New Delhi, November 9
The Congress was left fielding embarrassing queries from the party’s official podium thanks to Manu Sharma, son of wealthy Haryana Congress politician Venod Sharma, who allegedly chose to spend his parole period “partying” instead of looking after his “ill” mother, who meanwhile held a press conference in Chandigarh despite “poor health”.

The party was also left to take calls for Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who had forwarded Manu’s parole recommendation.

Manu, serving life imprisonment for the 1999 murder of model Jessica Lal at the Tihar Jail here, was granted parole on the ground that his mother was seriously ill and he had to attend to family business matters. He was given parole in September for a month, which was later extended by another month till November 22, reportedly on Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s recommendation to Lieut-Governor Tejendra Khanna.

Attacking Dikhsit’s decision, BJP leader Vijay Malhotra today urged the Delhi Lieut-Governor to cancel Manu’s parole immediately.

Under severe criticism from the Opposition, Dikshit defended Manu’s parole saying he was entitled to it. “Everything was done according to the rules,” she said, adding that the recommendation for the parole was not illegal.

Dikshit said: “Whatever has taken place is under the provisions of law. The decision was taken by a committee that included the Jail Superintendent, the Home Secretary, the Delhi government, the Delhi Police and the Lieut-Governor”. “It is a right of a prisoner to apply for parole. The committee recommends a parole after reviewing a person’s complete case,” she added.

The grand old party in turn was left defending Dikhsit. “How is she (Dikshit) responsible ..... The party has nothing to do with it. Don’t unnecessarily sensationalise the issue,” Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said.

However, when persistently bombarded with questions on the issue and reminded that Manu’s father was a senior Congress leader, Singhvi said parole was a legal procedure overseen by the court. “The Chief Minister made the recommendation along with other people. She certainly did not make the recommendation for violation. There are parole officers to oversee if he (Manu) had made any violation. Parole can be policed, reviewed and not granted in future,” he said.

A senior Congress leader, however, admitted while it was not against the law to go to a restaurant while on parole, “but if your parole is based on the pretext that your mother is ill and she is holding press conferences and you are partying, then there is a problem”.

As per reports, Manu’s mother Shakti Rani held a press conference in the family-run Piccadilly Hotel in Chandigarh and he was seen in an elite nightclub late Friday evening.

New Delhi/Patna, November 9
The assault on Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi by the MNS legislators in the Maharashtra Assembly today evoked a very strong and spontaneous reaction among the politicians.

The assault on Azmi for taking his oath in Hindi today has put the BJP, in alliance with MNS rival and the original Marathi enthusiast Shiv Sena, in a bit of a quandary, as the national spokesman Prakash Javadekar condemned the act while Maharashtra vice-president Kirit Somaiya described Azmi’s action as an act of “grave provocation”.

Somaiya said, “We condemn the assault but Azmi had no business to commit such grave act of provocation”.

Javadekar said, “We condemn the attack on democratic traditions in strongest possible words. Under the Constitution we are allowed the use of any regional language. But it is the moral responsibility of the Congress-NCP. They have to deal with this monster that is their own creation.”

As for the Congress, it has come out strongly and clearly against the act. Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said, “What has happened in Maharashtra Assembly today is constitutionally impermissible and democratically shameful. It has to be condemned by all right thinking parties. It will have far-reaching repercussions. Hindi is our national language and there is no insult to Marathi.” He said, “It cuts at the very root of Indian unity.”

Shocked and dismayed over the incident, leaders of all hues deplored the “goondagiri” of Raj Thackeray and his team in the House.

CPI national secretary D Raja defended Azmi’s right to take his oath in Hindi saying, “Everyone had the right to take oath in the language he wants”.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar found it hard to believe that the elected representatives could carry out this kind of “unlawful act”. Demanding an immediate ban on the MNS, Nitish urged the Centre as well as the Government of Maharashtra to take a very serious note of the incident.

RJD chief Lalu Yadav was so sore with the happenings that he went on to say that if immediate coercive action were not taken to check divisive forces like the MNS, the country would disintegrate. He has urged the PM to call an all-party meeting to discuss why the MNS should not be declared as an anti-national outfit.

Former Union Minister and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan said it was not an attack on Azmi but on the national language and Constitution. He wondered why Raj Thackeray and his MLAs had not been put behind the bars so far. He sought their immediate expulsion from the House by the Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav today congratulated his Maharathra MLA Abu Asim Azmi for taking a strong stand on the language issue. “The entire country knows Azmi for his love for the national language. When one takes such a stand, one should be prepared for humiliation by anti-social elements. This should not deter one from sticking to one’s values,” said Yadav, while reacting to the incidents in the Maharashtra Assembly.

Through a letter, Yadav has drawn the attention of Prime Minister Manmohn Singh to the incident. He also expressed surprise at Congress and BJP MLAs being silent spectators to the incident.

New Delhi, November 9
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti today welcomed the offer of talks on Kashmir made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but wanted him to go an extra mile to get Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani on board.

“If India can talk to Pakistan, why not to Geelani. He is one leader whose stand has remained consistent. The PM needs to persuade him for the dialogue to be credible,” said Mehbooba, who, however, could not explain why the dialogue process should hang endlessly for Geelani’s participation given latter’s “non-negotiable” stance on the matter.

She was, however, convinced that there being a democratic government in Pakistan, this was the “most opportune time” for resolving the Kashmir crisis. She admitted the Kashmiris tended to view Centre’s dialogue proposals with “cynicism”.

“Disintegration of Pakistan won’t help the cause of Kashmir. India should come to its aid and take talks forward. Back home, too, some consensus is emerging across sections. For the first time, moderate Hurriyat and JKLF have offered concrete proposals. Besides, there is agreement across factions on the revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Like us, even Geelani is for de-militarisation,” the PDP chief said.

Though supportive of Yasin Mailk-led JKLF’s self-governance idea, which she equated to NC’s autonomy and PDP’s self-rule, Mehbooba rejected his extreme proposals of a separate Supreme Court, Election Commission, among others.

“We can’t accept Yasin’s idea of keeping India out in case of external aggression in Kashmir. We just want the state’s special status restored, including Article 356, elected governor, and power to legislate,” Mehbooba said.

She also seized the opportunity to hard sell the regional council for Jammu and Kashmir, saying the PM is for a joint mechanism as well. “The council can have 20 representatives each from Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and five each from India and Pakistan,” Mehbooba argued.

New Delhi, November 9
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned ex-Chief Minister of Jharkhand Madhu Koda on November 15 to its Delhi office for questioning in connection with Rs 2,500-crore money laundering scandal. Koda has been given another five days due to his ill health. He was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Ranchi due to stomach infection.

He was shifted from the ICU to the general ward yesterday. “We hope he would be in the best of health by then and would be able to answer our queries,” said a senior ED official.

Meanwhile, the ED has also issued Letter Rogatory to five countries regarding their assistance in collecting evidence against the accused in the case that includes three former ministers of Koda’s cabinet and his key aides Binod Sinha and Sanjay Chaudhary.

“We have sent Letter Rogatory to governments of Singapore, Liberia, Thailand, Malaysia and Dubai for their cooperation where we have reasons to believe that a large sum of money was transferred through hawala channels and investments were made,” said an ED official.

The ED has also reportedly sought help from the US-based Google and its e-mail service to get details of messages relating to foreign investments by the accused and thus speeding up the investigation.

“We need details of mails exchanged between the people whose places were raided and investments made in or money sent to foreign countries. The print out of mail details will be a great help in the investigation,” said an officer.

Meanwhile, Devendra Mukhiya, one of the accused who appeared before the income tax officials in Ranchi for questioning expressed danger to his life, while denying his involvement in any business deals with the accused.

On October 9, the ED had lodged a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Koda, the three former ministers as well as his associates Binod Sinha and Chaudhary.

New Delhi, November 9
In what could open a new trail for Indian security agencies, the visits of David Headley, the US-based man nabbed by FBI, to Mumbai has thrown up details about connections and sympathisers that Headley had in India.

It has turned out that he was in contact with cadres of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and also the Indian Mujahideen. The cadre of the latter was alleged to have been involved in blasts across Delhi, Jaipur and Ahmedabad last year.

The people he met and whom he called up on telephone were being tracked down, Home Ministry sources said.

His visits to various cities are being looked into but the details are being kept out of public glare. The data of telephone calls will be a bit difficult to track, as mobile phone companies do not maintain call details beyond a specific period - in some cases up to one year.

The last time Headley is known to have visited India was in April this year. The details of the calls he made around that time will be known and the numbers are being sifted through to track down people. It was in this trip - in total he had visited India nine times on a business visa - that he wound up his immigration agency in Mumbai that had been operational since 2006-07. It was said to be functioning from AC market in Tardeo, Mumbai.

Ever since the Indian agencies turned on the heat, certain cadres of the Indian Mujahideen have been missing from the country and now it was being ascertained if any of them were helped by Headley in escaping the country.

There is strong suspicion that he not only helped them, but also facilitated their exit using the knowledge of the immigration system. His agency used to facilitate visas for semi-skilled workers to work in US and Canada. Details of the immigration forms used by Headley’s firm are being dug out.

Headley was arrested by the FBI from Chicago for planning to carry out terrorist activities in and outside the US with the help of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Kolkata, November 9
Launching an all out attack on Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the Trinamool Congress today carried out a peace procession (mahamichil) in the city as its supremo and Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a week-long agitation programme starting from tomorrow against the CPM, demanding its immediate removal.

Mamata said after his utter failure in every aspects, Bhattacherjee had no moral right to be in the chair even for another day, adding that “sooner he leaves, better for the masses”. She alleged the Chief Minister was acting like Hitler and damaging the state and his party.

Mamata advised the jawans and the policemen to protect themselves since the state government would not protect them.

Taking a dig at the CPM, she said the terror unleashed by the Marxists was more dangerous than the Maoists’ menace. She apologised for the inconvenience caused to people due to the traffic and transport blockade following the procession.

The Railways Minister declared that she would be organising similar peace processions at Lalgarh and Jangalmahal for restoring peace and normalcy there.

She asked the Chief Minister to stop making “irresponsible” statements on the Lalgarh movement” and unnecessary threats to the Maoists. She alleged his unnecessary provocation was responsible for the killing of the four EFR jawans near Jhargram last night.

Mamata further alleged that the CPM was inflicting atrocities on people at the instance of the Chief Minister.

Guwahati, November 9
The normal life in Assam valley came to a halt today in view of a 12-hour statewide bandh called by the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), which was protesting the arrest of its two top rung leaders , ‘foreign secretary’ Sashadhar Chowdhury and ‘finance secretary ‘Chitrabon Hazarika’.

Dring the bandh period, employees did not turn up in many government offices while all educational institutions, banks and other financial and commercial establishments remained closed.

Road communication was thrown out of gear with vehicles keeping off highways, though rail and air traffic remained unaffected.

In a statement issued to the media, ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa termed the arrest of the two leaders a part of the design to ignore the outfit’s stand to find a negotiated political settlement to the vexed “India-Asom” conflict and crush the outfit through the use of force.

The two ULFA leaders were picked up from the hideout in Dhaka by unidentified persons on the night of November 1last and later they had been pushed back to India through the Tripura sector of the India-Bangladesh border.

The police took their custody after the BSF had detained them on the border.

General secretary of the ULFA Anup Chetia who was arrested in Dhaka on December 21, 1997 - on charges of illegal entry into Bangladesh, possession of two forged Bangladeshi passports, an unauthorised satellite phone and illegal foreign currencies of countries like the US, Britain, Thailand, Spain and Belgium - is still lodged in a prison in that country even after expiry of his jail term on February 25, 2005 because he can’t be extradited to India in the absence of a treaty.

As there is no treaty, several Bangladeshi human rights groups and lawyers have mobilised support to pressurise Dhaka not to hand over Chetia to Indian authorities. Instead, the rights groups have been campaigning for granting political asylum to Chetia. 

Betul (MP), November 9
Defying the 'fatwa' issued by the Jamiat-Ulama-e-Hind against rendition of the Vande Mataram, a group of Muslims led by a clergyman joined people from other communities in singing the National Song in front of a mosque here.

A large number of people from a cross section of the society collected in front of the Jama Masjid at Betul Bazaar at the invitation of its Imam Hafiz Abdul Razique and recited the song yesterday.

The event was organised by “Rukmani Balaji Mandir,” its founder Sam Verma, an NRI, said.

After singing the National Song at the temple, a rally acclaiming “Bharat Mata” was taken out and when it was proceeding towards the Bazaar Chowk, Razique requested them to sing “Vande Mataram” in front of the Mosque. Several members of the minority community joined in.

“It is not against Islam to sing Vande Mataram,” Razique said and added that he himself requested those taking part in the rally to sing the National Song in front of the Mosque.

The Jamiat, one of the most influential bodies of Muslim clerics in the country, had recently issued an edict that recital of the National Song went against the tenets of Islam that preaches monotheism. — PTI

Lucknow, November 9
Hundreds of angry farmers disrupted road and rail traffic in various parts of western Uttar Pradesh protesting against low sugarcane support price suggested by the state government.

According to the police, farmers removed fishplates and damaged railway track near Bawli railway station in Baghpat district, around 400 km from Lucknow. In Meerut and Saharanpur districts, they disrupted road traffic along the busy highways completely.

Trouble started early this morning near Bawli when a large number of farmers sat on the railway track and even damaged it. Additional security personnel were rushed to the district, said SP Baghpat Deepak Kumar.

In Meerut, protesting farmers blocked traffic at Dauraula, Sardhana and Partapur. They also burnt effigies of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and UP Chief Minister Mayawati.

The central government had announced a price of Rs 129.85 per quintal for sugarcane for 2009-10 crushing season under the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) System. The state government’s state advisory price (SAP) has been set between Rs 165 and Rs 170 per quintal. In case a state government fixes a SAP higher than FRP, it has to cough up the difference.

Farmers want Rs.280 per quintal for their produce while Samajwadi party president Mulayam Singh Yadav has demanded Rs 300 per quintal.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh has already announced his party’s decision to lay siege to Parliament House on November 19, when the winter session is scheduled to start. This would be to restrain the Central Government from passing the pending FRP Ordinance.

Lucknow, November 9
Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav today asked Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to step down from his post for his failure to provide remunerative prices to farmers for their produce.

“I can see that he is no longer a farmer and only a leader. That too under pressure from the Congress since his party’s numerical strength has gone down after the Lok Sabha elections. If this is the case, Pawar should resign from the office,” Yadav said.

Addressing a press conference, he announced a one-day demonstration across Uttar Pradesh on November 16 to lodge farmers’ protest against the poor remuneration being offered to cane growers. “While prices of sugar are rising every day, the cane crop is being burnt in the fields and cane farmers are attempting suicide,” he said.

Demanding that the minimum support price for sugarcane to be fixed at Rs 300 per quintal, Yadav alleged of connivance between the state and the Centre on the issue. “They are offering pittance to the farmers because they are interested in helping some foreign companies earn huge profits,” he said.

Chennai, November 9
Several members of CPM-affiliated farmers’ unions, who attempted to enter the land allegedly encroached upon by Karnataka Chief Justice PD Dinakaran, were arrested by the police at Kaverirajapuram village in Tiruvallur district near Chennai today.

About 300 protesters were taken into custody, the police said. B Tulsi Narayanan, district secretary of the All-India Kisan Sabha, who led the agitation, and members of the Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam were stopped at Tiruvallur while proceeding towards Kaverirajapuram.

The members said they resorted to road blockade when they were stopped at Tiruvallur. Later, they were arrested. The farmers’ unions alleged the police had arrested P Shanmugam, treasurer, AIKS, and CPM district secretary K Selvaraj yesterday itself, after inviting them for talks. However, the police said they were arrested after the talks with them failed.

Condemning the arrest of CPM leaders, party’s state secretary N Varadarajan, said, “All five arrested leaders should be released and the prohibitory orders should be withdrawn immediately. The lands encroached upon by the judge should be retrieved and given to the landless Dalits and poor people in the village.”

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had earlier warned of stern action against CPM activists, if they tried to enter the said land. Alleging that the CPM was trying to disturb law and order situation, the Chief Minister said the party was playing “discriminatory politics”.

Referring to the CPM allegations that former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had encroached upon land belonging to Dalits at Sirudhavur, near Chennai, Karunanidhi said the Marxists were ready to wait for several years in that case, while they were launching direct action when it came to land allegedly owned by Dinakaran. 

Bangalore, November 9
Truce struck by Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa with the dissidents in Delhi yesterday claimed its first political victim today with state Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Shobha Karandlaje resigning from the cabinet.

The Reddy brothers, Karunakara and Janardhana, Revenue and Tourism Ministers, respectively, and leaders of the MLAs opposing Yeddyurappa, are also demanding the removal of at least four other ministers considered close to the Chief Minister. Karandlaje, the only woman minister in the Karnataka council of ministers, gave her resignation to the CM, which was promptly accepted.

While it was widely reported that the rebels were demanding Karandlaje’s resignation, Chief Minister Yeddyurappa was nurturing hope that he would be able to protect the minister. Even yesterday, on his return from Delhi, the Chief Minister told reporters that question of dropping any minister from the Cabinet did not arise.

Today, however, Yeddyurappa changed track and said the core committee to be constituted to monitor the work of the government would decide which ministers needed to be retained and who were to be dropped.

On Friday (November 6), Yeddyurappa transferred his principal secretary (PSCM) VP Baligar to meet demands aired by the dissident lobby.

Hailing from Puttur in coastal Karnataka, the 43-year-old Karandlaje, who is single, is a first time MLA from Yeshwantpur constituency of the city. She was the target of dissident MLAs who had attacked her for being given prominence by the Chief Minister. Revenue Minister Karunakara Reddy was reportedly particularly irked when Karandlaje visited Bellary, his home district, and held a review meeting of the revenue department officials.