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Friday,
April 26, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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India does not need sermons: PM NEWS ANALYSIS
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Govt to install 40,000
more village phones
Muslim legislators in UP urged to quit
BSP Sorabjee on UN panel Aks, Amdani
Atthani... ‘bad’ films Salman’s review
plea rejected
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India does not need sermons: PM New Delhi, April 25 “India is being advised on pluralism and secularism. We need not learn about secularism from anybody, “ he said apparently referring to the concern voiced by Britain, Canada and some other Western countries over situation in Gujarat. Speaking at a function here on the occasion of Mahavir
Jayanti, Mr Vajpayee released a commemorative coin and a medallion brought out by the Punjab Government. He also released “Jain Temples,’’ a book written by eminent jurist L M
Singhvi. He said India need not learn secularism from anybody. “Our foundation is strong. There is no reason why people, who in the present circumstances have deviated, should not come back on the right path,’’ Mr Vajpayee said. The Prime Minister said a question was raised whether such celebrations should be held when the country was witnesing violence but Lord Mahavir’s teachings and the path shown by him were most relevant at this juncture. He said pluralism and secularism were being spoken about today as if these never existed. These existed from the ancient times when Lord Mahavir lived, he said. To a demand by Ms Indu Jain, a philanthropist, to accord minority status to the Jain community, the Prime Minister wondered why a large community wanted to be reduced to a minority. Home Minister L.K. Advani described the Gujarat incidents as temporary and said it was the joint responsibility of people and government to face the situation. Meanwhile, the foreign visits of some ministers has been cancelled by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in view of the crucial vote in Parliament next week on the censure motion on the Gujarat situation. Sources said Minister of State for External Affairs Omar Abdullah, who was to leave for Durban for attending a ministerial meeting of Non Aligned Movement, has been asked to stay put at home. |
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Gujarat: Canada voices
concern New Delhi, April 25 Addressing a press conference organised by the Institute of Social Sciences, Prof Dion said he had expressed strong concern over communal violence in Gujarat but his concern should not be treated as interference in internal affairs. Asked about his meetings with Indian ministers regarding the situation in Gujarat, Prof Dion said. Prof Dion, who met Union Home Minister L.K. Advani and Defence Minister George Fernandes during his stay in the capital, said success of secularism in India was the “success of humanity”. Like India, Canada was a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country, Prof Dion said adding that “India is more important democracy in the world”. “There is a tremendous burden of responsibility on your shoulders”, he added. Prof Dion said that Jammu and Kashmir was the integral part of India. “We hope that India would find a peaceful solution to the problem”, he added. “Like Canada, India finds its strength in democracy and respect for diversity”, the minister said. “For all those who might have thought that democracy was made only for western countries, or that it was a luxury that only the wealthiest and most developed countries could afford, India, in spite of all the difficulties, many pitfalls, and detours offered a most eloquent refutation”, he said. Asked if he had faith that culprits in Gujarat would be punished, the minister said, “we have confidence in democratic process of India”. |
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Fresh violence leaves 4,700 homeless Ahmedabad, April 25 In the largest relief camp,
Shah-e-Alam, which was visited by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the number of inmates has shot up to 13,000. “There has been an addition of 1,500 persons from violence-ravaged colonies in Parikshitpurnagar and
Mehmadabad”, Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh, a relief worker said. He said while there was no major health hazard faced by inmates of the camp, there was an acute shortage of food supply. In the Bakarshaka Roza camp in
Gomtipur, the misery was compounded with the arrival of 1,200 new inmates since the fresh spate of violence even as “there were serious health problems, including measles, afflicting at least 10 children”, according to camp coordinator
Lalbhai. “With fresh arrivals, the number of inmates has gone up to 2,936”, Lalbhai said. He said there was a high-fever syndrome among several inmates, with a few people also complaining about mental stress, blood pressure and diabetes. “There is shortage of first-aid items and tablets”, he said.
Lalbhai said there were at least 18 pregnant women, most of them at an advanced stage. “We need a lot of support. Nothing is really coming,” he said. In the Dariyakhan Ghummat relief camp, the fresh violence has resulted in the arrival of 2000 more inmates. “People of all ages and in pitiable condition have walked in since Sunday”, camp coordinator Ataullah Khan Pathan said.
PTI
New Delhi, April 25 “There has not been a single pogrom during Partition and even after the country’s independence where the entire apparatus of the state administration was used to obliterate a particular community,” says “Genocide-2002”, a report prepared by a Mumbai-based magazine, Communalism Combat. The report was released at a press conference here today by the magazine’s editor Teesta Setalwad.
UNI
Ahmedabad, April 25 Defence Minister George Fernandes has also confirmed his participation in the march. Addressing a press conference here today, president of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(GCCI) Kalayan Shah said despite threats from rioters, over one lakh
‘’Amdavadis’’ would gather at Manilal Mansion in the communally sensitive Kalupur area to participate in the ‘’People’s Peace March’’ on Sunday. “Religious leaders from all faiths, bureaucrats, professionals, eminent citizens, leading businessmen and traders will all participate in the march,” Mr Shah said. The marchers will pass through Relief Road and cover a distance of 2 km to reach Sardarbaug in the heart of the walled city, where the march will culminate in a public meeting. Mr Shah said that the Chamber had also invited Union Ministers
L.K. Advani, George Fernandes and Arun Jaitley, Gujarat Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari, Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Gujarat Congress President Amarsingh Chaudhary, leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Naresh Raval and other political leaders to participate in the march. However, barring Mr
Fernandes, nobody has confirmed participation yet, he added. UNI
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Ban Sangh bodies:
Save India Front New Delhi, April 25 Addressing a joint press conference here, front convenors Udit Raj and Maulana Mahmood Madani said the front was planning to hold a rally at the Ramlila Maidan on May 2 for mobilising people in support of its demands which include removal of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Mr Udit Ram, who is national Chairman of the All-India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations, said the Sangh Parivar should desist from claiming to represent the Hindu community in order to terrorise minorities
because they do not have the support of all Dalits, progressive Hindus, many Hindu religious leaders and institutions and backwards. Lashing out at the Sangh Parivar, Mr Raj alleged that the continuing violence in Gujarat was the creation of the Narendra Modi Government and the followers of the saffron brigade. Maulana Madani, who is also the General Secretary of the Jammiat-Ulama-e-Hind, demanded the speedy rehabilitation of the riot-affected victims. He claimed that the Jammiat was running 52 relief camps in 21 districts of Gujarat. Maulana Madani said a propoganda was going on branding Muslims as aliens and outsiders, perhaps either because these propagandists do not have a sense of history or doing it with an ulterior motive to serve their own interests at the cost of the country’s interest. “Today’s Muslims are as old as others and at least they had been living before Aryans came to this country and only subsequently converted to Islam” he said, adding that “the Jammiat Ulama-e-Hind had fought against the division of the country and will continue to do it”. |
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NEWS ANALYSIS The “accidental” meeting in Dubai of Kashmiri leaders of Jammu and Kashmir from both sides of the Line of Control during the third week of April has raised a lot of hopes in the State. For the first time in many years the Hurriyat leaders, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone had an opportunity to meet Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, Chairman of Pakistan’s Kashmir Committee and exchange thoughts with him. Present at the venue were US-based Ghulam Nabi Fai and UK-based Nazir Geelani. While the meeting was not expected to result in a breakthrough, the message from Dubai was that the Kashmiri leaders felt that it was high time elements from outside Jammu and Kashmir should stay away from the State. Mr Lone said that because of the presence of the Jehadis, “The movement has ceased to be the freedom struggle of Kashmiris. Let Kashmiris themselves take the driving seat.” In concrete terms, the message is that it is high time the “jehadis”, or foreigners — of Pakistani, Afghan or Arab origin – keep away from the State. Abdul Gani Lone told the media that he was the first leader who had welcomed the presence of foreign militants in Kashmir few years ago. They then were called “guest militants” who had come to Kashmir to help the Kashmiris. “But when they started talking of unfurling their flag on Red Fort and White House, their activities began to hurt the interest of Kashmiris”, Mr Lone said. It is a pity that Lone has not given due credit to Pakistan for starting the “movement”. It was Pakistan which conceived of a proxy-war in Kashmir in late eighties, invited “disgruntled” Kashmiris to cross the border, equipped them with guns and grenades and egged them on to rise against India, and promised them that Pakistan would do a Bangladesh in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan expected that Kashmir would fall into its lap like a ripe fruit. Kashmiris, on the other hand, hoped that Pakistan would follow its words in deeds and raised the slogan of “Azadi”. Little did they realize that Pakistan was not interested in “Azadi” for the Kashmiris, but wanted the State to become a part of Pakistan. With that objective, Pakistan started neutralizing JKLF cadres and inducting foreign merceneries into the state. Why should the presence of foreign mercenaries in Jammu and Kashmir suddenly become an issue? After all they have been there nearly for a decade. The “guest militants” of the early nineties have now taken over the “movement” and their major contribution has been to keep up the level of violence in the State. There is a perennial source of supply of foreign merceneries from the thousands of madrassas established in Pakistan. If there is a change in approach in the recent past, the reason is the pressure that is being put on General Musharraf by the international community after the events of September 11. The USA and its partners in the alliance against global terrorism are not in a mood to tolerate mercenaries being trained in Pakistan and pushed into Jammu and Kashmir. As it happened in Afghanistan, the destination could be countries in the West along with Jammu and Kashmir. The USA is determined to end terrorism which has assured the form of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan. Will that happen, and will there be an end to violence perpetrated by foreign merceneries in Jammu and Kashmir? It may, but the process would be gradual. The US Ambassador in New Delhi, Mr Robert D. Blackwill characterised the attack on Raghunath temple in Jammu and killing of innocents in the State as acts of terrorism, and said that the USA would condemn such acts and persuade Pakistan to put an end to these. But Washington also knows that while President Musharraf will make public pronouncements on the issue, his deeds do not match his words. It knows that President Musharraf talked tough about acting against the Al Qaida, but while the US forces were acting against the Taliban, thousands of Taliban men crossed into Pakistan and took shelter in inaccesible areas. The US forces now are engaged in the task of smoking out the Al Qaida from such hideouts. One should not expect any dramatic changes in Pakistan’s approach. We already have reports that Al-Qaida cadres have started trickling into Pakistan- Occupied Kashmir and may start moving across the Line of Control. One can only guess what would be Pakistan’s policy after the “referendum”. Within Jammu and Kashmir, political activities will gather momentum in the coming weeks. Issues like autonomy for the state, the need for more funds for development, and even suggestions to terminate the Indus Waters Treaty if Pakistan continues cross-border terrorism, would be voiced. There would also be increased pressure on the security forces. One hopes that incidents like the alleged rape of a 17–year-old girl at Kullar village near Pahalgam will not be allowed to be repeated and strict punishment meted out to the Border Security Force personnel involved in it. It is very necessary that the proceedings should be transparent and information about the punishment awarded to BSF personnel made known immediately. Union Home Minister, L.K. Advani, has assured that the erring BSF jawans would be punished, and if that is done security forces in the State would gain a great deal of credibility. It is high time that arguments that awarding and publicizing punishments would lower the morale of the security forces are not accepted. People of Jammu and Kashmir also hope that the Prime Minister would not postpone indefinitely his proposed visit to the state. The state capital is due to shift to Srinagar in the next few weeks and that would be the right time for the Prime Minister to visit.
ADNI |
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Govt to install 40,000
more village phones New Delhi, April 25 He said 70,000 VPTs had already been provided in the past year which was a record in itself. “In order to overcome the problem of the ‘digital divide’, it is necessary to provide value-added connectivity to the people living in the remote parts of the country,” he said. “Value-added connectivity would not only ensure access, it would also spur the masses to use information technology (IT) as an empowerment tool. At the same time, it would facilitate in consolidating a digital unity within the different parts of the country,” he added. By adhering to this schedule, the minister said he was optimistic that the government would be able to provide VPTs to all villages by the end of the year. Delivering the inaugural address at the first Asian Regional Conference on IT for Development, organised by Media Lab Asia and UN ICT Task Force here today, Mr Mahajan said Asia had now occupied the centre stage of IT development and it was a brand value which was recognised globally. He called upon the private-sector industry to come forward and support the government initiatives in the Asian region to promote the use of IT in social transformation. Underlining the importance of technology, Mr Mahajan said digital technology was a principal catalyst in bridging the gap between the digital wants and want-nots. |
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Muslim legislators in UP urged to quit
BSP Lucknow, April 25 The convener of the council, Mr Mauji Khan, said the proposed alliance between the BJP and the BSP was unethical and urged the Muslim legislators to “stand up and fight for their community”. Mr Khan had written to the 14 Muslim legislators of the BSP yesterday giving reasons as why they should quit an “opportunist party like the BSP, which has decided to join hands with the BJP”. The letter emphasised that the victory of Muslim candidates in the just-concluded election was not just theirs. The faith reposed by the minority community should not be breached, said Mr Khan. The appeal had come after the senior BSP leader, Arif Mohammed Khan, who resigned from the party to protest. |
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Sorabjee on UN panel
New Delhi, April 25 Mr Sorabjee was also elected as a member of this Subcommission in April 1998. The Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights is the main subsidiary body of UN Commission on Human Rights.
PTI |
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Rare diseases claim 2 lives Jodhpur, April 25 The experts have yet to find out the exact cause of the disease which claimed the lives of a girl and a boy but they are trying to rule out the probability of the outbreak of an epidemic as per the WHO norms, sources said. The girl died of Gullain Barre syndrome while the boy was suffering from worst-considered demyelianating disease, Badri Narain Purohit, a senior doctor of the government hospital in Mandore, said.
PTI |
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Aks, Amdani Atthani... ‘bad’ films Mumbai, April 25 Presented by the Maharashtra State Commission for Women
(MSCW) for being the most violent and gender-insensitive films respectively, ‘Aks’ was given the Rakshasa trophy while ‘Aamdani...’ got the Duryodhana award, amid thunderous applause from the audience. The ‘Fair and Lovely’ advertisement was adjudged the most gender-insensitive, and received the Duryodhana award for television ad category. The trophies portrayed the ugly faces of demons. As expected, none of the awardees attended the function. The awards would, however, be couriered to them alongwith the citations. The awards were part of the MSCW’s foundation day celebrations and it took an opportunity to make a hard-hitting statement, coming up with the idea of presenting awards in the worst ever categories. It was aimed at creating social awareness about issues pertaining to women and also to discourage regressive and negative portrayal of women in popular culture. The only silver lining of the entire ceremony was a special jury award to the critically-acclaimed film ‘Chandi Bar’ for its sensitive portrayal of the lives of bar dancers. The winners were chosen by a jury comprising, among others, senior advocate Indira Jaisingh, Vice-Chancellor of SNDT Women’s University Roopa Shah, film maker Kavita Chaudhary and Mumbai Commissioner of Police
M.N. Singh. Announcing the final awards, chairperson of the jury Ms Jaisingh said ‘Amdani..’ used crude humour to imply that women were meant to be kicked around. The film also preached chauvinism and implied that a man felt threatened by an independent woman. She regretted that in ‘Aks’, religious scriptures were used to justify mindless violence. It also showed law makers turning law breakers. “Popular actors have a responsibility towards society and should not be accepting such roles,’’ she added. The Fair and Lovely advertisement suffered from a colour complex, Ms Jaisingh said adding that such advertisements propagate the myth that a woman has to be beautiful in order to be successful or find a suitable match.
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Salman’s review plea rejected
Jodhpur, April 25
Additional District and Sessions Judge (Fast Track Court), Mohammad Arif
Madani, yesterday rejected the pleas filed by the two actors. PTI |
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FOUR ANCIENT INSCRIPTIONS FOUND EC STAYS TRANSFER OF TN OFFICIALS FIR AGAINST FORMER CM DMK MEMBERS EVICTED FROM HOUSE |
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In video: People
belonging to the Jain community celebrate Mahavir Jayanti. 
