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Wednesday,
January 29, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Tibetans
shocked at leader’s execution HP poll: BJP clears 49 names Decision on Cong, HVC tie-up today Delayed
snow may hit campaigning CPM to contest 4 seats |
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25
observers for first phase of HP poll Polling
station with only 22 voters 21 Kulu
booths highly sensitive Anti-BJP
drive from Feb 1 HP
pensioners to oppose BJP Response
to Vishwas Yatra ‘encouraging’
Sealing
of students’ body office decried Dalit women
complain against police misconduct President’s
medal for Kangra police chief
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Tibetans shocked at leader’s execution Kangra, January 28 The Tibetan community today gathered at McLeodganj to mourn the execution of Lobsang Dhondup and to commemorate his sacrifice for the sake of the Tibetan people. The spokesman of the Tibetan Government in-Exile, Mr Thubten Samphel, in a statement here today said, “I am deeply disappointed by this reported summary execution because we believe the trial was not fair and transparent. The Chinese authorities have not been able to produce compelling evidence to warrant both trial or execution. We appeal to the international community to bring to the attention of the Chinese authorities the deep concern of all people who live by normal civilised codes of behaviour”. He said Lobsang Dhundup was given immediate death sentence, and Tulku Tenzin Delek was sentenced to death with a suspension of two years at Karze intermediate people’s court last month. Both had appealed against their sentences, Mr Samphel said. He said that the legal process that unheld their appeal was not transparent and fair. He said a taped message, smuggled out of the Chinese jail where Tulku Tenzin Delek was imprisoned, had been received by the Tibetan activists wherein he had insisted on his being innocent. Mr Samphel said that on December 2, the Karze people’s intermediate court had handed down the death sentence on Telku Tenzin Delek and Lobsung Dhondup after a summary trial and were charged with masterminding the Chengdu bomb blast of April 3,2002. They were taken into custody on April 7 last year. Mr Samphel said that Mr Delek was one of the most revered spiritual figures in Karze and was for long engaged in alleviating the lot of the Tibetan people and to rejuvenate the Tibetan culture and language. Mr Samphel said that the news about the execution of Lobsang Dhondup was unexpected and we hope that Tulku Tenzin Delek would not suffer the same fate. Thubten Samphel Lobsand Dhondup was executed at 7 a.m. on January 26 in Darstedo. Mr Samphel said, “Normally executions in China and elsewhere are a public event, deliberately made public to intimidate potential trouble-makers. However, Lobsung Dhundup was executed without public knowledge, perhaps to avoid rousing Tibetan passions”. Meanwhile, the TCHRD said the release of some prominent political prisoners by the Chinese Government had raised hopes but this execution and the court verdicts had shattered the hopes of the Tibetans as the verdicts were unexpected and unjust. The international community should put pressure on the Chinese Government to overturn the death sentence and initiate a fair and transparent retrial of Mr Delek. He asked China to respond to Dalai Lama’s initiative for a negotiated settlement of the Tibetan problem. |
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HP poll: BJP clears 49 names New Delhi,
January 28 The
committee, which met here at the Prime Minister’s residence to keep
the ticket seekers at bay, could not arrive at a consensus on 19
seats, as there were more than two claimants for the ticket, and has
decided to leave the final decision to the BJP high command. Top
party sources told The Tribune tonight that 90 per cent of the sitting
MLAs, including ministers, were likely to be retained and merely five
or six sitting MLAs were likely to be discarded. The sources said
the decision to retain 90 per cent of the sitting MLAs was taken due
to the general consensus among the committee members that the denial
of the ticket to a majority of sitting MLAs would lead to a major
rebellion, which would be a big blow for the party. However, a final
decision on the candidates’ list will be taken at the Central
Election Committee meeting here tomorrow, in which apart from BJP
President Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Deputy
Prime Minister L.K. Advani and other top Central and state leaders
will participate. Although top BJP leaders maintained that today’s
meeting went on smoothly, the sources said there were a lot of
differences between the two top Himachal leaders — Chief Minister
P.K. Dhumal and Union Minister Shanta Kumar over candidates’ choice
in several seats. Lok Sabha MP from Mandi Maheshwar Singh is also
understood to have opposed the denial of the ticket or shifting of
constituency of his brother Karan Singh, who is the Minister for
Primary Education and a legislator from the Banjar seat. The Sangh
Parivar reportedly was in favour of replacing him with Mr Khimi Ram.
The meeting was attended among others by Mr Dhumal, Mr Shanta Kumar,
Himachal unit president Jaikrishan Sharma, national secretary in
charge of Himachal O.P. Kohli, senior RSS leader Ramesh Prakash.
Meanwhile, the BJP high command has kept its options open on having
an alliance with Mr Sukh Ram’s Himachal Vikas Congress even as top
party leaders admitted in private that the BJP stood to gain if Mr
Sukh Ram’s party contested alone, resulting in triangular
contests. “We have never said Ram Ram (good bye) to anyone,” BJP
President Venkaiah Naidu said while replying to a question whether the
party was still open to an alliance with the HVC. |
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Decision on Cong, HVC tie-up today New Delhi, January 28 The HVC leader, who is going to Mandi tomorrow, said he would have a final word with AICC General Secretary Mohsina Kidwai on the issue of tie-up before leaving the Capital. While the HVC’s executive will decide the issue of the party remaining in the
NDA, its Parliamentary board will decide the party’s candidates for the Assembly
elections. HVC sources indicated that if no understanding is reached with the Congress, the party may not quit the
NDA. They said the HVC had not closed its doors on an understanding with the
BJP. Mrs Kidwai today said the Congress had not yet decided on the issue of an alliance with Mr Sukh Ram. “We have not taken any decision either way. We are still deliberating on the firm offer made by Sukh Ram yesterday,” she said. The Congress leader indicated that the decision on the tie-up could be taken by tomorrow. Mr Sukh Ram met Mrs Kidwai for over an hour yesterday. A section of the party led by former state Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was opposed to any truck with Mr Sukh Ram. Mrs Kidwai’s comments came after an AICC Secretary said today that the party would lose its anti-corruption plank if it decided to go along with the
HVC. |
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Delayed
snow may hit campaigning Shimla, January 28 More so because main parties have not been able to decide their candidates so far. Even a moderate snowfall paralysis life for more than a week in the upper hills as people do not venture out of their homes due to extreme cold and slippery conditions of roads. In case of heavy snow it takes a fortnight for restoration of normalcy. Further, farmers in most areas have not been able to sow Rabi crop due to the prolonged dry spell. Now that the region has had sufficient rain for sowing, the farmers will be pre-occupied with field operations. Snow and rain have been often playing the spoilsport during elections in the past. Incessant rain and heavy snow affected campaigning during the 1998 simultaneous elections for which polling was held on February 28. Election meetings of top leaders of the BJP like Mr L.K. Advani and Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee were cancelled in the crucial final phase of electioneering. This year the polling is scheduled for February 26 and as such delayed rains could affect campaigning. Elections to the three snow-bound tribal constituencies of Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur and Bharmour will be held in June. However, there are several other areas of the state which receive heavy snow during winter. These include upper areas of Shimla, Kulu, Mandi, Sirmaur and Chamba districts. In fact, until 1972 elections to the Chopal and Rohru constituencies were also held in June along with tribal areas. However, later it was decided that polling should be delayed only for the tribal constituencies. Despite the rapid expansion of road network, there are several areas still accessible only by foot. In certain areas polling parties are dispatched a couple of days before the polling day. |
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CPM to contest 4 seats Shimla, January 28 The CPM will not form third front in the state, but will have an alliance with the CPI in five Assembly seats. The seats are Banikhet in Chamba district, Kangra, Chachiot in Mandi district, Doon in Solan district and Kot Kehloor in Bilaspur district. Mr Rakesh Singha stated the party would focus on defeating the Hindutva agenda of the BJP in the state. The CPM termed the Dhumal government as a symbol of corruption and backdoor entries. The Dhumal government awarded the 1000 MW Karcham-Wangtu project to Jai Parkash Industries without competitive bidding, Mr Singha alleged. The former CPM MLA termed the Subordinate Service Selection Board at Hamirpur, a centre of corruption and a board for recruiting RSS cadres. |
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25 observers for first phase of HP poll Shimla, January 28 She said instructions had been issued to district election officers and returning officers of all constituencies in the state that as per the directions of the Election Commission of India persons covered under “the persons with disabilities (equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation) Act, should not be deployed for election duty. She said all hoardings had been removed as per the directions of the Election Commission. The state government had confirmed this to the Election Commission of India directly and a copy of it had been received in the Chief Electoral Office on January 27. The Chief Electoral Officer said that the Election Department had been taking proper notice of complaints received by it from time to time from all quarters and asking for the report wherever required. The reports were being passed to the Election Commission for necessary action at its end. |
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Polling
station with only 22 voters Chamba, January 28 Giving this information here today, Mr Rahul Anand, District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner of Chamba, said the Motla polling station with 1,169 voters in the Bhattiyat Assembly constituency had the largest number of voters in Chamba district. Mr Anand said Chask Bhatori having 26 electors was situated at an altitude of 4170 m in Pangi tribal valley of the district and was the highest polling booth in the district. He said there were around 12 polling stations where the officials of the polling staff would have to trudge more than 10 km to reach the Tepa polling station in the Rajnagar constituency. The poll personnel would have to walk 18 km, which would be the longest distance to be covered by the polling party in the district. Mr Anand informed that out of the 54 hyper-sensitive polling stations identified in the district, 42 were located on the border of Chamba district close to militancy-infested belts of Jammu and Kashmir. He said that of the five Assembly constituencies in the district, four including, Bhattiyat, Banikhet, Rajnagar and Chamba, would go to the polls on February 26, while elections to the fifth Bharmour tribal constituency would be held in June. The total number of electorate was 2,82,519, including 1,38,021 female voters, in the five assembly constituencies of Chamba district having 502 polling stations. About 2300 poll staff had been trained in the operation of electronic voting machines (EVMs) who would conduct the polls along with about 1500 security personnel deployed for the smooth conduct of elections in the district, Mr Anand added. |
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21 Kulu booths
highly sensitive Kulu, January 28 In a press note here today, Mr Nazim said all three Assembly constituencies of the district have 400 polling booths (128 in 56-Kulu; 155 in 57-Banjar and 117 in 58-Ani). Of these, 21 polling booths are highly sensitive (Kulu-4, Banjar-10, Ani-7) and 45 sensitive (Kulu-22, Banjar-13 and Ani-10). As many as 2,38,991 voters, including 1,15,748, women figure in the voting list. The 56-Kulu Assembly constituency has the largest number of voters 83,472) in Himachal Pradesh. Electronic Voting Machines, to be used for the first time in the elections, have been kept at all tehsil-level offices for the general public to know about their working. Demonstrations for the use of EVMs have been fixed for January 29 at all tehsil and sub-tehsil offices in the district. |
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Anti-BJP drive
from Feb 1 Chamba, January 28 At a press conference near today, Mr Gupta said they were in contact with the leaders who had quit the BJP in other parts of the state and had appealed to them to gather on one platform to
wage a war against the
BJP, exposing the misdeeds of its leaders. He charged the Chief Minister Prof
P.K. Dhumal, his position. He alleged that the BJP was fanning out communalism in the name of religion and regionalism. It had divided the country into urban and rural areas for the sake of politics of vote, Mr Gupta alleged. He said “Sri Ram” did not belong to the BJP only but to everybody. He accused the party of arousing communalism. He said Mr Naresh
Mehta, former member of the state executive of the BJP and former district general secretary of the
BJP, along with his supporters had joined him in the fight against the wrong policies of the
BJP. |
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HP pensioners to
oppose BJP Hamirpur, January 28 The present BJP
Government had harmed the cause of the pensioners and as such the BJP
did not deserve its support, according to Mr B.D. Sharma, state
president of the sangh. In a statement here yesterday, he said
neither the Chief Minister nor the BJP chief had the time to listen to
the demands of the pensioners and that was the reasons that the sangh
had decided to oppose the BJP. Mr Sharma announced that any party,
excluding the BJP, which would announce its support to the demands of
the sangh and put their demands in its manifesto would be given
support in the Vidhan sabha elections. |
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Response
to Vishwas Yatra ‘encouraging’ Hamirpur, January 28 The encouraging response to the yatra showed that the people had acknowledged the contribution the party had made in various fields like power sector reforms, revenue laws, education, road network etc. |
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Nathpa unit trial run soon Shimla, January 28 A spokesman of the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (earlier called the Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation) said the corporation had planned to commission two 250 mw units by March 31. The work on the world’s largest four desilting chambers was also progressing steadily. Such chambers were being constructed for the first time in the world. The spokesman added that a Norwegian geotechnical expert had inspected the site and had detailed discussions with the project officials in this regard. |
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Sealing
of students’ body office decried Shimla, January 28 Mr Tikender Singh Panwar, state secretary of the DYFI, said the Vice-Chancellor, Mr S.D. Sharma, had been working at the behest of the ruling party and an RSS caucus was running the affairs of the university. Leaders of the SFI termed steps like the rustication of 23 students, including all four SCA members, and banning the entry of students on the campus as an attempt to curb democratic ways of protest. The SFI leaders said the Vice-Chancellor wanted to strengthen the ABVP by resorting to unfair means and was trying to stifle the voice of the federation. They said they would continue their agitation by highlighting the question-paper scam and recruitments through the backdoor by the university administration. |
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Dalit women
complain against police misconduct Nurpur, January
28 Meanwhile, the
SHO, Nurpur, clarified that a dispute between the complainants and three local villagers had taken place. Apprehending breach of peace in the village, the police had rounded up both disputing parties under Section 107/51 of the
IPC. He denied any misbehaviour with the Dalit women. |
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President’s medal for Kangra police chief Shimla, January 28 |
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