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Tuesday,
February 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Advani: Pak failed on five parameters ’84 riots: ACP
denies knowledge of killings Embezzlement is embezzlement: SC Non-English writing suffers neglect: PM
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20 Afghan diplomats arrive for training Children pledge
to save tiger Priyanka expecting second child VHP
adamant on temple construction
Tough going for BJP in Varanasi 4-cornered
contest in Mirzapur Caste will be deciding factor in UP It’s husband vs wife, son vs
father in Basti ‘Previous govts didn’t check terrorism’
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Advani: Pak failed on five parameters Lucknow, February 18 Condemning Saturday’s massacre in Rajouri where eight persons were killed by militants, Mr Advani said he failed to understand how the killing of innocents could be called a freedom struggle. Talking to mediapersons here, he said India would fight terrorism on a higher pitch based on information provided by the Intelligence Bureau as well as the police. “The UAE, for the first time, provided us assistance in handing over Aftab Ansari, the main accused in the American Center attack in Kolkata,” Mr Advani said, adding that the fight against cross-border terrorism was in the “final phase”. Criticising Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, he said Islamabad had failed on the five parameters New Delhi had set to see whether it was taking steps to check cross-border terrorism. “We had asked them to stop training terrorists, stop arming them, put a ban on economic help to such (militant) organisations, stop helping and supporting infiltration, including providing terrorists with shelling as a cover, and hand over the 20 criminals mentioned in our list, without further delay,” the Home Minister said. However, he also praised the Pakistani President for his “pathbreaking speech of January 12” where the latter had criticised the “mazhabi” (theocratic) state. According to Mr Advani, of the 20 criminals demanded from Pakistan, the Interpol had issued a “red corner notice” in the name of 15. The Home Minister said India would judge Pakistan’s stand on cross-border terrorism based on inputs being constantly received from the ground. “We are told that Pakistan was changing. But our decisions will be based purely on ground realities,” he added. Mr Advani said the verdict of the court would be final on the Ayodhya issue. While a status quo on the site would be maintained, the court’s decision on the matter would be final, he added. He said the report of the Law Minister on the land
acquisition issue was not time-bound. Now it was up to the Law Ministry to give its view on the issue and further discussions could be held later, he added.
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’84
riots: ACP denies knowledge of killings
New Delhi, February 18 ACP Omvir Singh in his cross-examination said, he was not aware of the Ahuja Committee report which mentioned that 14 bodies were found from the jurisdiction of the Lajpat Nagar police station, where he was SHO. The committee headed by the then Home Secretary of Delhi, Mr R.K. Ahuja, had prepared detailed report about the deaths and destruction of properties during the riots. However, he admitted before the commission, probing the anti-Sikh riots after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, that police had neither fired to stop the hooligans from looting and burning the properties of Sikhs nor any arrest was made on the first three days.
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Embezzlement is embezzlement: SC New Delhi, February 18 Holding that highest standards of honesty and integrity were expected from bank employees, a bench comprising Mr Justice B.N. Kirpal, Mr Justice Doraiswamy Raju and Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat upheld a Tribunal decision allowing UCO Bank to remove one of its employees from service. It was alleged by the bank that the employee, Hardev Singh, had illegally kept with him Rs 864 by rounding off the fixed deposit amounts and surrendered the same to the bank only after he was caught in the act. Appearing for the bank, Additional Solicitor-General Mukul Rohtagi contended that the bank had taken a lenient view due to the small amount involved in the crime and had only removed him from service with full retirement benefits. He said as per the rules, the bank could have dismissed him from service without any retirement benefits and contended that the Punjab and Haryana High Court erred by directing the bank to reinstate the employee in service. The bank’s decision to remove him from service was upheld by the Tribunal and the high court concurred with the finding about the misconduct on the part of the employee but directed his reinstatement in service, Mr Rohtagi said. When the employee’s counsel contended that it was not the intention of the employee to misappropriate the money as he returned it once the bank asked for the same, the Bench said “embezzlement was not his intention is an understatement.” Setting aside the high court order and upholding that of the Tribunal, the court said: “Charge framed was serious and normally punishment of dismissal of service would have been logical.
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Non-English writing suffers neglect: PM New Delhi, February 18 Inaugurating the first International Festival of Indian Literature ‘At Home in the World’ here today, the Prime Minister said while he was happy at the success of Indian authors writing in English, writers in other Indian languages still had to fight for recognition. “They lack publishers and commercial sustenance... odds are heavily staked against them,” Mr Vajpayee said. He said non-English writers were denied a pan-India readership and were not in a position to earn a living through writing. Maintaining that good
literature could be judged only on the basis of its inherent merit and not on the basis of language in which it was written, the Prime Minister invited suggestions from the audience, which included several eminent writers, to mitigate the woes of those writing in non-English languages. He proposed setting up of a national translation board to give such writers a wider reach. Complimenting Sir V.S. Naipaul for winning the Nobel Prize for Literature, the Prime Minister said every Indian rejoiced in his success. Tracing the struggle he faced in his initial years, Sir Naipaul, who was knighted in 1989 and won the Nobel prize for literature last year, said 40 years ago when he began writing in England, there was no audience for the subjects he wrote about. “I sometimes feel how foolish I was in 1950s to set out as a writer,” Mr Naipaul said. Born in Trinidad in 1932, Mr Naipaul said his father had chosen to be a journalist “in a society that did not require talent.” Talking of modern Indian writing, he said it had given India an idea of itself. Asserting that modern writing required a society on the move, he said literature refined sensabilities and was a sentimental education. Differing with the Prime Minister on the issue of support to non-English writers in India, he said this could not be done easily as writing largely depended on readership. “These things have to follow their own dynamics,” he said. The inaugural function, at which ICCR Director-General Himachal Som also spoke, was followed by a special session with the authors, including U.R. Ananthmurthy, Vikram Seth, Amitav Ghosh, Nabeneeta Dev Sen, Nirmal Verma, K. Satchidandan and Ved Mehta. Nearly 70 renowned authors are taking part in the festival of Indian literature which will conclude on February 23. |
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20 Afghan diplomats arrive for training New Delhi, February 18 While confirming this today, a spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs said the Afghan diplomats would be trained at the United Services Institution (USI) in diplomacy, especially in the areas of politics and economics. The spokesperson said this was the first time when Afghanistan had sent its diplomats for training here. Asked if it was a one time development or whether more batches would come from Afghanistan, the spokesperson said India would undertake such missions in future also depending on the requirements of Afghanistan. |
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Children pledge to save tiger Ranthambore, February 18 “Tiger ambassadors”, as they are called, are participating in a four-day programme with a renewed resolve to save the tiger, the threat it faces and steps to be taken to preserve the animal as well as understand the ways of nature. Coming from as far as Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Dehra Dun and also from the villages of Sawai Madhopur, the children want to create awareness on the need for conservation of tigers. Children aged between 11 to 14, are participating in “save the tiger” processions through Sawai Madhopur town and presenting skits on tiger conservation. They would also gain knowledge on wildlife through visits to the Ranthambhore National Park. Talking to newspersons at the park, Bittu Sahgal, Editor of the Sanctuary magazine and co-organiser of the programme said, “Kids are our future and therefore the onus lies on them to save the tigers.” “On their return, these kids would spread the message through their families,” he added.
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Priyanka expecting second child Jayas (UP), February 18 Priyanka’s mother and Congress President Sonia Gandhi made the announcement here today citing this development as the reason for her non-availability for electioneering. Priyanka and Robert Vadra have a one-and-a-half year old son Rehaan. People of Rae Bareli wanted Priyanka to campaign for the party and address election meetings she could not come because of this development, Sonia Gandhi told an election meeting here. Congressmen in Rae Bareli, which is a traditional Congress stronghold, had been waiting for Priyanka Gandhi to campaign for the party. Her absence in the poll campaign had also led to several rumours.
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VHP adamant on
temple construction New Delhi, February 18 Maintaining that the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, was “helpless” due to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in resolving the matter, the VHP senior vice-president, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, said the government could still solve the problem if it had the political will. He said the VHP would wait till March 12 for the government to resolve the problem. After that it would begin moving the material to the construction site from March 15. On the Prime Minister’s contention that the Ayodhya problem could not be solved due to the unrelenting attitude of both the sides, Acharya Kishore said the VHP was never invited by Mr Vajpayee for any negotiations on the issue. “Our doors are always open for negotiations,” he said. |
Tough going for BJP in Varanasi Varanasi, February 18 In the three districts of this area known as the doorway to Porvanchal — Varanasi, Chandauli and Bhadoi — the BJP had won nine out of the 13 Assembly seats in the 1996 assembly elections. The Samajwadi Party had won three seats and one seat was won by the Congress in the last election. The Bahujan Samaj Party had failed to wrest any seat. The BJP’s march in this area had begun with the Ram mandir movement when the state’s former Director-General of Police Shrisishchad Dikshit, who was a prominent VHP leader, had won the seat in 1991. The BJP has been winning the Lok Sabha seat ever since retaining it in 1996, 1998 and 1999. A round in some of the assembly segments in this important Hindu pilgrim city, which has the famous temple of Kashi Vishwanath, offers indications of erosion of the BJP’s support base. While traders seem to be angry with the ruling party for having betrayed their cause, the teachers and students are also unhappy with the BJP. Unemployment, lack of development and the all-pervasive generator sets indicating acute shortage of electricity and the possibility of an increase in communal tensions are some of the factors which have aggravated the BJP’s problems, a railway employee Sarjeet Singh said. Bad roads and lack of potable water are problems affecting rural Varanasi and Bhadoi. Sari and carpet weavers, too, have their own problems on account of lack of power supply. Even the government employees are unhappy as the state government is facing a resource crunch, a police officer on condition of anonymity said, adding that these problems would cost the BJP dear. In the Varanasi Cantonment seat, the state Finance Minister, Mr Harish Chandra, fighting on the BJP ticket, is locked in a three-cornered contest against the Congress candidate Shatrudra Prakash and Manoj Rai of the Samajwadi Party. The Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded Abhishek Yadav, who was in the SP till recently and decided to cross over to the BSP after being denied a ticket by Mulayam Singh Yadav on the advice of party general secretary Amar Singh. Even in the other Assembly seats of Varanasi South, North, Chiraigaon, Kolasla and Gangapur, the BJP is facing multi-cornered contests. While the BJP candidates are engaged in fierce electoral battles with their backs to the wall, the local party unit has sent several SOS to the party high command. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is arriving here tomorrow to give a decisive push to his party contestants here. In Varanasi North, sitting SP MLA Abdul Kalam appears to be having an advantage over the BJP and the Congress candidates as Muslims are with the SP to defeat the BJP. In Chiraigaon, from where the Congress had won in 1996, BJP’s candidate Mayashankar Pathak is facing a three cornered contest against the SP’s Ramjit Rajbhar and Congress’ Vijay Shankar
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4-cornered contest in Mirzapur Varanasi, February 18 When Phoolan Devi was shot dead in New Delhi last year, people of Mirzapur not only lost their Member of Parliament (MP) but the main protagonist of an extraordinary saga in which they themselves played a role. In the sleepy towns and nondescript villages “shilanyas” stones stand mute with the inscriptions: “This project was inaugurated by Phoolan Devi, the honourable Member of Parliament”. She was first elected in 1996 and then after a brief interruption re-elected in 1999 to the Lok Sabha. The electorate of Mirzapur, after a long gap of 11 years, have to elect their Member of Parliament and five members of the Legislative Assembly simultaneously. The Parliamentary constituency comprises five Assembly segments — Mirgapur Sadar, Chhanbe, Bhadohi, Gyanpur and Aurai. A four-cornered contest is on the cards involving all four main political forces in the state — the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress. Kalyan Singh’s Rashtriya Kranti Party (RKP), hoping to cash in on the sympathy vote, has fielded the younger sister of Phoolan, Munni Devi, who is but a poor substitute. The BJP holds all five seats at present and is making a concerted attempt to wrest the Lok Sabha seat from the SP, which in turn is confident of retaining the “Phoolan seat” and snatching a few Assembly seats from the BJP. Ramchandra Maurya of the BJP, Ramrati Bind of SP, Narendra Kushwaha of the BSP and Congress candidate Rajeshpati Tripathi are the four main contestants among the 44 candidates in the fray. Chief Minister Rajnath Singh’s prestige in at stake on this Lok Sabha seat, as Mirzapur has been his political “karmabhoomi.” The BJP candidate Mr Maurya is said to be his choice and certain sections in the district BJP allege that the Chief Minister had vetoed the candidature of Virendra Singh, who had fought successive elections. The non-BJP parties are claiming that the Thakur voters are angry over the rejection of Virendra Singh’s candidature, while BJP’s election managers say the Chief Minister will undertake a hectic tour of the constituency to placate the Thakurs and ensure that their votes 60 to the BJP. Among the main contestants, Rajeshpati Tripathi (Cong) is the only “savarna” (so-called high caste) while all other three are from most backward castes — Mr Maurya and Mr Kushwaha are from Koiri caste while Mr Bind is from Mallah or Bind caste. Ramrati Bind’s (SP) poll manager claims that he would get Yadav, Bind and Muslim votes and this is a winning equation. BJP candidate Ramchandra Maurya, a prominent carpet trader, who was elected an MLA from adjoining Majhwa Assembly seat, is sure to get most of the “savarna” votes (Brahmin and Thakur) besides the Koeri votes. While Narendra Kushwaha of the BSP starts with a one lakh strong Dalit votes and hopes that Koeries and other most backward caste voters will ultimately vote for him. However, experts say Congress candidate Rajeshpati’s entry into the fray could upset the calculation of different parties. Belonging to the famous “Tripathi family of Varanasi”, he is trying to attract voters from a cross-section besides retaining all Brahmin votes. Muslims who so far appear to be tilting towards the SP, may resort to tactical voting in favour of the Congress, if Mr Tripathi could project himself as BJP’s main rival. Mrs Sonia Gandhi, SP chief Mulayam Singh and BSP leader Mayawati had addressed election meetings in the constituency while the top leaders of the BJP and the Chief Minister are expected soon to undertake campaigning. Munni Devi is campaigning mainly in Mallah-dominated areas, seeking their votes and blessing. She was given a patient hearing but the votes are not so assured since the SP candidate is also from the same caste and has fair chance in the battle.
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Caste will be deciding factor in UP Varanasi, February 18 “Whether it is final or semi final of Mandalisation is difficult to predict but enough hints are available in the ongoing election campaign”, a High Court Judge in Allahabad observed adding that parties were seeking vote from 34 castes and sub-castes which were spread all over the state. Almost same sentiments were expressed in Etawah by local leader Amitabh Shukla when he said that even Brahmins who till the last Lok Sabha elections used to vote for a particular party were now strongly favouring their own caste candidates. With Brahmins joining the caste race, it appears that UP is heading for another phase of hung politics with the final outcome impossible to foresee, a local school teacher Suryakant Tripathi asserted. While till recently, division of castes used to be in terms of upper castes, backwards and Dalits but now political calculations are being made on the basis of backwards and most backwards and accordingly candidates are selected by every political party, observed Dr Surindra Singh in Allahabad. He said the division has gone to such a level that one party’s advantage is negated by the seeming upper hand of another political outfit. In the Lakhna reserved assembly seat in Etawah district, a poster seeking votes for Sudha Dhobi (washerman) further refines the understanding of interplay of caste politics. It only goes to confirm that castes have been divided to the last level, an advocate in Fatehpur Ravindra Nishad pointed out. The political scenario became further complicated as former UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh decided to field his Rashtriya Kranti Party (RKP) candidates in 323 out of 403 seats. Lodhs, a caste to which Mr Kalyan Singh belongs, numbering over 18 lakh all over the state used to be the BJP’s vote bank till the former was forced out of the party. Similarly, another outfit called Apna Dal(AD), led by Sonelal Patel, has fielded 227 candidates all over the state thus weaning away Kurmis from the BJP. The Kurmis used to be with the BJP. Similarly, Nishads or boatmen were with the SP but after Phoolan Devi’s murder, cracks have developed in the community. Over two dozen smaller parties are in the fray this time which would attract voters on caste lines. Muslims too, who have been tactically voting with the objective of defeating the BJP candidates, have further helped negate the obvious caste advantages for any particular political party. Barring the BJP, every other political party has fielded Muslim candidates. The BSP, the SP, the RKP, the AD and the Congress have fielded candidates from all castes. In the absence of any particular national issue dominating the scene and with no wave in favour of any political party, voters, it seems, are maintaining a wait and watch stance. In the above scenario, voters are maintaining silence. Even public rallies of the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Samajwadi Party, the Congress and the BJP, which are being fairly attended, do not offer any clue. Party flags and banners fluttering on roof tops and establishments are no indications of political preferences. From Kannauj to Varansi via Etawah, Kanpur, Fatehpur, Allahabad, Mirzapur, almost every possible caste is present in the region and election results on February 24 would finally tell whether it was final or semi final. |
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It’s husband vs wife, son vs
father in Basti Basti, February 18 Mr Pappu Chaudhury, who won the last Assembly election on a BJP ticket from the Shohratgarh constituency is now fighting on the Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket. The district unit of the BJP decided to field Pappu’s wife Sadhna Chaudhury on the BJP ticket in a retaliatory move making it an open fight between the husband and the wife. Sadhna, who is also zila parishad chairperson, decided to fight against her husband in the poll arena. “Both leave the house in the morning to campaign against each other, but their fight is restricted to the election field only,” a BJP worker clarified. He asserts that although they are husband and wife, both are working very hard, without making any personal attacks, to win the poll. In the Khesrahd constituency Diwaker Vikram Singh, a minister in the Rajnath Cabinet and a BJP candidate is pitted against his son Aditya Viram Singh, who is contesting on the Samajwadi Party ticket. According to local party workers, Aditya was born to the first wife of Mr Diwakar Vikram Singh. After her death, the BJP MLA remarried. Recently, Aditya’s wife was pitted against the second wife of Diwakar Vikram Singh for the post of gram pradhan, Aditya’s wife triumphed. The contest between family members from different parties has confused the electorate, but many of the voters say that they will vote for the party and not the candidate. Meanwhile, a hectic tour of various constituencies in Basti district revealed that more than the issues, it is the caste factor which weighs high on the scale when it comes to decide the fate of the candidates. |
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‘Previous govts didn’t check terrorism’ Gyanpur (Badohi), February 18 “The Vajpayee government is the first government which has spread focused attention to tackling terrorism. Earlier governments did not bother much about the menace which led to an atmosphere of insecurity,” he said addressing an election meeting here. Asserting that the Vajpayee government’s concerted efforts led to unearthing of several ISI camps in the country, he asked political parties to stay away from criminals as they were “breeding grounds for anti-national elements harming national security”. He said the ISI always targeted criminals for spreading its tentacles in the country and gave the instance of Aftab Ansari, the key accused in the Kolkata firing. Regretting that the CPM did not favour its leader and West Bengal Chief Minister criticising the growth of madrasas, Mr Advani said: “There should be no vote bank politics.” Gyanpur is part of the Mirzapur Lok Sabha constituency which is going for byelection along with the Assembly poll, following the murder of Phoolan Devi. Referring to Pakistan, Mr Advani said it had not taken any steps to prove that it was serious over curbing terrorism. He said he had already spelt out five criteria through which Pakistan’s seriousness over the issue could be judged. They were wrapping up of terrorist training camps, stopping arms supply, stopping financial aid to terrorists, stop facilitating intrusion into Indian territory and handover of the 20 wanted criminals and terrorists to India.
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