Moga, April 8
In a last minute effort to keep the criminal proceedings ‘alive’ against senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 riots case, a woman victim of the riots has come out to file an appeal before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Delhi, Rakesh Pandit, demanding to punish the guilty involved in the brutal murder of her husband during the riots in Delhi.

This court had earlier accepted the plea of Tytler's counsel to close the case a few days back and fixed April 9 as the next date of hearing to finally pronounce the verdict for the closure of this case.

The appeal of Lakhwinder Kaur, the victim, is being filed in the court tomorrow through eminent lawyers HS Phoolka and Navkiran Singh in order to substantiate the testimony of Giani Surinder Singh who had already given a statement to the CBI in the United States that the said woman's husband, Badal Singh, was brutally murdered along with two other Sikhs by a mob led by Tytler in the riots.

Talking to The Tribune on telephone, Lakhwinder Kaur said it was unfortunate that the CBI had given a clean chit to Tytler who was directly responsible for her husband's murder.

"I stand by the statement of Surinder Singh and the persons responsible for the murder of my husband as per his testimony should be punished as per the law of the land," she said.

Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad, president of the All India Sikh Students Federation was of the view that Lakhwinder's appeal was essential to keep the case ‘alive’ because so far, no one from her family had approached any court to get justice during the past 25 years.

Legal experts were of the view that the demand for justice from a person who had lost a family member in the riots was a new twist in the case and the court could not reject her appeal as per the law keeping in view the various judgements of the apex court given from time to time in such similar cases.

Moreover, the backlash on riots across the nation in Sikh populated areas was so high that the Congress-led government was awaiting the judgement of the court to get out of this problem.

At the same time, the opposition parties were trying to encash the Sikh sentiments on this emotive issue.

Ghudda (Bathinda), April 8
In another tragic incident revolving around bore wells, a mechanic, Ranjeet Singh (48) of village Jhumba, died after falling in a 30-feet-deep bore well today at village Ghudda, the ancestral village of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

The district administration, with the help of villagers, carried out rescue operations for about eight hours, using three JCB machines, six tractors and other equipment. But Ranjeet Singh had died by the time he was brought out from the bore well.

According to information available, the mechanic had stepped inside to adjust a filter of the bore pump when the earth caved in.

The incident took place at around 12.30 pm, when the owner of the land, Harcharan Singh, and his father Balbir Singh and others saw him trapped in the bore well. They throw a rope in the well to pull him out but the earth around the well started caving in and he could not hold on to the rope.

Then help was sought from the villagers and an announcement was made through loudspeakers of the village gurdwara. As word spread, persons from village Jhumba, Nandgarh, Sangat and other places rushed to the site in large numbers.

After half an hour, officials of the district administration equipped with JCB machines reached the spot. Meanwhile, villagers had started rescue operations with the help of tractors and other equipment.

Receiving the information, Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tewari, SSP Ashish Chaudhary, SDM, Bathinda, Dalwinderjit Singh, besides other civil and police officers reached the spot.

The sandy soil remained a major problem and hindered the rescue operations. Whenever the machines reached near the trapped mechanic, the surrounding earth started caving in. In the process, a nearby makeshift room also collapsed.

The whole area was dug up quite wide. Still, the problem remained unresolved. At last, a JCB machine entered the well after having dug up the area wide and managed to bring out the buried man.

An ambulance stationed there, rushed him to the Bathinda Civil Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

Vakeel Singh, son of the deceased, informed that Ranjeet Singh is survived by five sons and his wife.

The owner of the land, Balbir Singh and his son Harcharan Singh said they had a contract with Ranjeet to set up the system for Rs 2,500.

When contacted, the Station House Officer (SHO) Sangat police station, Sadhu Singh, said, "Till now, no case been registered against anyone as we all were primarily engaged in pulling him out. The necessary action would be taken after the postmortem which would be conducted on Thursday.

The incident is not the first one and the district administration has already issued a prohibition on such acts related to bore wells without taking prior sanction.

It may be recalled that on October 31, 2007, Parma Singh of village Dyal Pura Bhai Ka and Manga Singh of village Hamir Garh, in the district, got buried in bore wells two different incidents.

Then on June 4, 2008, a labourer of village Kothe Phula Singh Wala was buried in a bore well, while the other one was rescued alive.

Then on October 30 the same year, Tarsem Singh alias Semi (35) and Gurcharan Singh alias Sadeek (45) died after a bore well caved in at village Behman Kaur Singh Wala.

Bathinda, April 8
It came as a shock for the kin of a deceased elderly woman when they reached the mortuary of the Civil Hospital here to take her body and found it fully decomposed.

According to sources, the body of Mukhtiar Kaur (72) of Lal Singh Basti had been kept in the mortuary refrigerator on Saturday for preservation till her sons from Canada arrived to take it for performing the last rituals.

However, when the refrigerator was opened, the body was found badly decomposed and they could recognise it only by the clothes.

The kin lodged their resentment with the hospital authorities. As the civil surgeon and the assistant civil surgeon were not available, a skin specialist attempted to pacify them with an assurance of taking necessary action against the guilty.

When contacted on phone, civil surgeon Neelam Bajaj admitted the fault on the part of hospital authorities. Meanwhile, she also accused the state electricity department for frequent power cuts as the cause of the unfortunate incident. “We have now chalked out a fresh proposal of getting a generator installed here to ensure uninterrupted service of temperature control mortuary refrigerator. The proposal, quoting this incident, will be sent to higher authorities on Thursday,” she added.

It has been informed that the hospital charges Rs 100 a day for preserving the body. It is pertinent to mention here that in July last year too, the refrigerators in the mortuary had developed a snag which lasted for over a month. Then, the doctors were accused of advising the kin of the deceased to purchase ice from market to preserve the bodies.

In contrast to the long list of development projects in Bathinda, which is being termed as a premier city of Malwa, the Civil Hospital here has been apparently facing apathy of the state authorities. The structure of the hospital is in a dilapidated condition with cracks and leakage all over. Though it has been reported a number of times, the bio-medical waste is still burnt in open near the second gate of the hospital, which has been kept closed without any reason.

Bathinda, April 8
Taking a tough stand against the ruling Akali-BJP alliance for being “anti-employee” and “anti-people”, government employees from all over the state today made it clear that the alliance will have to face the music in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls if their genuine demands were not met immediately.

Under the banner of the Punjab Mulazam Sangharsh Committee — an apex body of six employees’ federations and a dozen independent employees unions — thousands of employees carrying placards and black flags held a ‘pol khol’ rally in front of the Mini-Secretariat here.

The employees held the Badal government guilty of not implementing the January 27 agreement on their demands and of pursuing the policy of privatisation and panchayati-karan.

Hundreds of women, too, participated in the protest rally, which continued for over three hours. The leaders, while addressing the rally, alleged that the Chief Minister had agreed on January 27 that the government would give report of the 5th Punjab Pay Commission and discuss the same with the Sangharsh Committee before its immediate implementation.

The leaders said it was made clear that the services of daily wage and contractual staff would be regularised and pay scales/allowances at par with regular staff would be introduced besides the present policy of privatisation in all forms would be reversed.

“None of the decisions had been implemented by the government,” said one of the conveners, H.S. Warraich, adding that due to the anti-people policies of the Badal government, the condition of government schools and hospitals was deteriorating continuously. 

Later, the protesters headed towards the Badal village to lodge their protest before holding a march in various parts of the city raising slogans against the government. However, they were stopped at Naruana village where police had already put up barricades.

Bathinda, April 8
The brick kiln owners in the district went on an indefinite strike today to protest against the alleged ‘false cases’ registered under section 307 of the IPC against their colleagues in Amritsar, Beas and Tarn Taran on March 30.

At a meeting held here today, the District Brick Kiln Owners’ Association, Bathinda, decided to close down the brick kilns till the ‘false cases’ registered against the owners were withdrawn. “The developmental works started by the state government has come to a standstill following the strike,” said P.S. Makkar, president of the Association, adding, “all the brick kilns in the state will be closed if the state government continued to register false cases against brick kiln owners.”

It may be mentioned here that three kiln owners were arrested while 25 others were booked last week near Umranangal village under Beas police station, where the owners had allegedly fired on labourers. Six labourers were injured, three of them seriously, in a clash between activists of the Bhatta Mazdoor Union and the kiln owners.

Anil Sood, executive member of the Association, said, “Our members had fired in self-defence after the workers attacked them. So registering a case against them is not justified. No brick will be supplied unless the FIR is quashed.”

The owners stated that the strike would continue till the issue was resolved. Kiln owners revealed that at the moment, the daily supply per kiln was about 2,000-3,000 bricks.

Brick-kiln owners said the prices were rising and the present stocks of bricks would be exhausted within a week. “The prices have already gone up to Rs 2,500 per thousand from the prevalent rate of Rs 2,000. The rates will further rise to touch Rs 2,700-2,900 before the stocks are finished.”

Moreover, all development projects in the state has come to a halt, said Sanjay kumar, executive member, Indian Institute of Architects of Punjab and Chandigarh Chapter.

Bathinda, April 8
Despite the notification issued by the government about implementation of the Punjab Plastic Carry Bags Control Act 2005 that forbids the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags (waste material which is not bio-degraded by micro organisms) in markets, local shopping centres apart from hotels, hospitals, restaurants and malls, the law is being followed defiantly in Punjab. Ban on using polythenes applies on the whole country. But the administration expressed helplessness and said it was concentrating on election duties.

There are strict provisions under the act to control manufacturing of plastic bags and prohibiting the disposal of non-biodegradable plastic waste at public places drains and sewers. However, it appears, considering the present situation, that the Act has not been implemented at all.

Dr Aslam Pervez, state president of Rural Medical Services Association, when contacted said, “The government has completely failed to implement this Act. The situation would be worse during the rainy season resulting in blockage of sewers due to accumulation of plastic wastage, water-borne diseases, dengue and others. In addition, a large number of cows die after eating polythenes.”

Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tewari said, “The Act is applicable here also. Many laws are being flouted in the country and we cannot change it. I cannot be the harbinger of change. We keep asking the pollution board to do regular checks.”

Executive engineer of the Punjab Pollution Control Board, Bathinda, G.S. Majithia when contacted, said, “Implementing a ban on polythene is not my job. The DC office is the implementing authority and the Municipal Corporation is supposed to investigate whether the ban is being followed or not.”

Manish Kumar, the District Transport Officer, who is also looking after matters related to the MC, said, “I already have got two to three charges. I am concentrating more on elections now. We have not been able to implement the Act. Give me a day and I will look into what the Act is and what is our role in its implementation.”

The Bathinda Military Station has a different story to narrate. All the shops situated in the military station strictly follow the practice of using paper bags. Shopkeepers in the cantonment said they had strict orders about not using polythenes at all.

A senior Army officer said not using polythenes was part of the Army’s environment campaign.

Bathinda, April 8
A two-day technical festival titled ‘Ekgelo-09’ began at the Malout Institute of Management and Information Technology here on Wednesday.

Dr Jairoop Singh, vice-chancellor of the Central University, Punjab, who was the chief guest on the occasion, inaugurated the fest today.

In his speech, Dr Jairoop encouraged the students for taking part in extra-curricular activities for the overall development of personality.

The chief guest also stressed upon the importance of education in an individual’s life.

Dr Sanjeev Sharma, principal of the institute, presented the vote of thanks.

The prize distribution ceremony would be held at the college tomorrow.

Fazilka, April 8
Staging a protest rally, activists of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta) today blocked vehicular traffic on Fazilka-Malout road at village Abhun. The protesters were opposing the alleged illegal possession of a piece of agricultural land of a marginal farmer by an influential landlord of the same village.

The rally was held under the leadership of the state vice-president Surjit Singh Dhaban. District president Darshan Singh, district vice-president Gurvinder Singh, district general secretary Sukhminder Singh Wazidpura, Jalalabad block president Puran Singh Tambuwala, Abohar block president Mehal Sigh and others also addressed the rally.

They raised slogans against the civil and the police administration and demanded “justice" for the aggrieved farmer, Ajmer Singh, whose seven acres of land has allegedly been taken into possession by the landlord about six months back. Several attempts of Ajmer Singh to bring the matter to the notice of the administration had proved futile. The Bhartiya Kisan Union demanded restoration of status quo in connection with possession of the agricultural land.

The vehicular traffic was disrupted for about an hour. Fazilka Tehsildar Varinder Singh reached the spot and persuaded the protesters to lift the agitation. He asked the BKU (Ekta) members to furnish the relevant documents of ownership right in his office on April 9 to enable him to establish the truth. 

Abohar, April 8
Putting all the speculations and rumours to rest, Congress legislators and some former MLAs of the district not only shared dais with the party candidate Jagmeet Singh Brar but also made a strong appeal for wresting the Ferozepur Lok Sabha constituency from the SAD.

Braving inclement weather, thousands of citizens thronged the old grain market ground in the evening.

The rally was organised by the city Congress committee. Sukhdev Singh vice-president of the rural SAD unit and member of the Panchayat Samiti joined Congress on the occasion.

Local legislator Sunil Jakhar and Guruharsahai MLA Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, while refuting all the rumours gave a call to the party workers to ensure victory of the party candidate to strengthen hands of the AICC president Sonia Gandhi and the prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

They, however, advised Jagmeet Singh Brar to win the confidence and faith of the grass root workers, who had been working hard for the party.

Since Sodhi had been advised by the doctors not to speak due to problem in vocal cord, he stood by his representative Ravi Sharma, who read his speech. However, Sodhi made ‘V’ sign and acknowledged applause from the crowd.

Jalalabad MLA Hans Raj Josan along with former legislators of Balluana segment Parkash Singh Bhatti and Hans Raj Arya, district youth Congress president Sandeep Jakhar, former PSSB member Jaspinder Singh, PPCC general secretary Gurdas Girdhar and senior councilor Vimal Thathai also addressed the rally. Interestingly, elder brother of Sunil Jakhar and IFFCO chairman Surinder Kumar Jakhar occupied a chair among the audience and listened to all the speeches.

Some of the speakers, however, reminded Brar that he had not maintained personal contact with the workers after contesting the last election.

Sunil Jakhar strongly criticised the Badal-led government for allegedly unleashing a reign of terror and atrocities on the people.

He referred to Choohriwala Dhanna episode also and condemned the administration for booking 110 persons only because they dared to protest against police excesses on Diwali in 2007. He also blamed the state government for playing with the health of millions by not checking the flow of contaminated black water in the canals of the Malwa region. 

Abohar, April 8
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Congress candidate Jagmeet Singh Brar had a neck-to-neck race in the second phase of electioneering in Balluana Vidhan Sabha segment on Wednesday. Both of them had addressed meetings in more than 12 villages till today in the evening.

The election campaign schedule of the CM was revised thrice. His advisors preferred to skip this village initially as the residents had earlier not allowed the alliance candidate Sher Singh Ghubaya and the state BJP vice-president Surjit Kumar Jyani to step out of their vehicles to express resentment over the alleged role of Jyani in the Diwali episode. They had alleged that Jyani had shielded the cops, who allegedly indulged in ransacking some houses and outraged the modesty of women on the Diwali night in 2007.

Finally, the alliance election managers accepted the plea by the locals that Jyani should not accompany the CM during the campaign at village Choohriwala Dhanna. This helped in holding good meeting there. However, the CM exhausted the audience in most of the village by running late by 60 minutes. On reaching village Chanankhera at 4.15 pm, he had to feel sorry for the delay. Contents of the speech given in all the villages were the same. He blamed Congress for victimisation against Punjab, the food bowl of the country.

The SAD-BJP candidate, Sher Singh Ghubaya, said the elected representatives had not been keeping up the promises made during the elections.

He perhaps forgot that this cast aspersion on Zora Singh Mann of his party, as Mann had represented the Ferozepur constituency for the last three terms.

AICC member Jagmeet Singh Brar felt buoyed over defections from the SAD to Congress but made it categorically clear that the new entrants will be entitled to any organisational office only at the basis of their performance during the next five years. 

Mansa, April 8
On the call of Punjab Mulzam Sangarsh Committee, employees of Mansa district today held a protest march and raised slogans in support of their demands.

Employees leader Atma Singh Atma, Charanjit Singh Dhalewa, Vikar Singh Makha, Satnaam Chand and Jaspal Khokhar said that the government compelled them for their move by ignoring their demands.

They demanded release and the implementation of the 6th Pay Commission report, regularisation of daily wage and contract workers and rejection of privatisation policies.

Abohar, April 8
Chairmen and the staff of the market committees of Abohar and Mamdot accorded a befitting farewell to Bharat Bhushan on superannuating of service as secretary of the Mamdot market committee at a function held on Tuesday.

Dhanpat Rai Siyag, chairman of the local market committee, offered gifts to the retiring official.

Gurpreet Singh, chairman from Mamdot and Harpal Singh Behal, secretary of the local committee were also present.