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Tuesday,
December 31, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Stop criticism, BJP tells BSP RSS chief
asked to get temple land vacated Cong for
action against VHP
Cong to launch mass contact programme Cracks in
Left Front out in open
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YEARENDER 2002 — HOME
Chautala
opposes Kelkar proposals PM
working on musings Dismissed panchayat secys meet Ambika Need to
oversee ‘deviant behaviour’ of judges
Two new TV serials on Doordarshan
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Stop criticism, BJP tells BSP New Delhi, December 30 “We are committed to the dharma of coalition politics. However, BSP ministers in Uttar Pradesh must refrain from criticising their ally BJP as it is not good for the alliance,” party spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told newspersons here. The spokesman said the issue had also been sorted out at the highest level of the two parties at a recent meeting between UP Chief Minister Mayawati and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in the Capital recently. “Even though we are ready to face elections any time, but BSP leaders should not make any comments which was against the dharma of coalition politics. However, I am confident that the present coalition government in the state will last its full term,” he said. Mr Naqvi said as part of the exercise to ensure that there was no such further open criticism, state level leaders of both parties would meet frequently to strengthen the coalition. Earlier ridiculing the Congress demand for a white paper on terrorism, Mr Naqvi said it was the “wavering and weak policies towards terrorism” pursued by the Congress which was responsible for its growth. “It is painful to note that the Congress whose wavering and weak policies towards terrorism have cost the lives of their Prime Minister, a former Prime Minister and Chief Minister is now shamelessly raising the demand for a white paper on terrorism,” the party spokesman said. Mr Naqvi said the BJP had no objection on this demand of the Congress but the paper should “reflect the origin of terrorism and the policies that have been responsible for its growth. Moreover, the White Paper should also include full details of the terrorist activities that have been taking place in various parts of the country, including Punjab, North-East and Jammu and Kashmir over the past three decades.” He said the NDA government headed by the Prime Minister has weakened Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and got the world community to appreciate the Indian viewpoint. “The Vajpayee government has through POTA strengthened the fight against terrorism. This has helped the legal process in deciding cases against terrorists in a reasonable time frame as compared to the earlier period,” he said. Mr Naqvi said the Congress, which failed miserably in punishing the murderers of their leaders during a decade, continues to oppose necessary anti-terrorism legal measures like
POTA.
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RSS chief asked to get
temple land vacated Bhopal, December 30 The government wants the land, measuring some 3 lakh square feet, for the development of facilities for the pilgrims for the Simhashtha Mahakumbha due in 2004. The local RSS unit has demanded Rs 25 crore for surrendering the land. The State High Court has stayed the acquisition proceedings initiated by the government. The Mahakaleshwar temple is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas, considered the most holy places of pilgrimage and worship by the Hindus. The Mahakumbha takes place in Ujjain every 12 years when lakhs of devotees throng the place. The Chief Minister, Mr Digvijay Singh, has now sought intervention of the RSS chief, Mr K.Sudarshan. In his two-page letter, the Chief Minister says: “it has been a tradition among us, the followers of the Sanatana Dharma, from times immemorial to promptly offer whatever is expected of us for the management and expansion of the places of worship. I am, however, surprised that the RSS is demanding crores of rupees for the land needed to expand facilities around the temple of Lord Mahakaleshwar as this money will have to be paid out of the offerings made at the temple by the devotees”. The Chief Minister’s letter, sent today, says that the RSS has not purchased this land. Till 1990, it was recorded as government land in official documents. The RSS, Ujjain, filed a civil suit in 1988 claiming its ownership on the land. The then BJP government did not properly contest it, the court accepted the RSS ownership over the land and the RSS acquired the land without paying any money. Mr Digvijay Singh says that he is writing the letter not as Chief Minister but as one of the innumerable devotees of Lord Mahakaleshwar. He has urged the RSS chief to personally intervene in the matter and persuade the RSS unit at Ujjain to surrender the land gratis to the temple of Lord Mahakaleshwar for which the followers of the Sanatana Dharma within the country and outside “will be beholden to you”. |
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Cong for action against VHP New Delhi, December 30 Congress spokesman Anand Sharma said the VHP’s claim of being the representative of the Hindu Community was wrong. He said the centre should probe the funding of the
VHP. Asked if the party was demanding a ban on the VHP, Mr Sharma said the party had sought such a ban earlier also. The Congress reaction comes a day after vituperative attack by a VHP leader, Mr Pravin
Togadia, against the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi. He said the party had sought a white paper from the government on terrorism. To a question about the RSS taking exception to the Congress remark about association of the Sangh Parivar in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, which Mr Sharma described as the “first and biggest terrorist attack in the post-Independent India,’’ he said that the Congress was opposed to any ideology that preached violence. “If the Sangh Parivar’s ideology is not of creating division then they should clarify,’’ he said. “The RSS reaction indicates that they have a guilty conscience,’’ Mr Sharma added.
PTI |
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DMK-BJP feud
comes to fore
Chennai, December 30 He said the DMK would not leave the NDA as long as the Centre did not deviate from the national agenda for governance. “The DMK has no objections if the BJP supports the AIADMK. If the BJP wants to align with the AIADMK, let it do so in an open manner”, he said
PTI
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Cong to launch mass contact programme New Delhi, December 30 “The party has decided to launch a mass contact programme in the state, beginning January 15, to tell the people about government steps for their well-being as also to expose the BJP propaganda about the state government on various issues”, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and state PCC chief Girija Vyas said here. Mr Gehlot and Ms
Vyas, who met AICC general secretary in charge of the state Ambika Soni here today, said one of the aims of the mass contact programme, which would go up to block level, was to address the concerns of party workers. Concerned over the outcome of the
byelections, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had recently appointed a four-member committee to prepare the party in the state to take on the BJP in Assembly elections due next year. Asked about the threat by the Sangh Parivar to repeat the Gujarat Hindutva experience in Rajasthan, Mr Gehlot said, “they would not be allowed to repeat it. Fascist face won in Gujarat, but we will not allow them to succeed in Rajasthan.” Asked if the state would ban the
VHP, he said, “We will go step by step. We will respond to what they do”. About the controversy over organising Ram katha surrounding the Rajasthan Governor, the Chief Minister said the issue became controversial following the involvement of Raj
Bhavan. On the possibility of forging alliances with like-minded parties in the state, Mr Gehlot said it was too early to talk about these issues. “Personally, I am opposed to any alliances,” he said. Mr Gehlot dismissed suggestions that Rajasthan was rated lowest among the Congress-ruled states in terms of
perforemance, saying since he came to power the air was thick with “such types of rumours”.
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Cracks in Left Front
out in open Kolkata, December 30 The CPI at its rally at the Brigade ground last evening, declared that it would no more accept any decision taken arbitrarily by the CPM without consulting other partners of the front. The party criticised the high-handedness and the big-brotherly attitude of the CPM in running the government, which CPI leaders felt had been damaging the interests of the Left Front. Leaders of the Forward Bloc, on the other hand, at the two-day conference of the party’s peasants front in the city ending today, openly warned that they would not hesitate to leave the Left Front government if the CPM did not stop treating the smaller partners as their ‘slaves’. The Forward Bloc’s national committee president, Mr Debabrata Biswas, alleged the CPM had now become a party of the jotedars and other vested interests which had been working against the poor cultivators and the landless labour. He charged the CPM leadership with treating them “shabbily”. He reminded the CPM leaders that the Forward Bloc MPs and MLAs had been voted to power not at their mercy. The people had voted for them because “the Forward Bloc is a party of the people and for the people”. The CPI’s general secretary, Mr A.B. Bardhan accused the CPM of usurping all powers of the front and the government, adding that party had been taking all major decisions without even keeping them informed. This high-handed attitude of the CPM would not be tolerated any more, he warned. Reacting sharply to the charges of the CPI and the Forward Bloc, CPM general secretary, Mr Anil Biswas, alleged that they had been making false allegations. He said so far all major decisions taken both by the front and the government, were taken after due discussions and deliberations. |
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YEARENDER 2002 — HOME New Delhi, December 30 Left-wing terrorism and insurgency in the North-East were other areas which kept the Home Ministry busy. Reports on the growing nexus between Maoists in Nepal and the People’s War Group (PWG), spread in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, came as a big blow for the Home Ministry, which launched several funding schemes to modernise state policies to tackle the problem. The free and fair Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat elections brought a lot of kudos to the Home Ministry, which came in for sharp criticism last year after the terrorist attack on the Parliament. This followed the enactment of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in a joint session of Parliament in February. Although the Centre failed to impress upon Congress-ruled states to implement it, the speedy conviction of the accused in the Parliament attack case by a Delhi court came as a big boost. The Union Home Ministry banned 32 terrorist organisations. The attacks on temples in Gandhinagar and in Jammu reflected the ugly face of terrorism supported by Pakistan. The timely operation by the National Security Guards commandos ensured that the casualties were minimal. Security agencies foiled several attempts by Pakistan’s ISI to spread terror. As many as 161 ISI modules were busted and major cases detected, including the exposure of a Lashkar-e-Toiba network and serial bomb explosions by the Deendar Anjuman in churches in South India. The Home Ministry’s approach to engage the NSCN (I-M) had a positive impact, with the Naga group leaders agreeing to come to India for a structured political peace dialogue. The Home Ministry lifted the ban on the NSCN (I-M). In Assam, the Centre, the state government and the Bodo Liberation Tigers agreed to extend suspension of operations for paving way for fruitful talks for peace. As per the suggestion of the GoMs on national security, the Home Ministry created a separate division on Border management to pay focused attention to issues relating to border management. The Home Ministry also decided to launch a pilot project for issuance of multi-purpose national identity cards in a few sub-districts in 13 states. The population proposed to be covered would be about 29 lakh. The year also saw Home Minister L.K. Advani being elevated to the post of Deputy Prime Minister. Mr N. Gopalaswamy took over as the new Union Home Secretary, succeeding Mr Kamal Pande, who was appointed the new Cabinet Secretary. |
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Chautala
opposes Kelkar proposals Raipur, December 30 “People living in air-conditioned rooms do not understand the problems of farmers and recommend imposition of income tax on them though they do not have sufficient income”, he alleged. On the issue of disinvestment, said only loss-making public sector undertakings should be privatised and not the profit-making ones. “But which one should be divested is the job of the government to decide”, he added.
PTI |
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PM working
on musings Panaji, December 30 “The Prime Minister is not merely holidaying in Goa, he is also working on some musings,” PMO sources said today. The sources said his writings would be released tomorrow.
PTI |
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Dismissed panchayat secys meet Ambika New Delhi, December 30 Mr Ranjinderjeet Singh, press secretary of the union, said the meeting lasted for about 20 minutes. He said 909 panchayat secretaries had been affected by the Punjab Government’s decision. The delegation, led by Mr Gurjeevan Singh, gave a “demand letter” to Ms Ambika Soni.
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Need to oversee ‘deviant behaviour’ of judges Bangalore, December 30 Mr Sorabjee said the suggested body must be exclusively judicial since one had to be very careful that the independence of judiciary was not impaired while enforcing accountability of judges. The body must also command credibility, he told reporters in a brief interaction.
PTI |
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Two new TV serials on Doordarshan New Delhi, December 30 Produced and directed by Sanjay Khan, the serials will be telecast on Doordrashan National. While “1857-Kranti” went on air on December 29 and will be telecast every Sunday between 11 am and noon, “Maharathi Karna” will be telecast on every Wednesday and Thursday between 9 and 9.30 pm from January 1, 2003. “Maharathi Karna” throws light on the life of the unsung hero Karna while “1857-Kranti” is the story of India’s first war of independence. Speaking at the launch of the serials, Sanjay Khan, Chairman and Managing Director, Numero Uno International Limited said, “The story of Karna is legendary and timeless. The revolt of 1857 referred to as ‘the Sepoy Mutiny’ by the British is a very important facet of India’s freedom struggle. Therefore, in the age of low-cost family dramas, I have attempted to bring serials which have qualities of an epic and good cinematic values.’’ Of the total 104 episodes in “Maharthi Karna”, 28 have been shot. “1857-Kranti” has 52 epiosdes of which 12 have been completed, according to a press note issued by the NUIL.
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video: Shiv Sena organises youth camp for fighting terrorism.
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