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Friday,
October 12, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Burning of secret files led to Pak fire? USA recognises problem of terrorism in J & K: Blackwill Sikhs flee Kabul, Kandahar Jaswant for US
ban on JeM |
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BJP flays those backing Taliban Over 100 feared
trapped as mine caves in Fresh summons
against Jaya Petition on CBI
chief’s appointment dismissed HP gets 97 lakh
for wasteland development
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Burning of secret files led to Pak fire? New Delhi, October 11 Though no one knows what exactly was contained in these files, well-placed sources said the files pertained to the ISI’s covert operations in Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir. “These files must be virtual dynamites or else the Pakistani
authorities would not have ordered their mass destruction”, sources said. It is also not known how many files were being burnt when the some burning papers were swept away by wind to the nearby GHQ building, setting the building ablaze in the process. Sources said there were truckloads of files. “These files could well be damning evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in export of terrorism across the world, including Jammu and Kashmir and Afghanistan,” sources said. The GHQ fire started after junior ISI officials started burning files pertaining to ISI links with the various militant organisations, sources said. More than 70 fire engines were requisitioned from Islamabad, Rawalpindi and army units to put out the fire which continued for more than four hours. Meanwhile, sources quoting reports received here through diplomatic channels said the fall of Lieut-Gen Mahmud Ahmed, who was booted out from the crucial post of ISI chief, was because of his
over ambition. He tried to out manoeuvre his seniors to grab the post of Vice-Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army. It was he who did not allow Gen Pervez Musharraf to visit Kandahar in early March. He also misbehaved with a number of senior officers at a meeting attended by senior military civil and military officials in Islamabad after the September 11 terror attacks on the US. Sources said General Ahmed also refused to accept the post of Chairman of Joint Chief of Staff which was eventually given to Lieut-Gen Mohammad Aziz, formerly Corps Commander at Lahore.
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USA recognises problem of terrorism in J & K: Blackwill New Delhi, October 11 Washington also rules out becoming a mediator between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue which will be discussed with Indian leadership by the Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, during his visit here shortly. “Terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir is exactly kind of terrorism that must be condemned and must be rooted out. War against terrorism must include terrorism against India,” the US Ambassador, Mr Robert D. Blackwill, said in an interview. In the wide-ranging interaction, the envoy spoke about the “quantum advance” in the Indo-US relations, especially after the September 11 terrorist strikes in the USA, the evolving scenario in Afghanistan and the US-Pak relations. Citing the speeches made by the President, Mr George W. Bush, and Mr Powell, Mr Blackwill said “There are no exceptions with respect to countries that harbour terrorism. There are no exceptions to terrorism as it exists in camps funded, trained and so forth. We will accept no nation that harbours terrorism. “You might want a calendar..... But we are now concentrating on Pakistan’s contribution to the war against terrorism which is substantial,” he said, when asked about US’s “reticence” about acknowledging Pakistan’s role in sponsoring terrorism in J and K. Mr Blackwill said at this juncture the US-led coalition was concentrating on the military action in Afghanistan. “There are many elements of this policy and we are acting simultaneously,” he said, adding that “you should not expose every piece of one’s strategy.” On Mr Powell’s upcoming visit expected early next week, he said the Secretary of State would be meeting the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and other senior leaders in the government in an obvious boost to Indo-US relationship. He would discuss mutual relations, international war against terrorism and the situation in Afghanistan. Since he would probably be coming from Islamabad, the US-Pakistan relationship and the Kashmir issue would come up. On Kashmir, he said “Our position has not changed. We are not going to become a mediator. We are extremely clear. Mr Powell will not be getting off the plane with blueprints.”
PTI |
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Sikhs flee Kabul, Kandahar New Delhi, October 11 Many Sikhs, wanting to enter India, are stranded in Pakistan as travel documents have been issued to only a few of them. Sources in External Affairs Ministry said the government had issued visas to 40 Sikhs after the Union Home Ministry cleared their names. As many as 67 Sikhs had applied for the travel permit. The process of issuing visas is being speeded up as the number of Sikhs fleeing the war has increased. The government should set up “Afghan Cell” to coordinate the rehabilitation of the Sikhs coming to India, said the leader of the United Parliamentary Group, Mr B.S. Ramoowalia, in a letter to Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Omar Abdullah. Like the “Kuwait cell” set up during the Gulf War, the “Afghan Cell” should take care of rehabilitation and provide facilities of shelter, cash incentives on the lines of other Afghan refugees, issuance of ration cards, admission of refugee children in schools. The External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh has asked Indian High Commission in Islamabad to make necessary arrangements for travel of Sikh and Hindu Afghan refugees, stranged at the Wagah checkpoint for want of travel documents. |
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Jaswant for US
ban on JeM New Delhi, October 11 “Wait till Mr Powell comes here,” was the cryptic response of the minister at a crowded press conference here. Mr Jaswant Singh also virtually ruled out the Government of India banning the JeM, saying that the terrorist outfit did not own any assets in India nor did it have any facilities here. Asked about the details of US President George W Bush’s recent telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, he said he could not do so as the conversation was “confidential”. Significantly, New Delhi has not banned any Kashmiri terrorist outfit. The only Kashmiri outfit to have been banned by the Indian government was Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). |
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BJP flays those backing Taliban New Delhi, October 11 The BJP in a statement also condemned the reported news blackout for the Indian mission in Islamabad. |
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Over 100 feared trapped as mine caves in Kolkata/New Delhi, October 11 Jawans of the Central Industrial Security Force warned them before they could descend into the mine, just before a surface area measuring an acre over it caved in at Lalbandh in Burdwan district, it said. The Ministry of Coal said the mine did not belong to the state-run Eastern Coalfields Limited as reports indicated.
UNI |
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Fresh summons
against Jaya Chennai, October 11 On October 4, Principal Sessions Judge Ashok Kumar, before whom the matter came up, took a serious view of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) not serving summons to her on two earlier occasions.
PTI |
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Petition on CBI chief’s appointment dismissed Bangalore, October 11 In his 32-page order, Mr Justice G.C. Bharuka said he concurred with the view of Mr Justice Chidanand Ullal, who had on August 14 upheld the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order quashing the appointment, and dismissed the writ petition filed by the Centre as devoid of any merit and with costs of Rs 5,000 to be paid to former Karnataka Director-General of Police C. Dinakar.
PTI |
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HP gets 97 lakh
for wasteland development New Delhi, October 11 A press note said that the Rural Development Ministry released Rs 97.66 lakh to the Chamba District Rural Development Agency and Rs 49.52 lakh to the Udhampur District Rural Development Agency which would be incurred on the implementation of the wasteland development project during 2001-02. The objective of the programme was to promote the generation of employment in the rural areas, besides enhancing peoples’ participation.
UNI |
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Malaria kills 8 Ahmedabad, October 11 |
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New Delhi, October 11
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