Ballan, May 30
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, along with his son Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and the SGPC chief, today visited Dera Sachkhand to express grief on the death of Sant Ramanand, who was killed in a firing incident in Vienna recently.

After paying obeisance at the Dera, the Badals had a closed-door meeting with sect leaders in which, it is learnt, that Dera leaders demanded the immediate release of those who were arrested for arson and rioting after the Vienna incident.

Interacting with mediapersons later on, Badal said a committee, headed by Divisional Commissioner SR Ladhar and Inspector-General (Zonal) Sanjeev Kalra, would review all cases in which arrests were made after violence rocked the city and its vicinity.

“I have come here to condole the death of Sant Ramanand and condemn the attack on Dera head Sant Niranjan Das in Vienna. The attack on the sants was a cowardly act and an attempt to disturb the hard-earned peace of Punjab,” he added.

Asked when the body of Sant Ramanand would be flown back to the Dera, the CM said he was in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs on the issue and added that a state funeral would be held for the deceased.

Badal also lauded the role of Dera leaders for restoring peace in the state, following violent protests by its followers.

Commenting on the increasing racial attacks on Indian students (a majority of whom are Punjabis) in Australia, Badal said he had already taken up the matter with the union ministry concerned.

Sukhbir, who also holds the Home portfolio, said normalcy had been restored in the state and only night curfew was still being imposed in the disturbed areas as a precautionary measure.

The CM was accompanied by Industries Minister Manoranjan Kalia and Dr Daljeet Singh Cheema, chief adviser to the Chief Minister.

Meanwhile, Dera sources claimed that the postmortem of Sant Ramanand was conducted yesterday and it was expected that the mortal remains would be flown back on Wednesday. The funeral would take place on Thursday afternoon.

On the other hand, the administration, too, is making arrangements for the funeral that will be attended by thousands of devotees. 

Sangrur, May 30
In respect of agitation of landless labourers in Sangrur and Mansa districts, the Communist Party of India (CPI) today urged the Punjab government to acquire land in the state to allot five-marla plots to homeless labourers. It asked the government to either build houses for homeless labourers or give interest-free loans to them for constructing houses after allotting five-marla plots.

Member of the national executive committee of the CPI Joginder Dayal added that the panchayat land should not be touched by the state government without the consent of the panchayats for providing five-marla plots to homeless labourers as panchayat land was a source of income of panchayats for the development of the villages.

Dr Dayal said it was a matter of concern that forcible possession of government or panchayat land by homeless labourers was leading to division and confrontation in society. He said besides allotting plots/building houses the state government should also provide education, health, sewerage and other such facilities to homeless labourers.

Dr Dayal asked the labour and farmer organisations to take support from other organisations. He also asked the state government not to arrest labourers as this was not a solution to the problem. He also asked the state government that why it could not construct houses for homeless labourers when the state, like Bihar, had already done a lot in this direction. 

Kharar, May 30
The authorities have learnt no lesson from the number of accidents on the NH-21 in the recent past.

Encroachments and wrong parking, especially near eateries, dhabas and marriage palaces, have jeopardised the lives of motorists.

Under the traffic rules, there should be no encroachments, especially on national highways. However, chaos and mismanagement prevail on the road from Balongi toll barrier up to Kharar bus stand, leaving no chance of a hassle-free drive.

“Commuters either meet with an accident or end up with a damaged vehicle. Every other day, heated arguments are witnessed on the highway over the issue of overtaking,” said Harmeet Singh Dhillon, who commutes daily on the stretch.

Though the road is declared a no-overtaking zone, majority of heavy vehicles travel at breakneck speed, overtaking lighter ones.

Shopkeepers claim that they have never seen traffic police challan offenders of overtaking on this stretch. There are no traffic lights on the stretch, which is dotted by intersections emerging out of one residential area or another. Though the stretch from toll barrier to Gulmohar complex is four-laned, lack of strict policing has been the major reason behind increasing number of accidents.

Situation worsens after dark when truck drivers park their trucks near dhabas dotting the highway, creating a traffic jam.

Amritsar, May 30
The seminar, organised by radical Sikh organisations, including the Akal Federation and the Shiromani Sikh Council, a week before the 25th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, today asked the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) to raise a memorial in the memory of those killed in the Army action in June 1984 as passed by the general house of the SGPC.

The speakers condemned the SGPC for abandoning its resolution on the memorial of Operation Bluestar in the Golden Temple complex, allegedly at the behest of the BJP, partner of the Shiromani Akali Dal. Chief of the Akal Federation Narain Singh, the main organiser of the seminar, said names of all those killed in the Army operation be included in the ardas ( Sikh prayer).

In another resolution, Dalbir Singh, former journalist, sought the social boycott of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on the basis of the letter, purported to have been written by him and then SAD president Sant Harchand Singh Longowal and Jathedar Tohra, to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) that led to the Army operation.

Some of the speakers mentioned the name of LK Advani for his "confession" in his political biography wherein he had stated that he had compelled the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi to order Operation Bluestar to flush out militants from Akal Takht and the Golden Temple. They said the SAD continued to have alliance with the BJP. The speakers alleged that the then SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra held a meeting with senior officials of the PMO for ordering Army action.

The seminar also resolved to contest general house elections of the SGPC.

Justice Ajit Singh Bains (retd) of the Punjab Human Rights Organisation called upon the Sikhs to create a Panthic spirit for the overall development of the community.

Parveen Kaur, who was arrested in connection with planning to assassinate the Sirsa-based Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh, was also honoured on this occasion. Parveen was accused of offering herself as "human bomb". She is niece of slain terrorist Bashir Mohammad, a former cop who was killed in Kolkata along with his pregnant wife by the Punjab Police.

Bhai Mohkam Singh, a spokesman of the Damdami Taksal and convener of the Khala Action Committee, Principal Jagdish Singh, Dr Gurdarshan Singh of Ludhiana, Prof Avtar Singh, Kanwarpal Singh, a spokesman of the Dal Khalsa, Prof Avtar Singh and Mukhtar Singh Mukhi were among the speakers. They asked the SGPC to publish a white paper on Operaion Bluestar.

Jalandhar, May 30
Why students from Punjab migrate to Australia and New Zealand, where they become victims of racial violence, for diploma courses of saloon management, hotel management, hospitality, cookery, accountancy, hair dressing etc? Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, his son Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and also the former Chief Ministers owe an answer to this question.

Students go there as our governments have failed to have academic institutions of high standards and assure job security. Students do these courses for permanent residency (PR) status to settle there hoping for a better future there than in Punjab.

The government has made a mess of academic institutions and some have been playing with the lives of students in Punjab.

Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, has been without a regular Vice-Chancellor for three months. The Registrar of the university has been looking after the work of three other important offices, besides his own. There is no regular controller of examinations. Other important offices in the university are being manned on ad hoc basis.

The charge of the VC is with the Secretary, Education, whose office is in Chandigarh. V-C Jairup Singh left the university in the last week of February to join as V-C of Central University at Bathinda.

Punjab Technical University (PTU) deals with students who choose courses having job potential in national and international market. The PTU conducted the common entrance test (CET), a test for which students spend thousands on tuitions, to select students for admission to engineering courses. However, experts pointed out serious mistakes in the CET question paper given to about 26,000 students on May 3. Following objections from teachers to answers to some questions, the university set up a committee and admitted serious mistakes in the question paper.

In fact, some questions were so complicated that even experts were divided on their answers. The answer of some of the questions was taken on the basis of the decision of experts. How can students solve a paper that even experts are unable to resolve the answer? Why was such a question paper set ? Does it not amount to playing with the careers of students?

The Punjab School Education Board recently declared all students of SNS Doaba Khalsa Public School, Dhina, of class VII failed. Parents contested the result and it was found that all students, but two, had passed. The first news had created panic among students. 

Jalandhar, May 30
The police is under “political pressure” to cancel cases against “rioters and arsonists” following the Vienna episode. A case has come to light in which 13 accused, who went on rampage in Goraya, were handed over to the police by shopkeepers of the town.

Subsequently, an FIR (No. 63) was registered against 150 persons for the damage they caused under Sections 307, 267, 483, 148 and 147, IPC, on May 25.

Sources said due to pressure from higher-ups, the police had moved an application seeking cancellation of the case and release of all accused.

The plea was rejected by the SDJM yesterday, but the police today again presented a fresh application which stated an inquiry in the case had been conducted by the DSP, Phillaur, and he was of the view that the accused were not involved in the case.

The court accepted the plea and the accused were set free after furnishing personal bonds of Rs 10,000 each, the sources pointed out.

There is anger among the shopkeepers of Goraya, besides the legal fraternity of Phillaur where rioters caused intense damage to the newly constructed court complex.

The Phillaur Bar Association has also submitted a memorandum to the Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court, demanding action against the accused who damaged the court complex and the chambers of the lawyers.

Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court, TS Thakur, inaugurated the complex in the first week of May.

Sangrur, May 30
While launching a campaign on the occasion of the World Anti-Tobacco Day, workers of a local NGO Sahara Foundation burnt big-size artificial cigarettes, besides packets of biris and zarda at the Labour Chowk outside Nabha Gate here today.

On the occasion, the participants also took a pledge never use any type of tobacco products during their lifetime and to motivate others for the same. Some labourers also took out packets of biris and zarda from their pockets and threw the same in the fire to say goodbye to tobacco products.

District TB officer Surinder Singla administered the pledge. Singla said tobacco had been a greatest single threat to the health of people. He said every minute two persons were dying due to various tobacco-related diseases, like lung cancer, cancer of oral cavity, tuberculosis and heart attack in the world.

“Contrary to the belief, smokeless tobacco, like zarda and pan masala, was not a safe alternative to cigarette or biri,” he added.

Chairman, Sahara Foundation, Sarbjit Singh Raikhy said smokers were not only ruining their own lives, but also causing harm to people living in their surroundings by making them passive smokers.President of the Foundation Balbir Singh Gill said the foundation would make efforts to make Sangrur a tobacco-free zone by organising public awareness camps and seminars in collaboration with the Health Department.

Members of the Foundation also submitted a memorandum, demanding strict compliance of the anti-tobacco law, to Deputy Commissioner VK Ohri here. 

Jalandhar, May 30
The PTU authorities here seem to have failed to learn lessons from its past. After a mathematic’s paper-leak incident in the last semester examination there have been a series of lapses on the part of officials, be it mistakes in the result preparation of the last semester, subsequent delay in the delivery of the remaining results, consequent postponement of the examination and then eight to 10 errors in solutions to CET questions.

The most recently reported failure has been the key mismatch with OMR sheets attached with CET answer books owing to which these had to be manually checked. The OMR sheets were not printed correctly because of which the keys prepared could not correctly match with sheets to generate computerised results.

Since manual checking was taking more time, the CET result, which was to be declared on May 18, was put to May 26 and then to May 29. 

Chandigarh, May 30
Issuing a notice of motion for July 23, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed Dr Ranjeet Singh Bajwa “shall be permitted to continue as the vice-chairman of the Punjab School Education Board” till then.

Taking up Dr Bajwa’s petition, the Division Bench of Justice Ashutosh Mohunta and Justice Nirmaljit Kaur observed “the appellant was appointed as the vice-chairman vide notification dated December 29, 2006 upto May 30.

“He filed a writ petition wherein it was prayed that he be permitted to continue as vice-chairman of the board till January 2, 2010, as he was to complete three years on that date. This prayer of the petitioner was rejected vide the impugned judgment against which he has preferred the patent appeal”.

The Bench also took note of the submission that the Section 5 (1) of the Punjab School Education Board Act, 1969, says the term of office of the chairman and the vice-chairman shall be of three years from the date of publication of notification.

But in view of a proviso, the appellant was appointed as the vice-chairman upto May 30, as he was to attain the age of 62 on that date.

However, “vide notification dated May 5, 2008, an amendment has been introduced in the Punjab School Education Board Act, according to which the upper age limit to the office of the chairman and the vice-chairman has been increased to 65 years.

“Thus, according to the counsel the appellant is entitled to continue at least for a period of three years from the date of his initial appointment, which period he will complete on January 2, 2010.

“It is further contended that in view of the amendment, the appellant is entitled to complete three years in the office as the vice-chairman, and the bar of appointment upto the age of 62 years does not subsist.

“Notice of motion for July 23, in the meantime, the appellant shall be permitted to continue….”

Chandigarh, May 30
The Punjab and Haryana High Court’s judgment on the significance of unshorn hair in Sikh religion is unique in the sense it takes into consideration not just the legal aspect, but also religious sentiments and views expressed by Sikh scholars, advocates and the intelligentsia.

The three-judge Bench of Justice JS Khehar, Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal observed: “Pavit Singh Mattewal is a budding advocate of this court. He has shown keen interest in the proceedings of the present writ petition.

In so far as his submissions before this Court are concerned, besides advancing oral submissions, he also handed over to us a synopsis of his views”.

In his submissions, Mattewal incorporated the historical impact of events on the Sikh religion; and described the virtues of the concept of “khalsa” and the significance of “sehaj” for the Sikh religion. He has also advanced views on the significance of unshorn hair for the disciples of the Sikh faith, drawn from the five “kakkars”

“According to Mattewal, there is a clear yet subtle distinction between a Keshadhari Sikh and a Sehajdhari Sikh. It is suggested that there is no difference between a Keshadhari who has not taken his/her khalsa amrit and a Sehajdhari. The khalsa is the very image of the Guru --the highest state of evolution in spiritual and temporal terms,” the Bench observed.

The Judges also took note of submissions by Atinder Pal Singh, senior deputy president of the All-India Sikh Students Federation in 1983, who remained underground in connection with the Punjab agitation, and was also imprisoned, but was elected a Member of Parliament in 1989.