Jalandhar, January 4
An 18-year old Dalit youth, who had been in judicial custody for the past three months on the charges of abduction of a minor, died under mysterious circumstances yesterday.

While the medical report suggests that Kulwinder Singh, alias Mata, resident of Mundh village in Nakodar, died of renal failure, the family members allege a foul play. Mata was admitted to the local civil hospital a few days ago from where he was referred to Guru Ram Dass College, Amritsar, and then to the PGI, Chandigarh, where he died. Assistant superintendent of jails Lalit Kohli said that post-mortem examination was conducted at the government hospital in sector-16, Chandigarh, this evening.

Mata, a painter and son of village chowkidar Kewal Singh, was arrested on September 9, 2007, on the charges of abducting Sonia, also a Dalit, from the same village. While the FIR says that Sonia was barely 14-and-a-half-years-old, sarpanch Balbir Singh and the father of the victim allege that she was born on June 4, 1989 and is a major as per the birth certificate and the record of a government school at Mundh village from where she appeared in class VI examination 
but failed.

The sarpanch and family members have also lamented that Mata had been falsely implicated as it was not he but another youth Babbu with whom the girl had eloped. Mata was a friend of Babbu and both were working as painters under a common contractor, they said, adding that the police had arrested him only to know about the whereabouts of the absconding 
twosome.

Kewal Singh, Balbir Singh and president of the Pendu Mazdoor Union Tarsem Peter said they had given numerous representations to the DSP and SSP to investigate into the matter to ascertain their side of the story but no inquiry had been conducted into the matter so far. They claim that had Mata been guilty, he too would have run away and not appeared before the police for any inquiry.

The family, panchayat and the union have now alleged that since the boy was hale and hearty till a few days ago, they wondered how he could die of a sudden renal failure. Kewal Singh blamed, “We received a call six days back that Mata was unwell and they could come to see him in civil hospital. When we saw him, he was in such a bad condition that he could not even speak.”

The union has demanded that the police officials who arrested him without proper investigation of the facts be booked under the SC/ST Act and a compensation of Rs 10 lakh be given to the victim’s family.

SHO, Nakodar, Satinder Chadha said since the FIR had been registered against him by name by his predecessor, he had to be arrested. He said Mata had died under natural circumstances and the treatment for renal trouble was quite expensive. 

Jalandhar, January 4
Christians have demanded a CBI inquiry into the torching of churches and killing of innocent missionaries in Orissa besides adequate compensation for the affected families.

Hundreds of protesters carrying placards assembled in front of the secretariat and sat on a peaceful dharna. Those present included Chief pastor Iqbal Masih Gill, Father Franco, Tarsem Peter and William Masih.

Speaking on the occasion, the community elders said they were committed to giving their services in the field of education, health and social action but were pained and shocked at the unfortunate developments in Kandhamal district where Christians are being persecuted for their religion by Hindu fundamentalists.

The government should order a CBI enquiry to uncover the forces that they bent on destroying the social fabric of not only the state but also the country. “The hardliners are attacking churches, hospitals and schools in which five persons had been killed and over 3000 displaced. People are being compelled to run away from their homes as the government has chosen to remain a silent spectator,” they pointed out.

In addition to the enquiry we demand a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of those killed and Rs 5 lakh for those injured. The state should also initiate measures for the safe return of he people to their homes.

They said the government should also order an impartial probe to access the damage to the churches and property of those who have been displaced. Adequate para- military and central forces should be deployed to shore up the confidence of the people in the administration.

The culprits should be identified and brought to book and the civil servants who failed to act in time should be awarded exemplary punishment.  

Jalandhar, January 4
A group of students and the authorities of International Institute of Fashion Design (INIFD) are on loggerheads over the issue of marking of answer sheets. In a press conference here today, the students alleged that 16 out of 27 students were deliberately failed in the certificate examination conducted by the institute. 

The seven students, including two boys, showed the answer sheets trying to validate their point. Meanwhile, the authorities lodged a complaint with the police stating that students, with their faces covered, had entered the institute and snatched answer sheets along with an LCD projector.

INIFD in charge Shefali Sood said, “First of all the papers are not checked here. Secondly, there’s no reason for deliberately failing the students. We are making efforts so that these students can re-appear in the exam soon.” — TNS 

Jalandhar, January 4
Virendra Sharma, like any youth his age migrated from Punjab to the UK in search of a better livelihood. Beginning his career as a bus conductor around 39 years back Sharma was elected MP from Ealing Southall four months back.

Sharma was in his hometown for the first time since he achieved this milestone. Son for Lekh Raj Sharma, former chairperson of Jalandhar Improvement Trust, former vice-president of the PPCC and a trustee of the Punjab Congress Bhawan, the 60-year-old UK parliamentarian inherited politics in his legacy.

Talking to The Tribune at his residence in Mota Singh Nagar here, Sharma recalled his experiences of a political career spanning nearly three decades. A worker of the Labour Party there, he won the councillor’s elections in London Borough of Ealing in 1982. He served at the post for 25 years. Thereafter, he was chosen as the mayor of Ealing.

“I, of course, had to face some racial discrimination,” he says as a matter of fact. “It is an old box there. People gradually start accepting us, the way the Punjabis accept the Biharis. Since we had gone there in groups, we had slowly started developing our base. When I won the MP polls, more than 60 per cent people who polled a vote for me were non-Asians,” he says.

“My ancestral house was in Mandali village of Nawanshahr. I was barely 21 when I migrated to UK. I worked there as a bus conductor and then as a booking clerk. Eventually, I took to higher studies and studied industrial economics, politics and governance from the London School of Economics.

I plunged into active politics and became a leader of the student’s union first. I was a trade union activist before becoming a whole time politician.”

Virendra Sharma was honoured at the Golden Temple this morning. He will be in Chandigarh tomorrow for an NRI Sammelan to be hosted by the state government.

“Punjabis there are keen to invest in business or property ventures in Punjab. Their only concern is about their safety here. The government needs to work out ways to erase their worries by providing speedy justice, improving human rights condition and making them feel important,” adds Sharma.

Sharma says he knows many Punjabis settled there who want to invest while to help improve standards of living here and as well as imparting better skills to the youth here.

“I visited Delhi and Mumbai two months back as a part of a delegation of UK parliamentarians on a fact-finding mission to begin new ventures in India. We visited a few institutions in Punjab and held meetings with NGOs. We want to foster relationships by holding some tie-ups. The discussions are still on,” he said.