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Saturday,
June 2, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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170 feared drowned as ferry sinks Pak plan
to flush out illegal weapons Philippine
army confirms casualties Pak voters
keep away from polling Status of
immigrants low despite success Exiled MQM
leader wants to visit India Taliban
ban TV |
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Taliban
raid Red Cross hospital Four
killed in LTTE attack
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170 feared drowned as ferry sinks
Dhaka, June 1 Rescue workers had salvaged five bodies from the water by late today. Twenty survivors were picked up from the sea with injuries. Rescue efforts were continuing, local officials said. The cause of the disaster was not known.
DPA |
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Pak plan to flush out illegal weapons Islamabad, June 1 According to the Secretary of the Interior Ministry, Mr Tasneem Noorani, who spoke at a Press conference here on Thursday, the scheme will be carried out in two phases. First, the people in general who possess unlicensed weapons will be given a chance to voluntarily surrender them within a 15-day time slot between June 5 and 20. Then, after the deadline expires, an official crackdown will come into effect to catch the dodgers, the modus operandi of the operation being left to the discretion of the four provincial governments. Ethnic, sectarian and political violence have riddled Pakistan since a long time, bringing into focus extensive use of various kinds of weapon. Many Pakistanis traditionally own guns, particularly in North-West Frontier Province, but the situation spun out of control during the Afghan resistance war in 1980s when hundreds of thousands of arms flooded this country. Subsequent conflicts among different groups, including students in universities, saw indiscriminate use of automatic rifles. General Pervez Musharraf, the military ruler, promised political and economic reforms after seizing power in a coup in October, 1999, and his regime has since tried several times to impose a ban on display of weapons. But several Islamic outfits have openly flouted the law without punishment. Mr Noorani said the government would not discriminate against any particular group and urged the religious and other organisations to lay down their illegal weapons. “There will be no preferential treatment to anyone,” he added. Attempts by previous governments to rein in violence-prone groups and recover illegal arms — including assault rifles and sometimes light artillery or rocket-launchers — bore no fruit. “The government’s decision is very firm and, after a great deal of deliberations, a campaign against arms in the country is being launched,” Noorani clarified, conceding that such efforts failed in the past. For possession of arms like the Kalashnikov AK-47, the Russian designed assault rifle ranked as the most commonly available weapon in the country, the punishment is a prison term of minimum 10 years. Smaller arms draw a sentence of three years.
ANI |
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Philippine
army confirms casualties Manila, June 1 An Abu Sayyaf spokesman had told a local radio station earlier today that two of the hostages were hit by gunfire. “There are reported casualties, but we are verifying who has been wounded. One thing we know is that one of our officers has been wounded,” Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Brigadier General Edilberto Adan told a news conference in Manila. He said the military could not confirm the rebels’ claim that two hostages had been wounded, but gave the injured officer’s name as Lieutenant Fabic. He said ground troops could not say for certain if any of the three American and 17 Filipino hostages, abducted on Sunday from a tourist resort in western Palawan island, had been hit. He said the Abu Sayyaf rebels usually cloak their hostages with military fatigues. The fighting took place northeast of the 530-metre Mount Sinangkapan in the heart of Basilan, a known stronghold of Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani. The kidnappers had been on the run with the hostages since the weekend and today was the first time the military had come across them, although they were suspected to be in Basilan, about 480 km from Palawan. “The encounter as of two hours ago, is still ongoing. Our troops will continue to maintain contact with this group,” he said. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has vowed to crush the group and has offered a reward of 100 million peso ($ 2 million) for information leading to capture of the kidnappers. National security adviser Roilo Golez said that the government was standing by its no-ransom policy and insisting on the unconditional release of the hostages. A military spokesman said more than 2,000 soldiers were being deployed to cordon off the rebels and stop them escaping with their hostages, but he added that operation could take days. The military and the rebels differed over where the fighting was taking place. The kidnappers’ spokesman said that it was on the island of Jolo and the military spokesman said that it was on Basilan, an island 120 km to the north. Last year, they used similar tactics to seize more than 40 foreigners and Filipinos from nearby Malaysian resorts. All but one Filipino were freed, after payment of ransoms reputedly totalling millions of dollars, or escaped. Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya did not say which hostages had been killed today or make clear whether they were among the initial three Americans and 17 Filipinos abducted on Sunday. The Americans included a missionary couple. Sabaya said the group had kidnapped an additional 10 people, mostly fishermen, since then. Last year, the Abu Sayyaf also said two hostages died in a clash with soldiers. The claim turned out to be unfounded. They also threatened then to execute their hostages but never carried out the threat. “The Philippine Government does not seem to care about the hostages... why should we?” Sabaya said on Friday, adding that if the assault continued they would begin executing hostages. “They are no relations of ours,” he added.
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Pak voters keep away from polling Karachi, June 1 There was heavy security with armoured vehicles stationed in the city and soldiers manning checkpoints in sensitive areas, mostly dominated by the powerful Muttehida Quomi Movement (MQM), which has called for a boycott of the local council poll. Military ruler General Pervez Musharraf sees the council elections as key to breaking up the power bases of main political parties. Political parties are barred from direct participation in the local elections, although they do offer behind the scenes support to some candidates. The poll, which the parties have labelled a sham, are being held in phases. They began in February and will have covered the country by the end of July. Some candidates in Hyderabad said they had been threatened and warned not to take part in the vote. “I received a phone call from an unknown person saying that I have to withdraw my nomination or else I should be ready to face the consequence,” said one candidate who declined to be identified. “I am not going to withdraw my nomination as my community is supporting me, but I am frightened”. Witnesses said there had been some trouble in Hyderabad, 150-km northeast of Karachi, overnight. The city was mostly calm on Thursday although major commercial areas were closed. A two-member team of Commonwealth election observers visited political party offices in Hyderabad and spoke to officials.
ANI |
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Status of immigrants low despite success No government, particularly on the eve of a general election, likes to be confronted with communal or racial riots. British Prime Minister Tony Blair was
campaigning vigorously towards a victory, when Oldham town went up in flames. It was an embarrassment for the Prime Minister and his Labour Party which had pledged working towards a multi-racial, multi-ethnic society. Mr Blair, unlike the Roman emperor Nero, was certainly not fiddling when Oldham was burning. But he would be hard put to explain to the British electorate and millions of coloured voters, why, despite higher standards of living and declining unemployment, whites and coloured people came to blows and destroyed each others’ property. Why did a town with a population of around 2,00,000 turn into a war zone for nearly a week? Lower middle class whites and coloured in the town had never got along well in the past. The white thugs, who were loath to work hard and make money, were obviously jealous at the economic progress made by the Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi families. Most of the shops, restaurants and other commercial joints are owned by the Asians who over the years had slogged and slowly built up a solid economic mixture. Life had not been easy for them, but they knew all along there was no other way out. Asian immigrants like those living in Oldham never had it easy. Most of them landed in Britain with hardly any resources and slogged for long hours everyday. Many of them worked in local textile mills and factories and had to face all kinds of discrimination. But they carried on and slowly started their own enterprises and concentrated on products which were in demand in the local markets. In the process, many Asians became rich and successful businessmen. But they found that the social status locally was low. They were shunned by the British upper middle class and were called all sorts of derogatory names. This was because, even after becoming rich, the Asians stuck to their traditional customs and seldom made efforts to mingle with the Whites. But there was one significant change in the attitude of the Asians. The prosperous Asians felt that the time had come to protect their own interests from local hostility and a police force which was generally apathetic to their complaints. The Asian groups formed their own ‘security groups’, some of which consisted of lumpen elements. They were not prepared to lie down and face the wrath of the British youths. This attitude was very much evident at Oldham. While it was the British hooligans who began the attacks, the Asian groups were quick to hit back. Groups of Asian young men tossed bricks and then petrol bombs in retaliation for attacks on their shops and homes. This led to pitched battles and the police had a busy time. Oldham made it clear that Asian youths would not put up with senseless attacks on them any longer. It was this attitude, which recently drew sharp comments from England cricket captain, Naseer Hussain, who is of Asian origin. Hussain, who had made good in Britain and rose to the prestigious position of captaining the national cricket team, was unhappy that there was such poor support for the English teams from the English-Asians. “They had enjoyed every advantage in our system and come up in life. Yet, in sporting events, they seldom cheered England, but only their native lands.” he lamented. |
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Exiled MQM leader wants to visit India London, June 1 The London-based Hussain said in an interview that he wanted to visit his ancestral home in Agra but declined to spell out as to why he wanted to meet Mr Vajpayee. However, in an interview to Newswallahs, a UK-based television and radio production unit, he said he would be writing to the Indian Government, seeking permission to visit India to talk to Mr Vajpayee and “explain to the Muslims of India how the economic and human rights abuses are being perpetrated on the poor in Pakistan.” He said Mr Vajpayee’s invitation to Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf for talks was “a good step towards establishment of peace in the region.” “The invitation of Mr Vajpayee to General Musharraf is a good step and it is a goodwill gesture and hopefully it will help resolve the Kashmir issue through negotiations,” he said. Stating that General Musharraf’s decision to accept the invitation was a positive sign, he said conflicts and disputes could only be resolved through a dialogue.
PTI |
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Taliban ban TV Washington, June 1 The regime has promulgated a law that envisages one to three months in jail for possession of TV sets and screening of videotapes. Screening of films with erotic scenes has been made punishable by up to three years in jail. The Taliban’s “virtue enforcement and vice control ministry” has set up special patrols to make sure the ban is observed. “Armed with automatic weapons, the Taliban patrol the streets on trucks and confiscate TV sets and VCRs from lawbreakers. The loot gets destroyed immediately,” according to Novosti. Although Afghanistan has no TV channels of its own, the country’s few lucky owners of satellite aerials can watch foreign programmes, providing they have the nerve to do it. Despite the video ban, videotaped movies and video CDs are often smuggled from abroad and can be purchased on the black market. The exact number of lawbreakers is unknown, but, from 15 per cent to 80 per cent of urban dwellers secretly watch video.
UNI |
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Taliban raid
Red Cross hospital Kabul, June 1 The ICRC’s deputy head of delegation in neighbouring Pakistan, Anton Bieler, told AFP the reasons for the arrests were unclear and he did not know exactly how many staff members had been detained or whether they were still in custody.
AFP |
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Four killed in
LTTE attack Colombo, June 1 A party drawn from the Army, police and home guards was clearing a road near Gomarankadawala in Tricomalee district when it was fired upon by the rebels, he said. This led to an exchange of fire in which a constable and a home guard were killed. Two civilians who were caught in the crossfire also died, he said adding two soldiers were wounded the encounter. He said the assailants fled the spot and clearing operations were in progress in the area.
PTI |
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