What price low inflation?
INFLATION out of control is a hot issue and singes the ruling party at the time of election. Inflation under control hardly gets noticed and the consumer takes it as his due. And that is what is happening right now.

Brutes as asylum custodians
LET us hang our heads in shame and then read this part of a front-page report in The Tribune of Tuesday (July 20): “Half-fed, half-naked, suffering from skin diseases due to unspeakable filth and squalor and chronic diseases due to the lack of medical care and attention..

The Kennedys and the stars
JOHN F. KENNEDY JR, 38, became a national celebrity almost the day he was born. His birth in the White House — the first after a long time in the history of the US Presidency — made the soothsayers predict a bright future for him.

POLITICAL CHESSBOARD
Attempts to form alliances
by S. Sahay
WITH the guns on the Kargil sector having become silent, political parties have started their first moves on the political chessboard. Since the past few elections have shown no single party to be in a position to secure a majority in the Lok Sabha, the first tactical move is to form alliances before the elections.

Turkey and the Kurdish issue
by V. Gangadhar
THE scenes on the television screen were rather ghoulish. People in Ankara and other parts of Turkey hugged each other, kissed and cheered. Other wiped their eyes.

Marriage in India, death abroad: killer at large
NEW DELHI: The dramatic escape of Sanjay Sharma, alleged killer of his beautiful air hostess wife, Razi Singh, from the custody of the Haryana police in March this year has upset the plans of the CBI to prosecute this dangerous conman and shattered the hopes of the victim’s parents to get justice. With a long history of cheating, duping and forgery, Sanjay was brought to the Patiala courts in Delhi by the Faridabad police from Rohtak jail (there is no jail at Faridabad) for a hearing in an Arms Act case got registered against him by his father-in-law, Mr Sanwal Singh.

‘Makeup’ as confusing as ever
by Khushwant Ahluwalia
EVERYTIME my wife and I go out for a party there is a particular drill which takes place. I take the usual bath, cling on the pre-meditated clothes, shoes, do the usual check up in front of the mirror and bark “let’s move”. Shrimatiji instantly replies, “I’m doing my makeup”.

75 Years Ago

Changed condition
Mahatmaji’s advice sought
MAHATMA GANDHI has wired from Andheri, congratulating the volunteers and workers on the progress of the campaign and advising them to carry it on.

What price low inflation?

INFLATION out of control is a hot issue and singes the ruling party at the time of election. Inflation under control hardly gets noticed and the consumer takes it as his due. And that is what is happening right now. The government has gone on an overdrive to spread the good tidings that the rate of price increase is at an all-time low — at the wholesale price index level a mere 1.83 per cent and at the more meaningful level of consumer prices it was 6.7 per cent some eight weeks back. The Union Finance Minister is keen that the impact of this Japanese rate of inflation — very low over a long period of time — should sink in popular mind to surface at the time of voting. In other words, the government wants to reverse the trend of last November when onion and other vegetable prices upset the ruling BJP’s poll calculations in three northern states; in September-October this year it wants to ride back to power on low prices of foodgrains and other essential items.

It is, however, not succeeding because of two reasons. One, a low inflation rate does not mean a lower price level; it only means that prices are rising at a slower pace, but rising all the same. Right now, wheat, rice and all vegetables sell at 5 per cent above the price this time last year. That is why an average consumer feels that things are as costly as they were and he wants them to become cheaper. So he has nobody to thank. When expressed statistically, it appears that there is a degree of uniformity in the way prices move. This is not true. Prices of seasonal vegetables may crash bringing down the index but one cannot go on an extended “palak” fortnight or be content with carrot consumption. Desire for variety cancels out the lower price advantage. The second reason is that medicines and luxury items, which have more or less become necessities these days, are constantly tending to be costlier. The resultant psychological effect is deep.

A lower inflation rate is not an unalloyed blessing. Not for the Finance Minister. If the consumer price index plunges to 3 per cent by the time of voting as he hopes for, his revenue projection for the current year will go awry. Higher prices bring in higher excise duty collection, and at a time when government expenditure threatens to go through the roof, a lower rate of price rise is bad news. In the first two months of this financial year government borrowings have touched nearly 25 per cent of the amount budgeted for the whole year. Then there is Kargil. Another not-so-well-understood fact is that higher inflation eats into the value of the rupee and hence pares down the debt repayment obligation of the government to that extent. What this means is that old public debts will be repaid in rupees of leaner value. That advantage too will be lost. The government still prefers a lower rate of price rise in the hope that the real compensation will come in terms of wider public support. So, over to the voter.

Brutes as asylum custodians

LET us hang our heads in shame and then read this part of a front-page report in The Tribune of Tuesday (July 20): “Half-fed, half-naked, suffering from skin diseases due to unspeakable filth and squalor and chronic diseases due to the lack of medical care and attention, lying on broken and filthy floors without any bed, living under the shadow of the fear of physical torture by the staff, even subjected to sexual abuse, having been shown no concern at all by the officials concerned and the (‘responsible’) ministry of the government, these unfortunate persons present a picture of extreme human misery and dismay.” The report concerns Mental Hospital, Amritsar, which is supposed to look after the needs of the seriously mentally ill in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The so-called health institute has been brought to this sorry pass by a combination of callous people who comprise bureaucrats, politicians, thoughtless clinicians and heartless salaried staff. No community effort for the social rehabilitation of the reasonably improving patients is visible. This hospital is a custodial home where rape cases and sodomy have been confirmed by a study conducted at the behest of the Punjab State Human Rights Commission. The probe by experts has concluded that although India has the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to protect animals from human criminal hands, there is no such law to look after the well-being or interests of mentally ill persons lodged in this old house of healing with an enviable reputation once upon a time. The Mental Health Act, 1987, is the first and the only Act which incorporates specific provisions for the protection of human rights of those who are sick in the mind. There is no punitive remedy for the violation of the human rights of the unfortunate men and women.

The holy city has a hoary tradition of kindness to all beings. The British kept the hospital in good shape. The missionary medical scientist named Dr Vidya Sagar became a legend there not only by his professional expertise of high quality but also because of his total dedication to the cause of mental health. Dr Vidya Sagar moved to Rohtak and carried forward his mission there. Remember Dr (Major) Davis of the Kanke (Ranchi) asylum? Kanke presents a worse scenario than the one seen in Amritsar. Agra and Shahdara have gained notoriety for their mental hospitals which are, in fact, prisons for luckless human beings. This newspaper has written time and again on the situation obtaining in those “homes” for scandal and savagery. Not much has changed because of the less than concerted efforts of the NGOs. The families of the sufferers are usually insensitive. It is not true that the emulators of Dr Vidya Sagar and Major Davis are not available on the psychiatric scene today. Think of Prof N.N. Wig, Prof P.Kulhara and Dr Savita Malhotra, who are among the torch-bearers in the field of psychiatry. Today, mental illnesses can be better understood and treated than ever before.

Research has shown that some mental disorders are caused by physical changes in the brain, resulting from an illness or an injury. Chemical imbalance in the brain may also lead to mental diseases. Still other disorders are there mainly due to conditions in the environment that affect a person’s mental state. These conditions include unpleasant childhood experiences, severe emotional stress or a combination of two or more of all these causes. Drug therapy has been somewhat standardised. Special techniques have been put into practice. Hospitalisation can be limited to only a few cases. However, the incidence of insanity is increasing alarmingly because of civilisational, life-stylistic, and other factors. Community medicine shows the way, but the care under its parameters has to be duly guided by the Vidya Sagars, Wigs, Kulharas and Malhotras of today. All delinquent persons concerned with the cases of the neglect of mentally ill and hospitalised patients should be put through summary trials and awarded the harshest possible punishment in full public view. The long- overdue corrective measures should begin in the city of the Gurus and no Ranchi, Agra and Shahdara should be spared. We are dealing with human dignity and the sanity of the nation in mental hospitals.

The Kennedys and the stars

JOHN F. KENNEDY JR, 38, became a national celebrity almost the day he was born. His birth in the White House — the first after a long time in the history of the US Presidency — made the soothsayers predict a bright future for him. But that was not to be. On Saturday the six-seater plane carrying “John John”, as he was affectionately called, his wife Carolyn and her sister Lauren disappeared near Martha’s Vineyard over the Atlantic Ocean. The US Coast Guard has given up hope of survival of any of the three passengers. Tragedy should have been the second name of the most famous American family of this century. The list of tragedies to have visited the Kennedys goes back to World War II which claimed the life of an elder brother of John’s father. JFK was assassinated when the White House-born son was only three. The photograph of young John, standing next to his elder sister Caroline, saluting the coffin of his slain father, even today can move anyone to tears. Although he was a member of the most prominent family, John showed little interest in entering politics. The closest he came to shaking hands with politics was the launching of a magazine, edited by him, called “George” after the first President of the USA. Although he hated being called the son of JFK — “I want to be known for myself” —, he did not mind using his celebrity status to get interviews for his magazine which may have been denied to lesser mortals. The most famous of his political interviews was the one with Cuban President Fidel Castro. What made the Kennedy-Castro encounter fascinating was the fact that JFK came close to ordering the bombing of Cuba as part of his anti-Communist foreign policy.

That he had his father’s gene – whose affair with Marylin Monroe, among other celebrities, is well documented — was established when young John was seen dating Madonna.Voted as the sexiest man alive in 1988 by the “People” magazine, he broke the heart of countless maidens when he announced his engagement to a “from nowhere girl” whom he met while jogging. If the bodies of the three passengers are not recovered by the Coast Guard this would, perhaps, qualify to be remembered as the tragedy of all tragedies to have befallen the Kennedy clan — America’s homegrown “royal family”. The paparazzi are already drawing parallels between the death of Princess Diana and the literal fading away of a Kennedy — the recovered pieces of luggage confirming the worst fears of the countless admirers of America’s most famous family. The responsibility of carrying forward the political legacy of the Kennedys would have to be shouldered by his ageing uncle, Edward, a Senator and cousin Patrick, a member of the House of Representatives. India would remember John as the shy, self-effacing boy who travelled second class by rail as an ordinary passenger for discovering the heart and soul of India. He travelled without any VIP frills on the suggestion of his mother Jackie Kennedy. She was also against John taking flying lessons. If he had followed his mother’s advice of not taking a pilot’s licence, which he obtained after her death, and curbed the daring Kennedy streak of taking risks - which he did by ignoring professional advice that he did not have enough experience and knowledge of the aircraft to do night-flying — the wedding of the daughter of his uncle Robert — who too was assassinated — may not have been postponed.

POLITICAL CHESSBOARD
Attempts to form alliances
by S. Sahay

WITH the guns on the Kargil sector having become silent, political parties have started their first moves on the political chessboard. Since the past few elections have shown no single party to be in a position to secure a majority in the Lok Sabha, the first tactical move is to form alliances before the elections. Experience has shown that the award of tickets by the political parties usually creates dissatisfaction among the aspirants, leading to revolt, to the extent of doing one’s own party down, or even standing as an independent candidate. Depending upon the outcome of the results, there are usually fresh alliances. Not a very happy state of affairs, but, then, this is the sad truth.

There is unlikely to be any change in the three broad formations: The BJP and its allies, the Congress and its allies and the Third Front. Much can change by the time the polls are held, but after success, diplomatically and militarily, on the Kargil front, the BJP is in an upbeat mood — though not to the extent of hoping to win a majority in the House single-handedly.

Indeed, it is this rosy view of the election prospects that has made the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance to get the Maharashtra Assembly dissolved so that the parliamentary and state assembly elections can be held simultaneously.

Mr Bal Thackeray was initially opposed to early assembly elections but has now changed his mind.

In the South, the BJP hopes to align with the Telugu Desam party, even though Mr Chandrababu Naidu is refusing to disclose his mind. However, according to one report, the BJP negotiators are none other than Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and Mr L.K. Advani. They are hoping to get eight parliamentary and 35 assembly seats in the state.

In Karnataka too the BJP has been trying to consolidate anti-Congress votes. The Chief Minister, Mr H.M. Patel, has already announced his willingness in principle to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The stage had been set, at the time of writing, for either a change in the Janata Dal’s policy or a break-up.

In Bihar, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan is all set to break away from the Janata Dal so that he can fight the RJP-Congress alliance in the state. He has had no talks with the BJP but he has been in touch with Mr Nitish Kumar of the Samata Party.

The Congress has entered into an alliance with the AIDMK. It has been promised 12 parliamentary seats, including one in Pondicherry. This falls short of its expectation of 16 seats, but can certainly be said to be an improvement when it is kept in mind that the party drew a blank in the last two parliamentary elections. One may surmise that the Congress alliance with the AIDMK must have had a power-sharing component at the Centre, should the alliance come into power. As of now, it seems unlikely.

Mrs Sonia Gandhi has had a setback in Haryana. Her party has withdrawn its support from the Bansi Lal ministry because the Haryana leader dragging his feet on recommending the dissolution of the assembly. Trust the Congress to offer support to a party only to withdraw later and please a former Congress man, Mr Bansi Lal, to renege on his promise.

If one takes into account the fact that the Congress is by no means improving its prospects in UP and Bihar, or for that matter in West Bengal, Mrs Sonia Gandhi has on hand a far greater challenge than she imagines, or can cope with.

The Nationalist Congress Party formed by Mr Sharad Pawar has undoubtedly cut into the Congress strength and if Mr Pawar, Mr Tariq Anwar and Mr Purno Sangma can together win about 20 parliamentary seats they could have a decisive say in the formation of the government.

But which way will Mr Pawar and his friends turn? One will have to keep one’s fingers crossed.

The proposed Third Front consisting of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, the Nationalist Congress Party and the leftists has received a setback with the leftists looking beyond the Third Front for support. The AIADMK has allotted two parliamentary seats each to the CPM and the CPI. And incidentally, Dr Subramaniam Swamy has been denied a seat because he failed to deliver the goods by propping up an alternative government. He has been enraged enough to sever his links with the AIDMK. This is politics for you.

All in all, there is no basic change in the evolution of federal politics in the country. The regional parties are as strong as they were during the past two parliamentary elections: the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, the Telugu Desam party in Andhra Pradesh, the DMK and the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, the Akali Dal in Punjab, the Haryana Vikas Party or the Chautala group in Haryana, the Asom Gana Parishad in Assam.

Though there is no change in the basic pattern, much will depend on how the voters perceive the performance of the BJP-led alliance to be. Will they consider Mr Vajpayee to be the resolute leader who foiled the Pakistani cunningness in trying to grab Indian land? Or will they hold him responsible for the Kargil mess? Will they make a difference between the valiant performance of the Army and the Air Force, and the incompetence of the political executive? In short, will there be a wave in favour of the BJP or against it? Only time will tell.

Then there are certain imponderables. Take the monsoon. There has been too much rain in some areas and too little in others. The nation has lived with floods, but if the monsoon fails, after 11 good years in certain areas, it is bound to affect the election results.

Then there is our “friend and neighbour” to be taken into account. Intelligence reports available with the Army indicate that Pakistan may make another intrusion bid, a far more serious one than that in Kargil, in September, the month the elections are due. This time they are believed to be focusing on the Poonch area. The aim is to flush it with terrorists collected from Muslim countries and, of course, led by Pakistani soldiers.

It is clear beyond doubt that while the nation goes through the business of holding elections, it must not lower its guard even for a moment. It had better forget a dialogue with our neighbour, until the elections are successfully held.

Turkey and the Kurdish issue
by V. Gangadhar

THE scenes on the television screen were rather ghoulish. People in Ankara and other parts of Turkey hugged each other, kissed and cheered. Other wiped their eyes. The cause of their jubilation? A Turkish court had imposed the death sentence on Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Captured by the Turkish security agencies under dramatic circumstances in Kenya some months back, Ocalan was regarded as a dreaded terrorist leader who was responsible for the death of more than 30,000 civilians and members of the Turkish armed forces.

The capture was a moment of sweet revenge for the Turkish government. The trial was swift. Strangely enough, Ocalan did not make a serious attempt to defend himself or argue that he was not guilty of the crime he was charged with. The trial had an air of inevitability about it, and it was no surprise when the judge pronounced the death sentence.

Throughout the trial, the PKK leader made it clear he held himself fully responsible for the violence which rocked Turkey on the Kurd issue. Even while putting up no legal defence, he urged that Turkey should treat the trial as a political development. The actions of the PKK leaders against the state were unavoidable in view of the fact that successive Turkish governments had tried to erase the identity of the Kurds. In strange turnaround, Ocalan admitted that a separate state for Kurds was neither feasible nor desirable. The Kurds would be happy to live as Turkish citizens provided their culture, language and way of life were not disturbed by the state.

The Turkish government may well believe that it had achieved its goal by putting a halt to Ocalan’s bluster and defiance. The PKK leader’s moderate stand and willingness to negotiate were clear indication that he was ready to bargain for his life. Such an attitude reduced the mystique of the man. He was not prepared to walk to the gallows and become a martyr for a cause. All over the world, flamboyant guerrilla leaders had wanted to go down as legends and heroes, leaving behind a cult. Ocalan, it was clear, thought differently. The Turkish government had reason to feel that by adopting such an attitude, the guerrilla leader had lost much of his mystique. This will make it easier for the government to negotiate peace terms with other leaders of the the Kurdistan movement.

Ever since the capture of Ocalan, the Turkish government had been battling adverse international reactions. Till early last year Ocalan was operating from the safety of his hideouts in Lebanon and Syria. It was then the Turkish authorities began to issue stern warnings to Syria that all possible action, including the use of force, would be used to storm into Syria and capture Ocalan. The Syrians understood the seriousness of the situation and gave the heave-ho to their troublesome refugee. Since then Ocalan had been tramping around the world, looking for a suitable shelter from where he could continue his war against the Turkish state.

But this was not to be. Pursued relentlessly by the Turkish security forces, the PKK leader was forced to run from pillar to post. He was sighted in Russia, Iraq, Italy and Greece and was finally run to ground in distant Kenya in an operation which would have been lifted from a Hollywood espionage thriller. The capture was facilitated, it was rumoured, with the help of the CIA and Mossad, the Israeli secret service.

As was to be expected, there were violent reactions to Ocalan’s arrest. Kurds all over Europe, particularly Germany, carried out violent attacks on the embassies of the countries which were suspected of collusion. The opposition parties in Greece lambasted the government for succumbing to pressure from Turkey, with whom Greece all along had strained relations over the Cyprus issue. The European Union (EU) warned Turkey that it would be permanently denied entry to the Union if it executed Ocalan. Despite its unconcealed eagerness to join the EU, Turkey made it clear it would not succumb to outside pressure on the Ocalan issue. And the death sentence confirmed this view.

Though standing isolated on the issue, Turkey had been receiving low-key but unstinted support from the USA, which is extremely sensitive on the issue of international terrorism. As mentioned earlier, the CIA might have had a leading role to play in the capture of the PKK leader.

At the same time, western powers, including the USA which are sensitive to human rights violations cannot condemn Kurdish activities. Like the Jews of the past, the Kurds are a people without a nation and were often persecuted in Turkey, Iran and Iraq. If the USA could offer indirect support to the Kurds who were opposed to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, why should it ignore the more-than-just claims of the Kurds in Turkey. They have been deprived of their land, culture and even language. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds who had fled Turkey and taken up jobs in Western Europe will surely create a lot of trouble if their leader, Ocalan, died, without achieving anything for them. The USA and the rest of the Western powers should persuade Turkey to restore the fundamental rights of its Kurdish citizens so that they can return to their homeland and live in peace.

‘Makeup’ as confusing as ever
by Khushwant Ahluwalia

Everytime my wife and I go out for a party there is a particular drill which takes place. I take the usual bath, cling on the pre-meditated clothes, shoes, do the usual check up in front of the mirror and bark “let’s move”. Shrimatiji instantly replies, “I’m doing my makeup”.

I still haven’t been able to figure out the meaning of this expansively employed tactic to look more or less stunning, beautiful, gorgeous, etc, etc by the fair sex. For me makeup simply is making up for something, for example a deficiency or shortcoming.

I remain confused on this act of beautification which creates Apsaras out of ordinary looking women.

My peril at the hands of makeup continues as I witness a cocktail of colours being prepared out of the paraphernalia spread prudently on a piece of furniture. It would attract a child mistaking it for an ice-cream parlour. By now I’m ready to pull my hair but I realise I cannot go looking like a zombie when my wife is making up. In another half an hour she’ll become the prettiest lady.

My frustration drives me to the car and in order to hasten the lady I trumpet the horn liberally, only realising that history repeats itself. I’m taken back to my early days when dad went through the same ordeal before he could reach the party and down his first peg of whisky. The only difference now is that he takes his first drink in the waiting room.

As the car battery shows signs of wearing away, my mouth takes up the cause of explaining to the matron that we are already a couple of hours behind schedule and our host shall be waiting for us. Since the trap can say much more than the claxon it’s time for me to become a man of many words. Swearing loudly, fulmination and intimidation offer no help as the cause of holdup is ingrained with fanaticism. I feel it will be easier for Nawaz Sharif to call back the Mujahideen from Kargil.

Once the mission is accomplished the woman of my life paces out and takes the co-driver’s seat and we are ready to move. “Darling, can you keep my lipper in your pocket and give it to me when I need it?”

“ Oh sure”! I reply putting it in my pocket.

I now have to remain vigilant all through as you never know when one is summoned. Knowing the damsel’s talking capacity the need arises in minutes.

As we tread along to our destination the rearview mirror assumes a new role and the finishing touches are performed in the vehicle itself. Luckily, Chandigarh has short distances. I pity those staying in Delhi and Bombay.

Once we reach the desired place — late as usual — we find Raghu almost looking like a dunce, standing outside his car waiting for Mrs Raghu to complete her camouflage. The weary look on his face says it all.

I acknowledge his plight with “thumbs up” as we all proceed towards the entrance with Raghu in front. The host keenly enquires about our late arrival and Raghu replies to the query in a most casual way. “Yaar, my son wouldn’t go off to sleep, then the dog ran away and after he was found the gate keys were missing”.

He had stolen my alibi for the evening and I had to duplicate the reasons, shrugging them as coincidences.

Languidly, couples started pouring in and there is no lady who wasn’t made- up and their was no husband who didn’t makeup.

What is disquieting is that though Sanjay fled on March 20, the Haryana police informed their Delhi counterparts only the next day, March 21. During the intervening 24 hours little effort was made to nab him.

Family members of Razi also reveal that they had cautioned the Faridabad and Delhi police, a few days before the incident that two men on a motor cycle had threatened them and asked them to withdraw the case. They even claim to have given the motor cycle number to the police. They regret that no one took serious note of this warning.

During the past more than four months neither the Haryana police nor the CBI has been able to track him down. Until Sanjay is traced the investigation of the case cannot be completed and the trial cannot take off.

The CBI instituted on July 12 an award of Rs 1 lakh for any information that may lead to his arrest. “We have already flashed his photograph on Doordarshan among the “most wanted criminals”, apart from issuing an advertisement in all the leading newspapers in the country. What else can we do?” asks a CBI officer, adding: “We have but to keep our fingers crossed.”

According to Mr Sanwal Singh, 57-year-old father of the victim, Sanjay met Razi, during his frequent visits between Delhi and Bombay in 1997. She worked as an air hostess with Jet Airlines. Sanjay is a well-built, handsome man. On the basis of his fake identity card he told Razi that he was a U.S. police officer. He also impressed her with his high-profile lifestyle.

Razi was an innocent girl and was totally taken in. She accepted his proposal of marriage. Her family members dissuaded her, but when she insisted they gave in and performed the engagement ceremony on Panchmi day in May, 1997. The marriage was fixed for November 21.

In the meantime, Razi’s parents started secret enquiries, as all parents do, about the antecedents of their would-be son-in-law and his family. When Sanjay came to know of it, he had reasons to be alarmed. First, he had concealed from Razi and her parents that he was already married and had a four-year-old son. Secondly, he had convinced Razi on the basis of a fake identity card that he was a U.S. police officer. Fearing detection, he pressed Razi for an early marriage.

The marriage took place on July 8, 1997, at the Bhogal Arya Samaj Mandir in Delhi without the knowledge of Razi’s parents. That they came to know of it later is a different matter.

Some time after the marriage Sanjay shifted from Delhi to Faridabad. On September 19, 1997, he visited his in-laws at Badarpur and raised a demand of Rs 5 lakh in cash, a Cielo car and the 1,000 square yard plot they owned on the Delhi-Mathura Road and valued at not less than Rs 1 crore. When they expressed their inability to satiate his greed, Sanjay ran berserk, ransacked the business premises of his father-in-law and also threatened to kill him. Mr Sanwal Singh was traumatised by the scenes that Sanjay created and informed the police.

The Delhi police reached the spot within no time and overpowered Sanjay. During his search the police recovered a pistol on the barrel of which Model MD-25-CAL.25 Auto Made in the U.S.A was inscribed. On the other side, Raven Arms Industry was inscribed. A number of live cartridges were also seized from his possession.

The police also discovered that the foreign vehicle in which he had travelled to his in-laws’ house had a fake registration number. He was booked under Sections 427 and 506 IPC for threatening to kill his father-in-law and under the Arms Act for possessing an unlicenced pistol. After his custodial interrogation, he was remanded in judicial custody.

When Sanjay was lodged in Tihar Jail, Razi leafed through his file and laid her hands on his passport. To her dismay she discovered that the passport contained the name of his earlier wife, Cecilia Mantuano, a US national, and his son, Alexander Sharma.

To confirm her suspicion Razi wrote a letter to Cecilia, enquiring whether “ he ever got married to Sanjay Sharma or “do you have any kid of Sanjay Sharma. I would be highly obliged and thankful if you could furnish me the details with the help of which my life could be saved from getting ruined”.

Cecilia wrote back to Razi confirming that Sanjay had married her. She also sent a copy of the order handed down on October 8,1997, by Rhea G.Friedman, a Judge presiding over the family court, against Sanjay: “Refrain from assault, harassment, menacing, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, intimidation, threat or any criminal offence against Cecilia Mantuano. Observe such other condition (s) as are necessary to further the purpose of protection. Respondent (Sanjay) not to interfere with petitioner’s care and custody of child Alexander Sharma.”

She also sent a photocopy of Alexander’s birth certificate signed by the Mayor, Commissioner of Health and City Registrar of New York. This certificate shows that Alexander was born on July 20,1993, at Queens Hospital Center when Cecilia and Sanjay lived at 42-10, Golden Street Apartment 10, in New York.

Cecilia also informed Razi that the Ford Explorer car which Sanjay imported to India belonged to her. He had forged her signatures to finance this car and burdened her with the payment to the finance company.

She also accused him of bringing from the USA a Kawasaki motor cycle and other valuable goods. He is also alleged to have defrauded the Customs Department for getting clearance of his car, motor cycle and other valuable goods by posing to be a police officer working in New York Police Department posted at the US Embassy in Ecuador. He claimed waiver of customs duty under the garb of transfer of residence after eight years of stay abroad.

Interestingly the ration card (No. 450470 dated August 2,1996) in the name of his father (Mr B.R.Sharma, D-4/30, Sector 15, Rohini, New Delhi ) bears an entry in Sanjay’s name. His claim that he worked as a U.S. police officer also stood demolished when, in reply to a query by the Delhi Police, Lieutenant Dennis J. Cirillo of the New York Police Department denied that Sanjay ever worked with them.

All these facts, shocked Razi. On September 21,1997, less than three months after her marriage, she lodged a complaint with the Sarai Khwaja Police Station at Faridabad saying that Sanjay and his mother had gathered that she (Razi) had come to know that Sanjay was already married and had a child. His mother had also threatened to kill her on September 20,1997. She sought protection and expressed her unwillingness to stay with them.

Four days later, Razi lodged another complaint, this time with the S.P. of Faridabad, saying she apprehended danger to her life from Sanjay and his mother. She alleged that Sanjay was “a big cheat and a fraud” as he was already married. She also alleged that his parents expected land in Delhi, a Cielo car and a sum of Rs 5 lakh in cash. She also wrote that a burglary had been committed in her parents’ house at Badarpur on the night between October 24 and 25,1997. A sum of Rs 42,000 in cash and papers containing a copy of her duplicate passport had been stolen. An FIR (No. 647 dated October 25,1997) had been lodged at the Badarpur police station.

The Faridabad police booked Sanjay and his parents on the charge of demanding dowry and harassing Razi.

Clever enough as he was, Sanjay patched up with Razi in the Arms Act case got registered against him by her father. But he hatched a deeper conspiracy. He took her to his mother’s house and did not allow her either to meet or to talk to her parents. She managed to steal an opportunity and telephone her cousin, Roma, that she was locked up in a room and was being taken to an unknown destination. This was the last, perhaps, that she ever spoke to any of her family members or relations.

As part of the conspiracy to eliminate Razi, Sanjay got her insured for a fabulous $ 50,000, with an additional 3,000 pounds, medical insurance with the United India Insurance Company. Instead of taking her to the USA for a trip, as she was promised before leaving India, Sanjay took her first to the UK and later to Austria where his sister lived.

Razi died under mysterious circumstances within days of her being heavily insured, on December 4,1997. Immediately after her death Sanjay approached the Mercury International Assistance and Claims Limited in England, asking them to facilitate the payment for the cremation and other expenses incurred by him after Razi’s death.

Opposing Sanjay’s bail plea before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Razi’s parents pleaded that their daughter’s death was not accidental but was the result of a pre-planned conspiracy hatched by him and his mother. This was evident from various facts.

First, they were informed about Razi’s death after 10 days ( on December 14,1997). Secondly, although a mortuary pass was issued by the District Headquarters Innsbruck Department of Health “so that the body could be transferred in a hearse or an aeroplane from Absem to New Delhi,” Sanjay consigned her body to flames on the same day at Austria. Thirdly, she was got heavily insured only a few days before her death. Fourthly, the conspiracy to kill Razi was executed in a distant land so that provisions of Section 188, Cr.P.C. for the purpose of investigation and filing of challan were not attracted.

The High Court accepted these arguments and rejected Sanjay’s bail plea.

Unhappy over the tardy progress of investigation by the CBI, the victim’s parents have now filed a petition in the Delhi High Court praying for directing the prosecution to make the result of the investigation public. The High Court has issued notice to the CBI.

The CBI, on the other hand, claims that it has successfully completed a documents-based investigation to prove that Razi’s death was not accidental but a well-planned murder.

In support of its stand, a CBI team that had gone to Austria says that they have evidence to show that Sanjay got a return ticket from the UK to Austria for himself and not for Razi. Secondly, they have collected the record from the Telephone Department showing that Razi spoke to her cousin Roma, a few days before she was taken to Austria (voicing apprehensions about her life). Thirdly, the Delhi Police also gave documents to show that an anonymous caller informed the Police Control Room, a day before she was taken abroad, that Razi was being beaten by her husband in his house. Fourthly, the Health Department of Austria gave a copy of the mortuary discharge certificate showing that her body was to be taken to India. Fifthly, Sanjay had got her body embalmed for the purpose of bringing it here but never did so.

The CBI officials claim that they are ready for filing the challan in the court for his trial.

The only problem is that Sanjay has been at large since March.

75 YEARS AGO

Changed condition
Mahatmaji’s advice sought

MAHATMA GANDHI has wired from Andheri, congratulating the volunteers and workers on the progress of the campaign and advising them to carry it on.

In reply, Mr Karur Nilakantam Nambudiripad, the present leader of Satyagrahis at Vaikom, has wired as follows:—

“Your telegram of the 16th was received today. The Satyagraha steadily continues. The batch strength is increased to six today. The Government have fenced all roads. Yesterday, the Dewan conferred with us. He says he intends proclaiming the said roads as temple property, prohibiting the Christians and Mohamedans also. There has been occasional violence from the opposition. We anticipate more. The Committee discussed the blocking of the roads, scaling or removing the fencing or beginning fasting, complete or partial, as being from experience more effective. A detailed letter follows, Please advise immediately.