The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Yet another NRI groom deserts wife
Kanchan Vasdev
Tribune News Service

Satwinder Kaur Jumb

Ludhiana, May 7
The glamour attached to foreign land blinded her so much that she solemnised her marriage ceremony with the picture of an NRI. Later, the NRI groom visited India, lived with her for a month and left for Canada, leaving her with a promise that he would soon fly her to the dreamland. But fate had something else in store for Shimla Puri-based, Satwinder Kaur Jumb.

Five years after her marriage, she was shaken out of her stupor by a fax message by a Canada based journalist, which stated that she had been divorced by her husband in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

All these years she had been hoping that she would unite with her husband one day or the other. She had even contacted some reporters of Canada through a local politician so that the news could help her find him.

Instead of getting in touch with him, she could only get access to the judgement of the court in which she was divorced ‘undefended’. She would not have known about it had the reporter concerned had not been considerate enough to fax her the entire judgement. Now she is at loss about what to do.

“When he left me, he promised that he would call me very soon. I was overcoming the pangs of separation caused by the border barriers when I discovered that his phone number no more existed. And I had called him on the same number at least a hundred times before marriage,” said a shaken Ms Satwinder Kaur, who is not only ruing her decision to marry him but also trying to gather the bits and pieces of her broken life.

What leaves her all the more miserable is the feeling of not being able to do anything about her husband, Mr Ashwini Kumar Mahmi, who gave her pain in the prime of her life. “More than being left alone to face the world, it is the hurt has made me a mental wreck. Despite my best efforts to forget him, memories of the past haunt me like a ghost. Can somebody tell me what should I do to teach him a lesson of his life?’’ she asked.

Following a marriage proposal by a middleman, Satwinder and her parents had decided to marry her to the NRI, who had some relatives in Ludhiana. The groom’s family insisted that she should marry immediately that too in the absence of her groom. Finally, it was decided that she would solemnise the ceremony with his picture only. She still maintains the photo album of the ceremony held in April 2000.

The groom visited India in July 2000 and ‘‘remarried’’ her so that the marriage could be registered. ‘‘We spent around Rs 10 to 12 lakh on the wedding. The entire expense was borne by my father by selling his agricultural land. He enjoyed our hospitality for a month as he said he would not like to go to his cousin’s house here. Then he left in August that year never to come back,” she said.

Now she is left to move from pillar to post to fight her battle. She has tried her luck in the local Marital Disputes Cell also but nobody is able to help her.

Rival groups come to blows as new DYC chief takes over
Vimal Sumbly
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 7
High drama was witnessed today during the taking over ceremony of the newly appointed president of the District Youth Congress, Mr Dimple Rana, as supporters of the ousted president, Mr Komal Khanna, shouted slogans, raised black flags and tried to prevent the ceremony from being conducted. The Punjab Youth Congress president, Mr Raminder Amla, was also present during the entire period.

Earlier, the supporters of Mr Rana brought him in a cavalcade of cars and a procession which started from his residence in Shivpuri to the Congress office at Clock Tower. After passing through various areas of the city, it reached the Congress Bhavan, where the supporters of Mr Khanna were already present. They started shouting slogans, “Sonia Gandhi zindabad, Capt Amarinder Singh zindabad and Raminder Amla murdabad.”

The supporters of the two leaders came to blows also. While the supporters of Mr Rana were carrying the party flags, those of Mr Khanna were holding black flags. Both the groups took no time in taking off the flags and using the staffs to attack each other. Several people belonging to both the groups were injured in the scuffle. One of them, Mr Inderjeet Singh, believed to be the supporter of Mr Khanna, was admitted to the Civil Hospital.

The supporters of Mr Khanna blocked the road outside the Congress Bhavan for some time. But they were removed from there by the police. They headed towards the Congress Bhavan, where the function was going on. After taking over, when Mr Rana tried to visit the adjacent Youth Congress office, he found it locked. His supporters tried to break open the lock, but again the scuffle prevented them from entering the office.

Both the groups levelled allegations against each other. The supporters of Mr Rana alleged that Mr Khanna had planned to disrupt today’s function with obvious motives. They claimed that despite grave provocation they exercised restraint and did not retaliate. “Otherwise, we could have taught them a better lesson”, said one of Mr Rana’s supporters.

On the other hand the supporters of Mr Khanna alleged that he was removed because he could not meet the “financial expectations” of some people in the party. They alleged that since he belonged to a “poor and ordinary family and had risen from the ranks by sheer hard work”, he could not grease anybody’s palms. However, they did not name anybody in particular.

Mr Raminder Amla maintained that the change in the DYC leadership was a routine process and nothing more should be read into it. He assured that Mr Khanna would be suitably adjusted in the party and in a better way. He said, Mr Khanna was a very hard working man and was an asset to the party.

He did not blame anybody for today’s ruckus, but said, it would certainly be referred to the Disciplinary Action Committee of the party so that the guilty are identified and dealt with severely.

Except for Mr Amla and some local Congress councillors, no senior party leader was present at the function. Even the District Congress Committee (Urban) president, Mr Jagmohan Sharma, and the local MLAs were conspicuous by their absence.

For them Mother’s Day brings pain, despair
Asha Ahuja

Ludhiana, May 7
Mother’s Day would only bring pain for scores of women who were deserted by their children. Instead of making them complete women, motherhood has left them devoid of their homes in the twilight of their lives.

As the world celebrates Mother’s Day on May 8, these unfortunate women, who are spending their life in old-age homes, are forced to think what wrong did they commit to their children that they preferred to desert them instead of taking good care of them in the sunset of life when they needed them the most.

The very mention of word ‘motherhood’ fills the inmates of Nishkam Senior Citizen Home and Vivekanand Senior Citizen’s Home with bitterness and hatred for their children. For they had given them the best of life, thinking they would stand by them through thick and thin. But forced to fight their battle all alone, these women, though frail, advise all women to take control of their lives.

For Krishna Wanti, Rewal Devi, Charanjit Kaur, Krishna Khanna, Suhag Rani, Ram Pyari, Kamla and Motia Rani and many more, there is no significance of “motherhood”, as they have been disclaimed and thrown out by their sons to fend for themselves.

Narrating their tale of woes, one after the other, these women recalled how they were thrown out by their children.

Motia Rani, an inmate, said she was thrown out as she and her husband were not able to build a house for their two sons. The sons said, “Had you built a house for us, we would not have to pay the rent and then we could have kept you”.

Charanjit Kaur staying in Nishkam speaks English fluently and has two sons staying in the USA . She also lived in the States but had to come back because her daughters-in-law considered her to be a “headache”. “I require a lot of medication , so my sons send the money but I do not know whether the wives are aware of it.”

Some mothers said their alcoholic sons beat them up, grabbed their money and made them homeless and then they had to find shelter in Homes. They said, “We are happy here as we live with dignity. We do not even have a ray of hope that our sons will take us home but neither do we want to go back to live a life heaped with indignities and insecurities.”

Mr Sarwan Singh, chairman of Nishkam, and Mr Ram Prakash of Vivekanana Ashram said, “Most of the times, the sons do not turn up to take their mothers. Not even when they are dead. We have to perform their last rites. At times they only take them away when there is a wedding in a family to avoid social stigma.”

Mr Sarwan said, “Mother’s Day has become a farce. Our society has changed. Children treat their dogs better providing them designer food and air conditioned comfort, but for parents, bathroom is good enough.”

But it is not that all sons and daughters are bad and at times the parents also fail to adjust with the changes, he quick add.

How wonderful it would be if the children continued to express their love for their mothers. After all God made mothers for he could not be everywhere.

Alleged narcotics smuggler commits suicide
Jupinderjit Singh and Ravi Inder Singh Makkar
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana/Machhiwara, May 7
A karyana merchant, facing charges of narcotics smuggling, of Sehbazpur village near Macchiwara committed suicide today after allegedly facing harassment at the hands of the local police who allegedly implicated him in a false case.

The victim, Ramesh Kumar (45) ate some poisonous substance today morning. He was rushed to a hospital by his brother, Mr Suresh Kumar, but he could not be saved. Mr Suresh Kumar has alleged that his brother was falsely implicated in a case of narcotics smuggling in January this year. He was under depression ever since. The Khanna police is already holding an inquiry into his complaint of false implication in the case.

SP-D Dilbagh Singh told reporters at Machhiwara that a high-level probe would be conducted in the case. The Machhiwara police has meanwhile, conducted proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPc.

SHO Balwinder Singh, accused of harassing and falsely implicating the deceased, denied the allegations. He said the man died because of a family problem. He claimed that the deceased wanted to sell his land while his brother, Suresh, had not permitted him to do so.

He said the deceased had not left any suicide note and the allegations levelled by the family was an afterthought. He said the case of narcotics smuggling was true and 10kg of poppy husk was recovered from him. The family has claimed there was no such dispute.

Tension gripped Machhiwara and Sehbazpur village following the death of the karyana merchant. SSP Khanna Pramod Ban also rushed to the site to cool tempers of the relatives of the deceased. He reportedly assured them that the guilty cops would be punished if indicted in the inquiry.

The family of the deceased was not satisfied with the police action. Mr Suresh Kumar has, in letters to senior police officials, demanded shifting of the SHO and registration of a case of abetment to suicide against the cops.

The complaint states that Mr Ramesh Kumar was falsely implicated in a case of narcotic smuggling after he had refused to give ration on credit or free of cost to certain cops. He was allegedly ‘ taught a lesson for saying no to the cops by being falsely booked in a case of poppy-husk smuggling’.

He alleged that SHO Balwinder Singh had also taken away Rs 28,000 from the karyana shop while taking away his brother. The SHO has termed the allegations as false.

Passing Thru

Mr Toshiki Hayashi, Managing Director, Daikin Airconditioning India Pvt

How important is the Indian market for Daikin?

India is a high potential market. Though currently the unorganised sector dominates the scenario, the future is not bleak for organised players. Even more encouraging is the fact that the premium segment is registering high growth rates.

What kind of growth rates has your company witnessed?

We started operations five years ago and have been witnessing an average annual growth of around 20-25 per cent. Our turnover last year was Rs 1,500 million and we are expecting it to cross Rs 5,000 million within the next five years.

While our market share in the premium segment is more than 50 per cent, in the overall market our share is around 10 per cent. Given the fact that India’s share in

your total turnover is barely 1 per cent, are you planning expansion?

We are looking at expansion within the premium segment. Besides, our emphasis would be on increasing the dealer network, the current number of which is around 200 across the country.

Govt fails to hand over land to rightful owners
Mahesh Sharma

Gujjarwal (Ahmedgarh), May 7
Successive governments in the state have failed to tell the Block Development Office at Pakhowal to hand over residential plots to their legal holders, who had been allotted pieces of land measuring 100 square yards each by the then Governor in 1975. Many of the beneficiaries have since expired and the mutations of revenue records stood in their names but the departments concerned could not explain who pocketed the income from the cultivation of the piece of land, measuring above 3 acres.

A perusal of the records at the said office revealed that 164 families of this village had been allotted plots for their rehabilitation in July 1975. The allotment certificates, since gathering dust in the files of the office, bear seal and signatures of the then BDO, put on the behalf of the Governor of Punjab.

Mr Avtar Singh, a rights activist and the state vice-president of the Bhai Jaita Baba Jiwan Singh Rangreta Federation, accused the authorities of ignoring the interests of poor families from lower strata of society.

“Instead of handing over the possession of plots to the legal holders or their survivors, the authorities kept on pocketing the income from the land for 30 years and there was record of the same,” said Mr Avtar Singh. He is anguished that the beneficiaries were not informed about the allotment even.

Demanding an inquiry into the incident, Mr Avtar Singh urged the Chief Minister to impress upon the authorities to identify the beneficiaries or their survivors and enable them put their feet on their own land.

Mr Harchand Singh, a former superintendent and a social activist of the village, wondered how the mutations were transferred in the names of the beneficiaries when they did not take the physical possession of their respective plots. He urged the higher authorities to conduct an inquiry and recover the income from the said land that accrued in three decades.

“The amount so recovered should be distributed among the legal holders so that they could construct house there,” suggested Mr Harchand Singh.

Bachan Singh, one of the allottees, said he along with other beneficiaries had been running from pillar to post to have the possession of his plot but to no avail. “It is an irony that I have been living in rented houses despite being owner of a plot,” sighed Mr Bachan Singh. He claimed that he could have bought his own plot with the money he wasted on the process to take possession of the land.

Mr Lakhvir Singh, sarpanch confirmed that the families concerned had been allotted these plots. “But none of them ever approached me or my colleagues in the civic body. We will help them take possession of their respective plots according to the khasra numbers mentioned in their allotment letters,” said the sarpanch.

The Block Development Officer showed ignorance about the issue and said he would search old records to know about the present position.

Restrain magician from showing animals in shows: AWBI
Tripti Nath
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 7
The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI),an autonomous body under the administrative control of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, has written to the District Collector of Ludhiana to restrain a magician from exhibiting unregistered animals in magic shows.

AWBI secretary R. Balasubramanian sent a letter to the District Collector of Ludhiana after receiving a complaint from the Ludhiana unit of People for Animals (PFA). In its complaint, PFA said that magician O.P. Sharma was using animals in magic shows without obtaining registration from AWBI.

In his letter to the District Collector of Ludhiana, Balasubranian has said ``We have received reports that O.P.Sharma is camping in Ludhiana and exhibiting animals in magic shows. As per the Performing Animals Registration Rules, 2001, notified under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, any person desirous of training, exhibiting or performing animals, should apply for registration to the prescribed authority, that is AWBI, and shall not train, perform or exhibit any animal without registering the animals under these rules. As required under the said rules, we have to get an inspection report before issuing necessary registration certificate. Since the registration certificate has not been received by the magic show, the magic company should be restrained from using animals for performing or exhibiting.''

Dr Sandeep Kumar Jain, president, PFA, Ludhiana, and former member of AWBI told TNS that AWBI registration is mandatory in case of performance, exhibition and training of animals for entertainment or commercial purpose.

Dr Jain said that the magician has got a month's sanction for holding magic shows in Ludhiana. ''He is using an elephant, seven pigeons, six dogs and three rabbits for his tricks.''

He explained that a person who wishes to perform, exhibit or train animals for entertainment or commercial purpose has to apply to AWBI for registration with a fee of Rs 500. In order to get registration, the applicant is required to fulfil several conditions.''Any person who keeps more than ten animals has to employ a veterinary doctor. Every month, he is required to send a status report on the health of the animals. He is also required to send record of birth and death of these animals to AWBI.''

Dr Jain said that he met the management of the O.P. Shrama Magico and tried to dissuade them from using animals in magic shows. He said that noted magician Samrat Shankar was booked in September 2003 under the Wildlife Protection Act for using a python in his shows. His associates were fined Rs 20,000 each. The python was seized and sent to Chattbir zoo.