would place Palestine under an international protection system administered by the UN.
Meanwhile, eight members of the Abu Jrad family, including four children, were killed when a missile struck their home in Beit Hanoun, Gaza health ministry sources said.
Four members of the Sha'ath family were killed and four were injured, one seriously, after an air strike on their home in the Hayy al-Manara neighbourhood of Khan Younis, they said.
Three members of the Abu Sneineh family were killed in a strike on their home in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and three others were injured.
Palestinian Health Ministry's spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said that a Palestinian earlier injured in the Israeli offensive also died overnight.
Al-Qidra released names of all those killed overnight in the Israeli operation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of a "significant expansion" of the offensive to protect Israeli citizens from indiscriminate rocket attacks.
Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that controls Gaza since ousting rival Fatah faction in a bloody conflict in June 2007, said Israel would "pay a high price" for the invasion.
Israeli jets have struck over 2,000 targets in Gaza.
In response, Palestinian militants fired more than 1,500 rockets since the fighting began, targeting all of Israel.
UN agencies working in Gaza have said that at least 1,370 homes have been destroyed in Gaza. They say that most of those killed in Gaza have been civilians.
US President Barack Obama called Netanyahu to discuss the situation in Gaza and expressed hope that Israel will minimise civilian casualties in its ground offensive against Hamas. — PTI
Jayalalithaa opposes Sanskrit
Week celebrations in schools
Chennai: Taking strong exception to CBSE’s Sanskrit Week celebrations in schools under its ambit next month, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Saturday said it would be appropriate to have organised a ‘Classical Language Week’ in each state based on its linguistic heritage.
As per the communication sent by the Ministry of HRD, while the celebrations would be conducted by
the CBSE, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in all states between August 7 and 13, state
governments have also been requested to organise such events at the
state, district and other levels.
“Tamil Nadu has a rich cultural heritage based on the ancient Tamil language. There has also been a strong social justice and language movement in the state. Hence, any official celebration of ‘Sanskrit week’ in Tamil Nadu is highly inappropriate”, she in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“It would have been much more appropriate to have organised a Classical Language Week in each state based on the linguistic heritage” she said and requested Modi to advise officials to suitably modify the letter to enable each state, including the CBSE schools, to organise celebrations in tune with the language and culture of the state.
“This would be in keeping with the cultural and linguistic sensitivities in a diverse country like ours”, she said.
Allies of the BJP in Tamil Nadu — MDMK and PMK — had also last week spoken against the proposal. — PTI
Amarnath Yatra resumes from Baltal, Pahalgam
SRINAGAR: The Amarnath Yatra resumed at 10 am on Saturday from both Baltal and Pahalgam routes after its temporary suspension, an official said.
A senior police official told in Srinagar on Saturday: “After its temporary suspension yesterday (Friday), the Amarnath Yatra was today resumed from both Baltal and Pahalgam routes.”
The yatra was halted on Friday following clashes in Baltal after a scuffle between a non-local langar cook and a local
pony operator.
Over 40 persons were injured and 300 tents and 10 community langars were torched in the clashes in Baltal.
Authorities had put up security checkposts at many places along the route to stop Baltal—bound pilgrims after the Amarnath Yatra was suspended from the Baltal route. The pilgrims have been staying at Manigam transit camp enroute to Baltal and some other places.
The official said: “The situation has returned to normal in Baltal and around 3,000 pilgrims have started the trek towards the
holy cave at 10 am today from the Baltal base camp.”
“Around hundred vehicles carrying pilgrims have been allowed to move towards Baltal from
the Manigam transit camp in Ganderbal district ... yatra is also proceeding normally from the Pahalgam route,” the official added. — IANS
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