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Saturday,
March 29, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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AYODHYA CASE
Bukhari held near Kuwait Embassy
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Jains notified as minority Sonia accuses BJP of misusing religion Sonia flays US action in Iraq US-UK statement on Pak welcomed
Supreme Court criticises media
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AYODHYA CASE New Delhi, March 28 The notices were issued by the court on a petition filed by Mohd Aslam ‘Bhure’ seeking review of the Uttar Pradesh Government notification for the transfer of the trial. The apex court had upheld the state government’s order in November last after the Allahabad High Court had quashed the notification on technical grounds. A Bench comprising the Justice S. Rajendra Babu, Mr Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Mr Justice Arun Kumar issued the notices to the Uttar Pradesh Government, VHP top brass Vishnu Hari Dalmiya, Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Utttar Pradesh BJP president Vinay Katiyar, Madhya Pradesh BJP president Uma Bharti, former Faizabad District Magistrate Ravindranath Srivastava and SSP Devendra Bahadur Roy. On November 11, 2002, the Supreme Court said all the cases, along with the one against Mr Advani and others, should be tried in the special court at Rae Bareli, finding no fault with the notification to this effect issued by the state government. The Allahabad High Court had on technical grounds quashed a 1993 Uttar Pradesh Government notification, assigning the trial of the case against Mr Advani, Mr Joshi and Ms Bharti to a special court at Lucknow, which had framed charges against the accused persons. However, it had said that the state could issue a fresh notification curing the defects. The state, in its fresh notification, had assigned the trial to the special court at Rae Bareilly, saying that similar matters were pending there. The review petition, filed through counsel O.P.Sharma, said the court had overlooked the fact that the Rae Bareli court would have to start the trial of the eight accused afresh. |
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VHP to approach MPs on Ayodhya New Delhi, March 28 The VHP also threatened to resort to an agitation in the constituencies of those MPs, who oppose a legislation on the Ramjanambhoomi issue. “We would soon be launching a campaign in which we would approach each and every MP, including Muslim members, and would ask them to sign in the favour of a legislation to resolve the Ayodhya issue and we will resort to agitation in the constituencies of those who refuse to sign,” senior Vice-President of the VHP Acharya Giriraj Kishore told newspersons here. He, however, said the VHP had not yet decided on the date on which this campaign would be launched. Asserting that the temple issue could not be resolved through the court, Mr Kishore expressed unhappiness over the lack of initiative on the part of the Centre to resolve the issue speedily. Earlier, on the second day of the ‘satyagraha’ here, 8.000 activists of the VHP, especially youths, today courted arrest, demanding handing over of the “undisputed” land in Ayodhya town for the commencement of temple construction work. Prominent among those who courted arrest were Udipi Seer Madhvacharya Vishvesh Tirat, Mr Kishore, Mahant Avaidyanath of Gauraksha Peeth, BJP MP Jai Bhan Singh Pavaiyya and Sadhvi Kamlesh
Bharati. |
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Bukhari held near Kuwait Embassy New Delhi, March 28 The protesters raised slogans against Kuwait and the USA and broke through the police picket and barricades which had been erected near the embassy, in the diplomatic area of Chanakyapuri. Taking action against the protesters the police then arrested them. They were taken to Chanakyapuri police station and released later. Earlier, addressing the Friday congregation at the Jama Masjid, Bukhari accused Kuwait of facilitating the killing of hundreds of Muslims in Iraq and said that Allah and the Muslim world would never pardon Kuwait. He added that America’s barbaric attack on Iraq would not have been possible without Kuwait’s logistical support. |
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Jains notified as minority Lucknow, March 28 The decision was taken at a meeting here to fulfil the objectives of the UP Minority Commission Act, 1994. Till now, on the lines of the Central Government, the UP Government, too, had recognised five communities, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Parsis as minority communities.
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Sonia accuses BJP of misusing religion New Delhi, March 28 Inaugurating the first national convention of block presidents in the capital, Ms Gandhi said the Congress was against the division of society on the basis of religion. In her 40-minute address, Ms Gandhi accused the BJP of failing to provide security to the people and not implementing its poll promises. Pointing out that the Congress had always opposed religious fundamentalism and extremism, Ms Gandhi said secularism for the party meant equal respect for all religions. “I accept that Hindu dharma is very liberal and pluralistic,” Ms Gandhi said. Accusing the BJP of failing to check terrorism, Ms Gandhi said the Godhra incident and its aftermath, the attack on Akshardham and the Raghunath temple, the Kaluchak incident and the terrorist strike at Parliament had all taken place during the tenure of the BJP-led coalition. |
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Sonia flays US action in Iraq New Delhi, March 28 “If no solution is found to the situation in Iraq, it will be a defeat for humanity and threat will increase in other parts of the world,’’ Mrs Gandhi said, inaugurating the party’s national convention of block presidents. The action against Iraq needed to be condemned as it was against international law and traditions, she said calling for an immediate halt to the war. The United Nations had been totally sidelined, she said. Expressing solidarity with the innocent people of Iraq, Mrs Gandhi said they would be the “worst sufferers of this catastrophe’’. Senior party leader K Natwar Singh criticised the BJP-led coalition for its failure to “condemn” the US action despite demands from the opposition parties. |
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US-UK statement on Pak welcomed New Delhi, March 28 The statement by US Secretary of State Colin Powell and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw “is largely welcome”, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told newspersons here. “We understand from the US and UK governments that the statement was issued under instructions from President George W Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair who were meeting at Camp David,” he said. Apparently piqued by the strong attack by India on double standards in combating terrorism, Mr Powell and Mr Straw sent a tough message to Pakistan putting the onus on it to end cross-border terrorism while strongly condemning the massacre of 24 “innocent civilians” in Kashmir on Sunday. “Nothing can justify such a vicious and cowardly act,” the two leaders said. India in the last couple of days has been lashing out at some Western countries without naming anyone on their double standards in fighting terrorism in the context of the
US-led war on Iraq. “Violence will not solve Kashmir’s problems. Pending the resolution of these problems, the LoC should be strictly respected and Pakistan should fulfil its commitments to stop infiltration across it. Pakistan should also do its utmost to discourage any acts of violence by militants in Kashmir,” it said. |
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‘Devdas’ wins eight awards
Mumbai, March 28 While Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai bagged the awards for the ‘Best Actor’ and the ‘Best Actress’, respectively, for their roles in ‘Devdas’, the movie’s director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, was adjudged the ‘Best Director’. The award for the ‘Best Actor in a Supporting Role’ went to Sushant Singh for ‘The Legend of Bhagat Singh’, whereas, Antara Mali bagged the award for the ‘Best Actress in a Supporting Role’ for her role in ‘Company’. Ismail Darbar was declared the ‘Best Music Director’ for his compositions in ‘Devdas’. Dharmendra was presented with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, by his younger son Bobby Deol, Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherji. Akshaye Khanna received the award for the ‘Best Performer in a Negative Role’ for ‘Humraaz’, while the ‘Best Performer in a Comic Role’ was Paresh Rawal for ‘Awara Pagal Deewana’. The Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr Sushilkumar Shinde honoured actor and Union Minister for Shipping, Shatrughan Sinha, with a special award. Bollywood celebrities, including Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai, presented song items at the show hosted by Sajid Khan, Rahul Dev, Simone Singh and Tara Sharma.
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Supreme Court criticises media New Delhi, March 28 “I could not sleep for many days. I was so disturbed,” observed Chief Justice V N Khare during the hearing of a bunch of petitions, challenging the contempt proceeding initiated by the Karnataka High Court against 11 publications for “scandalising the judiciary” while reporting the incident without basis. The three-judge Bench, headed by Mr Justice Khare, observed that the newspapers concerned had caused immense damage to the judiciary by publishing stories on the alleged sex scandal without caring to verify the truth. A high-level judicial panel, headed by the Bombay High Court Chief Justice, in its report to the Chief Justice of India, gave a clean chit to the three judges saying that none of the correspondents could give any basis for linking the judges to the scandal. “I am anguished that the media has behaved totally irresponsibly. Are these people ready to come out with the truth? I will ask the judges to quit if they do so,” said Justice Khare. The Chief Justice said “I will reward the media if they come out with the truth. But by reporting without any basis, the media, instead of helping the judiciary, has damaged it”. The court then adjourned hearing on the bunch of appeals to April 28. |
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