Bathinda, August 4
Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, RK Jain, visited the Bathinda district and sessions court today.

During his visit, Jain met lawyers as well as judicial officers and listened to their problems. The bar association took up the issue of the construction of second block of lawyers’ chambers and the parking problem that the area faces.

Due to haphazard parking, vehicles of lawyers as well as litigants are being stolen from the parking lot of judicial complex.

Lawyers also demanded that the district and sessions court, the labour court and the consumer court should be consolidated at one place to avoid inconvenience.

Presently, while the labour court is being run from the District Administrative Complex, the consumer court is being situated in the PWD’s building behind the women cell of the district police.

“It is very difficult for us to attend proceedings at all the three courts in a day,” reasoned secretary of the bar association, Gurwinder Singh Mann.

Citing financial crunch, the bar members also said the association had no source of income and hence, demanded that the association be given the judicial complex canteen so that it could further give it on contract and earn revenue.

Some of the lawyers also alleged that one of the judicial officers was indulging in corrupt practices.

Lawyers also raised the problems related to the setting up of evening courts in the district courts.

One of the advocates, Mukand Lal, whose vehicle was stolen from the judicial complex’s parking lot and was later recovered from Fazilka, said evening courts were not safe from the point of security of lawyers as well as the litigants.

Lal even jested that the evening courts might lead to an increase in the number of criminal activities and vehicle lifting cases.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Punjab Government has got funds to the tune of `56 crore from the Centre for running evening courts. To utilise these funds, the evening courts are being set up across the state.

RK Jain assured the lawyers that he would take up the issue with the authorities concerned.

Bathinda, August 4
A deputation of the DAV Institutions and Arya Samaj, led by Swami Surya Dev met the Bathinda MLA and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sarup Chand Singla today.

The deputation presented a memorandum of demand to Singla. In the memorandum, the DAV management appealed to the authorities concerned to spare the land belonging to Arya Samaj and not use it for the Improvement Trust's project meant to come up after filling the rainwater pond behind the DAV College.

PD Goyal, president of the local Arya Samaj and acting chairman of the local committee of the college, said since 1956, they had been the owners of the land and nobody had questioned their ownership.

“But today, questions are being raised over the ownership of this land which belongs to the DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi,” said principal Dr JS Anand.

Dr Anand added that they also apprised Sarup Chand Singla of the ownership and showed him the stay orders issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2003 to maintain the status quo on the property.

A copy of the registration deed was also shown to him as evidence to enforce the DAV management's right upon the land.

They said the DAV authorities and members of the Arya Samaj were concerned about attempts to grab that land. They hoped that the government would spare the land.

Sarup Chand Singla has marked the memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda for further action.

In the memorandum given to Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sarup Chand Singla, the DAV College management has appealed to the authorities concerned to spare the land belonging to the Arya Samaj and not use it for the Improvement Trust’s project meant to come up after filling the rainwater pond at the rear of the college.

The Arya Samaj and the local committee of the college claim they are the owners of the land since 1956 and the ownership has never been questioned.

They also showed Singla the stay orders issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2003 to maintain the status quo on the property.

Bathinda, August 4
Leading lyricist of Punjab and a resident of Bathinda, Amardeep Gill, today lodged a complaint in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Harjeet Singh, against the alleged disrespecting remarks made against the Sikh community and the veteran Sikh athlete, Fauja Singh, during a comedy show. A case has been filed against the producer, director and the actor of the show.

After lodging the complaint through a lawyer of the High Court, Amardeep Gill, while talking to Bathinda Tribune, said the court had fixed September 1 as the date of hearing of the case.

Amardeep said the Sikh community across the world had raised objections over poking fun at Fauja Singh and portraying him in a bad light.

Terming the act as irresponsibility of the organisers of the show, Gill said persons from various walks of life and Sikh community had demanded stringent action against those behind the show.

Rejecting the video of apology released by the producers of the show, Gill said that such persons should be punished so that no one dares to indulge in such an act again.

He said the animation showing Fauja Singh cleaning his face with his beard was in bad taste and had left the Sikh community disturbed. He added that showing a caricature of Fauja Singh being overrun by a speeding truck also didn’t go down well with the community.

Meanwhile, Baba Hardeep Singh of Mehrajwale too expressed his anguish over the release of the video. He said if needed, they would launch an agitation by organising dharnas and protests in Punjab.

“Nobody has the right to disrespect any religion or a human being. Fauja Singh is one of the oldest half marathon runners who took to running after the death of his beloved son,” Baba Hardeep said.

He added that instead of saluting Fauja Singh, the organisers of the show had painted a grim picture of the veteran. He said he would support the fight against the show till the guilty are punished by the court.

Bathinda, August 4
To protest against the imposition of five per cent VAT on sugar, hike in power tariff and proposal of the Punjab Government to impose new taxes in the state, the Sanjha Morcha, comprising the People’s Party of Punjab (PPP), the CPI and the CPM, will stage a dharna on August 8 outside the Mini-secretariat in Bathinda.

The dharna will be addressed by PPP president Manpreet Singh Badal and Communist leaders Bant Singh Brar and Bhup Chand Channo.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the leaders of the Sanjha Morcha.

The meeting was presided over by the district president of the PPP, Sukhdev Singh Chehal, CPI leader Balkaran Singh Brar and CPM leader Gurcharan Singh Bhagta.

The district secretary of the CPI, Jagjit Singh Joga, said the Punjab Government was misleading people of the state in the name of development though it was facing severe financial crisis.

He said the government had even failed to release the salaries of many of its employees.

He added that there was a need of a third front to save Punjab from the financial crisis it was reeling under, and the Sanjha Morcha could do the same.

Bathinda, August 4
Various teachers’ unions under the aegis of the Sarkari School Sikhya Bachao Manch have announced that they will hold a mass agitation on August 18 to protest against the sale of the land belonging to the Government Elementary School, Mall Road, for commercial purposes.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the organisations convened at the Teachers’ Home today.

Darshan Singh Maur from Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) said the agitation would be held in front of the District Administrative Complex.

The unions will also give a memorandum regarding this to Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sarup Chand Singla and Mayor Baljit Singh Beerbehman tomorrow.

Maur said members of all the teachers’ unions were coming together to fight for the cause of education for the poor.

The 1.5 acres, on which the school is built, is all set to go under the hammer. The Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) has plans to use the land to build a multi-level parking lot to solve the parking woes of the city.

According to the feasibility report prepared by the BDA, while a half of the total area would be used for commercial purposes, the other half would be used for parking purposes.

As per the plan, the school would be shifted to the Government Girls’ Senior Secondary School, which is located across the road.

The land, besides having the school, also has the office of the block education officer, which too will be shifted with the school.

Representatives of the unions of Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA), Elementary Teachers’ Training (ETT), Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF), Maths Lecturers Union, Master Cadre Union, Democratic Rights Organisation, Teachers’ Home Trust, EGS Union and others were also present at the meeting.

In March also, various teachers’ organisations had staged a protest against the taking over of the school land to make way for building a multi-level parking.

Bathinda, August 4
A chemical engineer and software developer from Ludhiana today suggested using global position system (GPS) technology for mapping cancer cases in the state.

Jaskeerat Singh was speaking at a seminar on ‘Environmental Toxicity Post Green Revolution and the Role of Community’ held at the Adesh University near here in collaboration with the Kheti Virasat Mission, an NGO.

Jaskeerat demonstrated the “Cancer Mapper”, a computer software developed by his group, which is being tested. The software is an application for Android platform, which can identify the location of each cancer case in the Malwa region on a Google map and can be superimposed on the background of known environmental factors in the area, such as pockets where heavy metals, uranium etc have been detected.

The vice-chancellor of the Adesh University, Dr GPI Singh, who is involved in developing the Atlas of Cancer in Punjab in association with the National Cancer Registry Programme, said such innovations could prove effective wherein with community participation, a reliable data of cancer cases could be generated.

“Availability of good and valid data is the key to address serious issues like cancer and other chronic diseases, which are preventable with environmental interventions. The role of voluntary agencies towards promoting community participation to cope with such significant issues is laudable,” he said.

Epidemiologist Dr Amar Singh Azad systematically brought out the build up of Green Revolution in India with particular reference to Punjab and presented an elaborate data regarding misuse and overuse of agrochemicals like pesticides.

He talked about causes that are leading to grave health issues like cancers, reproductive health defects, birth defects and neuro-developmental disorders, which have now become common in Punjab, particularly in the Malwa region. He suggested a host of solutions, many of which are feasible only with community participation.

Dr Amar Singh Azad highlighted major ecological issues related to industrial effluents and power generation residue. He also listed the chemicals that are overloading the soil and drinking water sources and thereby affecting everyone in the food chain.

Bathinda, August 4
The Delhi Public School, Bathinda, on Saturday organised Kriti-2012, an annual exhibition, on the concluding day of the Environment Week.

The school students displayed many environment-friendly exhibits.

Some projects pertaining to drip irrigation, terrace farming and solar system were showcased on the occasion.

The highlight of the exhibition was an exhibition that displayed the Punjabi culture in all its glory.

Bathinda, August 4
The police has arrested six persons for gambling in the playground of the Government Rajindra College here and recovered `2,500 from their possession.

The investigating officer in the case, Jaspal Singh, said Beeru Singh, Manjit Singh, Jasvir Singh, Dev Parkash, Sukhdev Singh and Kali, residents of different localities situated around the college, were found gambling on the college premises. He said some college officials complained to the police that some persons were gambling on the college ground, following which a raid was conducted and the accused were nabbed.

Bathinda, August 4
In three separate cases, the district police has arrested five persons under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Two persons, namely Sukhpal Singh of Green Avenue and Bhupinder Kumar of Maulviya Mohalla, were arrested near the Bibiwala road for carrying 10 litres of material used to prepare a habit-forming drug.

The police also seized the motorbike on which the accused were travelling.

A case under Sections 22, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered.

In a separate case, two persons were arrested under the NDPS Act after 20 kg of poppy husk was recovered from their possession.

The accused, Sukhmandar Singh and Charanjit Singh of Kotla Raike village, were nabbed while they were carrying poppy husk near Baghapurana.

A case under Sections 15, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the duo at the Rama police station.

In yet another case, a resident of Sangat Kalan village was arrested for carrying 15 kg of poppy husk. The accused, Mithan Singh, was found carrying the contraband near Pathrala village. A case under Sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him at the Sangat police station.

Bathinda, August 4
The All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF), led by its president Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad, today demanded setting up of a three-member inquiry commission of sitting judges of High Court to investigate the massacre of Sikhs and attacks on members of the Sikh community in Haryana during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad and AISSF general secretary Devinder Singh Sodhi said the Haryana Government had appointed Justice TP Garg Inquiry Commission in March 2011 to investigate the killings of Sikhs in Hond Chillar village in 1984. But the commission had paid only one visit to the place so far. In such circumstances, when would the investigation complete, they questioned.

Peer Mohammad and Sodhi were here today along with about 20 victims of the 1984 riots from Gudha Kemla village and Khanina Mandi in Mahindergarh district of Haryana. The victims’ shops and houses were burnt in November 1984. These families are now residing in Bathinda, Jaitu, Bhagta and Ludhiana etc.

The AISSF president said these Sikhs, including former Sarpanch Khem Singh and Uttam Singh, had approached them and narrated their miseries.

The AISSF would present the cases of these victims before Justice TP Garg Inquiry Commission on September 10 at Hisar, he added.

Peer Mohammad said the AISSF was now demanding setting up of three-member inquiry commission as single member commission was not “sufficient” to investigate the cases of affected Sikhs in Haryana. After Hond Chillar, the cases from many other places in Haryana, including Gurgaon, Pataudi, Haily Mandi, Gudha Kemla, Panipat and Yamunanagar, had come to light.

Sodhi also demanded that the CBI should conduct a thorough inquiry into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that took place in various parts of the country. He also sought compensation from the Haryana Government for the victims of the Sikh massacre and arrest of those whose names had been mentioned in the FIRs for killing or attacking members of the Sikh community.

Peer Mohammad and Sodhi also asked the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to constitute a fact-finding committee for the entire country in connection with the massacre of Sikhs in 1984.