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I’m not interested in interfering in SGPC,
Chandigarh, June 25 In an exclusive interview with The Tribune here yesterday, the Chief Minister not only talked about the steps taken by his government to fulfil promises the ruling Congress had made in its election manifesto but also the reasons for a series of attacks on him not only by the Opposition — the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party — but also by UPA partner Communists and a minute section in the party. “I am not a fool to project Mr Mann as a parallel centre of power in Sikh politics. He only talks about treason and sedition. How can I support or project a man who is unstable? The state would love to keep him behind bars till he learns to behave,” says Capt Amarinder Singh, maintaining that he had not met him for a long time now. “I would have met him at the engagement of his daughter,
Nanki, last month, but unfortunately I was away to Canada at that time. I am very fond of his children as they get on well with my children.” Coming to Akali politics, he says that he knows and understands the Shiromani Akali Dal much better than many others as “I remained a part of them (Akalis) for 14 years. I have neither any interest in them nor any intention of interfering in their affairs. “Their criticism relating to my government’s interference in Sikh religious affairs is baseless and meaningless. Why should the Punjab Government or the Congress interfere in the working of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee? But at the same time how can I help it if major historic events, including the 500th birth anniversary of Guru Angad Dev, the 300th anniversary of the martyrdom of Sahibzadas and Mata Gujri, and the 300th anniversary of Guru Granth Sahib’s installation as well as the 300th anniversary of the 40 Muktas, happen during my tenure? The state government was duty bound to participate in all these historic events in a befitting manner. We did that. Similarly, we also celebrated the centennial birth anniversary of Bhagat Kabir. “Sikh historic events are the monopoly of neither the SGPC nor the Shiromani Akali Dal.” Says Capt Amarinder Singh: “The Akalis have been desperate because of our government’s concerted campaign against corruption. Since many of the Akali leaders, including Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and members of his family are facing serious corruption charges, they always work to seek my ouster. We will continue to honour whatever commitments or promises, including the fight against corruption, we made in our last election manifesto.” He claims that people are “aware of the nefarious designs of the Opposition. My government enjoys tremendous credibility as it has delivered the promised things. It is performance and credibility which will return us to power again in 2007.” The Chief Minister maintains that the state leadership of the Communist Party of India has been unhappy with him primarily because both its legislators in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha left the party to join hands with the ruling party. Another reason could be the proximity of the CPI leadership to dissidents in the Punjab Congress Legislature Party (CLP). Ruling out the possibility of any changes in the Council of Ministers in the near future, he maintains that the CLP stands united under his leadership. “The government will embark on various development projects in the coming 18 months and fulfil the remaining promises,” Capt Amarinder Singh concludes. (The
second part of the interview will appear tomorrow)
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Octroi to go soon: Singla
Sangrur, June 25 Disclosing this here today, Mr Surinder Singla, Finance Minister, Punjab, said after the imposition of VAT there could be no local tax. As octroi was a local tax so it had to go in the new regime of VAT very shortly, he added. Mr Singla said the state government would now find alternatives to meet the losses to be occurred after the abolition of octroi. He also claimed that there had been no financial crisis for the past 10 months in the state as the state government had not availed the overdraft facility. Besides salary, pension and other bills were being cleared in time by the government. He said the development was also taking place in the state nowadays, as funds, earmarked in the budget, were being released without any delay. With regard to non-distribution of pensions among old-age persons, widows, disabled persons, etc by the Social Security Department, Mr Singla said funds were being regularly released to the Social Security Department for distributing pensions. If pensions were not being released to beneficiaries in time, then the Deputy Commissioners and officers of the Social Security Department in their districts were responsible, he added. Speaking about the power crisis in the state, Mr Singla said the state had purchased electricity worth Rs 452 crore from other states and institutions in this season so far while electricity worth Rs 10 to Rs 12 crore, was being purchased daily from Kerala, the NTPC, etc. He said the state government was trying to install new power projects in the state. He hoped that two units of Lehra Mohabat Thermal Plant of 210 MW each might be commissioned next year. Mr Singla also stated that the Bathinda refinery might start functioning in two or three years as per an information of an Additional Secretary, Petroleum, Government of India.
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Badal dares Amarinder
Chandigarh, June 25 Mr Badal was reacting to Capt Amarinder Singh’s press conference in Chandigarh yesterday in which the Chief Minister was reported to have said almost all gurdwaras had Khalistani posters and that this did not mean that he (the Chief Minister) would stop going there. Mr Badal said those remarks were made with the twin objective of justifying his deliberate choice of the Dixie Road gurdawara as the only religious place to visit in Canada and to “revive the old Congress strategy of painting all Sikh gurdwaras as hotbeds of Khalistani and terrorist ideology”. Mr Badal said the Chief Minister should apologise to the Sikh masses for the remarks. The Akali leader said people of Punjab had seen a total confusion in the Congress and government ranks over almost every major issue, “ but the Chief Minister’s visit to the gurdwara takes the cake”. He asked Capt Amarinder Singh and the Congress to make up their minds on sensitive issues concerning the Sikhs. The SAD chief said declarations of Chief Minister’s resolve to maintain peace in the state had no meaning as “he was resorting to lies to prove it. The Chief Minister cites Hawara’s arrest as proof of his government’s resolve to maintaining peace forgetting that the militant had been roaming freely in Punjab for years and finally it was the Delhi police which arrested him.” The Chief Minister’s perceptions differed vastly from those of his police. “The police is on an indiscriminate arrest spree while the Chief Minister claims that there has been no rise in the militant activity in the state. At the same time, while he adds that more and more youth have turned to lawlessness and separatist indoctrination because of unemployment, he ridicules one of his most trusted SSPs for exaggerating figures on militant activity. This government is full of contradictions,” he added. The only truth that the Chief Minister spoke at the press conference was about his inability to handle the crisis on the power front. The Akali leader also wanted to know the truth behind the controversy surrounding threat to life of Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.
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Report on education reforms by July 15
Sangrur, June 25 Ms Bhattal, talking to mediapersons at a marriage palace where she inaugurated a seminar on “Agricultural development through cooperatives” here today said BDPOs of the state should hold meetings with the panchayats of their respective areas so that a true picture of the schools could emerge. She said they should also send their reports about the absence of teachers and students from the schools, besides other education and infrastructure related issues. She said in its report for reforms in primary education, the committee had recommended the recruitment of 12,000 teachers in primary schools on a regular basis. The committee had also expressed its anxiety over the increasing dropout rate of students from primary schools. The committee had also recommended that young teachers should be recruited in primary schools, mostly from local areas, so that they could understand the psyche of the children. About Jagtar Singh Hawara, chief of the Babbar Khalsa International, she said an inquiry would be held to find lapses at the intelligence level. She said she would give her opinion about it to the Chief Minister. She declined to comment on the issue of Capt Amarinder Singh’s visit to the Dixie gurdwara in Toronto recently. Ms Bhattal said in the PMT paper leak case, nobody would be spared. She said the government would also not hesitate to initiate action against the police officer said to be involved in the case.
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Hawara aide’s house raided
Rajpura, June 25 A vigilant neighbour, who noticed some unidentified persons scaling the boundary wall of Santokh Singh’s house, informed other neighbours of the locality. Suspecting the cops, who were in plain cloths, as robbers, Mr Suchha Singh, a relative of the suspect, took out his double-barreled gun and fired in the air. Following the firing of shots, the cops gave up and informed Mr Suchha Singh, a Nihang, of being police personnel from Sangrur who were in the town to conduct a raid on the house owned by Mr Santokh Singh. According to eyewitnesses, about 20 police personnel, in plain cloths, reached the mohalla in two vehicles including a car at about 1 .45 am. They told the villagers that some aides of the
The cops reportedly claimed that certain aides of Hawara disclosed during interrogation that the BKI chief also stayed at Santokh Singh’s house during his hiding. The eyewitnesses also revealed that the policemen of raid reached the first floor of the house and woke up Mr Ramesh Kumar and Mr Swarn Singh, tenants of the house owner. The cops then accompanied Mr Swaran Singh to the house of Mr Amir Singh, father of the suspect in Bhatta Luxam Das locality. After queering Mr Amir Singh and his son, Mr Jaswinder Singh, about the whereabouts of Santokh Singh and his wife Jaswinder Kaur, the CIA staff team also searched their house. Mr Amir Singh told the cops that Santokh Singh had been to the Hemkunth Sahib along with his some friends and family members while his wife was at her maternal house in Matthi village in Fatehgarh Sahib district. The cops then took Mr Jaswinder Singh to the house of Mr Santokh Singh’s in-laws and picked up his wife Jaswinder Kaur and searched the house there too. She was later brought to her residence in Rajpura at about 3 am. After questioning Jaswinder Kaur about her husband’s links with Hawara, the cops also seized her mobile and some other related documents. Panic gripped the area as the news spread in the subdivision in the morning. The residents of the locality also called upon the senior police personnel at Patiala and demanded removal of CIA staff men from the house of the suspect. The local as well as the district police was tightlipped and expressed its ignorance about the raids. Presently a team of CIA staff from Sangrur had been camping at the house.
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Hawara’s confidant arrested
Fatehgarh Sahib, June 25 After his interrogation, doubts have been dispelled about the place of Hawara’s arrest and the claim of the Delhi police had been exposed that he was arrested from Noida. The accused had gone to Punjabi University on June 7 to pick up Jaspal and Vikas, accused in the Delhi blast case, on the directions of Hawara, but before he could take them in his Tata Safari, the police had arrested them. The police seized a pistol, cartridges and a black Tata Safari. Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, said a naka had been set up and the Tata Safari was signalled to stop but the driver tried to flee. The accused was, however, nabbed. During interrogation, he revealed his identity as Baldeep Singh, resident of Bara Pind village in Ropar district.
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Babbar Khalsa man held
Ropar, June 25 The SSP, Mr Surinder Pal Singh, said in a press note that after getting a tip off from an informer that Randhir Singh was on his way from Pukhrali Jata village to Bheora village, the police set up a naka.
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Heat wave claims six more lives
Bathinda, June 25 Sources said a rickshaw-puller fainted at Sirki Bazar. Sahara volunteers rushed him to the emergency ward of the Civil Hospital, where he breathed his last. His body was handed over to Sahara after post-mortem examination. A resident of Parasram Nagar, 30-year-old Dheeraj Kumar, also fell unconscious and was declared brought dead in the hospital. Another youth fainted on road near Sadar Bazar. Sahara volunteers admitted him in a serious condition to the Civil Hospital where he was declared dead. He was later identified as Home Guard Puran Singh. He was posted at the Kotwali police station and was a resident of Partap Nagar. His body was handed over to his family members after post-mortem examination. Meanwhile, man fainted in front of the Central Jail’s gate. He was admitted him to the Civil Hospital where his condition was stated to be critical. Sources said a youth near Quila Mubarak and an elderly man at Parasram Nagar also fell unconscious due to hot weather conditions. With the three deaths today the toll has reached 18 in the past 10 days in the city alone. There was no let up in the heat wave with temperature soaring over 45°C. A long power cut last night also irked local residents as fans and coolers were proving ineffective. Dr Sompal Singh, a meteorologist at the regional centre of the PAU, said the temperature in the city had been hovering around 44°C for the past four-five days. Today it was 44.4°C. He said the humidity had increased from 32 to 58 now, which had made weather conditions intolerable. He said pre-monsoon shower was expected in the first week of July. AMRITSAR: The heat wave reportedly claimed three lives in the Ajnala tehsil here on Saturday. According to information, Balbir Singh (35), a labourer, died at Sattu Nangal village when he was going for his daily work on a bicycle. He died on the spot. Another person Bachan Singh, a resident of Johal village was also died due to sunstroke. An unidentified rickshaw-puller also fell unconscious in the afternoon. He was immediately rushed to the Civil Hospital where he died.
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Burning rag dolls for rain
Bathinda, June 25 People in the rural areas are holding prayers in gurdwaras and organising yajnas for early rain. Sources said residents of about 60 villages in the district had either held yajnas or planning to organise one. The sarpanch of Kailvandar village, Malkit Kaur, said they were collecting money for a yajna to he held tomorrow. About 200 girls along with elderly women burnt a rag doll at Ballo village. Sukhdev Singh said the villagers also held a yajna. The village has very low groundwater in the entire district. Jagdev Singh, a farmer, said his crop had wilted in the absence of proper water supply. Residents of neighbouring Badiala village also organised a yajna. People at Siwia and Lehri villages also burnt a rag doll. Reports of yajna were also received from Sandoha, Maur Mandi, Mehma Sarja, and Mehma Bhagwana. Jathedar Balwant Singh Nandgarh of Sri Damdama Sahib said people were coming to the Takht for performing prayers for rain.
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Villagers’ ways to appease rain god
Phagwara June 25 Villagers here were doing "sukhnas" (pledging offerings in return for grant of wishes) of "daliya" (sweet wheat cereals) and "zarda" (sweet coloured cooked rice) to be offered to Khwaja Pir (rain/water god). Plans for havan-yajnas and "gudde-guddi da vivah" (marriage of dolls) were also afoot to appease the rain god. Meanwhile, doggerel about regular power cuts, particularly the undeclared ones, were doing rounds in the area these days. A couplet read thus: "Una ne laney power cut, chadhey pae ne sabh nu vatt" (every body was pestered by the unannounced power cuts)
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Ajnala is chief of SAD district wing
Amritsar, June 25 Efforts were also on to give representation to other communities with the induction of Mr Ashwani Kumar as senior vice-president and Mr Unus Masih as member of its working committee. However no representation has been given to women in the newly released list. Mr Ajnala, after release of the names of its executive and working committee stated that all MLAs in the party wing, along with SGPC members would be the members of the working committee of the party. He said the party had also sent suggestions regarding the delimitation of zones for elections. Among those nominated are Mr Manjit Singh, MLA, along with six others, as senior vice-presidents, Mr Manjit Singh Rajasansi and eight others as junior vice-presidents, Mr Baldev Singh secretary-general and eight secretaries. Mr Shaukeen Singh was also notified as patron.
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Cong infighting comes to fore
Gurdaspur, June 25 He alleged that Mr Mohan Lal was last evening taken in a car of the Pathankot Municipal Council to the Congress Minister’s house. Both leaders had a secret meeting regarding the affairs of the MC. Mr Raghunath Sahay Puri should explain the reason behind his “secret parleys” with the former BJP minister, Mr Sharma alleged. He claimed that he had more than 20 witnesses who could substantiate the meeting. He said he would appraise the Chief Minister and the PPCC president about the developments. The infighting between the Congress groups led by Mr Sharma and Puri is not new. Mr Sharma has been beleaguered in his own constituency with the minister’s group enjoying in the MC. Mr Sharma has also lodged complaints with the Department of Local Bodies and the Punjab Vigilance against the alleged corruption taking place in the MC. Mr Mohan Lal, when contacted, alleged that he was just being dragged into the infighting of the Congress. Last evening he had gone with his family to attend a marriage party. He had never met Puri alone, he added.
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Villagers construct bundh to check flooding
Kapurthala, June 25 The villagers have claimed that the level of river waters had been very high this time and it had been rising steadily since the last fortnight. They said they had been asking the administration for help but no one had come to their rescue. They said the water level had become so high that the paddy fields had been inundated. The villagers rued that they had transplanted paddy for the second time but it was again being washed away by the overflowing water of the Beas. The residents have contributed money for the purpose which is likely to cost them a few lakhs. A crane that has been hired for the purpose costs them nearly Rs 5,000 a day. A motor has also been installed in the field to pump out the water from the fields. Mukhtiar Singh said he owned 12 acres of which five acres were under knee-deep waters. “The remaining seven acres is also prone to floods. So we decided to set up a bundh at our own cost. If we do not do that, how will we feed our families” he asked. The water level has become so high that in many villages, including Chak, Thakan Kaura and Bhima, tubewells have submerged Daljit Singh, a farmer, said: “Till last year, we used tubewells to irrigate the crops but ironically, this year we have been depending on motors to pull out excessive water from our fields.” Mr Anil Bali, XEN, Irrigation Department, said he was aware of the high water level. He said this had happened as excessive water was being released from the Bhakra and Pong dams for irrigation purposes He said he had asked for Rs 1.66 crore from the government but no funds had been released so far. The kutcha bundh being constructed by the villagers would be of no use as it would be washed away if the water level rose further.
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Violation of human rights ‘unabated’
Patiala, June 25 In a press note, Mr Harmohan Singh, state president, PHRD, said violation of human rights was going on at a mass level and poor people were regularly becoming victims of human rights violations. He said by making higher education costly, both state and central governments had taken away the Fundamental Right of education from the poor people, which should also be considered as a serious violation of human rights. The PHRD said for creating awareness among people about their human rights, a function would be organised in front of Central State Library on June 26.
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Minister’s appeal to chhabeel organisers
Barnala, June 25 He made the appeal at Pandori village when he was asked what steps were being taken by the Government to prevent the recurrence of the incident where three persons had died after drinking sweetened water.
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Iron rod found in ice slab
Phagwara, June 25 An ice vendor told this correspondent today that he was shocked to find about 2-foot-long iron rod 1-foot-long iron angle and about one-and-a-half foot-long piece of a plastic pipe in ice slabs yesterday. Evidently, workers in the ice godown did not notice these items in their hurry to freeze ice in order to earn more profit due to the increasing demand for ice nowadays. The vendor rued that substandard ice with particles of dust were being sold. The local Civil and Health authorities, led by SDM Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal, yesterday made a visit to two ice factories to inspect the quality of ice. A meeting of ice factory owners had been convened by the SDM on June 27 to discuss the issue. The SDM had assured people that an action in this connection would be taken.
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Death of cattle resented
Abohar, June 25 Delegations of the organisations met the DSP and said they were shocked over reports that someone had poisoned stray cattle to death. Their bodies had immediately been lifted by contractors authorised by the Municipal Council. Post-mortem could be done only in one case. They said it appeared that the contractors were earning profits in getting the animals killed. The death rate of cattle in the local gaushala too had increased. As religious sentiments of citizens were involved in this, a trap should be laid to arrest the culprits, they demanded.
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Protest in front of CM’s residence
Patiala, June 25 Addressing a gathering, Mr Kheta Singh, all-India president of the party, said the Congress was working for the interests of the corporate sector. He said under the present regime unemployment and the prices of essential commodities had increased. Mr Karnail Singh, president, Suba Committee, said in the state 40 lakh youths are unemployed and 15 lakh senior citizens and handicapped persons are not getting any help from the government. He said the ruling and the Opposition parties had no agenda for the common man. The democratic party general secretary, Mr Gurdarshan Singh Khatra, said both the Congress and the SAD were creating an atmosphere of terror in order to gain political mileage. The demands of the protesters included unemployment allowance of Rs 500 per month and monthly pension for the senior citizens.
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Seminar on Baba Banda Singh Bahadur held
Fatehgarh Sahib, June 25 Mr K.K. Bhatnagar, Principal Secretary, Technical Education and Industrial Training, who has written a book on the life of Baba Banda Singh Bahudar, was the key speaker. Mr S.K. Ahluwalia, Commissioner, Corporation, Patiala, presided over the function. Dr Harchand Singh Sirhindi, Punjabi writer and recipient of the Baba Banda Singh Bahadur award, Dr Dharminder Singh Ubha, Head of the Commerce Department, MG College, and Mr Hukam Chand Bansal, Chairman, RIMT, read their papers on the life of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur. Mr Bhatnagar quoted various examples from his book on Baba Banda Singh Bahadur.
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Sikh jatha reaches Panja Sahib
Amritsar June 25 The SGPC said the jatha members stated that in view of terrorist threat in that area all entries to the gurdwara were being metal detected, including luggage, besides monitoring the visitors with close circuit cameras. After Nankana Sahib, the "amrit sanchar" (baptism) would be held at Dera Sahib gurdwara, Lahore, it added.
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Indian prisoners’ kin meet Elahi’s adviser
Amritsar, June 25 Mr Harpal Singh Bhuller, president of the International Bhai Mardana Yadgar Kirtan Darbar Society, led the family members of those who had landed in Pakistan jails after being duped by travel agents to Mr Khan. He was also shown letters written by the imprisoned youths saying that they were being made to stay in inhuman conditions.
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ISI agent held with Rs 5 lakh
Attari, June 25 He was taken into custody when he alighted from the Samjhauta express here yesterday. Mr Parminder Singh Sodhi, Additional Commissioner, Customs, said the accused had hidden the currency in a specially made cavity under his handbag. He was a suspect militant who was working for some J&K outfit. The customs officials are baffled over the seizure of original Indian currency. This is the second such seizure in the last three months. This has given a clear indication that the ISI has now evolved a new strategy to pump in original currency instead of fake currency for the militants.
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Engineer accuses senior officers of corruption in suicide note
Pathankot, June 25 An internal vigilance inquiry was going on against him on charges that he produced fake electricity bills and duped the BSNL of lakhs. In the suicide note, he has admitted that he committed the crime. He, however, said he was not the only one as some senior officers of the BSNL posted here were also involved. The fake electricity bills were produced by junior officials and put before him and he along with senior officials of the accounts wing used to clear the bills and draw the payments. The officers allegedly included the Division Engineer, Deputy General Manager, General Manager, Accounts Officer and Chief Accounts Officer. The inquiry file was opened and closed many times due to the involvement of higher officials. Vigilance officials, however, kept harassing him and asked him for Rs 5 lakh which he was unable to pay, he has alleged in the suicide note. His family today met the SSP, Gurdaspur, and gave him the suicide note, demanding an inquiry into the case.
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Octroi staff attack 2 brothers
Phagwara, June 25 It was learnt today that Gurjatinderpal Singh and his brother Avtar Singh were returning from Chandigarh to their house at Amritsar along with their family members. Armed with iron rods, a Gypsy carrying the staff of the octroi contractor intercepted their car on the GT Road near Sapror village. They started enquiring about an old washing machine kept in the car. They misbehaved with them and women sitting in the car and assaulted the brothers with rods and injured them. Phagwara DSP Lakhwinder Pal Singh Khaira assured them that the police would probe the matter.
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PMET notification amended
Amritsar, June 25 According to sources, such candidates have been advised to purchase prospectus form and submit it by 2 pm by June 29 to Registrar, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences Faridkot, and collect their admit cards for taking PMET 2005 being conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, on of June 30.
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Abohar, June 25
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