Monday, August 10, 1998
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Tension in Hardwar over
merger move |
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Karunanidhi flays
Jaya’s stand |
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Tension in Hardwar over merger
move HARDWAR, Aug 9 — Tension has been mounting in this holy city with each passing day on the issue of the merger of Hardwar district into the proposed Uttaranchal state. Pro and anti merger lobbies have sprung up overnight, complicating, the situation for law enforcing agencies. Everyday effigies of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister Lal Krishan Advani are burnt in the bazaars much to the chagrin of BJP. Members of the Lohia Vahini Paschim Pardesh Mukti Morcha and Rashtriya Sevak Chattar Sangh took out processions in violations of Section 144, which the administration had imposed recently. They burnt effigies of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister while BJP workers are being pushed to the wall to defend the decision of the Centre. The general public is aghast at the sudden and unexpected decision of the BJP to hand over this city of saints and sadhus, maths and sadhu akharas to Uttaranchal, public opinion is fiercely divide on the issue, although opposition to the proposal is more severe than support for it. The Hardwar Bachao Samiti has started a dharna in the district courts and opposition parties, especially the Samajwadi party, the Uttar Pradesh Loktantrik Congress, the Lohia Vahini, the Congress and mostly groups of Dalits and Muslims have all opposed the move. Among the leaders on indefinite dharna outside the courts are Mr Satish Kaushik, general secretary of the Congress district unit , Mr Mohinder Pardhan, general secretary of the SP unit, Mr Irfan Ali, district chief of Lohia Vahini and Mr Tejpal Singh of the Loktantrik Congress. The local MLA, Mr Ambrish Kumar, is heading the Hardwar Bachao Sangharsh Samiti. The dharna has the active support of the Paschim Pradesh Mukti Morcha. Opposition leaders have been pouring in to exploit public discontent. Mr Jagdambika Pal, a former UP Chief Minister, last evening addressed the agitators bitterly criticising the move to transfer Hardwar to the newly proposed state. On the other hand the common man accuse the BJP of “political opportunism”. The opponents of the proposal say Hardwar has no cultural affinity with Uttaranchal and the merger would affect trade, the inflow of pilgrims and the lives of inhabitants from other parts of the country people who had been here for years. The opposition to the proposal is strongest in the rural areas of Hardwar which are inhabited by a mainly Muslims and Dalits. The Yuva Samata Party yesterday blocked the Hardwar-Luxar road and members of the Hardwar Bachao Samiti announced that they would mount a permanent blockade on the Hardwar-Luxar route unless the UP Government relented and agreed to keep Hardwar out of Uttarakhand. The Yuva Samata Party has announced that it will take out a procession on August 12 against the move and start relay fast on August 14. In the meanwhile life for the pilgrims visiting Hardwar has become quite uncertain with no one knowing which road has been blocked or where traffic has been disrupted. The Hardwar Bachao Samiti organised a total bandh in the city and held a “chakka jam” here on Wednesday last. It has announced plans for another bandh in the town and its adjoining areas for August 10. The district general secretary of the Samata Party, Mr Ajay Solanki has written to the party’s national president, Mr George Fernandes to oppose the move. Delegations of both the Samajwadi party and Samata party have already left Hardwar for Delhi to impress upon their central leadership to oppose the move. The Muslims in the rural areas are the most active opponents of the move as they are afraid of loosing their identity if the area is merged in Uttaranchal. The Dalits too are not keen to join the new proposed state as they feel their chances of employment in the small state are likely to be very dim. Even though most of the religious akharas with headquarters in Kankhal have not so far come out openly against the move the stand taken by Mahant Gobind Dass and Shankar Bharati of the Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad has made it abundantly clear that the sadhus and saints would rise up in revolt unless the move to merge Hardwar in Uttaranchal is withdrawn. Mahant Shankar Bharati has clearly said that the Akhara Parishad is opposed to the move. The situation could take a turn for the worst should the sadhus and sants jump actively into the fray. Some religious organisations have already started opposing the move actively. The Har Har Mahadev Rashtriya Sangh, in a meeting held in Kankhal last night, through a resolution to the President, urged that the proposal not be accepted. Other religious organisations like Har Ki Pauri Panda Sabha have not reacted to the move so far. Opposition to the move has, however, spread quickly to the villages. The pardhan sangathan at a meeting held in Jabrera village, opposed the merger move. The BJP along with the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and the BKU ( Amhavat group) are engaged in thwarting the combined opposition. The BJP unit here has decided to organise Vukkar Sabhas and a rally in support of the move. The district general secretary of the BJP, Mr Bimal Kumar stated here today that samitis were being formed by the party at the tehsil level to counteract the propaganda. The samitis will organise rallies, debates and sabhas to educate the citizens of Hardwar about the benefits of the merger. Such samitis have already been constituted in Roorkee and Luxar. But whatever counter moves
the BJP may make for the moment it is on a weak wicket,
and likely to face more embarrassment in the coming days. |
A DIY manual on communal riots JUSTICE Srikrishna has submitted his report on the communal conflagration in Mumbai in 1992-93. Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has dubbed it biased. His Sancho Panza acting as Chief Minister has gone one step further and rubbished it as anti-Hindu and as the protector of the Hindus, he has predictably rejected it. The BJP, in Maharashtra and at the Centre, has endorsed the Thackeray thesis. The Sangh Parivar has said the final word. The logic (?) of this line of thinking is that the carnage (of more than 800 persons), destruction (of more than a crore of rupees worth property of Muslims) and arson (torching hundreds of miserable shacks) are a one-time aberration and are unlikely to recur. A “shok sabha” is all that is called for. Om shanti, shanti, shantihi! Another view is equally valid. Read the extracts of the report again and a bit more carefully and you realise that the Srikrishna Commission has not confined itself to writing out an autopsy report. It has gone into the pathology of a communal riot, the mechanics and dynamics of long-suffering slum-dwellers turning into predators. In this respect, the report is a veritable do-it-yourself (DIY) guide. And this is terrifying. Mumbai city proper had not seen communal killing on this scale. The badlands had been Thane and Bhiwandi. (Even there the spark came from the fierce competition over operation of profitable powerlooms.) But these horrible slums, promising nothing more than subhuman and precarious existence, became the killing fields for more than 30 days spread over two months in 1992-1993. The killings had a delayed after-effect: the explosions of March 12, 1993, promoting the metropolis into a target of terrorist depredation. This is a natural cycle of metamorphosis and we have seen it several times in other parts of the country. Young hotheads, giving to themselves the right to protect their community, step outside society and take to abominable means to settle scores. In Mumbai’s history, March 12, 1993, is a blood-coloured blot, only slightly more garishly red than the preceding ones. Let us go back to the Srikrishna report. The commission’s limited task was to analyse the what, the why, the how, the what of and the who of the prolonged primitive killing. That it has done admirably. But Justice Srikrishna has also probed the deeper currents. In two respects he is unsparingly brilliant. In bringing out the setting of the stage for the pogrom. And in laying bare the skilful manipulation of the mind of the unsuspecting killers and their abettors. It was a complicated job, but competently executed and patiently exposed in the report. The Shiv Sena has long ago emerged as the fire-spitting enemy of the Muslim community. A few years ago, Thackeray thundered at Pune that Muslims could live in India if they accepted the status of second class citizens. So inflammatory was his speech that the RSS oldguard, the authentic offspring of the Hindu ideology of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, denounced him. Hatred as policy comes naturally to Thackeray. After all, he launched his quasi-political career by whipping up an anti-South Indian babu frenzy until he thoughtlessly provoked the Dharavi slum dwellers who turned out to be more than a match for the violent Shiv Sainiks. Thackeray’s march to the “maha-rioting” started with “maha arti” with considerable help from the BJP. This “maha arti” was no religious affair. It was thought of to intimidate the Muslims. It went like this. On Fridays, the Sainiks would gather, mostly women and children, in a temple for “arti”. Since the small structure could not accommodate them all, a huge number would spill over to the narrow road and block traffic. The trick was to select a temple that was close to a masjid and Fridays are the days of “juma ki namaz”. What made this combustible was the old habit of Muslims filling the road, unable to find a place inside pocket-sized masjids. These were built for a small population when the city indeed had a small population. The growth in numbers set the stage for a regular Friday friction. No wonder in the mind of the two communities the “other” assumed the role of a tormentor. Then came the Babri demolition on December 6, 1992. Muslims poured into the streets to protest but were confronted by jeering neighbours and occasionally by celebrating Shiv Sainiks. Tempers were rising and the moderate leadership in both communities lost their voice. Then two things happened to light the fuse. Three lowly “mathadi” workers (who carry heavy loads on their heads) were found murdered. Since they were Hindus and since the air was communally vitiated, the popular opinion held Muslims as the killers. Around that time, seven Hindus were burnt to death in a slum (Radhabai chawl) where they were trapped. The Shiv Sena and its supremo sounded the tocsin, issued a call to arms and a do-or-die mission. And the Sainiks promptly “did” and the blood that was shed colours the conscience even today. Thackeray through his Saamna and men of his ilk through another newspaper Navakal egged on the revenge-seekers. Funny, a vast majority of the rioters circling on the defenceless Muslims, were those who disliked the members of the minority community but would in normal times not even use an expletive. But in the heat of the moment, fanned by skilful mind-benders, they turned arsonists and killers. So did the policemen. They joined the murderers to do their bit, so oppressively hate-inducing was the atmosphere. This was the cause-and-effect sequence, a fail-proof chain of depressed slum-dwellers, angry with society, becoming angry with fellow slum-dwellers separated only by religion. It has happened before and it happened in Mumbai. The hundreds of thousands of people who fled their slums in those days came from both communities and shared the same sense of terror and confusion. It is after analysing the riots within this frame that Justice Srikrishna has found Thackeray, Saamna, Manohar Joshi and others guilty of provocative acts amounting to incitement to murder and the police of taking sides and the then Congress government of abdicating its basic responsibility. Go over the
sequence again. This can unfold with the same tragic
intensity in Mumbai and in a hundred other vulnerable
spots where people of all castes, language groups and
communities exist in animal-like conditions. Anything can
ignite their intolerance and give it a murderous
dimension. In this respect, the Srikrishna Commission
report is a detailed warning signal. |
Broadcasting council soon: minister CALCUTTA, Aug 9 (PTI) — The government will soon set up a ‘broadcasting council’ on the lines of the Press Council of India to strengthen the country’s broadcasting facilities and control private and foreign channels, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said today. On his way to Santiniketan to inaugurate a TV studio at Visva Bharati, Mr Naqvi told reporters here that a Bill in this regard would be introduced in the next session of Parliament. The government would also introduce an ‘Indian programme code’ to protect and uphold Indian culture and heritage through media. “Foreign channels must strictly adhere to these codes to keep their operations alive in India.” Even this Indian programme code could be incorporated with the new broadcasting Bill which would be finalised after discussion in the appropriate level. Attempts are also being made by the government to strengthen AIR and TV transmissions in bordering areas to firmly combat the anti-Indian campaign by Pakistan. The minister said it would now be made mandatory for foreign channels to take satellite uplink facilities from India and follow the Indian programme code. Operations of any such
channels could be axed if they distorted Indian culture
and heritage, and catered misinformation to people
“vulgar” advertisements would also be
monitored, Mr Naqvi said. |
Karunanidhi flays Jaya’s stand CHENNAI, Aug 9 (PTI) — Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today termed as “mockery of coalition democracy” the outright rejection by the AIADMK and its allies of the Cauvery accord reached by the four southern states in the presence of Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee in Delhi. Addressing a press conference at the state secretariat here today, he said the rejection also amounted to taking a “stance of juxtaposition”. The country was now “witnessing this strange and dangerous spectacle”, he felt. While most of the parties, the farming community and the intelligentsia had welcomed this “historic settlement”, the views expressed by AIADMK chief Jayalalitha and her allies should not result in “undesirable consequences” at the time of the implementation, he said. Mr Karunanidhi said there was a coalition government at the Centre consisting of a number of parties. It was the well established tradition that the Cabinet functioned on collective responsibility. “When the Prime Minister, heading the government at the Centre invites for talks, that too, the chief ministers of four states, it implies that all parties in the Cabinet are party to the invitation extended by the Prime Minister, based on the principle of collective responsibility of the Cabinet in a democracy”, Mr Karunanidhi said. Referring to the criticism of the AIADMK Front that the role and the functions of the monitoring committee had not been defined in the accord, Mr Karunanidhi said these matters had been finalised at a meeting convened by Cabinet Secretary, Prabhat Kumar, with the chief secretaries of four Cauvery basin states on Friday night. He read out the four-point agreement released by the central government yesterday. “Since everything has been finalised, there is no need for any apprehension’ on that score”, the Chief Minister said adding that it was incorrect to say that the Central Water Authority was “toothless”. Replying to a question, Mr Karunanidhi said he had telephonically informed yesterday the leaders of all parties on the deliberations and the accord reached in Delhi. He felt there would be no need for any all-party meeting again to explain the accord. He, however, added that he did not speak to the AIADMK leadership. Welcoming the appreciation
expressed by TMC leader G. K. Moopanar and former union
minister C. Subramaniam on the accord, Mr Karunanidhi
said one should not see whether there was victory or
defeat of any particular state. |
Desired target not achieved: Kalam PUNE, Aug 9 (UNI) — Country’s top missile scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has said the defence sector has not achieved the desired target of indigenisation and the scientists need to pull up their socks to reach the goal. “The 1995 plan for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDP) projected that the defence sector should achieve 70 per cent indigenisation with the rest made up through imported components. However, the trend is just the reverse,” he said. The scientists have to work hard to achieve self-reliance and in the process help the country acquire the status of a developed nation, he said while speaking at the presentation of ISO-9001 certificate to Research and Development Establishment (engineers) here last night. “The time has come when self-reliance has become vital for the defence sector,” said Dr Kalam. The DRDO has opened seven of its laboratories for cooperative research and development with the industry and soon a majority of them would also be thrown open. Indian industry should come forward and become partners in defence projects, he added. Some of the DRDO laboratories whose gates have been thrown open for private participation are life sciences, software and materials. Dr Kalam, who has played a vital role in the country’s recent nuclear tests, said the pre-Independence era had a “vision for the nation’’ during which time leaders in different fields had contributed to various sectors. “Now in the changed scenario, I feel, there should be a second mission,” he observed. Dr Kalam received the
ISO-5001 certification from DNV (det norske veritas) of
the Netherlands on behalf of the Research and Development
Establishment (engineers) who have been certified for
their research, design, engineering, testing and
evaluating combat engineering, support cold region
engineering equipment and military and civil
applications. |
Shekhar flags off padayatris NEW DELHI, Aug 9 — A former Prime Minister and SJP leader, Mr Chandra Shekhar, today flagged off a rally by ‘Bharat Yatris’ from Rajghat which will travel through various villages and towns to motivate people to take up a programme of constructive work. Organised by the Bharat Yatra Trust headed by Mr Chandra Shekhar, two rallies set off today simultaneously, one from Delhi and the other from Kanyakumari. It was in 1983 that Mr Chandra Shekhar undertook a padayatra from Kanyakumari to Rajghat between January 6 and June 25. After the conclusion of his on-foot journey, Mr Chandra Shekhar announced a five-point programme including safe drinking water for all, primary education for all children, eradication of malnutrition among pregnant women, communal harmony and no discrimination against any citizen on the basis of caste, creed and religion. According to a release of the trust, even after 15 years of completion of the padayatra these problems have not been solved and hence those who walked with Mr Chandra Shekhar then decided to revisit the villages and towns covered during the padayatra. The Bharat yatris will
collect relevant information regarding the programmes and
simultaneously attempt to motivate people to take up
programme of constructive work and struggle. |
Jantar Mantar squatters removed NEW DELHI, Aug 9 — In a swift and sudden operation, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) today removed the demonstrators who had begun living next to the Jantar Mantar. After coming to Delhi to lodge their protest, the demonstrators stayed back in the area after illegally occupying the land. The squatters include 1984 riot victims. The NDMC team used a bulldozer to raze the temporary structures which had been put up near Jantar Mantar. The operation for removing the squatters lasted about one hour. While the squatters claim that no advance notice was given to them, the NDMC officials maintain that they had intimated the persons about such an operation. The 1984 riot victims are
said to have been relocated at Rohini. |
40 p.c. of urea ‘goes waste’ in fields NEW DELHI, Aug 9 (PTI) — About 40 per cent of urea applied as fertiliser in the fields goes down the drain, according to scientists, who say they have technology to mitigate these losses, but the government and the industry are indifferent. Scientists at the Indian
Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) here say more than
one-third of urea added in the fields leaches off rapidly
into the ground water. |
| In
brief 2 criminals shot dead Group visa system
for Hajis Hope of malaria
vaccine dim International film
festival NLFT men attack
cops Lawyers’ plea
for security |
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