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Saturday,
September 1, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Anti-racism gathering opens amidst
protests
UNHCR plan to resolve refugee boat
crisis |
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Chaudhry poised to
win in Fiji Pak backs out of DPs’
screening |
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Pak wants ‘jehadi
belt’ around India New Israeli incursion into
Gaza Taliban shut 2 Christian aid
agencies EC may disqualify Ershad’s
wife
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Anti-racism gathering opens amidst
protests Durban, August 31 The Dalit activists, clad in sarees and traditional dresses, carried placards that read "casteism is racist" and "put caste on the agenda". They were among thousands of demonstrators, mostly Arabs, who demanded, among other things, Israel's withdrawal from occupied territories. "The Government of India is neglecting the plight of Dalits. Why is the government opposed to caste being put on the agenda of the conference?" Sam Paul, Secretary of all-India Christian Council in Karnataka, said. India's Minister of State for External Affairs Omar Abdullah, who is heading an eight-member delegation at the conference, rebuffed the Dalit NGOs' demand for clubbing casteism with racism and asked them to join in the government's efforts to eradicate the scourge by working in areas affected by the system. "I welcome the presence of NGOs here. I hope they will use the same amount of enthusiasm and energy back home in combating the caste system," he told newsmen. While recalling Mahatma Gandhi's crusade against racism in South Africa, Mr Annan said: "I salute the memory of all who struggle for justice and freedom of this country." In addition thousands of demonstrators chanting anti-Israeli and anti-American slogans marched through this coastal town. ''Israel is an apartheid state'' and ''free, free Palestine'' were among banners waved by the protesters, estimated to number 10,000, as they headed for a meeting to be addressed by US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson. Another banner read: ''George Bush: Palestinian blood is on your hands.'' Both the USA and Israel have sent only low-level delegations to the UN-sponsored world conference against racism in protest at what they say is an anti-Israel bias in draft texts drawn up for the meeting. Arab states have dropped clauses equating Zionism with racism but want ''foreign occupation'' -- a veiled reference to Israeli actions in Palestinian territories -- to be branded as a new kind of apartheid. PTI Reuters adds: In his opening remarks, South African President Thabo Mbeki today jolted the U.N. racism conference when he told thousands of delegates that the world remained two nations — one black and poor; and the other white and rich. “It became necessary that we convene in Durban because, together, we recognised the fact there are many in our common world who suffer indignity and humiliation because they are not white,’’ Mr Mbeki told the gathering. He cited a blues song which went “if you’re white you’re alright; if you are brown, stick around; if you are black, oh brother! get back, get back, get back”. |
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UNHCR plan to resolve refugee boat crisis Geneva, August 31 The appeal came as the agency gathered working-level officials from Australia, Indonesia and Norway for the first time to propose a three-point plan to get the passengers off the Norwegian cargo ship “Tampa” as quickly as possible. “The plan would begin with first, temporary disembarkation for humanitarian reasons on Christmas Island...The people have been aboard far too long and that island is the most logical place to go for the time being,” said Ron Redmond, spokesman for the Geneva-based agency. The scheme was aimed at breaking the deadlock to rapidly end the increasingly desperate situation of the hundreds of men, women and children aboard the Norwegian vessel, he said. The “Tampa” is off Australia’s Christmas Island after picking up the asylum seekers on Sunday from a sinking ferry that set out from Indonesia. Australia has so far refused them entry. As part of the plan, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees offered to screen passengers to determine genuine asylum seekers, who would be transferred to third countries for further screening or resettlement. Norway and New Zealand, which also attended the closed-door meeting at the UNHCR, have already offered to take in some refugees. East Timor also offered to give temporary refuge on Friday, but the UN later said Australia had decided against sending them to East Timor. The priority now was to get the refugees off the ship, which was not equipped to host such a large number of passengers, Redmond said. “We have made a formal request to various countries to consider people for resettlement including New Zealand and Norway, both of whom who have indicated they are ready to help. We’re awaiting responses from other countries as well,” he said. Redmond said the three most directly involved countries had not yet indicated their response to the plan, but said: “We are confident that this is the most logical way of resolving this extremely complicated episode as quickly as possible.” The plan was put forward by Assistant High Commissioner Soren Jessen Petersen and had been discussed in individual contacts over the last few days. But this was the first time the three countries had sat down together, he said.
Reuters |
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Chaudhry poised to win in Fiji Suva, August 31 Senior diplomatic sources here are predicting confusion in the week ahead, with no clear picture of the eventual outcome. They say the outcome may eventually depend less on what the country’s 451,000 voters have decided, and more on how an ageing traditional ratu or chief, President Josefa Iloilo, wants to handle it. The Constitution gives him remarkable discretion, only telling him to appoint a Prime Minister who “in his opinion has the support of the House”, with no method given for determining who has this support. It is alleged that Fiji’s influential Methodist church is also backing the anti-Chaudhry move. Over 80 per cent of ethnic Fijians are Methodists. The Fiji Sun reported moves by two of the biggest ethnic Fijian parties to jointly sign a declaration aimed at blocking attempts by Chaudhry’s Fiji Labour Party to form the next government. The president of the Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT) party, Epeli Mataitini, said the aim was to revive the Fijian political parties forum that collapsed prior to the elections due to infighting and pave the way for a Fijian national coalition to lead the next government. “We need Fijian leadership as this is the only way the country will have stability,” he said.
AFP, IANS |
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Pak backs out of DPs’ screening Islamabad, August 31 “We are temporarily suspending our participation in the screening process,” Yusuf Hassan, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for refugees, told Reuters. “We consider this a clear breach of our agreement with the government.” Hassan said the UNHCR had confirmed reports that about 28 Afghan families had been lured on to government trucks on Wednesday by the promise that they were being taken from Jallozai, a makeshift refugee camp famed for its appal-ling conditions, to another well-equipped refugee camp. UNHCR official said they had confirmed that the approximately 145 persons, many of them from northern Afghanistan that remains outside Taliban control, were handed over to Taliban authorities at the Pakistan border.
Reuters |
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Pak wants ‘jehadi
belt’ around India Moscow, August 31 “Pakistan’s strategic goal is to create a belt of Islamic jehad around India,” and disturb peace in Central Asia with the help of the Taliban, commander of anti-Taliban forces in the Panjshir sector, Bismillah Khan, told a Russian daily. Also, despite US sanctions, Taliban continues to receive arms from Pakistan, ‘Vremya Novostyei’ quoted him as saying. Another senior leader of the Northern Alliance, former Interior Minister in the Rabbani government, Yunis Kanuni said the key to peace in Afghanistan is in the hands of Islamabad as the Taliban militia is a “Pakistani puppet”.
PTI |
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New Israeli incursion into Gaza Gaza City, August 31 Israeli tanks and bulldozers entered an autonomous Palestinian section of Rafah, sparking heavy exchanges of gunfire, they said. RAMALLAH: An explosion damaged the house of a Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) senior leader in the West Bank on Friday but he was not home at the time, Palestinian security officials said.
AFP, Reuters |
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Taliban shut 2 Christian aid agencies Kabul, August 31 After more than 35 years in Afghanistan, the offices of the International Assistance Mission (IAM), based in Afghanistan, but operated by 50 expatriate workers, mostly American, was taken over today by armed members of Taliban’s powerful Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. “No one is left here. We are not allowed to let any foreigners in here. We are from the Taliban’s security,” said a Taliban guard outside the IAM office in Afghanistan’s Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood. He refused to give his name. Also the Taliban has closed Serve, an international Christian aid organisation which provides solar heated panels as well as other shelter-related projects. The building was sealed and empty of foreigners. However, Taliban officials said no arrests had been made. It is believed the foreign aid workers of the organisations have left the country.
AP |
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EC may disqualify Ershad’s wife Dhaka, August 31 Nationalised and private banks have sent at least 36 names to the Election Commission, including that of Begum Ershad, who defaulted on bank loans, media reports said today. The two-day scrutiny of the nomination papers for the October 1 elections, which began yesterday, was completed today and the list of candidates would be made public tomorrow. During scrutiny, defalcation and other legal bars for contesting elections like conviction in corruption cases would be looked into by the authorities.
PTI |
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