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| Saturday, September 2, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Summit cautions against
conversions Rough and smooth of Velvet Revolution Israel’s warning on
peace talks Probe missing persons
in J&K : Amnesty 2 held for couples’ killing
Drill delayed runway checks |
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Wiranto left
out in East Timor killing probe Immigrants hurt
on channel track
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Summit cautions against
conversions A strong message disapproving, in effect, proselytisation activities by individuals and groups has come out of the Millennium World Peace Summit of religious and spiritual leaders which ended its four-day historic meeting here last night. The message was contained in a resolution that was co-sponsored by India and Japan and read out at the concluding session of the summit. The resolution was signed, among others, by Dr L.M. Singhvi, Member of Parliament, Mr M. Shikita of Japan, Mr Ashok Singhal, international president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Dr B.K. Modi, coordinator of the summit from the Indian subcontinent. The resolution, entitled “Freedom of religion and for peace among religions” was regarded as part of several summit documents that in the main underlined the oneness of all religions and deplored violence and destruction perpetrated in the name of religion. The resolution affirmed the resolve of the peace summit that Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and similar provisions in other human rights instruments “do not mean and cannot be construed as authorising any establishment or individual to resort to organised proselytisation.” It noted that proselytisation had a long history of creating tensions and conflicts between religions communities and which continued to impair inter-faith goodwill, tolerance and harmony. The preamable to the resolution said the conceptual framework of tolerance, pluralism and observance of restraint and responsibility was basic to peace on earth and for the preservation and advancement of religions and spiritual traditions. It was the duty of every religions to show respect to other religions and avoid conflict and violence in relation to each other. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly through a resolution on December 10, 1948. The Article says everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right includes freedom to change one’s religion or belief, and freedom either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest one’s religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. In an informal talk to a group of religious leaders, mainly Hindus and Budhists, where the idea of a resolution on proselytisation was mooted, Dr Singhvi said he was not against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of which India was a signatory, but proselytisation involved force and coercion and threatened peaceful relationship among religions. Dr Mody said prosetylisation came in the way of religions getting together. The purpose of Article 18 was to create harmony and not religious violence. Harmony could be created if all religions respected each other as equals. Mr Ashok Singhal, in his address to the closing session of the summit, said the clarion call of the historic assembly should be that they should all respect all religions as they respected their own and do nothing that would hurt religious feelings of others. Just as the United Nations had sought to uphold the territorial integrity of nations, religious leaders should promote protection of all religions and faiths in the world. Dr Karan Singh, in his address to one of the sessions, regretted that fierce battles were raging around the world in the name of religion and people were being massacred in the name of divinity which each religion looked upon as being merciful and compassionate. He called on the summit to make a commitment to move towards a culture of peace and conflict resolution. This, he said, must necessarily be based upon a creative and continuing dialogue between the great religions of the world. Bawa Jain, secretary-general of the summit, said he was gratified that religious leaders had sent out a powerful message of peace to billions of people around the world who followed their respective faiths and religions. Besides eloquent speeches by religious leaders, the summit had a full measure of prayers, invocations, music and meditation. PTI adds: Religious leaders of all faiths of the world, including those of India, have pledged to work for peace, help end ethnic, religious and regional conflicts, fight hate and promote harmony. Signing a “Commitment to global peace” at the end of four-day World Peace Summit here last night, the religious leaders agreed to form a steering committee to carry forward the work of the conference but failed to set guidelines for the constitution of such a body. The organisers, an independent inter-faith group, plan to set up the committee, which will also act as advisory body to the UN Secretary-General, within three months. The personnel would be selected not on a religious basis but on the basis of their capability and contribution, they explained. The absence of Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama cast a dark shadow on the conference with the organisers passing blame to the United Nations which would not allow him to enter the premises because of the Chinese objection. The Dalai Lama declined to attend the summit when he was invited only for closing sessions to be held outside the un headquarters but sent a message and strong delegation to express his support to the summit. The leaders led a powerful call for protection of the environment in a session overflowing with participants. Meanwhile, women delegates at the peace summit of the religious leaders have decided to form a separate body to ensure a stronger voice for themselves in any follow-up meeting. At a separate meeting held on the sidelines of the summit which ended yesterday, they decided to form their own “international religious council” which would give them equal representation at future meetings. |
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Rough and smooth of Velvet Revolution CESKE BUDEJOVICE (Czech Republic), Sept 1 — Laser searchlights prod the sky from the roof of the Extreme Club in the old suburb of Suche Vrbne, on the edge of Ceske Budejovice. Nearby residents, however, are untouched by the promise of all-night striptease and a ‘whirlpool’. They made more use of the premises when it was a traditional butcher’s shop before free-booting capitalism arrived in the Czech Republic in the wake of the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Elsewhere, the achievements of the private enterprise culture that replaced the jaded command economy of Soviet-style socialism are more impressive. In the main square of Ceske Budejovice, one of the finest in central Europe, the Renaissance and Baroque facades are restored and freshly painted. The shops are filled with goods at prices that are a give-away for Western tourists but less attractive to the Czechs, whose average salary is US$300 a month. Ceske Budejovice’s main claim to fame is its lead pencils — produced originally from the local graphite mines — and the ever thriving and still publicly owned Budvar brewery. It is 22 years since Brezhnev’s tanks rolled across the frontier to close down the Czechoslovak experiment of ‘socialism with a human face’. But what has happened since to bring the Czech Republic (peacefully separated from the independent minded Slovakia) into the anti-chamber of membership of the European Union and Nato? Apart from playwright Vaclav Havel, fulfilling his second term as President until 2003, the men and women who brought about the Velvet Revolution — and in many cases, suffered years of imprisonment and social exclusion for their ideals — no longer have a place in the governance of the nation. Jiri Dienstbier was a journalist and Communist Party member in 1968. A foreign correspondent for Czech radio, instead of choosing freedom in the West, he returned home after the invasion and took a major role in the dissident movement. As spokesman for Charter 77, the banned human rights movement, he was imprisoned for four years. After his release, he worked as a boilerman. In December, 1989, Dienstbier was called from the boiler room by the then President Gustav Husak (the last leader of the old regime) to take the post of Foreign Minister of the Czechoslovak Federal Republic. The following year, he was made Deputy Prime Minister. In 1992, Dienstbier was among the heroes of the dissident years who went out of government, when economist Vaclav Klaus, acolyte of Britain’s Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, won the general election and submitted the economy to monetarist rules. Dienstbier, treading the path from ‘dreams to reality’ (as he writes in his latest book), has undertaken missions in the Balkans for the United Nations, but is best known in the Czech Republic as an incisive commentator and lively television chat show guest. He dissociated himself from his old friend Havel by condemning the Nato bombing of Yugoslavia: The dissident of 1968 is a dissident in 2000, but no longer in danger of a prison sentence. Now, following losses of his right-wing Obcanstvi Demokratika Strana party in a further general election, Klaus shares power, as president of the Parliament, in an uneasy coalition with the Social Democratic Party of ex-Communist Prime Minister Milos Zeman. Both main parties are committed to shaping the Czech economy, sometimes painfully, to meet the criteria for membership of the European Union, though the ODS campaigns to defend the country against a Brussels steamroller. For the moment, debate about the economy is focusing on the meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund that will draw 18,000 delegates to Prague for three days from 26 September. There they are expected to be confronted by 20,000 to 50,000 protesters against economic globalisation, and a ‘second Seattle’ is on the cards. President Havel has, characteristically, taken an initiative to try to calm the troubled waters. He has invited opponents of the IMF and the World Bank to join him at the Hradcany Palace for a meeting with the global bankers on 23 September. It may be a playwright’s wishful thinking that constructive dialogue will take place. — Observer News Service |
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Israel’s warning on
peace talks BERLIN, Sept 1 (AFP) — Acting Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami warned in a German press interview today that “time is short” for progress toward peace in the Middle East. But European states should not set their sights on the September 13 deadline that Mr Yasser Arafat had fixed for the declaration of a Palestinian state, Mr Ben Ami told Die Welt. Asked how much time is left for peace, he said “not much”. A new Israeli ruling coalition could include parties less attached to the peace process than the present government, he said. But regarding the September 13 deadline, the acting minister said Israel would not like the Europeans to allow themselves to get fixed upon this date. jerusalem: US Middle East envoy Dennis Ross and Chief Central Security Agency (cia) George Tenet are scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in a bid to narrow the gaps between the negotiating positions of the two leaders, Israeli and Palestinian officials said on Friday. |
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Probe missing persons
in J&K : Amnesty LONDON, Sept 1 (IANS) — Amnesty International has called on India to investigate the “rising number of disappeared people” in Jammu and Kashmir. In a statement released on the international “Day of the Disappeared,” the London-based human rights organisation said, “After a decline over the past three years there seems to be a steady increase in the number of disappearances with several persons being reported in the Jammu and Kashmir press so far.” The Amnesty claimed that up to 1,000 persons have “disappeared” since 1990 in Jammu and Kashmir after being arrested by the police or the armed or paramilitary forces. It added that the missing belonged to all ages and professions: businessmen, lawyers, labourers and teachers. They include ordinary citizens picked up at random, without any connection to the separatist battle in Kashmir. “Few of the hundreds of habeas corpus petitions filed by families of the ‘disappeared’ before the judiciary in Jammu and Kashmir have been brought to a resolution,” the Amnesty statement said. “The hundreds of cases which the Amnesty International has raised with the Government of India continue to remain unresolved.” It went on, “The fate of hundreds of ‘disappeared’ in other parts of India, including Punjab, Manipur and Assam, remains unknown and their relatives continue to fight for justice. The organisation is calling on the Government of India to fulfill its obligation under the international law to impartially and independently investigate all allegations of ‘disappearances’ in Jammu and Kashmir. The prevailing climate of impunity allows those responsible for ‘disappearances’ to avoid judicial consequence and facilitates further violations.” “On this important day, the government should think of the families of the ‘disappeared’ and immediately investigate the whereabouts of their loved ones,” the statement added. “Day of the Disappeared” was started by a Latin American non-governmental organisation, the Latin American Association of the Families of the Disappeared, to track down civilians abducted by government-supported paramilitary forces. COLOMBO (AFP): The Amnesty International on Saturday urged Sri Lanka to investigate into the increasing number of cases of people disappearing after being detained by security forces in the north of island. In a statement sent here, the AI said it had asked President Chandrika Kumaratunga to order a probe into the surge in cases over the past two weeks in the Vavuniya region. “Seven persons who were last seen in the hands of the security forces in Vavuniya between August 10 and 16 have ‘disappeared’, bringing the total number of ‘disappearances’ in that city to nine this year,” the group said. Amnesty noted there was a general deterioration of human rights following the introduction of new emergency regulations in May, when Tamil Tiger rebels mounted a ferocious attack against government forces. “Amnesty International has expressed concern that the Sri Lankan authorities decided to reduce the safeguards against the abuse of prisoners and calls on the government to repeal the emergency regulations, or failing that, order a thorough review to bring them in line with international standards,” the AI statement said. |
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2 held for couples’ killing WASHINGTON, Sept 1 — Two men from the Maryland suburb of Bowie, with extensive past criminal records, have been arrested and charged with the murder of a popular and much respected Indian American veterinarian and his wife. The slaying of the couple inside their animal clinic last September has shocked and saddened the Washington metropolitan area’s Indian American community. Prince George’s County police announced that Thomas Jefferson Gordon and Robert Angel Perez, both 18, had been charged with two counts of first-degree murder of Nirwan and Shashi Thapar, who had immigrated to the USA from India in 1976 and lived in the Washington D.C. area ever since. The Thapars’ were slain at their Bladensburg Animal Hospital on September 15, 1999. The police said it suspected that Gordon and Perez were members of a large band of thieves who had repeatedly broken into homes and business establishments. At the time, there was an immediate outpouring of grief over their killings. Several people, who lived in the area and brought their pets to be looked at by Nirwan Thapar, spoke of how much he cared for animals and the care he would take in treating them and reassuring their owners. Police chief John S. Farrell, who called a news conference to announce the arrests, said: “These (Thapars’) were two very well-respected members of our community and they were brutally murdered. I want to say that the thugs responsible for this heinous crime have been arrested,” he said.— IANS |
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Concorde crash PARIS, Sept 1 (Reuters) — A fire drill delayed a routine inspection of the runway from which a Concorde took off for its ill-fated July 25 flight, the chief French investigator said on today. A preliminary report of the crash, in which 113 people died, said a metal strip found on the runway could have caused a Concorde tyre to brust, triggering the chain of events that caused the supersonic jet to crash in flames less than two minutes after take-off. “There was a firemen’s drill and the runway inspection was postponed,” Mr Paul-Louis Arslanian, head of the air accident investigation bureau, told a news conference to present its preliminary report. He said airport employees routinely inspected the runway three times a day. On July 25, an inspection was carried out at 4.30 a.m. local time, followed by a partial inspection of the west side of the runway at noon. The fire drill took place after the partial inspection. The doomed Air France Concorde took off at 4.43 p.m. Mr Arslanian cautioned against drawing hasty conclusions: “We need to understand what was done during the fire drill.” The British and French air safety authorities suspended Concorde’s certificates of airworthiness earlier this month until the risk of catastrophe from tyre blowouts was addressed. There are 12 Concordes worldwide — seven with British Airways and five at Air France. The report confirmed the hypothesis that a burst tyre set off a chain of events that brought down the plane. “The July 25 accident shows that the destruction of a tyre, an event that we cannot say will not recur, had catastrophic consequences in a short period of time preventing the crew from rectifying the situation,” said the report by the Air Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA), released on Thursday evening. The report also confirmed that a metal strip, probably from another airplane, had been found on the runway. This 43 cm strip caused the tyre to explode. |
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Wiranto left
out in East Timor killing probe JAKARTA, Sept 1 (ANI) — Indonesia today said it would question 19 people, including three Generals in connection with the last year’s violence which occurred after people in East Timor voted against Jakarta rule. An official at the Attorney-General’s office named the three Generals as former regional military commander Major-Gen Adam Damiri, East Timor’s former military commander Brig-Gen Tono Suratman and ex-police chief, Brig-Gen Timbul Silaen. The list, however, did not include former military chief, General Wiranto, who has denied his involvement in the violence. International pressure has been mounting on the Indonesian Government to put on trial those responsible for the violence or face the threat of an international tribunal. |
Immigrants hurt
on channel track LONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) — A group of suspected illegal immigrants were injured on a railway track near the British end of the channel tunnel today, leading to a temporary suspension of services, a police spokesman said. The incident took place at 8 a.m. local time (1230 p.m. IST) close to the British terminal at Folkestone in Kent, said a Eurotunnel spokeswoman. Services were suspended for more than two hours. “We’re searching the track for any further suspected illegal immigrants after a group of 12 to 15 were found this morning,” a spokeswoman for the Kent police said. “Three of those found were injured. Two with minor injuries and one more seriously.” The police said all immigrants, who were of mixed nationality, were arrested. “We’re not sure what happened, if they jumped or if they fell from the train or how they came to be injured.’’ Eurotunnel said it had now resumed its services and it stressed no accident involving a train had taken place. here was a possibility that more people would be questioned during the investigation. |
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