Friday, September 3, 1999
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Additional forces for
Jehangirpuri Mulayam knocks at Imam's door |
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RSS 'hand in' 84 riots NEW DELHI, Sept 2 — Former Union Minister and Congress candidate for the South Delhi Parliamentary seat, Dr Manmohan Singh, today gave a new twist to the 1984 riots in Delhi by stating that the police records show the alleged involvement of Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh activists in the incidents.
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Jessica Lal murder case
adjourned Advani: hung House not likely Now Cong questions wheat policy Manmohan blames PM of doublespeak Mahanta for India-born Prime
Minister N. Ravi elected PTI Chairman |
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Additional forces for Jehangirpuri NEW DELHI, Sept 2 — The Delhi Police has deployed additional forces in Jehangirpuri in North-West district in the wake of last night's police firing on a crowd which began to pelt stones after a truck crashed through a public meeting, killing one person. The incident took place at 9.30 p.m. when people had come to attend a Congress election rally, to be addressed by the Delhi Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit. The mob pelted stones on the police personnel deployed there in which nine persons, including two policemen were injured. The mob had also set ablaze a police Control Room gypsy and a patrol bike and beaten up three constables. The Commissioner of Police, Mr Ajai Raj Sharma, denied that it was not attempt on the life of the Chief Minister. The Joint Commissioner of Police, (Northern Range), Mr Suresh Rai, said they were trying to trace the driver and were investigating how the truck entered the premises of the rally and reached the dias. Mr Rai maintained that there was adequate police arrangement for the meeting, however, the truck broke through a police barricade. The truck has been seized by the police and "the woman who was sitting in the cabin has been hospitalised and she is in no condition to give any statement." "Some papers have been found in the truck which show that it belonged to Gurdip Singh, probably the driver of the truck", he said. He said the truck owner’s house in Rohini was locked. The officer said investigation was also being conducted into how a police constable sustained bullet injuries. He also said that a 12 bore cartridge was recovered from the spot. The condition of the police personnel and civilians who were admitted to Hindu Rao Hospital are stated to be serious. He said police had opened fire to "bring a violent situation under control". The police has
registered a case of rioting and six persons have been
detained for investigation. |
Mulayam knocks at Imam's door NEW DELHI, Sept 2 — The Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's desperation to muster back the eroding minority vote bank was clearly evident this morning when he trooped to the Jama Masjid along with his party spokesman Amar Singh to meet the Shahi Imam Syed Abdullah Bukhari. Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav having an inkling that the minorities, who have traditionally been his voters, were not impressed with him this time, apparently sought the support of the Shahi Imam for his party in the forthcoming elections. During his meeting with the Shahi Imam, Mr Yadav is said to have pointed out that only the Samajwadi Party could protect the interests of minorities in the country. This is the first time that Mr Mulayam Singh has actually sought the support of Shahi Imam during his election campaign. On earlier occasions he and the Shahi Imam had been on the opposite sides, with the SP leader at one stage also appealing to the minority leader to leave politics for him and to concentrate on his religious discourses. Party sources disclosed that it was only due to the lack of confidence in the party circles that Mr Yadav went all the way to meet Shahi Imam. In the past while Mr Yadav had been claiming the support of the minorities, Shahi Imam had been seeking the support of the minorities for other leaders, including Mr V.P. Singh. But despite this the minorities had always been voting for Mr Yadav. Even during the state Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Shahi Imam, having influence in western UP had campaigned against Mr Yadav. As a result of the differences between the two, the SP once had also apparently written to the Shahi Imam asking him to stay away from politics. According to reports, today's meeting was also attended by Naib Imam, Syed Ahmed Bukhari. There is tremendous erosion of SP's political base in UP following Mr Yadav's decision not to back Congress President Sonia Gandhi in her bid to form government at the Centre after the fall of the Vajpayee government. Muslims have reportedly been drifting away from the SP. The two leaders also discussed the poll scenario in the country and exchanged views on various aspects. The Imam did not make any commitment to the SP chief for supporting him in the elections, but said the matter would be discussed with his associates. In order to appease the
minorities, the SP has promised to give reservation to
Muslims in jobs. It also favoured special quota for
Muslim women in the Women Reservation Bill. |
RSS 'hand in' 84 riots NEW DELHI, Sept 2 — Former Union Minister and Congress candidate for the South Delhi Parliamentary seat, Dr Manmohan Singh, today gave a new twist to the 1984 riots in Delhi by stating that the police records show the alleged involvement of Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) activists in the incidents. "The events after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, were no doubt most painful, but to say that the Congress as a party was involved in the riots was not correct," Dr Manmohan Singh said at meet-the-Press programme here. "Congress as a party was not involved in the riots. If one goes through the police records, one will find that RSS activists were involved", former Union Minister said, adding that "unfortunately the media does not publish these facts." Replying to a question on how he agreed to contest as a Congress candidate despite the alleged involvement of some party leaders in the 1984 riots, Dr Manmohan Singh said the guilty should be punished and alleged that the RSS had a hand in the riots. Terming the BJP allegations that he was appealing to the Sikhs on religious grounds as "perverse communalism", he said, "I am not asking the Sikhs and non-Sikhs to vote for me because I belong to a particular community. I want the electorate to exercise their franchise based on my past experience and competence." To a question on the performance of the Congress in the Lok Sabha election in the Capital after 1984, when it bagged all seven seats, Dr Manmohan Singh said, "this year again we will win all seats in Delhi." On the allegation that he had made a wrong declaration regarding his place of residence while seeking election to the Rajya Sabha from Assam in 1991, he said he had made it clear in his form that prior to filing his nomination he was resident of Punjab and Delhi. As a minister he was free to choose any state and this had been upheld by high court." Asked about the submission of a "wrong" affidavit stating that he did not have a house in Delhi, former minister said while working in Delhi University, he had bought a plot in 1969 or 1970 in Ashok Vihar, North Delhi, and constructed a house. But, he sold it sometime in 1980s when he went abroad on a World Bank posting and gave 50 per cent of the appreciated value to the DDA. Stating that he did not own any property in Delhi when the flat was allotted to him in 1989, Dr Manmohan Singh said at present too he owned only a DDA flat in Vasant Kunj. Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court today sought all relevant records from the trial court, including the CBI reports, suggesting closure of two 1984 riots cases against former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler and others. Mr Tytler was given Congress nomination to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Sadar constituency in the Capital following the closure of the cases. A Division Bench comprising Justice Anil Dev Singh and Justice R.S. Sodhi said it would like to examine the records before passing an order on a petition seeking registration of a separate FIR on a complaint by Ms Rajwant Kaur, whose husband, son and nephew were allegedly killed by a mob in Kabir Basti of North Delhi on November 1, 1984. The Bench directed the Delhi Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Mr R.K. Guaba, to send the case files of both cases to it while adjourning the hearing to September 9. The Bench also directed
the police to provide adequate protection to
ex-servicemen Dilbagh Singh, brother-in-law of Ms Rajwant
Kaur, who had filed a writ petition challenging the
CBI’s closure report giving a clean chit to Mr
Tytler and other accused in the cases registered by the
agency in 1997. |
Aap kaun janab? Dilip asks Seshan AHMEDABAD, Sept 2 (UNI) — "Aap kaun janab hain?" (who are you, gentleman), Dilip Kumar enquired politely and waved away Mr T.N. Seshan, failing to recognise the candidate for whom he had come to campaign for. The scene was enacted at a public meeting today in front of the BJP Gujarat unit headquarters at J.P. Chowk. Mr Seshan is the Congress candidate from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. The famous film actor left Mr Seshan stunned and speechless when he caught the hand of someone else, raised it and asked the people to vote for him. It was only after the mistake was pointed out that the thespian corrected himself by raising the hand extended by the former Chief Election Commissioner and repeated his appeal. The high drama began when Mr Seshan, who had reached well before the arrival of Mr Dilip Kumar, refused to climb in to the dais till "all Congressmen are cleared", may be piqued at the lukewarm attitude of the local Congressmen towards him. Continuing with the
implementation of his own "code of conduct", he
then asked all lensmen, barring news photographers, to
get down. Only after the stage was thus cleared, he went
up to meet the thespian who had by that time arrived. But
since his portly frame was blocking the view, Dilip Kumar
asked him to move over. |
Jessica Lal murder case
adjourned NEW DELHI, Sept 2 — A city court today adjourned the case against Vikas Yadav, one of the accused in the Jessica Lal murder case, as the investigation officer could not make clear the connection of Vikas with Manu Sharma, the main accused. The public prosecutor, Mr S. K. Saxena, produced a few cellular phone numbers through which he tried to prove that the phones were used by Manu Sharma during the night and he discussed the incident with Vikas Yadav. However, the Additional
District Sessions Judge, Mr G.P. Thareja, adjourned the
case for September 4 saying that evidence collected by
the investigation officer, Surender Sharma, SHO,
Mehrauli, was not complete. |
Advani: hung House not likely ANAND (Gujarat), Sept 2 (PTI) — The Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, today said he did not foresee a hung parliament after the Lok Sabha elections and expressed confidence that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would secure a comfortable majority. Addressing a meeting here three days before the September 5 poll, Mr Advani claimed that a majority of opinion polls had also predicted over 300 seats for the NDA. “It is clear that this time there will no hung Lok Sabha. The NDA will get a comfortable majority,” he said. Mr Advani claimed the electorate was angry with the Congress for dislodging the Vajpayee government and were not prepared to accept anyone with foreign origin occupying the high office. He likened the photo-finish in the confidence vote sought by the Vajpayee government to a India-Pakistan cricket match when India lost by one run. “It is like being declared out leg before wicket (LBW) when it was a no ball,” he said. The issue of Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin was first raised by none other than her own senior party leaders like Sharad Pawar, P.A. Sangma and Tariq Anwar. He also cited the example of a Bengali actress who got Italian citizenship after her marriage to an Italian film producer, but was denied the permission to contest local municipal elections as she was not a natural-born Italian. Mr Advani took a
pot-shot at Ms Gandhi for filing her nomination in
Bellary in a “cloud of secrecy” without even
informing the SPG. “In the end, she was the one who
was surprised when Sushma Swaraj was fielded by us to
contest that seat.” |
Now Cong questions wheat
policy NEW DELHI, Sept 2 — Giving additional details about the import of sugar from Pakistan, the Congress today questioned the Vajpayee government’s wheat import policy saying it had neither benefited the farmers nor the country. Asserting that the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee was very much in the know of the import of 80,000 metric tonnes of sugar from Pakistan, the Congress spokesman, Mr Kapil Sibal, said the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had deferred four times taking a decision on a Cabinet note moved by the Food Ministry which had asked for the purchase of 17 lakh tonnes of sugar from the domestic market for distribution through the public distribution system (PDS). Referring to Mr Vajpayee’s assertion that the Prime Minister’s Office was not involved in the import of sugar as it was under the open general licence (OGL) , Mr Sibal said while the Food Ministry and sugar manufacturers were opposed to the import of sugar, the import continued. Even the recommendation of a state ministers’ conference asking for a ban on the import of sugar was ignored, Mr Sibal asserted questioning Mr Vajpayee’s patriotism in permitting Pakistan to dump sugar into the country when the industry and cane growers were suffering under the impact of excessive sugar production. Mr Sibal said the President of the Nationalistic Congress Party, Mr Sharad Pawar, who met the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister twice, had also sought an end to the sugar import. “The Congress will also like to bring to the notice of the nation the fact that the Food Minister, Mr S.S. Barnala, had written not one or two, but half a dozen letters to the Prime Minister seeking an increase in the sugar import duty to make the playing field level. Pakistan levies 100 per cent import duty. Our government, we were told, had granted the MFN status to Pakistan. MFN stands for most favoured nation, but in the Vajpayee dispensation it is the most favoured Nawaz. (It is in the government’s knowledge that between six and seven railway wagons carrying sugar came to India through the Wagah border every day.) “If the Industry was not benefiting and the farmer was not benefiting, somebody in the private sector was hugely benefiting from these deals”, Mr Sibal said asking “why was the government interested in granting those benefits at the expense of the cane growers?” “The Prime Minister has finally condescended to say a few words about the sugargate," Mr Sibal said. Mr Vajpayee said: “There is nothing unpatriotic about it. When the war was on, we were also eating sugar.” Stating “what kind of a response was that, after having facilitated Pakistan dumping sugar in India through an ISI-controlled agency while our jawans were making supreme sacrifices in Kargil”, Mr Sibal wondered saying “what else can the nation expect from a man who gives safe passage to the enemy?” Mr Vajpayee had said private parties were free to import sugar from anywhere at the prevailing market rate prices, Mr Sibal pointed out asking “does this mean that the Prime Minister was not concerned about the fact that while there was enough and more sugar in the godowns and Rs 800 crore was outstanding as dues to the farmers, the Prime Minister was not concerned?” “Does it mean that Atalji was not concerned that the Indian sugar industry was making losses”, the spokesman asked. Raisng questions about government’s policy to import wheat, Mr Sibal said: “Wheat import, which is not under OGL, was continued by the Vajpayee government despite Mr Barnala asking for an end to the import of wheat.” FCI godowns were overflowing with wheat as the Gujral government had already imported 1.2 million tonnes from Australia, Mr Sibal asserted saying “yet the government went ahead with its strange and pre-determined anti-farmer agenda”. “As a result, India today has the largest stock of wheat in the world”, Mr Sibal said adding “not one grain of overstocked wheat has been consumed, except, possibly, by rodents”. The food Ministry has
estimated Rs 10,000 crore as losses for one year due to
food storage alone. Moreover, imported wheat, which has a
a much lower shelf life than the domestic wheat, is also
lying unconsumed in various ports he said adding
“yet in the past three months alone one million
tonnes of wheat has been imported”. |
Manmohan blames PM of doublespeak NEW DELHI, Sept 2 — The former Union Finance Minister and Congress candidate for the South Delhi parliamentary seat, Dr Manmohan Singh, today accused the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, of doublespeak by posing as a moderate leader and yet “deliberately” doing nothing to curb the “hardline extremists” in his party. “It is a deliberate and well-planned strategy ... a strategy devoid of any sense of commitment to basic moral values” Dr Manmohan Singh said in response to a question at “meet the Press” at the Press Club of India here. Mr Vajpayee would observe a moderate opinion to one section but on the other hand, will not prevent the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal or the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani from speaking hard language, the former Union Finance Minister said. On the question of the formation of a coalition government, Dr Manmohan Singh said the party President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi had stated that the Congress was not averse to the formation of a coalition government. “Our first aim is to secure a mandate to govern on our own. Mrs Gandhi has spoken about a hypothetical situation. Since we are not in favour of another election, we will explore the possibility of a coalition government, if we do not get a clear mandate”, the former Union Finance Minister said. The Congress at the Pachmarhi conclave last year had decided against forging “unprincipled” alliances and said it would fight elections on its own at the national level. Dr Manmohan Singh said “the past experience of coalition is not very pleasant ... however, it the situation so demands we can think of it”. When asked whether the Congress would seek the support of the Left in case of a fractured mandate, Dr Manmohan Singh said: “We will cross the bridge when we come to it”. On the question of Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s candidature for the post of Prime Minister, the former Union Finance Minister said “the Congress Parliamentary Party would elect its leader after the elections”. When asked why the party was shying away from projecting its prime ministerial candidate, Dr Manmohan Singh said: “We do not see this election to be a fight between two personalities. The fight is between two contradictory views on the management of the country’s economy, society and polity”. Dr Manmohan Singh also criticised BJP leaders for levelling false allegations against him and his party and resorting to character assassination, lowering the campaign to the level of “gutter” politics. Stating that the Congress wanted to fight the elections only on its programmes and policies, Dr Manmohan Singh said: “This is a reason for the party not projecting any prime ministerial candidate”. The former Union
Minister termed remarks made by the Information and
Broadcasting Minister, Mr Pramod Mahajan, about the
Congress President, as an “insult to the entire
human race”. This kind of character assassination
must stop and the parties must fight the poll on the
basis of issue and programmes, he said. |
Mahanta for India-born Prime
Minister JAIPUR, Sept 2 — Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta clarifying his stand on Prime Minister’s office says that only an India-born person should occupy the post. Mahanta was talking to newsmen at Ajmer where he had gone for ziarat at Dargah Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti on Wednesday. Mahanta also offered chadar at the Mazar-e-Sharief. Assam CM said the people
themselves will decide the question whether a person of
foreign origin should be allowed to become Prime Minister
or not. Replying to the question that Mr L K Advani too
is being branded as Pakistani, he said, it was wrong to
argue that he is not fit to occupy any responsible office
in our country as he was not born in India. He was born
in undivided India and is therefore an Indian, Mr Mahanta
said. |
N. Ravi elected PTI Chairman MUMBAI, Sept 2 (PTI) — N. Ravi, Editor of The Hindu, was unanimously elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of Press Trust of India (PTI) here today. Prof E.V. Chitnis, an eminent physicist, was elected Vice-Chairman at the meeting of the board following the 51st annual general meeting of the agency. N. Ravi succeeds R. Lakshmipathy, publisher of Dinamalar. The other directors, representing newspapers on the board are: C.R. Irani (The Statesman), Shobhana Bhartia (The Hindustan Times), Pravinchandra V. Gandhi (Janmabhoomi), Philip Mathew (Malayala Manorama), M.P. Virendra Kumar (Mathrubhoomi), Aveek Kumar Sarkar (Anand Bazar Patrika), Vivek Goenka (The Indian Express), K.N. Hari Kumar (Deccan Herald), Vijay Kumar Chopra (Hind Samachar) and Vineet Kumar Jain (Times of India). Prof Chitnis, Justice
H.R. Khanna and Mr N.A. Palkhivala represent public
interest on the board. |
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| Vajpayee visits Satya Sai
Baba PUTTAPARTHI (AP): Taking time off from his hectic election campaign schedule, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee paid a brief visit to Shri Satya Sai Baba here on Tuesday. After addressing a public meeting at Bellary, Mr Vajpayee flew in here by a helicopter. He was with Baba at “Prasanthi Nilayam”, the latter’s abode, for about 15 minutes, before leaving for Bangalore to address another public meeting. — PTI Pope
to visit India from Nov 5 Protest against
‘obscene’ Buddha statue Girl gangraped,
7 held 1 NSCN man
killed in clash CPI leader
hacked to death Bar association
president shot |
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