Phagwara, March 15
Sarabjit Kaur Virk living at Khalwara village under Phagwara police station was allegedly attacked by her aunt Harpreet Kaur and others on Wednesday evening.

She said Harpreet, along with her sons Barjinder Singh and Lakhwinder Singh, daughter Rano and daughter-in-law Sarabjit attacked her with stones. She saved life by fleeing from there.

She informed SHO Amrik Singh Chahal about the attack, who she said sent some policemen to the spot. The cops recorded her statement, but even after four days the police have not registered any FIR.

Chahal said it was not an attack, but minor dispute over property. “We have called the complainant to the police station to know the exact position, but she has not turned up. The opposite party is visiting the police station every day”.

On the other hand, Virk said she had made it clear on the date of recording of her statement that she was alone with her children at her house, so could not visit the police station. Moreover, the police had already recorded her statement, why it was not registering an FIR, she said, adding that the police wanted her to reach a compromise with them.

Virk added that she was attacked on Wednesday when she withdrew the general power of attorney made in her aunt Harpreet Kaur’s name regarding 20 acres worth Rs 1 crore.

Virk said she was living alone with minor children as her husband was addicted to drugs and her mother Surinder Kaur was killed by Bhoria robbers on January 15 last year.

Virk said her relatives might take help of Bhoria robbers to eliminate her to grab her land.

She had witnessed looting and her mother’s murder by the Bhoria gang at their then house at Apra village under Phillaur police station of Jalandhar district and some associates of the assailants escaped from Ludhiana Central Jail a few weeks back. Her fear is not unfounded. The case has been fixed for March 17 to record her statement in a court at Jalandhar.

However, Chahal said these two incidents were not connected. She did not require any security as there was no threat to her life, he claimed.

Chandigarh, March 15
The Congress will launch an agitation to press the Punjab government to repeal the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) which, it said, has made life miserable for people of 470 villages of the Kandi belt beginning from Dhar block near Gurdaspur to certain parts of Mohali district.

Speaking to mediapersons here today, Harnek Singh Gharuan, former Congress minister, said the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, had entrusted him the job of mobilising public opinion against the Act and meeting people of the Kandi belt affected by the Act. He said he would soon visit Pathankot, Hoshiarpur, Garhshankar and Ropar in this regard.

He said the PLPA was a state Act and there was no need to seek permission from the union government or any other authority to remove it from the state statute books. “It was a temporary Act enacted in 1900. It was to be in operation for a few years only but after even after 107 years of its existence, it continues to be enforced against people living in the Kandi belt,” he added.

Harnek Singh said the Forest Act was not applicable on private lands but the forest department uses the PLPA to harass farmers owning land in Kandi. He said former financial commissioner J.S. Kesar had submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court that the area covered under the PLPA had been wrongly shown as forest area and the government should be allowed to withdraw that area from the forest area. About 70,000 hectares of land had been locked under the PLPA in Punjab, he added.

He said the forest department was creating hurdles in the repeal of this Act because of its vested interest in various World Bank and Japan Bank-funded forest projects. By including the area covered under the PLPA, the forest department had been securing more funds from these bodies. He said almost the entire Himachal Pradesh was a forest state but there was no ban on people there in growing vegetables, fruit crops and other crops in hilly areas but there was no such freedom for farmers of the Kandi belt in Punjab.

He said the forest department should explain how it was the responsibility of the people of Kandi belt only to grow and save forest when people in other parts were taking full advantage of the post-Green Revolution by removing forest “ birs” from their lands. He said there should equi-distribution of forest in the entire state and it should not be confined to a particular pocket.

He said the Congress would launch an agitation to press the SAD-BJP combine that in its manifesto had promised to repeal this Act to honour its commitment.

Patiala, March 15
Sohanjt Kaur, chairperson, Mata Gujri Trust, which runs a school for children of slain terrorists at Kaller Bhaini village, near here, has lashed out at the Haryana Police for taking into custody Parveen Meena for alleged bid on the life of Dera Sacha Sauda chief at Karnal.

At a press conference here today, Sohanjit said the girl was innocent and she was being framed in the case.

Sohanjit was accompanied by Parveen's mother Amarjit Kaur and the girl’s two brothers.Her mother disclosed that Parveen belonged to a Gursikh family and was a simple girl. She used to travel to Mohindra College and came back to Kaller Bahini village daily and beyond this she never travelled anywhere else.

Amarjit Kaur added that the family came to India in 1947 as a Muslim family, but later converted to Sikhism because they were adopted by a Sikh family.

She added that the accused girl's father Sadiq Mohammad had died under mysterious circumstances during terrorism. She claimed that till yet there had been no FIR into the death of Sadiq Mohammad and no trace of his body either.

Parveen's brother Abdul Satar Singh also claimed that his sister had absolutely no link with the prime accused in the case Bakshish Singh. He hastened to add that when Bakshish was in jail for three years, his wife stayed at Kaller Bhaini and it was at that time Parveen developed friendly relations with Bakshish's wife. He added that the cops were unnecessary harassing his family.

Sohanjit said Parveen was a `simple and young' girl and had nurtured hopes of becoming a pilot. She also said an uncle of Parveen, Bashir Mohammad was a terrorist and done away with the police. She said this was no reason for the cops to eliminate their father for no fault of his. Sohanjit claimed that the Haryana cops came into three vehicles and told her they just wanted to question Parveen at the local Sadar police station.

Beyond this they said nothing, but later they took her away to Karnal without even intimating her. She said she went to Karnal and spoke the Karnal SSP who told her Parveen was being questioned by the cops. He added an FIR had to be registered against Parveen otherwise the media would have made it out to be a case of kidnapping by the Haryana police.

Sohanjit claimed at Karnal that Parveen complained to her that the cops were using third-degree methods to torture her. She added that she had also spoken to agriculture minister Sucha Singh Langah today who assured her he would do his best to get to the bottom of the case.

Moonak (Sangrur), March 15
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India Justice K.G. Balakrishnan today emphasised on bringing a change in the thinking of people through a mass awareness campaign to fight social evils, female foeticide and drug abuse. He urged NGOs, voluntary organisations and the legal authorities to eradicate these social evils.

He said female foeticide was unknown in Kerala as no one thought about it there now. He also said with the efforts of the National Legal Services Authority, legal services authorities of various states and other organisations the female ratio at the national level had increased from 766 girls to 850 girls against 1,000 boys in the country.

Justice Balakrishnan was addressing a seminar on the “Eradication of female foeticide and drug de-addiction” after inaugurating the Judicial Court Complex here today. He also laid the foundation stone for the construction of lawyers’ chambers. The seminar was organised by the Punjab Legal Services Authority.

Justice Balakrishnan said there should be a court of junior civil division judge in a radius of 25 to 30 km in the country to make the judicial system available at people’s doorstep. Justice Ashok Bhan, a judge of the Supreme Court (whose native village is Moonak), said the killing of an unborn girl was a matter of shame. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal asked religious gurus, saints, NGOs, voluntary organisations and panchayats to make the people aware of the evils of female foeticide and drug addiction. He said with the efforts of judges of the high court, who were creating awareness by visiting villages, the number of girls had increased in Punjab.

Presiding over the seminar, Justice Vijender Jain, Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court, said the killing of a girl in the womb was a big crime. On the one hand, people worshipped Mata Durga and Mata Bhiwani, on the other hand they killed girls before their birth.

The seminar was also addressed by judges of the Supreme Court Justice A.K. Mathur and Justice H.S. Bedi, executive chairman of Punjab Legal Services Authority Justice Mehtab Singh Gill, Administrative Judge of Sessions Division, Sangrur Justice S.D. Anand, and Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. Member of Parliament (MP) from Sangrur Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and the area in charge of the SAD for Lehra Assembly constituency Prem Singh Chandumajra were also present on the occasion.

Chandigarh, March 15
While rejecting the demand of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for Rs 20,000 crore special economic package on account of depletion of natural resources, union minister of state for finance Pawan Bansal said today that the government would not pay farmers’ debt due to commission agents.

“Badal has erroneous impression that the Centre is not a money-minting agency, which can print and disburse any amount of money to the states. Finance minister Manpreet Singh, who has a sound knowledge of the economics, should make Badal see reason as such demands have no logic,” Bansal told a press conference at the Chandigarh Press Club here today.

Bansal wondered why Badal, an alliance partner of the erstwhile NDA government, did not raise any such demand during the NDA regime.

Terming the Rs 60,000 crore loan waiver scheme as historic, Bansal alleged that the Opposition was raising “non-issues” and it had been caught off guard by the government decision aimed at benefiting over four crore small and marginal farmers.

Answering a question whether the Central government would reimburse money paid by the state governments to moneylenders for the farmers’ debts, Bansal categorically stated that the Central government was in no position to reimburse the farmers’ debt paid to moneylenders by the state governments.

Avoiding a direct reply whether the loan waiver had been announced with an eye on the general elections, Bansal said if the decision brought electoral gains we would derive benefit from it.” “Good economics is good politics,” Bansal quipped, hinting that the decision could better UPA’s electoral prospects.

Bansal said the loan waiver scheme would cover about 2.95 crore small and marginal farmers (30 per cent) in Punjab, while the remaining 70 per cent of the eligible farmers would get the benefit of 25 per cent waiver of loans.

Similarly, in Haryana, about 4.19 lakh small and marginal farmers (73.6 per cent) of the total farmers in the state would benefit by the scheme while the remaining 26.4 per cent would get the 25 per cent benefit.

Ludhiana, March 15
The state minister for defence services has issued a stern warning to all district department heads to duly respect serving and retired defence personnel, failing which the deputy commissioner (DC) and the senior superintendent of police (SSP) of the district concerned would be penalised.

Capt Kanwaljit Singh, minister for defence services and cooperation, Punjab, announced here today that after receiving complaints from many defence personnel, he had, in a written communication to the DCs and the SSPs, said that due respect as per the ranks of ex-servicemen should be given to them in government offices at all levels and their genuine problems should be redressed on a priority basis.

Capt Kanwaljit Singh was addressing a gathering of retired officers and other ex-servicemen of 5 Sikh (TA) Regiment, from which he himself began his career.

Captain Singh, while lauding the commitment and sincerity of soldiers for the country, said after service, they faced a lot of problems in adjusting in the civilian setup. He said whenever they felt dishonoured at the hands of civil servants, they raised their voice against injustice.

He said keeping in view the dedication and sincerity of the ex-serviceman, the panchaytas and other elected bodies should involve them in the development and welfare process at local levels.

He promised that in the coming months, more meetings of ex-servicemen would be organised to listen to their views on the efficient implementation of various development projects. There were about 6.5 lakh ex-servicemen in the state.

Lt-Gen Charanjit Singh (retd) and Col D.S.Ghuman (retd), while addressing the function, apprised the minister of the problems of the ex-servicemen. Prominent among others who were present on the occasion included Iqbal Singh Bedi, Ajmer Singh Dhillon and Sub Hakam Singh Kup Kallan.

Ludhiana, March 15
The Punjab government will be pressing the Union government for accepting a proposed formula on periodic hike in wheat and paddy prices instead of seeking raise in their minimum support price (MSP) every season.

Stating this to The Tribune in an exclusive interview here today, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, minister for cooperation and defence services, said the state government won’t be seeking a routine hike in the MSP this season. “Instead, we are sending a formula to calculate the MSP every season. Under the formula, the price has to be calculated on the basis of prevailing cost of production and the cost of living with which the reasonable profit of margin for the farmers has to be added.”

He said the Union government always made a small hike in the wheat-paddy prices and boasts about the increase. “However, on the ground level the increase does not translate into any profit for the farmer.” He said the Punjab government won’t be seeking any figure as MSP but would press for the acceptance of the formula, which need to be revised every season.

Referring to the Budgetary announcement of waiving farmers’ loan to the tune of Rs 60,000 crore, he said the announcement was misleading. “In fact, it may help the defaulters only, and that too in a small number. Moreover, there is no immediate waiver and the loan would be waived in three years.”