Ahmedabad June 7
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Shiv Sena have decided to “ban” the entry of L.K. Advani into his constituency Gandhinagar till he apologised for his remarks lauding Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi recently.

Celebrating his resignation as the President of the BJP, cadres of the VHP and the Shiv Sena hit the streets of Ahmedabad, which is part of Mr Advani’s constituency, and set off fireworks. After several posters and banners appeared for the third consecutive day, hurling abuses at the former BJP chief, the Narendra Modi government asked the police to crack down on the protesters.

The VHP activists went on to “purify” a road which was inaugurated by Mr Advani last month. The chowk named ‘Gaurav Path’ was washed and holy water sprinkled on it before some the VHP activists chanted mantras. “Mr Advani’s resignation does not erase his insult to millions of Hindus,” the VHP said in an official statement here.

The VHP activists then attacked some BJP workers nearby and injured some of them. The police was then brought in to arrest them.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena activists put up posters abusing Mr Advani for returning to India. “He should have stayed on in Pakistan,” the banners said.

Incidentally, the Gujarat unit of the BJP is keeping mum on Mr Advani’s resignation. “We are still studying the situation”, Gujarat BJP President Vajubhai Vala told reporters.

New Delhi, June 7
Even as it termed Mr L.K. Advani’s resignation as an internal matter of the BJP, the Congress today sharpened its attack on former Deputy Prime Minister for attributing secular credentials to Mohammad Ali Jinnah, saying his controversial statements in Pakistan were aimed at an “image changeover” following the defeat in last Lok Sabha poll.

Congress General Secretary Ambika Soni said it was strange that the BJP leader, who often termed the Congress leadership “pseudo secular”, had hailed Pakistan founder Mohammmed Ali Jinnah as secular.

“The mask that was worn by Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee till now is sought to be donned by Mr Advani,” she said.

Ms Soni said it was ironic that the former Deputy Prime Minister found “the true meaning of secularism in the person of Jinnah”.

She said it was for the BJP to respond to Mr Advani’s resignation and for his “political bosses” in the RSS-VHP to decide whether to keep him in the post.

The Congress leader said Mr Advani was “not given to making ad hoc statements” and would have thought of an image change as the “religion-based politics of the BJP” had not paid political dividends in the Lok Sabha poll as also in the recent byelections.

The situation in the BJP could be the result of a “communication gap” between the former Deputy Prime Minister and the “Sangh Parivar bosses”, she said.

“Jinnah has compelled Advani to rethink of the political philosophy,” she said.

Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said Mr Advani’s attributing secular credentials to Jinnah was “astounding”, as the founder of Pakistan believed in two-nation theory and separate electorates, which was against the secularism of the country’s freedom movement.

Mr Singhvi said secularism of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru cannot be compared with Jinnah. “It is truly ironic and astounding that Mr Advani considers Jinnah as secular. Perhaps Mr Advani desires Jinnah’s brand of secularism,” he said.

Mr Singhvi said on the death of Gandhi, Jinnah referred to him as a Hindu leader. “One speech of June 11, 1947, does not make Jinnah secular,” he said.

The Left parties said Mr Advani’s resignation was a reflection of the deepening crisis in the BJP.

The CPM, CPI and the Forward Bloc said Mr Advani describing Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah as “secular” and the Sangh Parivar’s strong objection to it reflected their basic contradictions.

CPM senior leader Basudeb Acharya said the resignation could be a “tactical move” by Mr Advani in view of the Bihar Assembly elections.

He said Mr Advani’s utterances in Pakistan were nothing but a clever move to portray that he was secular and does not have a communal agenda.

Forward Bloc leader G. Devrajan said Mr Advani’s resignation proved that the party had lost the political direction.

CPI leader D. Raja said the resignation of Mr Advani was a reflection of the crisis in the BJP since it lost the last Lok Sabha elections.

“Ever since they were rejected by the people in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has been in deep crisis — ideological, political and organisational,” he said.

New Delhi, June 7
Activists of the ABVP, student’s wing of the BJP, today ransacked the high security Vigyan Bhavan, the venue of today’s meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE).

The activists, who stormed the conference centre, smashed glasspanes, broke flower pots and shouted slogans against HRD Minister Arjun Singh in protest against the new National Curriculam Framework.

An inkling of the shape of things to come was available right from the morning as education ministers from BJP-ruled states staged a walk-out of the morning session of the conference protesting the UPA government’s effort to change the curriculum and re-introduce “objectionable” portions which “distorted” history.

Hardly was the lunch break over when ABVP activists forced their way into the venue. After raising slogans against Mr Arjun Singh, they smashed the glass panes of the VIP entrance and went berserk, removing oil paintings and decoration pieces from the walls, throwing sofa cushions and shouting slogans such as “ABVP zindabad” and “Arjun Singh hai hai”.

When the police came after 15 minutes, they got all the more furious and raised more slogans as electronic media went on clicking their vociferous outbursts.

In the scuffle, some CPWD staff were injured.

The Central Advisory Board for Education (CABE) had met today to approve the new curriculum framework of the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT). — PTI

New Delhi, June 7
Sonal Mansingh was removed as chairperson of the Sangeet Natak Akademi by the government today and replaced with former Union Minister Ram Niwas Mirdha, bringing to an end the almost two-month long controversy raging in the country’s premier art institution.

Ms Mansingh, appointed the head of the akademi during the NDA regime, had been lately facing lot of criticism from her detractors in the body over her alleged “autocratic and undemocratic” style of functioning.

The resignations began in April with three government nominees-vice-chairman K.N. Pannikker, Savitri Heisnam and Balmurali Krishnan. Others, including Ajoy Chakraborty, Kamal Tiwari, G.S. Channy, B.Jaysree and Parvesh Sethi, who were members of the general council followed the suit.

The agitated artistes also wrote to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and complained to Information and Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy regarding the state of affairs in the institution.

The annual Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards, scheduled for May 13, were also postponed as a result of this eight-week-long imbroglio.

Mr Mirdha, who assumed office today, has handled various portfolios during the regimes of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, besides being associated with the culture and art-related activities and holding several positions in the field, he was the chairman of the Central Election Authority of the Congress till few months ago.

Mr Mirdha met akademi secretary Jayant Kastuar and other officials after he assumed charge. He, however, declined to comment on the issue or the future of the akademi.

New Delhi, June 7
The Chairman of Railway Board, Mr R.K. Singh, today, ordered the immediate suspension of the Divisional Engineer, Assistant Engineer and Senior Section Engineer of the Ratlam division of the Western Railway following the derailment of the Chittorgarh-Mhow passenger train on Monday.

Two persons lost their lives and 17 others were injured when the passenger train derailed. Another train reportedly derailed in Ratlam division on Tuesday morning. However, there were no casualties in the derailment, sources said.

Sources in Railway Ministry told TNS that the Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav, took stock of the situation and took a serious view of the incident at a meeting convened here on Tuesday afternoon . He expressed concern over the recent accidents and ordered immediate measures to rectify the situation.

A massive safety drive has been launched in the Indian Railway in order to tone up maintenance of assets as tracks, bridges, coaches, locomotives and wagons to minimise accidents.

Panaji, June 7
Pratapsinh Rane was today sworn in as Chief Minister of Goa by Governor S.C. Jamir, ending the three-month old President rule imposed in March after political crisis.

Rane was administered the oath of office and secrecy at a ceremony at Raj Bhavan attended by both Congress and opposition BJP leaders.

NCP state unit president Wilfred D’souza and lone MGP MLA Ramakrishna Dhavalikar were inducted into in the Cabinet.

Asked if he had been appointed as Rane’s deputy, D’souza said “I think so.” He also stressed that party’s other MLA, Mikky Pacheco also “had to be accommodated” in the Cabinet, inspite of the fact that the Congress has been non-commital on the issue.

AICC General Secretary and Goa in charge Margaret Alva, PCC chief Ravi Naik, former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and all BJP MLA’s attended the ceremony.

Rane belonged to one of Goa’s most well-respected families and represented the Poryem seat in the Assembly. He has been Chief Minister from 1980 to 1985, 1985 to 1989 then again for three months in 1990 when he was toppled by Churchill Alemao, signalling a start of defection era in Goan politics.

Although he became Chief Minister again after the general election in 1994, he was toppled again by his deputy Wilfred D’souza, a man who is now tipped for the same post again. — PTI

Kolkata, June 7
The CPM central committee meeting has approved Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s” line of inducting foreign investment”, which is similar to the UPA’s investment policy.

Accordingly, the CPM-ruled states will now have freedom to invite maximum private and foreign investment for industrial expansion and other development activities. The central committee, however, did not approve of the proposal of borrowing foreign aids for meeting Budget deficit and amending structural changes.

After the meeting, both Mr Bhattacharjee and the state Industries Minister, Mr Nirupam Sen, expressed great relief that their “ Bengal line” had been ultimately cleared. They were glad that there would be no further political resistance against any foreign investment in Bengal.

Mr Sen hoped several pending proposals of privatisation or closing down of state undertakings like Great Eastern Hotel, Angle India etc could be settled now with the financial assistance from the DFID, the ADB and the World Bank.

Side by side other development activities in the state would also go faster following rapid flow of funds from foreign countries. “We would now gradually follow the new line in power, agriculture, transport and housing sectors”, declared Mr Sen.

However, it had not been an easy process for obtaining the clearance of the “Bengal line” from the Politburo and the party’s central committee, politburo sources disclosed.

The party’s hardcore leadership headed by the newly-appointed general secretary, Mr Prakash Karat, had been strongly opposed to Mr Bhattacharjee’s line, which according to the CITU general secretary, Mr Chittabrata Majumdar, Mr Benoy Konar and Mr Sukumal Sen, has been “ a surrendering to the foreign capital and private investment”. The leaders and workers of the party from other states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar also had been openly criticising Mr Bhattacharjee’s industrial line.

But after Mr Bhattacharjee’s deliberation, which former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu had fully endorsed, the leadership had been forced to accept the Bengal line, realising the urgency of softening their hard line, said the party sources. 

Kohima, June 7
The military acumen of Nagas was an established fact since the days of British rule. Even now the Naga regiment in the Indian Army occupies a very revered position.

For a state, which nowadays is more known for its insurgency problem, there is a different kind of appreciation which came from an unexpected quarter.

The Government of Chhattisgarh has approached Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphu Rio to send a battalion of Naga elite force to assist it in its anti-Naxalite operation.

Talking to The Tribune Rio said he would respond positively to the request made by the Chhattisgarh Government.

A senior police official here disclosed that the Chief Minister planned, a final decision regarding which would be taken shortly to send 9 Indian Reserve Battalion (IRBN), the only battalion in the state with special counter-insurgency training and expertise in the jungle warfare.

Chhattisgarh had sought the help from Nagaland to combat the Naxalite menace through the Union Home Ministry. The ministry then forwarded the request to the Rio government.

Sources in the police said Nagas in general had a natural skill in the jungle warfare as was evident from their success in sustaining the battle with the Indian Army for more than four decade.

New Delhi, June 7
Nearly five lakh people who had migrated from the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) to Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 had not been provided any compensation for the loss of their properties either by the state government or the Centre till date, the Supreme Court has been informed in a PIL, that has raised the sensitive issue of “evacuees properties”.

While raising the issue of the alleged move by some PoK citizens, who had gone to the Pakistan-held Kashmir in 1947, to get back their properties in the state after they had come here on the opening up of the Srinagar-Muzaffrabad bus route, the PIL alleged that both Centre and the state government had just forgotten these five lakh migrants.

“Even after 57 years, these migrants have been living in worst social and economic conditions.” They may be between 400,000 and 500,000 persons and have not been provided any relief or compensation for the loss of their properties by the Government of India,” the PIL by the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) has informed the court, which issued notices to the Centre and the state government recently.

The Jammu and Kashmir Advocate-General Altaf H. Naik though had given a categorical undertaking to the court that there was neither any move to restore the properties to the evacuees, who had migrated to PoK following the 1947 developments, nor any application had been received by the authorities concerned from any of the tourist from the Pakistan-held Kashmir, coming in the Muzaffrabad-Srinagar bus.

The PIL, however, said that only about 1.5 lakh families out of the five lakh migrants from PoK were settled on the properties of those who had migrated to PoK of their free will following the developments of 1947.

Properties of several thousands people, forced to flee from their homes by the Pakistani forces then, had been appropriated in the PoK, particularly for the construction of Mangal dam project. The petitioner has sought a “comprehensive” scheme for the settlement of the PoK migrants, a majority of whom were staying in the Jammu region for the past 57 years.

Unlike Jammu and Kashmir, there was no law in the PoK, which protected the interests of migrants in their properties. On the other hand, the state government had passed the “Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Permit for Resettlement in (or permanent return to) the State Act, 1992”, facilitating the restoration of the “evacuees properties” to those who had migrated to the PoK of their free will. The implementation of the Act, had, however, been stayed by the Supreme Court on November 11, 2002, after the same was also challenged by the Panthers Party.

The PIL has also raised the issue of Kashmiri Pandits, who were also forced to leave the valley after militancy, leaving behind their homes, land and other properties.

“It is in the interest of peace initiatives and to promote the jurisprudence of the confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan that no such act (return of properties) should be permitted,” the PIL has contended.

New Delhi, June 7
The SGPC chief Jagir Kaur today apprised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of yesterday’s developments at the Golden Temple in which some radical Sikh organisations raised separatist slogans on the anniversary of Operation Bluestar.

Talking to reporters later, Bibi Jagir Kaur said the SGPC delegation informed the Prime Minister about yesterday’s events at Akal Takht. She said the incident had hurt the sentiments of the devotees who had gathered there.

The SGPC chief said a memorial would be built outside the Golden Temple Parikrama to those killed in Operation Bluestar.

Referring to attempts made yesterday to put boards on a part of the Akal Takht building, she said the SGPC was an elected organisation that administers historical shrines and memorials could not be created by anyone by placing boards.

Bibi Jagir Kaur said the SGPC apprised the Prime Minister of its demands regarding the maintenance of historical gurdwaras in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The SGPC chief sought the government’s intervention in resolving the turban issue in France to the satisfaction of the Sikh community.

She also urged the PM to remove obstacles in the way of the SGPC getting funds.

On moves for a separate Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee for Haryana, Bibi Jagir Kaur said they told the Prime Minister that it was “unconstitutional.”