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| Sunday, January 2, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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News analysis |
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Ultras regrouping in N-E states Orissa Govt told to pay relief CPM seeks inquiry into plane hijack Millennium test tube baby Forces hogged limelight in Kargil Entry fee to Taj hiked for foreign visitors Self-immolation bid in Orissa Ali Mian laid to rest Millennium baby born at Silchar
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News analysis THE BJP lost its ideological innocence on the last day of the second millennium somewhere between Delhi and Kandahar. The surprise is not that it chose such an odd way to shed the political equivalent of virginity, but that it did not put up even token resistance. For eight days it tried to give the impression of thinking and acting and, yes, fighting. In the end it did what the hijackers directed it to do on the second day of the trauma. And we have a knowledgeable Minister saying it. On Saturday, Christmas Day, junior Minister for Civil Aviation Chaman Lal Gupta was loudly telling anyone who would listen that the hijackers had named three militants whose release was the only condition for ending the hostage crisis. It was in a telephone talk to the Air Traffic Control tower in Delhi. Among them were Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar. He said the third member’s name was inaudible. It is a different matter that all conversations with the ATC tower and automatically recorded and equipment is available to decipher any talk. That was within 24 hours of the hijacking and just after the plane landed in the Afghan city. The government freed the same persons on Friday, exactly seven days before the agony of the hostages and their relatives ended. In between there were wild rumours — the demand for the release of 36 jailed or detained militants, the exhumed body of a slain Pakistani citizen and a whopping $200 million in cash. We were told that the last two conditions were vetoed by the Taliban, although no one was seen or heard striking that moralistic position. Now the government claims victory for whittling down the number of militants to be released from Indian prisons from 36 to three. But it was three to start with and before the 150-odd passengers had to go through an emotional hell. In the days to come the truth will come out piece by piece, as the normally loud Ministers, chafing now at not being among the decision-makers, start throwing hints. It may all be unfounded, but Delhi is bristling with experts who can sift the totally unreliable from the reasonably accurate bits of information and put it all together to draw the whole picture. The initial hesitation of the Crisis Management Group has been compounded by the release of the transcript of the talks between the pilot and the ground staff. Every journalist has interpreted the words and warnings in his own imperfect way. In fact, the latest is a screaming headline in a Delhi newspaper, "A blunder was averted at Amritsar." The assertion is that any obvious attempt to impound the plane would have egged the nervous hijackers to stage a disaster. As it is, it was a close shave, the plane taking off for Lahore with barely 15 minutes of fuel. The CMG can indeed be faulted for not seizing the initial minutes to rush and position a crack team of anti-hijack commandos to tackle the situation. What a mess- up! The country spends a packet and trains a team but sends the commandos on a wild chase when a real crisis unfolds! The hostage crisis and the implied loss of face can do a lot of good to the BJP if it realises two simple facts. One, it has to quickly shed its ultra-patriotic baggage it used to grow and capture power. The treasury benches are both in space and programme opposite to the opposition benches. The ruling party has to repeat all policies and action,for which, as the opposition party, it took the government to task. If this is absorbed and acted on, this imparts sobriety and leads to a forced consensus. That is the secret of the smooth working of long-running democracies. The second is even more difficult but the common experience of journalists should help. Both as reporters and leader writers we always bear in mind that some readers know more about a subject we handle than we actually do. This imposes a degree of caution and sets up an escape route. This attitude would have prevented a politician, even a tall one like the Prime Minister, from being categorical. For instance, he would have said, "The situation is very difficult and we are examining all possibilities. But we shall never let the country or its people down." See, the trick is to be vague about your action but categorical about your intentions. I hesitate to write these words about a veteran politician, but his tough talk about not conceding any demand was clearly a hark back to the opposition days and not helpful to him as Prime Minister. Government does not set the outer limits of the freedom of the ruling party. It does the contrary. It binds them to severe limits through precedents, procedures and mistrust. All this obtains in an exaggerated form in India because of historical reasons. It sounded very nationalistic for the then opposition leader, Mr L.K.Advani to thunder, at the height of the Hazratbal masjid seizure crisis, that "the Congress government was giving the militants biriyani and we, the BJP, will give them bullets." That was a well thought-out rhetoric. The same was about making the state strong and hard and not soft and weak. But rhetoric has no place in running a government; realism has. The K.P.S. route to kill militancy is illusory. It needs a Beant Singh, not very articulate but a determined democrat, to first isolate the militants from the people and then break up their groups. That is a different story. |
Ultras regrouping in N-E states CALCUTTA, Jan 1 — Encouraged by the hijacking of an IA plane on its flight from Kathmandu to Delhi, the Pakistani ISI-backed militants in the North-Eastern states, have been now regrouping themselves and preparing for a massive showdown in the area, central intelligence sources said. The Army authorities at Port Williams, here, which monitor the insurgency activities in the region, have also alerted the respective states in this regard and suggested for a joint operation, involving the state police, the BSF and other paramilitary jawans against the militants. The Home Ministry have already reports about the ISI activities in the border states, adjoining Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar. The state governments have already been advised to step up anti-terrorist operations with the help of the BSF and other paramilitary forces. But still the militants are very much active in the area, often engaged in kidnapping, killing arson and looting. The militant outfits, which are getting help from the ISI include ULFA, NLFT, Naga Hoho, NSCN (1-M) and NSCN (1-S). They are active in Assam, Nagaland, Mozoram and Tripura. Of late, these militant groups have set up special camps in the neighbouring jungles in Bhutan and Bangladesh where newly recruited boys from various states, receive training in modern firearms like AK-47, LMG, automatic rifles, revolvers and other explosives, including RDX. Recently, the Army, after their joint operation with the Assam Rifles, detected five such camps in Bhutan, where young recruits were being trained by Raju Baruah, deputy commander-in-chief of ULFA. Baruah, however, could not be traced but a large number of firearms were seized from the jungle and eight trainees arrested on the spot. Official sources say that several dreaded militants have been now operating in the region under the command of Rabin Neog, Benning Rabha, Lohit Deuri and ULFA’s commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah. In Tripura also, several militants have been in action and they are getting direct help and assistance including money and firearms from the ISI agents operating from adjoining Bangladesh. |
Orissa Govt told to pay relief NEW DELHI, Jan 1 — The National Human Rights Commission has asked the Orissa Government to pay within a week an interim relief of Rs 50,000 to a victim of custodial torture. The commission has recommended that cases be registered against the police officers involved in illegal detention, physical abuse and removal of cash and jewellery. The commission has asked the state government to hand over the investigation to the state CID and send its report by the first week of February this year. The commission has directed the state government to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the SP, Kandhmal, Phulbani for lack of sensitivity to human rights. According to sources, the commission acted on a complaint by the 16-year-old victim. In his complaint, the boy alleged that he was arrested by the Station House Officer of Phulbani police station in Orissa, beaten up and abused in the lock-up for three days. The SHO forced him to part with Rs 22,500, a gold chain, two silver coins and a gold ring. After being produced in court, he was remanded to judicial custody and sent to a prison. The victim also complained that he was sexually abused by a convict in the prison. According to the report, the police officer concerned had been censured for his action.It stated that since the police officer, who allegedly seized cash and ornaments, had been transferred, it was not possible to confirm the allegations. The commission felt that letting off an officer by administering a censure could not said to be adequate punishment by any standard keeping in view the gravity of the offences. |
CPM seeks inquiry into plane hijack NEW DELHI, Jan 1 (PTI) — The CPM today demanded a high-level inquiry into the hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane to "uncover all facts" and accused the government of bungling and sacrificing national interests. "The Vajpayee government has provided contradictory and misleading versions during the entire hijacking episode .... There is something fishy," CPM General Secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet said at a press conference here, a day after the eight-day ordeal ended with the release of three militants in exchange for the hostages. Mr Surjeet also alleged that the government had failed to mobilise support from the international community and said the role of the Taliban was also not being depicted correctly. The CPM leader said that during a telephonic conversation with the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, he was informed that the hijackers had brought down their demands and that the External Affairs Minister Mr Jaswant Singh, was leaving for Kandahar. "He (Mr Vajpayee) did not disclose that the militants were already out. He intended hiding the facts," Mr Surjeet said. "The government was relying too much on the USA and the Taliban...... The USA has always had an eye on making Kashmir independent..... May be because of sanctions the Taliban have come under some pressure but it will not go against the interests of the militants," he said. |
Millennium test tube baby NEW DELHI, Jan 1 (UNI) — A test tube baby was born to a woman from Patel Nagar in West Delhi just as the clock struck midnight, bringing multiple delight: the woman achieved motherhood 15 years after marriage, and the baby was a gift to the new millennium. The healthy baby boy became the 21st test tube baby to be delivered within one month by well-known fertility specialist Dr Anoop Kumar Gupta. And yet, Dr Gupta is somewhat disappointed. He says all women conceived in the month of April, and would have delivered in the first week of the millennium according to the maternity schedule of nine months and seven days. "But providence intervened and only 40 year-old Renu’s son stood the test of time, to earn the millennium tag", he adds. The 21 childless couples had undertaken inter-vitreous fertility treatment and had aided Dr Gupta in creating a record of delivering as many babies in just one month. He also said the success rate of couples who had gone in for intra-vitreous treatment with him was about 60 per cent. |
Forces hogged limelight in Kargil NEW DELHI, Jan 1 — Victory in Kargil and the successful test-firing of Agni-II, which has a range of over 2000 kms, were the highlights for the defence forces in the year 1999. The defence forces beat back the Pakistani aggression in the Kargil sector, besides they also brought succour to the cyclone devastated people in Orissa typifying their devotion to the call of duty. The Defence Ministry ensured a smooth transition into the year 2000 with Y2K readiness for all types of weapon systems, ground and airborne systems, communication, aviation, ships and logistic besides defence production units. The two month-long Kargil operations from mid-May to mid-July inflicted heavy casualties on the aggressors. The Pakistan is estimated to have suffered 772 casualties. On the Indian side 519 Army personnel and five from the air force laid down their lives. The IAF was pressed into service on May 26 and the Indian Navy made tactical deployment of the combined Eastern and Western fleet to seize the initiative at sea. A grateful nation came out in support of our valiant soldiers with spontaneous outpouring of solidarity and contributions. In recognition of their courage and dedication, the government announced four Param Vir Chakras, nine Maha Vir Chakras and a host of other gallantry awards. The welfare package for the armed forces was thoroughly revamped. The ex-gratia for the Kargil martyrs was raised to Rs 10 lakh besides assistance for house, education for children and others from the National Defence Fund. A committee under the chairmanship of the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, was set up by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajapyee, to bring in uniform welfare assistance. Elsewhere in Jammu and Kashmir, the drive by our armed forces against militants and foreign mercenaries was stepped up and more than 1000 militants were killed. The Prime Minister cautioned the commanders of the three services against the possible escalation of proxy war after the military took over in Pakistan. The recent militant attacks in Jammu and Kashmir were attributed to their growing frustration and increasing presence of foreign mercenaries among others. The super cyclone in Orissa brought out the humanitarian role of the armed forces who were asked to provide relief and rehabilitation. Over 5000 Army personnel were deployed in the disaster-stricken areas to help evacuate people, distribute food items, restore communication links and provide medical aid. The IAF flew more than 400 sorties and airlifted 1370 tons of load. The Indian Navy cleared Paradip Port and salvaged more than 50 boats. The country crossed a major milestone when Agni-II was test fired on April 11. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) achieved perfection and sophistication of a very high order by carrying out the launch with pin-point accuracy. The DRDO chief, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, was appointed Principal Scientific Adviser to the government with Dr V.K. Aatre as his successor in the DRDO. The Defence Minister articulated the long-felt need for raising the defence allocation to 3 per cent of the GDP from 2.3 per cent at present. Major improvements were effected in the logistic support to troops in Siachen. These included improved automatic grenade launchers, disposable rocket launchers, night vision device for weapons, light weight binoculars, upgraded ammunition for 155 mm guns, new sub-machine guns, better communication, clothing and medical facilities, laying of fuel oil pipeline and surfacing of roads. A new military hospital for Siachen is also in the offing. A major success in Kargil was the indigenously manufactured INSAS rifles. A modernisation programme of ordnance factories, some of which date back to the last century, is underway contemplating an investment of Rs 1241 crore during the Ninth Plan. India’s defence products were showcased in our first International Exhibition on Land and Naval Systems, Defexpo in New Delhi. |
Entry fee to Taj hiked for foreign visitors AGRA, Jan 1 (PTI) — Entry fee to the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort for foreign visitors has been hiked to Rs 500 and Rs 50, respectively, from today. The Agra Development Authority (ADA) has levied a ticket of Rs 500, called Guest Card, which will enable a foreign visitor to see all the five monuments namely the Taj, the Agra Fort, the tombs of Akbar at Sikandra and of Itmaduddaulah and Fatehpur Sikri. The visitor will also have to pay an additional Rs 5 as entry fee, charged by the ASI at each monument. That means that he will pay Rs 505 for entry to the Taj, as against Rs 105 charged hitherto for viewing it from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The entry ticket for Indian visitors will continue to be Rs 15 only. |
Self-immolation bid in Orissa BHUBANESWAR, Jan 1 (PTI) — Close on the heels of the self-immolation bid by seven job-seekers for teachers’ posts, the police yesterday foiled a similar attempt by three unemployed B.Ed graduates in front of the official residence of the Chief Minister, Mr Hemananda Biswal, the police said. The incident occurred when some graduates, demanding that they should be provided employment by relaxing the age criteria, were demonstrating in front of Mr Biswal’s residence. Three of the demonstrators pulled out bottles containing inflammable liquid and tried to set themselves afire before the police intervened. Only one of them, with minor burn injuries, was taken to the nearby Capital Hospital where he was discharged after treatment. The police rounded up 24 demonstrators. Meanwhile, one of the seven injured persons who tried self-immolation outside the official residence of the Minister of State for School and Mass Education, Mr Nabin Chandra Narayan Das on Thursday, was shifted to the SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack. |
Ali Mian laid to rest RAE BARELI (UP), Jan 1 (UNI) — Renowned Islamic scholar Maulana Ali Mian was cremated on the banks of the Saie river in Takia Kalan village, near here, last night, adjacent to the grave of his father Maulana Abdul Hai and mother Kair-un-Nisa. Despite severe cold and dense fog, thousands of people attended the namaz-e-janaza of Maulana Ali Mian, led by Maulana Rebey Hasni Nadvi. People from different walks of life continued to flock to the Takia Kalan village. Union Home Minister Lal Krishan Advani sent a message condoling the death of Maulana Ali Mian. |
Millennium baby born at Silchar SILCHAR, Jan 1 (PTI) — The much-awaited India’s millennium baby greeted the world 20 minutes past midnight when Ms Anuradha Choudhury delivered a baby boy at a local nursing home here today. The baby was greeted with much fanfare by his parents, doctors and relatives. The director of the nursing home, Dr Kushal Kar, said the child, weighing 2.6 kg, was well. A local millennium committee has announced a gift of Rs 10,000 for the millennium baby. |
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