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Monday,
March 10, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Former Hurriyat chief sheltered Pak militant Mirwaiz strikes hardline posture Christians to move court over survey Apex court’s ruling on sick units
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State Cong chiefs
hold meeting
Decision on EC’s order soon Check spread of TB, says Feachem
Sarna in soup over parking lot move
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Former Hurriyat chief sheltered Pak militant New Delhi, March 9 The militant, Mohammed Asgar alias Showkat Khan, a resident of Multan in Pakistan, revealed during his interrogation that he had received a bullet injury during an encounter at Bandipore, official sources said. They said Showkat Khan, after receiving the first aid, was shifted to a hospital in Srinagar under a different name. However, unable to recover completely and with the fear of getting arrested looming large, he was taken by Syed Ahmed Talah, divisional commander of Al-Badar, to the residence of former Hurriyat Chairman. Talah held talks with a close associate of the Hurriyat Chairman after which Showkat Khan stayed at his residence for a fortnight during which the close aides of the former conglomerate chief provided him with medicines and dressed his wounds. The militant revealed that during his stay he also came to know that Hafeez Ahsan Ali, the then chief commander of Al-Badar, was also staying at his residence, they said. The sources said there were some intelligence inputs earlier suggesting that Hurriyat Conference leaders were providing shelter to militants but this was the first case where a militant had revealed it. The sources said that Showkat Khan was later shifted to the Anchar lake area of Srinagar. Later, after he expressed his desire to go back to Pakistan, Showkat Khan was taken to Jammu with the help of a local contact from where he shifted to Kolkata, the sources said adding that he was to cross over to Bangladesh before going to Islamabad. However, he ran short of luck and was arrested from the metropolis. He revealed that he was a worker at a bakery in Multan and was lured into militancy by ISI operatives in the region on the promise of “handsome money”, the sources said. He received training at Mansehra office of the Al-Badar. Meanwhile, efforts to seek reaction from Hurriyat could not fructify as no one was available for comments.
PTI |
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Mirwaiz strikes hardline posture New Delhi, March 9 Speaking at a rally organised by the Jamiat-ul-Hind here, the Mirwaiz said the government was projecting the entire Muslim community of Jammu and Kashmir as militants and a community opposed to peace. “But if our religious institutes are banned, they are subjected to intense scrutiny and closed down in the garb of so-called national interest, then let me make it clear, such a policy is not acceptable to people in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said. Alleging that a concerted effort was being made by the BJP-led Central Government to “systematically” close down madrassas (Islamic religious schools), he said: “These schools provide a place for Muslim boys and girls to read and become literate. It seems that the government in New Delhi does not want that Muslims should become literate.” Earlier, the Hurriyat leader told PTI that he had formed the Muttahida-Majlis-e-Ulema
(MMU) in Jammu and Kashmir to protest the alleged attacks on the Muslim educational institutions. He said the MMU, which has so far managed to rope in nearly 60 organisations from Jammu and Kashmir, would counter the campaign launched by the Sangh Parivar outfits like the VHP and Bajrang Dal. During his speech, the Hurriyat leader chose not to rake up the Kashmir issue but made only a passing reference that it was a political one and would be solved by talks. This was the first public speech by the Mirwaiz after his passport was revoked by the Centre in January last on charges of using his visits abroad for anti-national activities. “I will not rake up the issue of Kashmir here as otherwise the Centre would accuse us of misleading Muslims of the rest of the country,” the Mirwaiz said. Complimenting Maulana Asad Madani for organising such a congregation, the former Hurriyat Chairman said: “When it comes to the issue of attacking our religious institutions, Muslims from Jammu, Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country will rise and prevent it.” Attacking the decision of the government on banning the Anjuman-ul-Nusrat-e-Islamia (ANI), which was being run by his family, he termed it as “biased” and “anti-people”. Meanwhile, the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid today came down heavily on the Congress and other “so-called secular” parties for turning a blind eye to the minority community and urged the Muslim community to form a separate part to protect their interests. In the presence of a visibly embarrassed Congress leader Arjun Singh at the rally, Imam Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari questioned the policy of secularism followed by the Congress. “What secularism are you and your president (Sonia Gandhi) talking about?”, he asked. He said it was the Congress which triggered the Ayodhya controversy and the Babri Masjid was demolished during the Congress regime at the Centre. Moreover, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were orchestrated by the Congress, he said.
TNS, PTI |
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Christians to move court over survey Ahmedabad, March 9 The council has submitted a memorandum to the state Dirtector-General of Police alleging that the police was conducting a survey on Christians — individuals and organisations in the state — about their activities, size of the family, source of income and foreign fundings. The Director-General of Police, Mr K. Chakravarthy, told reporters that “I have received a memorandum from the AICC about a discreet survey on the community and am looking into the matter. No such survey has been ordered. However, it will be inquired if any such activity has taken place at lower levels. Sources in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) of the state told PTI today that “the police could have conducted surveys to find out if any recent forcible conversions had taken place in the state in view of the Anti-conversion Bill expected to be tabled in the Vidhan Sabha”. “No inquiry or survey on Christians as such has taken place, but general survey is conducted from time to time. The police has no business as to which religion any person is following. But if any forcible conversion has taken place in the state in view of the Anti-conversion Bill, the police would look into the matter based on any complaint, IB sources said. Father Cedric Prakash of the United Christian Forum for Human Rights here told PTI that the AICC had decided to move a petition in the Gujarat High Court against the survey soon. Father Prakash alleged that in the past five days several such surveys were conducted at the homes of Christian families in the state, including his house and office here. Surveys were also conducted at other Christian organisations in Ahmedabad, Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and Kutch districts of the state, Father Prakash said. The matter had been handed over to the legal adviser for filing a writ in the state high court soon, he said. Meanwhile, Banaskantha District Superintendent of Police C.R. Parmar told PTI over phone that “I do not know of any such survey orders or any instructions from higher authorities and no such activity has taken place in my district.
PTI |
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Apex court’s ruling on sick units New Delhi, March 9 Earlier, taking shelter under Section 29 of the SFC Act, the corporations used to secure their credit by selling the mortgaged assets of a sick company without even approaching the high court during the pendency of winding up proceedings. Obliterating conflicting judgements given by various high courts on this issue, an apex court Bench, comprising Mr Justice Ruma Pal and Mr Justice B.N. Srikrishna, said: “No doubt Section 29 of SFC Act was intended to place SFCs in a better footing. But, in our view, this better footing is available so long as the debtor is not a company or is a going company.” Once a winding up order was made in respect of a debtor company, provisions of Sections 529 and 529-A of the Companies Act come into play and whatever superior rights had been ensured under the SFC Act would be subjected to operate only in conjunction with the special rights given to the workmen represented by official liquidator, the Bench said. “We, are therefore, of the view that the unhindered right hitherto available to the SFCs to realise their security, without recourse to the court, no longer holds true as the right vested in the official liquidator is a statutory impediment to such exercise and has to be reckoned with,” Mr Justice Srikrishna, writing for the Bench, said. The apex court said since the official liquidator could do nothing without the leave or concurrence of the court, all necessary applications for settlement of security, including those from SFCs, “must, therefore, come to the Company Court.” When the court was told about possible conflict between the provisions of the SFC Act and the Companies Act if such a ruling was given, the Bench brushed it aside saying since the rights under Section 29 of the SFC Act were not intended to operate in the situation of winding up of a company “we do not really see a conflict.” Crystallising the points of ruling by the apex court, the Bench said: “The right unilaterally exercisable under Section 29 of the SFC Act is available against a debtor, if a company, so long as there is no order of winding up.” “The SFCs cannot unilaterally act to realise the mortgaged properties without the consent of the official liquidator representing workmen ...”. “If the official liquidator does not consent, the SFCs have to move the Company Court for appropriate directions to the official liquidator.” “In any event, the official liquidator cannot act without seeking directions from the Company Court and under its supervision,” the Bench added.
PTI |
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State Cong chiefs
hold meeting New Delhi, March 9 Senior Congress leaders here indicated that the two-day meeting would be used to inform the block chiefs on the party’s stand on the larger political issues . Besides interacting on problems faced by the farmers, the two-day meeting will deliberate on issues like women’s empowerment, economic problems and the party’s response to the “communal policies’’ of the BJP. Today’s meeting of the PCC chiefs is being attended by Congress general secretaries and CWC members. The PCC chiefs will tomorrow interact with their general secrtaries regarding details of the block chiefs convention. The PCC chiefs have been asked to give names of block Congress chiefs who will speak at the convention. The idea of national convetion of block leaders was floated by Congress President Sonia Gandhi about four years back. Around 6,000 Congress leaders from all parts of the country are expected to attend the convention. District Congress chiefs will also attend the two-day convention which will provide an opportunity for the grassroot office-bearers of the party to interact with the Congress president. The convention is being seen as part of Congress preparations for the November elections in five states and the Lok Sabha elections next year. Coming in the backdrop of Congress victories in Himachal Pradesh and
Meghalaya, the meeting is part of Congress efforts to take to the grassroots its response to the BJP’s Hindutva campaign. Talking to The Tribune, Punjab PCC chief
H.S. Hanspal said the two-day convention would go a long way in further activating the block Congress chiefs. |
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Decision on EC’s order soon Bhopal, March 9 Mr Digvijay Singh’s first reaction was that these were “printing errors” and that the senior IAS officers could not be held responsible for these. He reportedly assured the IAS officers that he was not obliged to abide by the recommendations of the Commission. He is expected to take a decision in the matter in consultation with the Chief Secretary, Mr A.V.Singh, and the Chief Electoral Officer, Mr D.S.Mathur, in a day or two. After a month-long scrutiny, the Commission has cancelled the voters’ lists in 41 Assembly constituencies and ordered preparation of the lists afresh. A revision of the lists in the remaining 189 constituencies has also been ordered. Documentary evidence of discrepancies in the lists was submitted to Election Commission officials in New Delhi on February 3 by a BJP delegation, comprising senior party leaders. Falsification of the rolls was done with such indiscrimination that nearly 1,300 voters were shown residing in a four-room house in Mangavan constituency (Rewa district) of the Speaker, Mr Shreenivas Tiwari. In the Kasravad constituency (Khargone district) of the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Subhash Yadav, at several places there are more voters than the total population of those villages. One voter in Khargone has been entered into 86 places. |
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Check spread of TB, says Feachem Dehra Dun, March 9 Speaking to reporters yesterday, after meeting the Chief Minister , Mr N.D. Tiwari, Professor Feachem said the prevalence of tuberculosis not only in Uttaranchal but also in other parts of the country posed a major challenge and that his organisation would assist all government as well as non-government efforts to combat the disease. He said among other things, his organisation in coordination with the Union Government, would also assist the strings of sanatoriums situated across the mountain regions in the country to have an access to modern gadgets. The programme, in a decentralised format, will be implemented shortly. |
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Sarna in soup over parking lot move New Delhi, March 9 Seventeen members shot a notice to Mr Sarna, a businessman, asking him to call a General House meeting over his commissioning the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to build an underground car parking outside Delhi's historic Bangla Sahib Gurdwara. The notice came yesterday as the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Parkash Singh Badal drove down to the Delhi home of his former party colleague Gurcharan Singh Tohra in what was seen as a unity move between the two warring leaders. ''Akalis in the past have even rejected government reconstruction of the Akal Takht, the seat of Sikh temporal authority, after it was damaged in Operation Blue Star,'' said signatory Manjit Singh, son of slain Akali leader Jathedar Santokh Singh. He recalled how the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had pulled down the government-constructed structure and raised it again with its own resources in a potential sign of Sikh rejection of government interference in religious affairs. Mr Sarna came under fire when Union Urban Development Minister Ananth Kumar laid the foundation stone of the controversial car parking earlier this year. The SAD (B) Secretary General and union minister Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, who has even lodged a protest with his Cabinet colleague Ananth Kumar for his having laid the foundation stone of the proposed NDMC-built garage, has also described Mr Sarna's decision as a ''sinful sell-off of Sikh religious assets''. Disapproval echoed even in the Tohra camp, which had backed him last year during DSGMC general elections that swept him to office. Tohra aide and SGPC member Harinderpal Singh said his political mentor too would oppose any kind of government interference in Sikh religious affairs. UNI |
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