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Day 9: Protesters set deadline for govt
NH-10 blocked
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University teachers also threaten stir
Blockades in Fatehabad too
Samiti: Hold assembly session on Mirchpur
Dispute over Proprietorship
Boy kidnapped, murdered
Every fourth Indian suffers from heart disease: Expert
Drive to rehabilitate sex workers hasn’t paid off: Dera chief
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh talks to mediapersons at Sirsa on Sunday. Photo: Amit Soni
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Day 9: Protesters set deadline for govt
Jind, January 23 The protesters, who continued to squat on the Jind-Narwana rail track near Julani village for the ninth day today, observed the 114th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and burnt the effigies of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi. In a resolution at a meeting today, the Mahapanchayat said it would boycott all Republic Day celebrations and observe January 26 as black day if the government failed to accept its demands by tomorrow. It said despite the agitation being peaceful, the government was vitiating the atmosphere by requisitioning the services of paramilitary forces to mount pressure on the masses. “We have received the support of 140 khaps of Haryana and neighbouring states and they have promised us all help,”claimed a spokesperson of the Mahapanchayat. The protesters have held up traffic on all highways and link roads, say reports. The side tracks along the three canals passing through the district have also been blocked with logs. Several students of the local Government College could not take their exam as buses of the local depot did not ply for the second day today. Haryana Roadways claims to be incurring a loss of Rs 9 lakh per day because of the stir.
NH-10 blocked
Hisar, January 23 Consequently, rail traffic on this section was suspended . The Hisar-Chandigarh highway, which also connects the city to all major towns in Punjab, was blocked at Dinoda village. Superintendent of Police Hanif Qureshi said three companies of the CRPF had been sent to Jind to assist the local police. Bus services to all important places, including Delhi and Chandigarh, remained suspended. At some places private vehicles were allowed to pass but at most no traffic was allowed to ply. In the absence of bus services, autorickshaw operators made hay, charging as much as Rs 50 to Rs 100 per passengers for short-distance travel. The local bus stand saw huge crowds of commuters, hoping against hope to catch a bus. Commuters were seen perched atop roofs of buses that plied on roads still open to traffic. A report said six trains were cancelled in Bhiwani. |
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University teachers also threaten stir
Chandigarh, January 23 Deciding to intensify their agitation against the “inordinate delay” in the release of a comprehensive notification regarding the revised pay scales, the Federation of Haryana Universities Teachers’ Associations (FEDHUTA), today decided to begin its agitation from mid-February. At a meeting in Murthal, held under the chairmanship of its president, Dr Somveer Rathee, it was decided that the teachers would wear black badges on February 15 and 16. This would be followed by en masse casual leave on February 23. A week-long chain dharna would begin from March 7. This would be followed by a mass dharna by teachers from all the universities on March 27 at MD University, Rohtak. Rathee said if even then the government still did not notify the revised pay scales, they would be forced to proceed on an indefinite strike beginning April. Rathee said the Chief Minister had assured the dederation July last that a comprehensive notification would be issued soon. However, seven months later nothing had been done. The Haryana government had implemented the revised pay scales for university and college teachers but these were in “bits and pieces.” The issue of advance increments for higher qualification; entry-level pay of directly recruited teachers and equivalent cadres recruited on or after January 1, 2006, the re-designation of Readers and Lecturers in selection grade after three years of service and enhancement in the retirement age as per the UGC and HRD ministry notifications had remained unaddressed in the earlier notification. Meanwhile, the school lecturers protesting against the Education Department’s order to teach Classes IX to XII said they had decided to go ahead with their agitation since the government did not seen inclined to consider their demands. “Several members of our association could not reach Sonepat today on account of the ongoing Jat agitation. We will hold a meeting of the state executive as soon as the protests die down,” the association president, Kitab Singh Mor, said.
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Blockades in Fatehabad too
Fatehabad, January 23 Protesters on the railway track near Laloda railway station reportedly tried to damage railway property. District Magistrate Vijay Singh Dahiya has appointed 11 duty magistrates to maintain law and order in the district. He has attached a police officer with each of these magistrates. Congress MLA Sampat Singh, meanwhile, appealed to the protesters to end their agitation in public interest. Speaking to mediapersons at Badopal village, he claimed that the government had accepted most of the demands. Hence, there was no justification in continuing with the stir. The Congress MLA blamed some Opposition leaders for the ongoing agitation. |
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Samiti: Hold assembly session on Mirchpur
Yamunanagar, January 23 Arya alleged here that the Haryana Chief Minister was patronising the Jat protesters. He claimed that more than 100 Dalits had left Mirchpur village and taken shelter in Delhi due to alleged pressure exerted by the Jat protesters. The state government had failed to provide any help to the Dalits as a result of which they had been forced to shift to Delhi. Union Minister Selja’s appeal for providing security and relief to the Mirchpur Dalits had also been ignored, he alleged, adding that the Jat protesters were running a parallel government in Haryana with the support of the Chief Minister. The agitation by the Jats was a clear case of contempt of court, which had ordered the shifting of the cases from Hisar to Delhi, he added. Rohtak: The state CPM has accused the state government of being responsible for the ongoing Mirchpur agitation. The party has blamed the state regime for its alleged failure to prevent the Mirchpur episode in the first place and the inept handling of the ongoing agitation near Jind. CPM state secretary Inderjit Singh pointed out that some divisive forces were aiming at caste consolidation and appealed all sections of society to remain vigilant against the vested interests of anti-social elements in the garb of caste or khap and refrain from any provocative act, which might adversely affect the social fabric of society. — TNS
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Dispute over Proprietorship
Rewari, January 23 Some protesters also pelted the police personnel with stones, following which the police resorted to lathi-charge and opened tear gas to quell the rioters. A few cops got injured and a vehicle of the Fire Brigade got damaged in the incident. A dispute had been on between the Bawal Municipal Committee and the Panchayat Department over the proprietorship of the venue of the service centre. Bawal municipal chief Chanderpal Chokan and several other municipal councillors asserted that since the land belonged to the municipal committee, the foundation stone must carry the name of the municipal committee, whereas the Bawal Block Development and Panchayat Officer Janki Prasad categorically claimed that they held proprietary rights of the land. Consequently, the name of the Panchayat Department was inscribed on the foundation stone, which was laid by the Finance Minister. This was vehemently opposed by the municipal chief and other residents of the town. Therefore, when Capt Yadav was leaving the place after laying the foundation stone, the protesters turned hostile, following which the police resorted to lathi-charge. Later, the agitated citizens decided to observe a bandh in Bawal tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Bawal police has registered a case of rioting, causing hurt to police personnel and destruction of government property against 50 to 60 rioters. Bawal SHO Suraj Bhan said identification of the accused had begun, following which they would be arrested.
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Boy kidnapped, murdered
Hisar, January 23 He was kidnapped by two neighbours, identified as Amit and Mahipal. When the boy did not return from school, the anxious parents made enquiries from the school authorities. They were shocked when informed that he had not turned up at the school. The worried parents smelt a rat and registered a case with the piolice naming the two neighbours. Meanwhile, the boy’s father received a call from a Delhi number. The caller demanded a ransom of Rs 30 lakh. The police interrogated the two suspects who confessed that they had panicked after kidnapping the boy and after killing him they had thrown the body at a secluded place near Dhansu village. The police recovered the body from there. The two kidnappers, who are unemployed teenagers, have been arrested.
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Every fourth Indian suffers from heart disease: Expert
Sirsa, January 23 Dr Partho Sengupta, Associate Professor and Director of Noninvasive Cardiology, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, USA, said this while talking to mediapersons here today. He was here in connection with a health camp organised by Dera Sacha Sauda. Dr Sengupta said perhaps there was no family in India today where there wasn’t a patient suffering from some or the other heart-related disease. He said the imitation of the western lifestyle had led to an increase in health problems for Indians, who, he said, had become “couch potatoes” from the earlier practice of being physically active. A sedentary lifestyle and bad dietary habits were the major factors responsible for such a large number of people falling victim to heart diseases, he said. Dr Sengupta suggested regular exercise and healthy food habits for the prevention of diseases related to the heart. |
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Drive to rehabilitate sex workers hasn’t paid off: Dera chief
Sirsa, January 23 The dera has so far arranged the marriage of 11 sex workers during its programmes ever since the dera chief solemnised the wedding of five sex workers with his followers on January 25 last year on the birth anniversary of Shah Satnam Singh, the second Guru of the dera. The dera chief said nine of these 11 marriages had succeeded. Later, a functionary of the dera corrected him and said 10 had proved successful. Speaking to mediapersons here today after inaugurating a mega health camp in the Sachkhand Hall of the dera, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh said over 1,400 youths, whom he had named “Bhagat Yodha”, had come forward to marry former sex workers, but the women trapped in this trade were not ready to come ahead. The dera terms the rehabilitated sex workers “Shubh Devis” after their marriage. “Our volunteers have approached women in the sex trade in several states of the country, but somehow, a majority of them are not interested to come out of the flesh trade,” he said. He said their volunteers had prepared documentaries of the experiences of “Shubh Devis” who had already settled in married life, and they showed it to sex workers while approaching them for their rehabilitation. He, however, added that the endeavour of the dera would continue in this direction and soon some more marriages would be organised. He said the dera would soon start a project for the re-marriage of widows and divorcee women. The dera chief said the organisation had been performing social activities in 60 different fields and now more activities would be added from January 25, the birth anniversary of Shah Satnam Singh. A large number of dera followers visited the health camp, where doctors from India and abroad examined patients suffering from different ailments. Meanwhile, angry villagers tore flags of Dera Sacha Sauda and blocked vehicular traffic passing through their village after a motorcyclist was knocked down in a hit-and-run case near Bajekan village last night. Though it was a hit-and-run case, the villagers expressed their anger against the dera as a large number of vehicles carrying followers were passing through that route at that time due to ongoing birthday celebration of former dera chief Shah Satnam Singh |
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Sirsa, January 23
Sirsa, January 23
