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Thursday,
March 14, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Oppn, allies slam govt on Ayodhya
Experts divided on SC verdict Mumbai will remain ‘peaceful’ Oppn ends boycott of Fernandes |
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Fresh violence in
Godhra, Baroda 5,000 arrested for Gujarat riots HP asked to follow guidelines on plague Sugar mill shut, farmers sore Cambodian Foreign
Minister arrives
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Oppn, allies slam govt on Ayodhya New Delhi, March 13 National Conference, an ally of the ruling NDA, slammed the Centre for its stand on Ayodhya in the Supreme Court and said the basic code of the alliance had been “violated.” Terming this as an act of cheating, party leader Ali Mohammad Naik demanded convening of an all-party meeting, where an explanation could be sought for violating the basic tenets of the NDA. Trinamool Congress chief Mamta Banerjee and TDP leader Yerran Naidu took objection to their not being consulted over the stand taken by the government in the Supreme Court. Former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar expressed shock and surprise over the government’s stand, saying that it was beyond his expectations. “It is shocking that under the leadership of Atal Behari Vajpayee, such a thing can happen,” he said. Referring to the government’s stand, the Congress said the Prime Minister had betrayed the trust of not only the people of India and of the Opposition, but also of many NDA partners. Party spokesman Jaipal Reddy said some clever distinctions had been sought to be made between disputed and undisputed land, but these were malafide and ridiculous. The party welcomed the Supreme Court verdict. The BJP defended the stand taken by Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee in the Supreme Court on the Ayodhya issue and said he had not given any written affidavit in the court. “The government has neither filed a written affidavit, nor given submission to the Supreme Court, and this is being clarified to the allies,” party spokesman V. K. Malhotra said. He said Mr Sorabjee had only sought to know from the court whether “puja” would be allowed at the undisputed site. Mr Malhotra said shilanyas had taken place in Ayodhya when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister and it was wrong for the Congress to say that it was unjust for the government to seek a clarification from the court. Hailing the Supreme Court verdict, Samajwadi Party leaders raised slogans in front of the Parliament gate. Describing the government move as a part of a sinister design to implement the BJP agenda of constructing a temple in Ayodhya in violation of the status quo order of the Supreme Court,
CPI (M) leader Somnath Chatterjee said the BJP and RSS outfits were out to destroy the unity and secular character of the nation. Welcoming the Supreme Court ruling, former Prime Minister V. P. Singh said the government’s seeking permission for the “puja” had unmasked its real intentions and sent a warning signal to the secular allies of the ruling NDA at the Centre. Prominent opposition leaders and human rights activists took to the streets, hailing the Supreme Court’s judgement and warned that it was a time of trial for the BJP-led government at the Centre. Addressing an assemblage of protesters who marched from Mandi House to Parliament Street, CPI leader A.B. Bardhan said the Gujarat incidents and the mosque-temple issue at Ayodhya were all signposts of a communalist and fascist agenda of the BJP government. Former Prime Minister I. K. Gujral said today’s Supreme Court verdict had made it clear that the judiciary had emerged as a robust protector of secularism in the country. He called upon the government to discharge its responsibility in accordance with the law. |
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Experts divided on SC verdict New Delhi, March 13 Constitutional
expert and former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president R.K. Jain told TNS that although everybody is supposed to obey the order for the time being, this may only be a short-term solution. “Whatever the court decides, one section of society is bound to disagree. These are emotive issues and can never be settled by court. These are not issues where law can bind somebody. Trouble or defiance of the order cannot be ruled out though I wish it does not happen,” he said. Former SCBA president and constitutional expert P.P. Rao said: “Today’s order of the Supreme Court is perfectly in consonance with the previous judgement given by a Constitutional Bench in 1994. In that case, the Supreme Court had analysed the provisions of the Acquisition Act and considered the object of acquisition. It had concluded that the acquisition of the larger area was necessary for maintaining communal harmony and peace and facilitating a solution to the problem. It said the title to the land had passed to the Central Government and that its possession was with the Central Government. It also said the Central Government would maintain the land as a statutory receiver till the adjudication of the dispute of the court. |
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Mumbai will remain ‘peaceful’ Mumbai, March 13 “I warn that strict action will be taken against whosoever goes against the law,” the police chief told reporters at the Police Club here after addressing a meeting of prominent residents of the city in the wake of the recent developments. “Keep your cool, do not believe in rumours and leave the rest for me to deal with,” he said, adding that the police machinery had fully geared up to meet any challenge arising out of the Ayodhya-related developments and additional deployment been made in sensitive areas. Mr M.N. Singh, who has reviewed the security arrangements after he returned from the official trip of the USA and the UK, said the local police force would take the assistance of 21 companies of the State Reserve Police Force, four companies of Rapid Action Force, three of Riot Control Police and two companies of police commandos to maintain law and order in the city. Mr M.N. Singh, who was accompanied by the four Joint Commissioners and Regional Additional Commissioners at the meeting, said the people from various communities and sections of the society who attended the meeting had pledged “total cooperation” to the Mumbai Police. He said the government had banned all religious processions on March 15 and those going against it would be arrested and severely dealt with. He said prohibitory orders were already in place and those who violate these would be punished. “There will be immediate action,” he warned.
UNI |
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Oppn ends boycott of Fernandes New Delhi, March 13 It was for the first time after his re-induction into the Union Cabinet that the opposition allowed the Defence Minister to reply to questions. Lifting the boycott, members belonging to the Congress not only asked questions from the minister, who had earlier resigned in the wake of the Tehelka expose but also raised supplementaries during question hour. Answering a question on the proposal of private entrepreneurs for licensing production of defence equipment, Mr Fernandes said the government had not received any formal proposal from private establishments to start any industry. He said the defence sector been opened to the private sector with upto 100 per cent equity with the foreign direct investment (FDI) component being permissible upto 26 per cent, both being subject to licensing permission. Responding to supplementaries the Defence Minister allayed apprehensions regarding safety, saying the licencees were required to put in place adequate security procedures, which would be subject to verification by authorised government agencies. Stating that the country was importing equipment worth over Rs 10,000 crore annually, he said in view of the kind of prices demanded for both equipment and spares, the need for involving the indigenous private sector had been felt. Meanwhile, the minister told the Rajya Sabha that India’s latest development — Tank Ex — a tank developed by the country’s defence scientists, was still undergoing limited technical trials. |
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Fresh violence in Godhra, Baroda Ahmedabad, March 13 The police opened fire to disperse a 500-strong minority community mob which attacked people in Jahurpura area near Old Bus Stand using firearms and stones. There was no casualty in police firing, police sources said. There were unconfirmed reports of a few stabbing incidents. Twelve persons, including two women, of the minority community were picked up from a nearby place of worship, the police said. Meanwhile, Panchamahal Collector Jayanti S Ravi told PTI over the phone that “there was no communal tension or mob attack as was suggested in certain reports”. “There was a commotion after a shop in the sensitive Jahurpura area was gutted apparently due to electric short circuit”, she said. Ms Ravi skirted any reply on the issue of arrest of 12 persons from a place of worship, saying that some arrests were being made as part of “our routine combing operations”. Three youths belonging to the minority community were stabbed in Visnagar town of Mehsana district, the police in Ahmedabad said. A Baroda report said the police fired six rounds to disperse a stone-throwing mob which set afire a scooter in Bhavmanpura locality tonight. There was no report of any casualty in the firing. In Godhra town of Panchmahal district, night curfew would remain in force while it would be relaxed in the day, the collector said. Meanwhile, 18 of the 27 persons who were arrested in connection with the train attack were further remanded in railway police custody.
PTI |
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5,000 arrested for Gujarat riots Ahmedabad, March 13 “As many as 5,000 persons have been arrested for their involvement in riots, arson and murder during the violence” which erupted after the attack on the Sabarmati Express at Godhra on February 27, Mr Zadhapia said last night.
PTI |
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HP asked to follow guidelines on plague New Delhi, March 13 Making a suo-moto statement in the Lok Sabha today, Health Minister C.P. Thakur said there a thorough quarantine of the villages affected would be conducted. Chemoprophylaxis, an antibiotic drug, was being administered to all close contacts of patients. The villages would be fumigated and patients would be treated locally. Dr Thakur said 16 cases of such illness had been reported since the first case on February 4 in Himachal Pradesh and four infected persons, including a nurse, had died. Of these 16 cases and four suspected cases with plague-like symptoms from Chandigarh and its adjoining areas, five had died. Dr Thakur said the Uttaranchal administration had been asked to observe guidelines since one of the patients, a resident of that state, had acquired the infection on a visit to Hat Koti. The NICD team that had visited the area had found that all cases of illness could be linked to residents of Hat Koti, consisting of three houses. The Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Mr A. Raja, told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that as per information furnished by the Dental Council of India, no application from the states of Punjab,
Haryana and Himachal Pradesh for recognition of BDS degree was pending with it. Students
of Baba Mastnath Dental College, Asthal Bohar, Rohtak had filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to recognise the BDS degree to be awarded by the MD University, Rohtak, or to relocate them to Government Dental College, Rohtak. |
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Sugar mill shut, farmers sore Sriganganagar, March 13 The allegedly callous attitude of the management came to light when the crop could not be harvested as per the projections of a survey carried out by the mill authorities. This was subsequently conveyed to the higher authorities which reportedly directed that the mill should be closed by March 15. As a result of this the mill was closed on Sunday night since not even a quintal of cane was available for crushing. This despite the fact that an estimated 65,000 quintals of cane is standing in the fields. Being the lone mill in this region, the farmers fear they will be left high and dry if the mill closes down in the coming days. According to sources, the farmers had impressed on officials that they would not be able to harvest all crop within the next four days, the “declared” date of closing the mill. Taken by surprise and fearing action by the higher ups, officials burned the midnight oil to plead with the farmers to bail them out of the sticky situation. As per the survey report, the mill had estimated that more than 2.5 lakh quintals of cane would be crushed this season. But this allegedly proved to be false. The farmers alleged that the villages near the mill, termed the gate area in technical parlance, were given priority and that teams of officials never visited the outer areas during the survey nor issued them chits announcing their turn for crushing. Chits are issued by the officials in advance so that the farmers come to know when they should bring their harvest to the mill. This not only ensures a continuous supply but also reduces the waiting period of farmers outside the mill. This also eases congestion since the mill is located on the main road to the city. This time the cane in the gate area took longer to be harvested and laid bare the claims made in the survey. Hence, officials are frantically contacting the farmers besides pleading with various kisan union leaders not to blow up the volatile issue, the sources pointed out. Farmers, on the other hand, claim that most of the cane is in villages which are located in a radius of 50-90 km from here. Even if they harvested round the clock, it would be impossible to load, get it weighed and transport it to the mill in the next four days. Even if the farmers did the impossible, would the mill cope with the deluge let alone crush it, the sources questioned. Experts said if the officials had applied their minds they would have balanced the arrivals of both the areas so that crushing could be carried round the clock. The sources said that no payments have been made to those farmers whose crop, was bought by the mill in January. On the other hand, farmers unions have demanded that the crushing season be extended till March 25.
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Cambodian Foreign
Minister arrives New Delhi, March 13 The visit is being undertaken at the initiative of Prime Minister Hun Sen to hand over the invitation to the Indian Prime Minister to visit Cambodia for the ASEAN-India summit in November 2002 to be chaired by Cambodia. He is also expected to brief the Prime Minister about the agenda for the forthcoming ASEAN-India summit. Cambodia is the latest member of the ASEAN. |
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Ravindra Nath Halder speaks
during an interview in Kolkata on Wednesday. Halder was called for an interview 34 years after he applied for a job at a government employment exchange. Halder, now
52-year-old and a grandfather, was a teenager when he applied for a job at the West Bengal government's employment exchange in 1968.
— Reuters
In video
