Jalandhar, October 31
Calling a meeting of the MC House after more than nine months, Mayor Sunil Jyoti today quietly released the agenda for the same for coming Tuesday.

Owing to a hostile environment prevailing against him since the Lok Sabha polls with not just the councillors of the Opposition and the ruling alliance opposing him, Mayor Sunil Jyoti had been constantly evading convening of a meeting.

As a result of the same, the pendency of work in the civic body kept on piling up to the extent that the development works worth Rs 123.71 crore for just roads and streetlights will be put up all at one go. Most of these works include those for 210 localities. The amount includes Rs 4.91 crore for road repair and Rs 12.31 corre for providing LED streetlights in 42 colonies.

Owing to no meeting, as many as 11 fogging machines had been lying waiting to get repaired for an amount of Rs 6.73 crore. Further, as many as four JCB machines had been awaiting repair all this while. The agenda also includes a proposal to repair the elevators, which too are lying out of order since the past many years.

Jalandhar, October 31
Even as the Congress plays it a bit laid back with criticism coming only from limited quarters regarding the total miss of the name of leader Indira Gandhi from the Walk for Unity National Campaign of the BJP on October 31 this year, the campaign was a sure success in the city where thousands of school and college students ran for unity on the national call given by PM Narendra Modi.

Thousands of school and college children today participated in the run for unity event held on the occasion of the National Unity Day. While the walk was flagged off this morning from the Government Senior Secondary School Ladowali Road by CPS KD Bhandari, before flagging off the walk, he addressed school children, apprising them of the contributions made by Sardar Patel.

Jalandhar, October 31
A day before the Punjab bandh call given by the various Sikh organisations to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1984 riots, The Jalandhar Commissionerate of Police has pulled its socks to keep the law and order situation under control in the city.

A special force from the Phillaur Police Academy (PPA) was called by the police to be deployed at each nook and corner of the city to prevent the occurrence of any untoward incident.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Naveen Singla said, “As many as 350 police officials from Phillaur Police Academy were called for deployment in the city. Forces will be deployed at various strategic places in the city. Special attention will be paid to the sensitive places so that law and order situation remains under control at these places.”

Sources said additional police force was being deployed at the Guru Nanak Mission chowk where most of the protests were done by Sikhs in the past.

Apart from the column of 350 police personnel, forces of all the police stations falling under the jurisdiction of police commissionerate will also remain in the field. Patrolling squads were told to run parallel with the protesting march by riot victims.

Sources said police had also held a special meeting with the police station heads in which they were briefed about the security aspects. Separate teams of Anti-Riot Police Force would also be deployed at important intersections of the city to avoid any law and order situation in the city during the bandh. These teams would be armed with protecting canes, shields, tear gas shells and water cannons in their vehicles.

Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema during his visit at national sports event at PAP Complex had said that the Punjab government was not supporting the bandh call. He had informed that adequate police force would be deployed at each nook and corner of the city to keep the law and order situation in the state under control.

Jalandhar, October 31
One of the most horrifying chapters of modern India history is 1984 Sikh massacre that took place 30 years ago in New Delhi and other places, including Haryana, UP, Bihar and Orissa following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguard.

People of one particular community were left with a huge vacuum that still has not been filled. Majority of the families not only lost their loved ones. Displacement was the second worst phase they had to gone through.

For the family of Advocate Ranjit Singh Saluja it was the second migration. He said that in 1947 after the partition his family migrated from Pakistan and decided to settle in Azamgarh in UP. From there they again migrated to Punjab in 1984 as his father Manmohan Singh Saluja's family business was set ablaze and his house was looted by the mob.

"I was 14 years old when the incident took place. We were left with no other option than coming to Punjab. I opened a cycle store which didn't work. I later converted the store in a grocery shop which too failed. My father was a lawyer and for survival he started his own practice," he said.

Ranjit said in order to fight injustice my father constituted an organisation called the 1984 Sikh Parvasi Sangharash Committee along with some other victims. He died two years ago.

"Punjab government made so many promises that proved hollow as not even a single penny was given to us. However, after so much of struggle, the Centre provided Rs 2 lakh to each family," he said. He said it makes him feel alienated in his own country even after 30 years of 1984 no justice has been delivered to the victims.

Ravinderpal Singh was nine years old during the 1984 incident, living with his family in Kanpur in UP.

"We owned a plastic boot making factory that was a quite big unit. Our factory unit was put on fire by the mob. I can vividly remember what sort of situation we went through. I can still picture that Sikhs were burnt alive and beaten up. We somehow managed to save ourselves and decided to migrate to Jalandhar," said Ravinderpal.

He said his father Tarlochan Singh struggled a lot for the survival of the family. "We started our life from zero in Jalandhar, my dad started trading work," he said.

"Now when I look back and I feel so frustrated. Since, we owned a factory that time, now we would have been providing jobs to others. Meanwhile, now I am doing a job with private firm on meager salary. It is very hard to a run family properly. Our family was provided a compensation of with Rs 2 lakh by the government," said Ravinderpal.

Gurcharan Singh said his family was well settled in Sasaram near Dalmia Nagar in Bihar. "I was at post office when I got to know about Indira Gandhi's assassination. I along with my father (Hazara Singh) went to attend the condolence meeting of Indira Gandhi organised by some local people. There people started pointing out that Sikhs killed our mother. Then we started getting news about riots. However, our neighbourhood was quite nice to us," he said.

Gurcharan said afterward people started humiliating us by calling us 'Gaddar' (deceiver) and that made me to leave that state. Our family faced very hard times to settle in Jalandhar. I am still struggling.

Jalandhar, October 31
For the spectator paying a cursory visit to the Mela Ghadri Babeyan Da, the bones displayed at the fair hold great intrigue. While the fair every year brings books, fiery speeches and peaks into the lives of the great heroes of Independence Movement, the remains of some Indian soldiers at the very approach of the mela is a new feature and one which - if their conservators are to believed- are pulling loads of crowds - especially school children this year.

A rectangular long divided glass case holds the bones of some soldiers in one section and the knickknacks they were found clutching, bearing or holding and which survived the ravaged of time in the second section.

While the sacrifices of these soldiers - gunned down by the British on the intervening night of July 31 and August 1, 1857, is a vital and dark chapter of the Indian Freedom struggle, the conservators who are part of the Gurdwara Shaheedan Wala Khuh Ajnala today said both the interest and the ignorance of the people regarding the issue had been a revelation to them.

They said schools children were especially taking a lot of interest in the displays and they were flooded by questions about these remains from them. They also said schools are playing a very positive role by bringing in more and more students to see them.

"However, what is interesting is that many people don't know about the incident and even the Revolt of 1857. To them we tell the entire tale. Some literature published by us also helps", said Sarbjit Singh Harry a members of the Shaheedan Wala Khuh Ajnala Committee and the Sahhed Bhagat Singh Naujawan Sabha.

Speaking about the intrigue that the display arouses n people he said, "Many are indifferent and yet others even tell us it can't be possible these are the remains of human beings."

Sharing the way in which remains were unearthed Singh said, "Many soldiers were found clutching little things in their fingers. One even had 11 rupees with him, which in 1857 meant a big amount of money. The land of the Ajnala well cost Rs 1 in 1910. One can well imagine what the value of Rs 11 might have been back then."

Displayed with the bones were coins, gold earrings, buttons, medal pins, toothpicks, beads and other little things fund with the soldiers. Interestingly, he points out, "The things which came out almost absolutely preserved are Rudraksh beads and supari pieces that many of the soldiers might have been chewing on."

Meanwhile, the gurdwara committee is also presently battling another controversy of finding a proper home for the hitherto divided remains.

While the committee is sour about the government's lackadaisical efforts to conserve the remains he said half the remains currently lie with the Archaeological Survey of India at Chandigarh and the remaining lie at the Ajnala well. He said the committee wants to bring the entire remains back to the Ajnala well where they will take care of their upkeep by a special museum set up with funding from the locals.

The story of these soldiers - whose remains were dug up dig up at the Shaheedi Khuh or the Martyrs' Well in Ajnala earlier this year, goes thus.

Following the ire and subsequent defiance to the British of Mangal Pandey - the hero who kick started the chain of events which are collectively called the Revolt of 1857, some Indian soldiers were locked up in the barracks of the Mia Meer Cantonment in Lahore after their weapons were taken by the Britsh. Affected and inspired by Mangal Pandey's revolt, 500 soldiers of 26 Bengal Infantry Regiment revolted of the Mia Mir Cantonment also revolted. Walking on foot from there, on July 31 they asked the way to cross the Ravi river from the Chowkidar of Daddiyan village - an act which ultimately led to information reaching the DC of Amritsar and their death.

The tehsildar of Ajnala (then called Nijjran Vala) along with his men gunned down 218 of the soldiers, throwing their bodies into the Ravi and tied the rest 282 with ropes, bringing them to Ajnala. 45 were made prisoners and locked in a room and the rest 237 were in jail but due to rain on the morning of August 1, 1857, they buried all soldiers - the 45 soldiers alive and 237 after gunning them down - into the Ajnala well. The remains of these soldiers were finally unearthed on February 28, 2014 and the excavations went on till March 2. 

Jalandhar, October 31
A two-day international conference being held at the local KMV College concluded today. Titled ‘International Conference on Cross-Cultural Nuances (ICCN-14)’, the conference saw the participation of eminent intellectuals and academicians from India as well as aboard.

Scholars, researchers, scientists, media wizards and delegates from 22 states of India and 10 countries from across the globe converged on one platform to delve into intricacies and complexities of cross cultural phenomenon. During the conference, the proceedings witnessed 260 research papers presentations.

As many as 900 KMV students participated in the conference as delegates.

Prof John Battaglino, an eminent speaker from Boston University, USA today said the world could be transformed through meaningful shared experiences by rising above cultural complexities. The chief guest of this two-day conference, Dr Karen S Kingsbury, Professor of International Studies, Chatham University, USA, and the guest of honour, Dr RK Mahajan, dean academics, GNDU, was accorded floral felicitations. 

Jalandhar, October 31
Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of 1984 anti-Sikh riots and Punjab Day tomorrow, Bahujan Samaj Party state president and Rajya Sabha MP Avtar Singh Karimpuri has chosen the day to start Punjab Bachao Campaign at Dr Ambedkar Chowk here from tomorrow.

He said, “The campaign is being started to create awareness among the people of Punjab against drug menace. The party will create awareness against the drug abuse to eliminate it from the state. Punjab had been founded on November 1, 1966 and since then Shiromani Akali Dal, Bharatiya Janta Party and Congress ruled the state.”

“These parties distributed drugs to win the elections and when these remained in power they formulated the policies to promote liquor in state. Liquor vend reached every village of the state. Trade of other kinds of the drugs could not be checked. Drugs ruined the lives of the people so the party decided to launch a campaign on the issue to make the state drug free to save the people,” he said.

The party state president said, “Through this campaign they will raise the issue of poor education and health facilities, problems of farmers and labourers, atrocities on Dalits, problems of small traders, restoration of roster system for SC/BC employees, implementation of Mandal Commission in the state, corruption, unemployment and other important issues.”

Jalandhar, October 31
On World Vegan Day, activists of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) dressed as a cow, a chicken and a pig to urge Jalandhar residents to go vegan.

Accompanied by members of PAHAL and Lovely Professional University activists holding placards reading - "Love Us, Don't Eat Us: Happy World Vegan Day", the PETA volunteers shared the message to citizens urging them to go vegan and not to consume dairy or other animal-derived products.

Holding htis demonstratioj in support of veganism outside the Red Cross Market Complex, near Jyoti Chowk today PETA members said "Animals may not look like us, but they have the same ability to feel joy, love, pain and suffering."

PETA India's Grishma Myatra, said, "Each of us has the chance to help stop violence, safeguard our health and protect the environment simply by choosing a delicious vegan meal every time we sit down to eat."

Chickens, cows and other animals on factory farms are treated like meat and milk machines and are denied everything that is natural and important to them. They are confined to crowded, filthy cages and other enclosures. During slaughter, many have their throats cut while they're still conscious. Pigs are often stabbed in the heart as they scream in pain.

In addition, the consumption of meat, eggs and dairy products has been conclusively linked to heart disease, strokes, diabetes, cancer and obesity. Moreover, raising animals for food is a leading cause of water pollution and land degradation, and a recent United Nations report concluded that a global shift towards a vegan diet is necessary to combat the worst effects of climate change.

Jalandhar, October 31
The police today announced a cash reward on the remaining two accused, who were involved in the kidnapping of a seven-year-old son of a property dealer. Both are still at large.

The boy was recently recovered by the police from Uttar Pradesh. Whosoever would inform the police about the whereabouts of the remaining accused, would receive Rs 10,000 cash reward, said the police. The three other accused, involved in kidnapping, have already been arrested by the police. The two remaining accused, identified as Kamal and Devaki Nandan, were yet to be arrested by the police.

On October 12, seven-year-old Gurdeep Singh alias Gopi, son of Satnam Singh, a property dealer, was allegedly kidnapped from a locality in Model Town. The boy was playing along with his sister when he was kidnapped by men, who came on a car.