Scrap Sikh blacklist, says Hanspal
Chandigarh, May 31
A former president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee and ex-MP Harvinder Singh Hanspal has urged Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to scrap the Sikh blacklist altogether.

Amritsar, May 31
The SGPC has decided to approach the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), seeking its intervention to save the life of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar whose mercy petition was rejected by President Pratibha Patil last week. It has also decided a file a review petition before the President.

Addressing the media after a meeting of Sikh organisations called by the SGPC at Teja Singh Samundari Hall here today, SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar said they would approach the UNHRC to garner support for Bhullar at the international level. To mobilise support in the state, he said all SGPC members and SAD MLAs had been directed to ask the village panchayats in their constituencies to pass resolutions in favour of commuting Bhullar’s death sentence.

These resolutions would form the memorandum to be submitted to the President, urging her to review her decision on the death penalty.

He said Sikhs in large numbers would gather at Gurdwara Amb Sahib in Mohali on June 20 from where they would proceed to present a memorandum to Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil, seeking Bhullar’s release.

Makkar said an akhand path would be held at the Akal Takht on June 9. Sikhs all over the world had been asked to hold akhand path and perform “ardas” for Bhullar on June 11. Makkar said the SGPC had decided to appeal to the state government to pass a resolution in the legislative assembly in favour of commuting Bhullar’s sentence and to send the same to the President.

Makkar said the five-member panel formed by the SGPC to pursue the case legally was now in New Delhi. In consultation with senior lawyers, it had decided to file a review petition before the President.

Bhullar’s mother Upkar Kaur also attended the meeting. She said she was hopeful that her son would be released with the efforts of various Sikh outfits under the banner of the SGPC. She thanked the DSGMC for extending legal aid in the case. The SGPC announced all its decisions after taking her consent.

New Delhi, May 31
Intensifying its drive to help death row convict Davinderpal Singh Bhullar, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) today said the Sikh community across the globe wanted that Bhullar’s death sentence be converted into life imprisonment.

It said that it would augment the efforts of the Amritsar-based SGPC to help Bhullar. DSGMC chief Paramjit Singh Sarna said a delegation of Sikhs would meet President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, urging that Bhullar’s death sentence be commuted.

“Sikhs across the globe have sent us requests that the gurdwara committee must make an appeal to the government to forgive Bhullar.”

Sarna said any comparison with Bhullar and Afzal Guru, the convict in Parliament attack case, was odious. Bhullar, he said, was an educated man who belonged to an educated family.

He said there was no evidence and no witnesses against Bhullar and had been convicted purely on the basis on confession made in police custody.

Sarna said Bhullar had been in jail for the past 17 years, which meant he had been behind bars for more time than a man sentenced to life imprisonment.

Also, the judges hearing the Bhullar case were not unanimous in their verdict. One of the three judges had ruled against the death sentence. “In the history of independent India, death sentence has never been given on a split judgment. Also, Bhullar is mentally unfit and is in a mental hospital at Shahdra.”

He said would again submit a mercy petition through the proper channels.

General Secretary of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi), Harvinder Singh Sarna, echoed similar sentiments.

Bhullar has been convicted by the Supreme Court for the attempt on the life of Maninderjit Singh Bitta, the then president of the All-India Youth Congress Committee, in 1993.

The DSGMC president said that Sikhs throughout the world would hold ardas

(prayer) in various gurdwaras on Sunday, praying that Bhullar’s death sentence be converted into life imprisonment.

The gurdwara committee has been fighting Bhullar’s case for the past nine years.

Chandigarh, May 31
Breaking his silence over the demand for clemency for Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, All-India Anti-Terrorist Front Chairman Maninderjit Singh Bitta today said that some political parties and religious groups were making this move with an eye on the forthcoming Assembly elections in Punjab.

Bitta, who had been the target of Bhullar’s attack but had escaped with injuries, alleged that intelligence agencies and officials in the Home Ministry had worked out a gameplan to benefit certain politicians in the forthcoming poll.

“Bhullar is suffering for the folly he committed. But what is my fault that I have been facing harassment at the hands of security agencies and suffering because I tried to defend the nation’s sovereignty. I have even been condemned by my own political party.” He said that it took 18 years for justice to be done to him and all those who were killed in the blast on September 11, 1993, that was masterminded by Bhullar. “Now some politicians want to let him off. I was mentally tortured for not going with the Congress on the issue.”

Infuriated at the demand for clemency, Bitta said that he had written a letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to grant him his “death wish”. Bitta, who was in Chandigarh today, told The Tribune that it was strange that people of eminence were questioning the decision of the Supreme Court and the review by the President. “If they have no faith in the apex court and the first citizen, just disband the system.” He said that if the mercy review was allowed, it would set a bad precedent. There would be a demand for the release of Afzal Guru to appease the Muslim voters and then Dara Singh, convicted for burning alive Australian missionary Graham Staines to appease the Hindus.

Former Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Bir Devinder Singh said, “President Pratibha Patil overlooked the fact that the Supreme Court judges that pronounced Bhullar guilty were split 2-1 in holding him guilty.”

Patran/Samana, May 31
Cancer has found a new address in Punjab — villages along the Ghaggar river. With over 50 deaths and no means of treatment available, relatives usually just wait to see their family member die slowly in villages falling in Samana and Patran.

The Ghaggar, which was once considered a lifeline for the villagers, the flora and fauna, now spells death for the residents due to the unchecked toxin flow in the water which has entered the food chain in the villages.

“The same water is used for irrigation, cooking, bathing and drinking...There is simply no escape,” said Amarjeet Kaur, who lost her daughter Baljinder Kaur to cancer. Almost a decade earlier, the river water brought fertility by depositing silt, but now, it brings untreated waste, chemicals and municipal waste as the belt has two distilleries and many unannounced waste outlets.

irreparable loss Pyara Singh with the picture of his wife who died of cancer. Tribune photos

“The water has entered our veins and, with these deaths, it is affecting our social life,” said septuagenarian Pyara Singh, a resident of Harchandpura, who lost his wife Mohinder Kaur also to cancer. A few years ago, the villagers had become so afraid of the deaths that they began burning all the belongings of the patient to “keep away evil spirits responsible” for these.

“Then, a government medical team visited our village and proved that all these deaths were due to cancer. They came and collected water samples, never to return leaving the villagers at the mercy of quacks or expensive treatments,” recall villagers of Harchandpura, Chicharh and Shutrana.

Every other house in these villages has a tale to tell of a loved one’s struggle against the disease. “I have seen women, children, youths and many others die of cancer. It all begins with a few vomits or skin ailments,” claimed Kewal Singh. “Outsiders are reluctant to marry our boys and girls as they rightly fear death,” he added.

A chemist from Badshahpur village, Sukhwinder Singh Jammu, whose mother died of cancer, told The Tribune that a close friend was taking treatment for liver cancer in Delhi.

“This month, I attended the cremation of cancer victim 54-year old Lakshman of the nearby Bakraha village,” he said.

He points an accusing finger at the river flowing nearby, which emanates a pungent smell and is believed to be the cause of all misfortunes in these clusters.

Patiala, May 31
In Patiala district, there are as many as 25 drains which turn into rivulets during the rainy season. These carry the sewage waste of Patiala city and hundreds of villages.

The cleaning of some drains is the responsibility of the Patiala Municipal Corporation while the major number of the drains has to be cleaned by the Drainage Department.

There is presently no sewerage treatment pant (STP) in Patiala. A round of the various drains exposed the claims of the authorities of the Drainage Department and MC that de-silting of the drains was being carried out on a regular basis.

Speaking to The Tribune, a majority of Patiala residents said that the Jacob drain near Shermajra village, in which the civic body discharges sewage through the main pumping station, is rarely cleaned.

“Had the drains in Patiala been cleaned, the damage on account of floods during July last would have been less,” said villager Nishan Singh.

Patiala Municipal Commissioner Manjit Singh Narang said that in order to ensure that the sewage of Patiala city is discharged in Jacob drain only after treatment, two STPs are being set up in the district.

“Under the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT), a 10 MLD STP, at an estimated cost of Rs 9.56 crore, is being set up in Ablowal village and another 46 MLD STP, costing Rs 24.98 crore, is coming up at Shermajra village. Both plants will become functional by November,” he said.

Apart from the Patiala MC, the sewage from the nearby villages is also being directly discharged into the drains.

In some drains like Chhoti Nadi, encroachments have come up and so far, the administration has failed to do anything concrete to remove these.

“Fund constraints have hampered the de-silting of drains,” said an official of the Drainage Department.

Meanwhile, according to the Punjab Pollution Control Board authorities, the pollution level in the rivers and other water channels in Punjab, in the past five years, has come down.

According to PPCB Chairman Rajat Agarwal, the equipment to monitor pollution levels are in place. “Adopting zero tolerance towards erring industrial units, the PPCB has intensified its surprise raids and strict action is being initiated against erring industrial units,” added Agarwal. 

Mohali, May 31
A three-member committee under the chairmanship of former Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University SP Singh has been constituted to frame the education policy of the state. The policy would aim at raising the standard of education and to incorporate new changes in the education department, said Punjab Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan while attending a function at Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) here today.

He further stated that as part of the larger exercise behind drafting the new education policy, another committee headed by PSEB chairman Dalbir Singh Dhillon had been constituted to change the syllabus of all classes. The committee has been asked to submit its report within six months.

Sekhwan handed over no objection certificate (NOC) to the managements of CBSE and ICSE affiliated schools. He said on assuming charge, he was shocked to find that the state had no education policy. “We are framing the policy that would guide the state over the next 25 years, irrespective of the political leadership,” he said, adding that every effort was being made to improve the infrastructure in government schools.

Amritsar, May 31
Pardeep Kumar had migrated to the UAE in search of greener pastures around six years back, little did he know that chasing his big money dreams on foreign shores would lead him to jaws of death and he would end up losing his mother and grandmother.

Pardeep, who hails from Fatehgarh Niara village in Hoshiarpur, was one of the three Punjabi youths who returned to an emotional reunion with their families at Sri Guru Ramdas International Airport here today after their death sentence was waived by the UAE courts on payment of “Diya” (blood money) in a bootlegging-cum-murder case. The other two are Kashmiri Lal of Bhagsinghpura village in Nawanshahr and Tarlochan Singh of Sakroli village in Hoshiarpur.

Pardeep said when he reached the UAE he didn’t get any job for a couple of months and when he bagged one, he was denied salary forcing him to take to bootlegging. He claimed that they were falsely implicated in the case. “We were thrashed brutally and forced to sign confessional statement, which was written in Arabian language,” he said. With tears rolling down his cheeks, his father Jeet Ram told that Pardeep’s mother Joginder Kaur and grandmother Parkash Kaur died in the shock of death penalty announced for him.

Tarlochan said he was working as a carpenter there and didn’t know what for he was put in the jail until he was produced in the court, six months after his arrest. Kashmiri said he belonged to a poor family and his father sent him abroad after borrowing money on interest. “The firm which engaged me held back my salary for months. Later, I came in touch with another Punjabi youth and got into bootlegging. It had been mere 22 days in the trade when I got arrested in the case,” he added.

SP Singh Oberoi, a Dubai-based businessman-cum-hotelier who contributed immensely to their release, said this is the first time that Punjabi youths, facing gallows in UAE, have returned to their home soil after payment of blood money. According to him, 60 Punjabi youths are facing death sentences in 11 similar cases in UAE. He said most of these youths had joined some private firms there and went astray after being denied salaries. He claimed that he has sent back 58 Punjabi youths who had served their sentence in the UAE till date.

Jalandhar, May 31
The state government has made some changes in the implementation of the shagun scheme to check swindling. Instead of making payment through cheque, the shagun money will now be directly transferred to the account of the beneficiary.

Official sources said the Chief Secretary would hold a meeting with the bank authorities concerned on June 8 to open the account of such beneficiaries with a zero balance. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has cleared the file for electronic transfer of money to the beneficiary’s account.

Following raids and surprise inspections, the authorities had detected cases of major fraud in the implementation of the scheme in some districts.

There were complaints that beneficiaries were given cheques after a “cut” in the shagun amount. At some places, politicians would collect cheques from the officials concerned and hand these over to the beneficiaries after considerable delay.

The government gives Rs 15,000 to those with an income less that Rs 30,000 per annum for the marriage of their daughters. The parents will now have to apply for the benefit before the wedding. No claim will be accepted post-wedding.

The scheme was introduced in 1997 and at that time Rs 5,100 was paid as shagun. Steadily, the scope of the scheme was enhanced and the amount raised to Rs 15,000.

The Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Welfare Department, which implements the scheme, has exempted the below poverty line (BPL) families and those holding the blue card from producing an income certificate to get the shagun money.

The Government has earmarked Rs 115 crore for the current fiscal year under the scheme. The government is yet to clear the backlog of 72,000 claims received last fiscal year. It has a liability of Rs 108 crore.

Patiala, May 31
Actor Salman Khan is in fresh trouble after a Punjab-based NGO has decided to serve a legal notice to him for smoking openly at a public place, after his pictures were published in a section of the print media. The actor is in the city shooting for his upcoming movie ‘Bodyguard’.

According to sources, though the administration was busy fining offenders at bus stand and other public places in the city on No Tobacco Day (May 31), they failed to take cognisance of the publicly smoking incident or issue a fine to the Bollywood actor.

Talking to The Tribune, NGO Generation Saviour Association president Amteshwar Kaur said her association would serve a legal notice to Salman Khan and also to hotel where the incident took place. “We have been taking up smoking related cases from the past 16 years and had also filed a PIL in 1997 in the Punjab and Haryana High Court,” she said.

The association president further stated that Salman Khan should not be given a VIP treatment and made to pay fine as per norms. “Paying a small sum of a few hundred rupees does not matter. The message should be clear for his fans as smoking is injurious to health and an offence, if done at a public place,” she said.

In a later development, the health authorities have issued a challan pertaining to smoking in public to a crew member of the production house in the absence of the actor and also to the hotel authorities.Meanwhile, the district administration challaned 13 offenders for smoking publicly and collected Rs 2,375 as fine.

Chandigarh, May 31
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today dismissed its own appeal to hold that judicial officers with masters’ degree were entitled to additional increments.

In its appeal placed before the Division Bench of Justice MM Kumar and Justice Gurdev Singh, the high court had challenged its own order passed by a Single Judge in the case of judicial officer Priya Sood and other petitioners. At the time of filing the case, Sood was posted as Gurdaspur Chief Judicial Magistrate.

In his judgment dated January 24, the Single Judge had held that Sood, a member of Punjab Civil Services (judicial branch), was entitled to three additional increments in “lieu of her higher qualification of LLM”.

Taking up the appeal filed by the high court against the Single Judge’s order, the Division Bench headed by Justice Kumar ruled: “We have heard counsel for the appellant at considerable length and are of the view that the opinion expressed by the Single Judge is un-exceptional and deserves to be sustained in law”.