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| Wednesday, August 9, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Cong stalls work in House again Centre for talks with militant groups Gopal hopeful of
“positive response” |
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Haryana’s plea for aid rejected
SP flays Cong
on J& K probe issue Involve women in peace process: NGO
Four students drowned Heavy rain likely in east UP
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Cong stalls work in House again NEW DELHI, Aug 8 — A determined Congress today disrupted the proceedings in both Houses of Parliament for the second day with the Lok Sabha being adjourned for the day after recess and the government being forced to agree to an impromptu discussion on the issue in the Rajya Sabha. While the agitated Congress
members did not let the proceedings to carry on in the Lok Sabha, creating noisy scenes, in the Rajya Sabha, the party members led by their Chief Whip, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, forced the suspension of the zero hour and ensured that the government agree to a discussion on the issue. A visibly angry Mr Mukherjee, who was being interrupted by the members from the Treasury Benches when he raised the issue of a judicial probe into the massacre of Amarnath pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir immediately after the question hour, threatened to stop the proceedings of the House if he was not allowed to complete his submission. This forced not only the Leader of the House, Mr Jaswant Singh, to make a statement in the House, but also forced the Chairman, Mr Krishan Kant, to intervene and seek cooperation from the Congress members in passing of the Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Bill today itself. He said that he would allow the discussion if there was assurance that the Congress would cooperate in the passing of the Bill today itself. In the Lok Sabha, as soon as the House reassembled at 2 pm after the first adjournment following question hour, a Congress member, Mr Buta Singh, Mr K.H. Mauniappa, Mr Paban Singh Ghatowar and others joined by RJD members trooped into the well of the House to press their demand. “This is a very serious issue. Why is the Government afraid of a judicial inquiry?”, Deputy Leader of the Congress Madhavrao Scindia asked while accusing the Government of refraining from discharging its duties. The Deputy Speaker, Mr P.M. Sayeed sought to pacify the members to return to their seats. But with no signs of normalcy returning, he adjourned the House for the day. Earlier in the pre-lunch session, the Congress members while raising the issue asked the Speaker, Mr G.M.C. Balayogi, as to what happened to their demand. “Why is the Government running away from a judicial inquiry into the massacres that resulted in the killing of over 100 persons”, Mr Scindia asked. Adamant on their party’s demand for a judicial probe, several members trooped into the well of the House. Finding the members in defiant mood, Mr Balayogi adjourned the House for lunch. The Speaker earlier said, “Let the listed calling attention be taken up first to discuss the plight of jute growers and Congress members could raise the issue during zero hour.” Mr Scindia reacted strongly, saying it was the question of deaths of 100 persons and “you are requesting us to wait till the calling attention motion is over.” Mr Scindia said that in the wake of all sorts of media reports on the massacres, the Congress was fully justified in its demand for a judicial inquiry rather than the ongoing administrative probe. He said the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Pramod Mahajan, had ‘misled’ the House by taking recourse to law, turning down the main Opposition demand for a judicial inquiry. Mr Scindia said there were even reports that the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, had resigned on account of the ghastly incident. In the Rajya Sabha, springing on to his feet soon after the question hour, Mr Pranab Mukherjee said he would appeal to the Government to reconsider its decision not to concede the demand for a judicial inquiry. This sparked off shouts of protest from the ruling party Benches with Mr Venkataiah Naidu (BJP)
asserting the matter was closed after the Prime Minister had explained the reasons for not conceding the demand, particularly when the Jammu and Kashmir government had already ordered an executive inquiry. A visibly agitated Mr Mukherjee raising his voice over the din said he could not be cowed down by the ‘lung power’ of the ruling party members and pleaded with the Chair that he be allowed to complete his submission on the issue which was interrupted yesterday as well. As the wrangle persisted, the Leader of the House, Mr Jaswant Singh, said that the Prime Minister had made it explicitly clear that there was already an inquiry into the orgy of violence. He assured the members that after the submission of the inquiry report, if any aspect needed to be further looked into, the Government would certainly do that. He appealed to members to allow the House to take up scheduled business, including the Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Bill to carve out a separate Chhattisgarh state. Mr Mukherjee said the Opposition would certainly cooperate with the Government to complete all important business but its cooperation could not be taken for granted and warned some vociferous BJP members against scuttling a discussion on the Amarnath issue. He was supported by his party colleague from Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad. A discussion was all the more necessary in the light of media reports which quoted post-mortem examination reports to say at least 20 pilgrims had been killed by CRPF bullets. This was objected to by several BJP members who said “such allegations would give a handle to our enemies”. Mr Mukherjee said he would not buy this argument as such a discussion would “in fact help us in correcting shortcomings if any” in the security provided to Amarnath yatris. He said newspaper reports quoted an unnamed Home Ministry official as saying the pilgrims could have been caught in the crossfire between the CRPF personnel and militants. He observed that India was a mature democracy and what would be said by members in the House would not in any way go against the national interest. Such a discussion would not weaken the system, he said. Sensing the mood of the House, the Chairman, Mr Krishan Kant, allowed members to make their submission on the condition that they would sit and pass the Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Bill today itself. Mr Jaswant Singh then appealed to members to refrain form freely quoting from newspaper reports which had found fault with the CRPF as these were not “final judgement”. As an inquiry into the incident was on, such utterances on the floor of the House “would confer upon them a factual veracity.” As the Amarnath carnage had security ramifications, Mr Jaswant Singh said members on both sides should rise above “partisan politics” to face the challenges the incident has thrown up. To this, Mr Mukherjee said there was nothing wrong in having a debate over allegations of security lapses, also, he wanted to know if all recommendations of the Sengupta Committee on providing security to Amarnath yatris were fully implemented. All his party demanding was there should be transparency in bringing out any security lapse so that corrective steps could be taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents on yatris, he said. Later, the other Opposition members also made their submissions and there was no clear unanimity on the issue of a judicial probe into the incident. The main opposition came from the Samajwadi Party, whose member, Prof Ram Gopal Yadav, said that there would be no purpose served through a judicial probe. Some of the Left Party members also voiced similar views. |
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North India in
Parliament NEW DELHI, Aug 8 — The Centre would like to invite all militant groups and political leaders to restore peace and normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr Vidyasagar Rao, told the Lok Sabha today. Replying to a question by Mr Dalpat Singh Parste whether Kashmiri Pandits have urged the government to include them in talks for resolving the Kashmir problem, the minister said some newspaper reports in this regard had come to the government’s notice. He said having welcomed the move towards peace made by a senior Hizbul leader during a press conference on July 24 and having taken cognisance of the support extended to the peace initiative by the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the government extended offer to the Hizbul leadership to come overground and establish contact with the Union Home Secretary to discuss modalities for a dialogue. The process has just started, the minister said. He informed that while 22,408 Pandit families migrated from Jammu and Kashmir to other states since 1990-91, 31,490 families had migrated to Jammu. The Jammu and Kashmir government, he said, was in the process of finalising an action plan for early and safe return of migrants. Assistance to J-K: To a question by W Angou Singh whether financial assistance to Jammu and Kashmir was greater than that of other states, the Minister of State for Finance, Mr Balasaheb Vikhe Patil said that the financial assistance to Jammu and Kashmir during 1999-2000 was nine per cent of the total assistance to all the states as against 16 per cent assistance to the eight North East states put together. Metro rail: The Chandigarh MP, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, has called for building a metro rail for Chandigarh, Panchkula and SAS Nagar. Making a special mention in the Lok Sabha yesterday, Mr Bansal said that the increase in population during the last decade had put intense pressure on the city’s infrastructure. The MP said that being capital of Punjab and Haryana and equipped with best hospitals and educational institutions, there was a heavy flow of traffic. All this called for perspective planning for the region and building of a metro and a mass rapid transportation system for the region, including adjoining parts of Himachal Pradesh. NIC meeting: Mr Vidyasagar Rao, told Mr Akhilesh Yadav in a written reply that no proposal for holding the National Integration Council meeting for discussing autonomy proposal of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly was under consideration of the government. He said the Centre was committed to continuing its endeavour to evolve a broad consensus on the implementation of steps for wide ranging devolution of powers to the states that leads to efficiency in
administration, acceleration in development and fullest realization of the creative potential of all sections of people. Narcotics: The Minister of State for Finance, Mr V Dhananjay Kumar, told the Rajya Sabha today that the government had not received any report about Pakistan pushing in new kinds of narcotics into Jammu and Kashmir. However, the seizure of opium, heroin and
hashish has been made in the state, he said. |
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Gopal hopeful of
“positive response” CHENNAI, Aug 8 (PTI) — Tamil bi-weekly Nakkeeran today said a “good message” was expected from its editor and Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Government’s emissary R.R. Gopal tomorrow on the release of Kannada icon Rajkumar and three others, held hostage by forest brigand Veerappan for the past nine days. The magazine’s Associate Editor A. Kamaraj said here in a statement that he had received “reliable” information late last night that Gopal was in the midst of parleys with the brigand on securing the release of the hostages. This was conveyed to him by a man, who came out of the jungles at midnight last night, Kamaraj said. The person informed him that a “good message” on the release of the hostages could be expected by tomorrow, he added. This is perhaps the first positive message that Gopal had sent to his office since he ventured into the jungles. Meanwhile, the Congress today said there was some thing “fishy” about the abduction of Kannada film star Rajkumar and three others. TNCC President E.V.K.S. Elangovan told PTI here that the forest brigand Veerappan’s 10 point charter of demands for the release of Rajkumar and three others, kept in captivity by him, was “political in nature” and there was some thing “fishy” about the entire episode. He demanded immediate and unconditional release of Rajkumar. PMK founder Dr S. Ramdoss also demanded unconditional release of Rajkumar. In a statement here last night, he said Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna spoke to him over telephone and assured total protection to Tamils in Karnataka. |
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Haryana’s plea for aid rejected NEW DELHI, Aug 8 — The Centre has rejected the Haryana Government’s demand for financial assistance of Rs 2,000 crore on the pattern of other states to compensate the loss suffered by it during the days of terrorism and the cost incurred in fighting this menace. “Several states have made demands, we can’t consider all of them,” the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, told The Tribune when asked whether the Centre was considering Haryana Government’s plea. The Haryana Government has been demanding this “special” financial assistance from the Centre as a compensation for the loss of life and property to the tune of Rs 2,650 crore suffered during the days of terrorism. The Chief Minister of Haryana Mr Om Prakash Chautala, who has already written to the Centre, had once again raised this issue in the first-ever meeting of Chief Ministers on Internal Security called by the Union Home Ministry here on Saturday. Speaking at the meeting Mr Chautala had argued that while the Centre had waived off the loan of about Rs 5,800 crore given to Punjab to fight terrorism and extended a special grant of Rs 200 crore to Himachal Pradesh, the centre had failed to protect the interests of Haryana. “The claim of the State Government has been well documented and repeatedly placed by us before the Centre. I seek Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s indulgence to protect the interests of Haryana also,” Mr Chautala had stated. In the documents submitted along with the letter demanding Rs 2,000 crore assistance, the Haryana Government has spelt out at length the loss of life and property suffered by the State while fighting terrorism spilled over to the state from the neighbouring Punjab. “Terrorists struck at 175 different places in Haryana during the days of terrorism in Punjab, which resulted in the loss of 273 lives besides the death of 28 police personnel,” it says adding as many as 59 terrorists were shot dead by the Haryana Police in encounters. It also states that during the days of terrorism, the Haryana Government had to increase the strength of police manifold. Modern weaponary, vehicles, means of communication and buildings had to be provided to meet the challenge of the terrorists armed with sophisticated weapons and financed from across the border. “Haryana took on these terrorist outfits boldly in its territory and acted as a cushion for Delhi. This act of the Haryana Police should have been appreciated,” it says. Meanwhile, according some Home Ministry officials despite law and order being State subject there has been over dependence of States on the Centre. “While they (States) argue for more devolution of power and insist on non-interference of the Centre on law and order issues, there has been some times over dependence by the states on the Centre, especially financial”, an official said. |
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Flood situation in Bihar worsens PATNA, Aug 8 (UNI) — the flood situation in Bihar deteriorated today claiming a total of 29 lives so far as the swollen Ganges inundated a large area in Katihar district. While west Champaran district reported five deaths, 10 deaths each were reported from Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur and two each from Darbhanga and Saharsa so far. A Katihar report quoting District Magistrate Pratayay Amrit said the Ganges had inundated a large tract of agricultural land following a 150 feet wide breach in flood protection ring bundh at Karhagola ghat. Altogether 1,015 villages were inundated affecting a population of 15.70 lakh. Standing crops worth Rs 882.36 lakh had been destroyed. According to sources over one lakh hectares of agricultural land were submerged. Two Army helicopters were dropping food packets to the marooned people and six mechanised boats had been pressed into service. Over 779.60 quintals of wheat had been distributed so far. The state government was also distributing essentials like match boxes, sattu, kerosene and polythene sheets. The affected districts are Muzaffarpur, east and west Champaran, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Purnia, Araria, Saharsa, Supaul, Mahdubani, Saran, Begusarai, Samastipur, Sahebganj, Madhepura, Sheohar and Vaishali. Central Water Commission sources said the Ganges, Bagmati, Adhwara group of rivers, Kamlabalan and Kosi were flowing above the danger mark at different places. |
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SP flays Cong
on J& K probe issue NEW DELHI, Aug 8 — The Samajwadi Party today accused the Congress of helping the BJP by pressing for a judicial inquiry which remains an infructious
exercise. Addressing newsmen here, the Samajwadi Party (SP) general secretary, Mr Amar Singh, said that instead of a judicial probe a joint parliamentary committee should be set up to probe the incident. “The BJP will dispose what the Congress is proposing”, Mr Amar Singh said. Observing that the judicial commissions had not yielded desired results in the past, he said, “We have an open mind towards the demand for setting up a joint parliamentary committee”. He said, “we want full and free debate over the Kashmir issue so that all facts emerge clear”. The Congress was helping the BJP by pre-empting a full debate by demanding a judicial commission and forcing adjournment of the Lok Sabha, he alleged. The Congress does not want a full debate in the Lok Sabha because that would bring out all facts about handling of the Kashmir issue by previous governments. Demanding transparency in negotiations with the Kashmiri groups, he claimed the BJP itself was facing sharp differences among leaders on the Kashmir issue. The Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes had his own view while the Urban Development Minister, Mr Jagmohan had his own. Meanwhile, the Janata Dal (United) today criticised the Congress for demanding resignation of Home Minister L.K. Advani and a judicial inquiry into the Amarnath killings saying the party should not try to derive political mileage out of a human tragedy. “Situation in Kashmir is very sensitive and delicate and there is no justification in making such demands when efforts are on for restoration of much-needed peace,” JD(U) spokesman Mohan Prakash said. |
Deadlock on probe persists NEW DELHI, Aug 8 — The Government and the Congress today remained deadlocked over the latter’s demand for a judicial probe into the Kashmir massacres with both sides asking for more time to resolve the issue during an all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker
G.M.C. Balayogi. The meeting held after the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the second successive day over the issue saw the Congress and government sticking to their stands, sources said. The Congress is insisting on a judicial inquiry into security lapses in the Amarnath killings, but the government is of the view that a probe involving the armed forces would not be in the country’s interests. The Congress today contested the Union Government’s claim that it was not competent to set up a Commission of Inquiry to inquire into the recent killing of over 100 persons in Kashmir. Describing the Government’s stand as “incorrect in law”, the Congress MP from
Chandigarh, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, said there had been amendments to the law and it could be applied in Jammu and Kashmir. He said Entry 97 of List 1, the Union List, related to prevention of activities. It read as “involving terrorist acts directed towards overawing the Government as by law established or striking terror in the people or any section of the people or adversely affecting harmony amongst different sections of the people; and directed towards disclaiming questioning or disrupting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India or bringing about cession of a part of the territory of India or secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union or causing insult to the Indian National flag, the Indian National Anthem and this Constitution...” He said based on this interpretation it was clear that the Government of India alone could appoint a Commission of Inquiry under the Act to inquire into
occurrences like the ones in question. Mr Bansal also referred to Article 248 of the Constitution which in its application to Jammu and Kashmir said that Parliament has exclusive power to make any law with respect to prevention of activities involving terrorist acts. |
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Involve women in peace process: NGO NEW DELHI, Aug 8 — Women’s Initiative for Peace in South Asia, a Delhi based non-government organisation has demanded inclusion of women in the peace process. In its report released today by women activists Nirmala Deshpande and Mohini Giri, WIPSA has made recommendations to the Jammu and Kashmir Government, the Centre and the Civil Society. The report has been authored by Dr Syeda Sayidian Hameed peace activist and former member of the National Commission for Women. The report is based on the experiences of a six-member delegation of WIPSA which visited Jammu and Kashmir in June end. The delegation comprised Nirmala Deshpande, Mohini Giri, Syeda Hameed besides an advocate and journalists. This is the second time that WIPSA has taken an initiative for peace. In March, a woman delegation visited Pakistan. WIPSA has recommended that the peace process should not be left to men. The NGO is of the view that participation of women groups from Jammu and Kashmir should be made compulsory in any peace process which results from years of efforts by many individuals and groups. “Women who have major stakes in peace should be invited to play a major role in bringing it about.” The report has recommended impartial investigation into human rights violations in the state and involvement of persons from the newly created State Human Rights Commission and Commission for Women. It also recommended a time-bound inquiry into incidents of atrocities. It has further suggested that tribunals for such inquiries comprise women. |
Four students
drowned NEW DELHI, Aug 8 — Four students of Government Senior Secondary School of Nand Nagari in north-east Delhi drowned in the Yamuna at Wazirabad where several children had died when a school bus fell into the river a few years ago. Bodies of three students were fished out from the river. The names of the students have yet not been confirmed. The bodies have been sent to a mortuary of Hindu Rao Hospital, the police said. It said six class XI students came to the Wazirabad bridge in the afternoon. Four of them jumped into the river from the bridge to take bath while two remained behind. |
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EC-govt agreement on powers NEW DELHI, Aug 8 — The Election Commission (EC) and the government have agreed to amicably settle the issue of disciplinary jurisdiction of the EC over poll officials and made a joint application to the Supreme Court by which certain powers are proposed to be given to the commission, the Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs Mr Arun
Jaitley, informed the Rajya Sabha today. “There is no conflict between the government and the EC as such on the issue,” Mr Jaitley said in a written reply to a joint question from Mr Rama Shanker Kaushik and Mr Ram Gopal
Yadav. In 1993, the EC had filed a civil writ petition against the Union of India and others, seeking a verdict on the plea that the disciplinary powers in respect of staff deputed for election work rested with the commission so that the commission might have the necessary legal and administrative powers to take action against officials connected with the revision of electoral rolls and conduct of elections. The stand of the government was that disciplinary powers in respect of the staff deputed for election work could not be given to the Election Commission. So far as implementation of the code of conduct was concerned, the matter was under discussion with the commission, the minister said. |
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Dasam Granth ‘was’ written by 10th Guru NEW DELHI, Aug 8 —The Dasam Granth was written by Guru Gobind Singh, said an authority on the Tenth Guru, Baba Virsa Singh of Gobind
Sadan. “The move to constitute a committee by Akal Takht is a welcome step. The controversy must end once and for all,” Baba Virsa Singh, chief patron of Gobind Sadan Institute for Advanced Studies in Comparative Religion, said here today. Launching a website developed specifically for the Dasam Granth, www.dasamgranth.org, he said the site had text of the entire Dasam Granth in Punjabi translation, articles and seminar papers, historical books, documents and discussion forum. He said the controversy was needless because many times in the past Sikh historians had researched this issue and eventually concluded that the entire Dasam Granth was written by Guru Gobind Singh. Guru Gobind Singh was credited with shaping the Sikh dharam and turning timid and oppressed people into brave opponents of tyranny. However, his writing had not been fully accepted by the Sikhs, for they do not fit into a rigid interpretation of the Sikh religion. From 1892 to 1897, eminent scholars assembled at Akal Takht to study various printed Dasam
Granth and prepare the authoritative version. In this process, they said the Dasam Granth was entirely the work of Guru Gobind Singh. Again in 1931, the Darbar Sahib Committee of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee proclaimed the same and published a book to this effect. However, the controversy and reluctance to fully accept the Dasam Granth lingered. |
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Heavy rain likely
in east UP NEW DELHI, Aug 8 — Rainfall: Rain or thundershowers have occurred at a few places in east Uttar Pradesh and at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh and the hills of west Uttar Pradesh. Weather was dry in the rest of the region. The chief amounts of rainfall in cm are: Uttar Pradesh: Basti 13,
Gorakhpur 12, Turtipar 8, Birdghat 7, Chandradeepghat, Kakrahi and Kakardharighat 5 each, Ballia and Balrampur 4 each, Katerniaghat 3, Bansi and Mukhlispur 2 each. Forecast valid until the morning of 10th: Rain or thundershowers will occur at many places in east Uttar Pradesh and the hills of west Uttar Pradesh, at a few places in Himachal Pradesh and at isolated places in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, east Rajasthan and the plains of west Uttar Pradesh. Weather will be mainly dry in west Rajasthan. Heavy rainfall warning: Heavy rain is likely at a few places with very heavy falls at isolated places in east Uttar Pradesh during the same period. Forecast for Delhi & neighbourhood valid until the morning of 10th: Generally cloudy sky with possibility of light rain/thundershowers. Maximum temperature likely to be nearly normal at 34°C. Farmers weather bulletin for Delhi: forecast valid until the morning of 10th: Light rain is likely at many places. Outlook for the subsequent two days: No large change. |
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