W O R L D

US: visa issue hasn’t hit ties with India
Washington’s denial of a visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has not put a crimp in U.S.-India relations, the Bush administration insisted on Monday. “The issue of this visa, frankly, I think, should be separated entirely from the broader issue of U.S.-India relations,” State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters in Washington.

Annan includes warning in reform package
United Nations, March 22
Presenting his sweeping plan to bolster the UN's influence and effectiveness, Secretary
-General Kofi Annan warned on Monday that the reform package was the world body's best - and perhaps last - chance for renewal. But even as he offered his proposal, resistance was already surfacing. 

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan addresses the General Assembly in New York on Monday.
— Reuters photo

Student kills 9, shoots self in USA
Bemidji (Minnesota), March 22
A high school student shot dead nine persons and then killed himself on Monday at Minnesota's Red Lake Indian Reservation in the worst school shooting since the 1999 Columbine massacre, the authorities said.

Islamic body raises K-issue at Geneva
London, March 22
Islamabad’s criticism of New Delhi’s rights record in Kashmir was raised by Shamim Shawl of the International Islamic Federation of Student Organisations at the 61st session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.

US: visa issue hasn’t hit ties with India
Ashish Kumar Sen writes from Washington

Washington’s denial of a visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has not put a crimp in U.S.-India relations, the Bush administration insisted on Monday.

“The issue of this visa, frankly, I think, should be separated entirely from the broader issue of U.S.-India relations,” State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters in Washington.

“It is a specific case dealing with a specific visit. It has nothing to do with bilateral relations. It has nothing to do with our close partnership and good friendship with India. It is a technical matter related to a visa application,” he added.

Mr Modi said last week that the denial of a U.S. visa to him was an insult to India.

Mr Ereli countered: “One should not make more of this decision [on Mr. Modi’s visa] than it is. It’s a decision based on the application - based on the interpretation of law with respect to a specific request for a visa. It is not a reflection of our views of the government of Gujarat or the people of Gujarat or a reflection of our bilateral relations.”

To the contrary, he added, “what I will tell you is that we are deeply appreciative of the role that both the BJP and the Vajpayee government have played in opening the way for positive transformation of U.S.-Indian relations.”

Sanjay Puri, Chairman of the Virginia-based U.S.- India Political Action Committee, said, however, that the State Department’s decision to revoke Mr Modi’s visa was “a setback to U.S.-India relationship.”

“Mr Modi is a controversial figure in India and a number of cases against him are making their way through the Indian legal process. Until those cases reach a resolution, Mr Modi is still a duly elected representative of a large Indian State and our government should be showing deference to India’s democracy and rule of law,” Mr Puri said.

The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi on Friday revoked Mr Modi’s U.S. visa on grounds of his alleged complicity in violations of religious freedom during the Gujarat riots in 2002.

Mr Puri said, “This is an unsound application of what is certainly a well intentioned Act (Section 212 (a)(2)(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act). It sets a bad precedent that will not serve the U.S. well. The Act was clearly not designed to prohibit entry of duly elected political leaders of pluralistic democratic allies, regardless of how controversial or unpopular these leaders may be — not before a formal judicial finding of personal culpability. The tragic events that are part of the history of Gujarat cannot be denied. At the same time, it is inappropriate and a misguided policy for the State Department to prematurely and unilaterally apply such a censure to Gujarat Chief Minister Modi.”

Mr Ereli defended the State Department’s decision saying the visa that Mr Modi applied for was not given “because the purposes of his visit did not coincide with the type of visa that he was requesting and also an existing visa was revoked because under the terms of our law the person in question did not qualify for a visa, given his involvement in — or not his involvement — given the findings of Indian commissions in investigating actions or lack of actions by state institutions and religious conflict in Gujarat state.”

The State Department on Monday reaffirmed its original decision to revoke Mr Modi’s visa.

Meanwhile, Nishrin Hussain, daughter of Congress leader and former member of Parliament Ahsan Jafri who was slain in the Gujarat riots, said supporters of Mr Modi have painted the U.S. denial of visa as a slap not just in the face of Mr Modi, but the whole country.

“This is indeed a slap in our face. It is because we as a democratic country with strong values and a competent constitution and judiciary have failed to slap him despite knowing fully well his guilt, his culpability and his crimes against humanity. Someone else had to do it for us,” said Mrs Hussain, a resident of Delaware.

“If Modi or his partners in Gujarat genocide ever set foot on the U.S. soil, I will personally slap them with a lawsuit of my own,” Mrs Hussain warned. “That’s a promise.”

Annan includes warning in reform package
Maggie Farley

United Nations, March 22
Presenting his sweeping plan to bolster the UN's influence and effectiveness, Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned on Monday that the reform package was the world body's best - and perhaps last - chance for renewal. But even as he offered his proposal, resistance was already surfacing.

The plan, crafted by teams of experts over more than a year, is designed so that for every move that seems to infringe on a nation's interests, there is an offering that is appealing. For example, for every boost for the developing world, such as help fighting AIDS or greater funding from wealthy nations, there is a corresponding strategy to stem corruption or improve governance in the poor countries.

Annan asked the 191-member countries to consider the package as a whole, not ‘‘a la carte,’’ and urged their leaders to adopt it in September at the UN's 60th anniversary summit.

‘‘I'm not saying that it is going to be easy,’’ Annan said. But, he continued, ‘‘I believe that, as difficult as it is, the majority of the member states will come to conclude that what is on the table is in their long-term interest.’’

Perhaps the most controversial aspects of the package are the two proposed options for expanding the Security Council.

— By arrangement with the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post

  Student kills 9, shoots self in USA

Bemidji (Minnesota), March 22
A high school student shot dead nine persons and then killed himself on Monday at Minnesota's Red Lake Indian Reservation in the worst school shooting since the 1999 Columbine massacre, the authorities said.

Among the dead at Red Lake High School was a male security guard, a female teacher and at least six students, including the gunman, the FBI said. At least 12 others were wounded in the carnage.

Before arriving at the school, the gunman shot dead his grandfather, identified as veteran tribal police officer Daryl "Dash" Lussier, and Lussier's girlfriend at their home in Red Lake village. — Reuters

Judge ‘snaps’ lifeline of ailing woman

Tampa (Florida), March 22
A US federal judge today refused to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube, denying an emergency request from the brain-damaged woman’s parents.

The ruling by US District Judge James Whittemore comes after feverish action by President George W. Bush and the Congress on legislation allowing her contentious case to be reviewed by federal courts.

The judge said the 41-year-old woman’s parents had not established a “substantial likelihood of success” at trial on the merits of their arguments. — AP

Islamic body raises K-issue at Geneva

London, March 22
Islamabad’s criticism of New Delhi’s rights record in Kashmir was raised by Shamim Shawl of the International Islamic Federation of Student Organisations (IIFSO) at the 61st session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.

In her speech before the session, Shawl claimed that the right to self-determination, which was the cornerstone of the U.N. Charter, had been accorded to the people of Kashmir, both under the U.N. Security Council resolutions and the 1946-47 Partition Plan of the subcontinent, but the Kashmiri on the Indian side were still without their basic human rights. “The Kashmiri people are convinced that India is not sincere and may never honour its commitments the U.N. Security Council, and those made to the Kashmiri people and Pakistan bilaterally,” Shawl said. — ANI