Sunday, July 4, 1999
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Retrieve PoK, says Thakre |
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Back to the battlefield Army buries 13 Pak troops Mulayam for RS session on Kargil NCM favours 100 seats for
minorities Urea scam accused surrenders Higher pension for ex-servicemen AIIMS to raise charges Shake-up in Delhi Govt |
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Retrieve PoK, says Thakre LUCKNOW, July 3 (UNI) — BJP President Kushabhau Thakre today said the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) should be retrieved by India. Talking to newspersons here, he said he favoured the feelings of every citizen of the country as well as the resolution adopted by Parliament in this regard. Asked how to go about it, the BJP President said. It was up to "the defence experts and the union cabinet to take the decision. Afterall I am not a defence expert." Complimenting the Indian troops fighting out in the Kargil sector to push back the intruders, Mr Thakre said the decision to cross the Line of Control (LoC) lied only with the government. "As a citizen of India, my feeling in this matter is no different from that of millions of Indians," he pointed out. Refusing to comment whether the Kargil issue would have any effect on the election campaign, he said, "It is just a chance that elections are coincided with the Kargil crisis. He appealed to all to exercise restraint in issuing statements regarding Kargil. "It is a national issue concerning all and every party should follow a code of conduct while commenting on Kargil operations," he asserted. Mr Thakre said, "My party would follow a code of conduct on the Kargil issue. "He attacked the Congress for its unsavoury remarks on the Vajpayee government and had termed his Lahore bus journey as a major disaster. The Congress should realise that the Lahore visit was made at a time when India was sufficiently strong. It was a step to show the world that India wanted peace, he said. He denied the Kargil issue was to play a major role on the elections, instead achievements of the Vajpayee government would be the major issue he said. The BJP supremo declared that the party would not give Lok Sabha tickets to the candidates having criminal records. "We have already declared a policy on it and it would be strictly followed", he added. He, however, made it clear that criminals did not include those who had been charged while resorting to political dharnas and other similar activities. Mr Thakre hinted that some of the sitting members of the Lok Sabha might not get ticket in the coming elections. "There is no definite rule that the winning candidates should be repeated," he said. The Central Parliamentary Board would be meeting on July 10 to deliberate on the ticket issue, he added. Asked about the party prospects in Uttar Pradesh in the coming elections he said "At the moment, I can only say that the party is going to get more than 60 Lok Sabha seats which it had secured in the last elections." NEW DELHI (PTI): The BJP has ruled out safe passage to Pakistani intruders in Kargil and made it clear that there would be no formal talks with Pakistan till the last intruder was driven out. This was stated by party spokesperson K.L. Sharma while participating in ‘Janata Ki Adalat’ programme on "Star Plus" recently, according to a press release issued by Independent Media, makers of the programme. He and the other participant Ajit Jogi of the Congress agreed that questions and debates on the Kargil conflict could wait until intruders were sent back, it said. However, both traded charges saying the other was politicising Kargil issue to gain votes in the Lok Sabha poll. Mr Jogi said the whole nation wanted to know how the intruders came to Kargil in January and why no measures were taken till May. Mr Sharma said the question could wait till the conflict was over. Mr Jogi charged that the BJP brought out a full-page advertisement depicting late Shyama Prasad Mukherjee as the first martyr in Kashmir. "This is politicisation. It is an insult to those jawans who laid down their lives in Kashmir in 1948". Mr Sharma said the Congress was objecting to each and every diplomatic move. "Even Niaz Naik’s secret talks were objected to". To this Mr Jogi replied "Naik went back to Pakistan and told BBC about his talks with Mr Vajpayee on safe passage to intruders. Let them (BJP) deny that Naik did not talk to Mr Vajpayee", the release said. Mr Sharma said "Let
me say one thing. These days there are several talks
going on right from DG Military Operations. Messengers
have come and gone, but there are no formal talks. The
message is one — so long as the last infiltrator is
not driven out, we will not have formal talks with
Pakistan. Let me make it clear. The intruders will have
to surrender, or they will be killed. There is no
question of giving them safe passage". |
Vajpayee charges Pak with
betrayal NEW DELHI, July 3 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has ruled out possibility of the formation of a national government in the face of the Kargil crisis saying running such a government would be a very difficult proposition. In an interview to Hindi journalist Kanhaiya Lal Nandan, he was asked if a national government would function well in the country. Mr Vajpayee said, “It would function only if it is formed. It will not be formed. Some would say they would not go with the BJP, some would have reservations on being a partner of the Shiv Sena. With each one trying to pull it in its own direction, how will such a government function?” When the interviewer said that multi-party coalition governments had not suited the country with its many problems, the Prime Minister replied, “Despite this, a demand is raised for the formation of a national government. Forming a government is easy (though the Congress could not do even that) but running such a government is a very difficult proposition”. When reminded of the solidarity shown by other parties on the Kargil issue, Mr Vajpayee said, “Still a demand is being raised for convening a Rajya Sabha session”. Asked whether it would be proper to convene such a session, he said, “I have made it clear if there is a consensus, convene it”. In reply to a question, Mr Vajpayee said, however, a consensus on the issue seemed improbable. It could be both because of ego clash and narrow political considerations. “Look at the Congress. It is demanding Rajya Sabha session to take political advantage of a national crisis. Every one realises it. I have said if there is consensus we can have no objection to convening Rajya Sabha session.” To a remark that consensus was elusive even within the BJP and that people talked of differences between him and Mr L.K. Advani, Mr Vajpayee said it was “nonsense”. There were no differences of opinions though they had different styles of expressing them. This marks them out as different personalities. “He (Advani) is different. His personality is different. To some extent he wants to appear as different,” the Prime Minister added. Asked if this conscious effort to appear as different was not giving rise to misunderstanding, Mr Vajpayee said but it would be wrong not to view it in a proper way. “It would be sheer injustice to seek Atal Behari in Advani or to look for Advani in Atal Behari”. To another question, Mr Prime Minister said there was no truth in reports that the RSS parivar was putting obstacles in his way of functioning. He was not the one to give in to pressures. Such reports were just “juicy” gossip, the Prime Minister added. Mr Vajpayee charged Pakistan with “blatant betrayal” saying if Islamabad really had a point of dispute regarding the Line of Control it should have raised it during his visit to Lahore. “But instead of doing so Pakistan systematically executed a plan of intrusion in Kargil. It is blatant betrayal. We went with a message of friendship but they acted with a mala fide intention,” he said to Nandan. Asserting that Pakistan had been completely isolated on the Kargil issue, the Prime Minister disagreed with a suggestion that the USA had not been firm enough in asking Pakistan to withdraw intruders. “No, no, they have been asking Pakistan again and again. On this issue Pakistan has been completely isolated,” he said. Mr Vajpayee agreed with the interviewer’s perception that the visit of External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh to China had a positive impact after certain remarks of Defence Minister George Fernandes had soured the Sino Indian relationship. “China has shown maturity on the issue. The visit of Jaswant Singhji had a good effect”, he added. To another question whether the move by the USA would not lead to a third-party mediation, the Prime Minister said the USA knew it well that India would not accept the third party mediation on this issue. “I have also made it clear that no talks with Pakistan are possible until it withdraws the intruders or we drive them out”, he said. When the interviewers said that unrestrained utterance of Mr George Fernandes had cost his government dearly, Mr Vajpayee said, “He is now exercising restraint. In fact he has also been misunderstood.” Elaborating, he reiterated that Mr Fernandes had been quoted out of context on the issue of providing a safe passage to intruders. Similarly, media had created a misunderstanding over the Army chief, Gen V.P. Malik’s, remarks on the issue of crossing the LoC. The Army chief was right in saying that a decision on this would have to be taken by the political leadership of the country. The Prime Minister said
he did not think that India would need to cross the LoC
and if a “war is fully thrust on us we would give a
befitting reply. We have so far acted with a great amount
of restraint and it has been appreciated by the entire
world. |
Back to the battlefield NEW DELHI, July 3 (PTI) — It is back to booming of field guns from rough and tumble of politics for the AICC Secretary, Major Sudhir Sawant. Major Sawant, who had served in the Army in the world’s highest battlefield of Siachen, is rejoining the service next week with his request to serve again in the wake of the Kargil developments getting the green signal from the Army authorities. Major Sawant, who served in the Army from 1976 to 1991, had requested the Army chief, Gen V.P. Malik, earlier this week to give him an opportunity again to fight for the country in whatever capacity and field. The AICC Secretary said he had received a telegram at his Mumbai residence from the Army authorities to rejoin the service. Major Sawant has served in Kargil and in "Operation Meghdoot" in the Siachen area and had also worked as Commando Instructor in the Infantry School and in the Military Intelligence. Soon after leaving the Army in April 1991, he had contested the Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate from Rajapur constituency in Maharashtra and emerged victorious defeating veteran socialist leader, Madhu Dandavate. The AICC Secretary said
he had written the letter to the Army chief with the
prior approval of party President Sonia Gandhi. |
MEA asks NSAB member to quit NEW DELHI, July 3 — The Ministry of External Affairs’ (MEA) move to ask a member of National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) Mr Bharat Karnad to withdraw from the organisation has potentials of a major embarrassment for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee who has reportedly asked his officers to sort out the matter before it assumes damaging dimensions. Mr Karnad, a Research Professor of National Security Studies at the Centre for Policy Research, was asked to withdraw from the NSAB few days ago by none other than the Private Secretary of the External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, official sources said. When contacted telephonically, Mr Karnad declined to either confirm or deny it saying that he would not like to make any comment at the moment. However, official sources said that the Prime Minister had taken an exception to the MEA’s move to ask Mr Karnad to quit from the NSAB which was constituted in December, 1998, for giving the country a credible and long-term national security policy. Mr Vajpayee had reportedly asked his officials to quickly sort out the matter before the issue turns into another awkward controversy for him. Mr Karnad was being sought to be penalised for his line of argument on the Kargil issue which in principle had challenged the MEA’s decades old official line. Contrary to the official line, Mr Karnad had pleaded the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir was not something which was sacrosanct but was a “transient boundary involving a disputed territory” which “therefore, does not enjoy the protection of international law or the sanctity of an international border”. “By its very nature then, the LoC is elastic, meaning that both sides can seek to change it to their advantage using whatever means at their disposal”, Mr Karnad had argued in a paper titled “Using LoC to India’s Advantage”. “The LoC meandering its way through Jammu and Kashmir is only a glorified Cease Fire Line (CFL) dating back from 1947-48 which has been rearranged following military operations in 1965 and 1971, and eventually demarcated on the map by mutual consent of India and Pakistan in the wake of the Shimla Agreement”, Mr Karnad had stated in his widely circulated paper. “Because the Pakistanis are no more likely amicably to hand over the PoK to India than India is likely to transfer J&K to Pakistan, the two disputants are left with only two alternatives: Go to war and risk an attendant catastrophe now that the milieu is nuclearised, or engage in low-level but sustained military actions — grabbing a peak here, a post there — aimed at continually enlarging the real estate in one’s possession, and establishing newer Lines of Control. “Islamabad has cannily opted for this last, risk-free, option; risk-free because the Indian Government, 1972 onwards, has stood national security interests on their head in choosing to regard the LoC as de facto international border and in accepting in its train a whole lot of obligations not mandated by international law with regard to CFL. A shackled Indian military on the other hand, is stuck with the difficult task of dealing with the infiltrators en masse as in Kargil; the difficulty enhanced by the unmerited respect for the LoC. The military’s frustration is, perhaps, what’s boiled over into the Chief of Army Staff, General V.P. Malik’s, plea to the government to rethink its attitude on cross-LoC operations”, Mr Karnad said in his paper. While Mr Karnad’s line of argument went against the official line, it was indeed intriguing that a national security expert should be punished for an independent line which offered a different policy option for the government. What should a member of the advisory board do, asked an official. Should Mr Karnad sit in the NSAB silently and toe the official line, the official said challenging the current functioning of the National Security Council. Such organisations had to have a democratic functioning where debate was possible and dissent was allowed, he said. The MEA officials had taken exception to Mr Karnad’s views with an argument that his views would weaken India’s case internationally. While Mr Karnad was of the view that the decades old official policy on the LoC had not paid any dividends to India, the MEA was not prepared to strike new grounds. Instead of equipping the
Vajpayee government with new policy options, the MEA
continued to tread the beaten track, an international
affairs expert observed. |
Army buries 13 Pak troops NEW DELHI, July 3 (UNI) — Thirteen bodies of Pakistani soldiers were buried on Indian soil in Dras sector in a befitting manner, the Army said here today. The burial took place in accordance with the Muslim religious rites and the funeral ceremony was performed by a maulvi. It was witnessed by a journalist of the Indian Express, Vikram Jit Singh, according to Army spokesman Col Bikram Singh. According to reports, the Pakistanis have not been taking back the bodies of their dead as they want to carry on with the facade that the bodies were not of their soldiers but of "freedom fighters". The Indian Army has been
properly identifying — through documents and other
methods — those killed before approaching their
Pakistani counterparts with the bodies burial was
organised when the Pakistanis refused to take the bodies. |
Mulayam for RS session on Kargil NAGPUR, July 3 (PTI) —A Former Defence Minister, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, has said the decision to cross the Line of Control (LoC) to push Pakistani intruders out of Kargil should be left to the Army and supported the Congress demand for a special Rajya Sabha session to discuss the situation arising out of the intrusion. "The decision to cross the LoC should be left to the Army," Mr Yadav told newspersons here last night. Describing as "irresponsible" the remark by the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani that the military operations in Kargil would continue till September, the Samajwadi Party President said, "Such statements are confusing and will demoralise jawans fighting against Pakistani infiltrators." Mr Yadav supported the Congress demand for a special session of the Rajya Sabha to discuss the Kargil situation. Earlier, addressing a public meeting, he claimed the "third force", which includes his party, would "wipe out the communal BJP and corrupt Congress" in the coming Lok Sabha poll. He said his party would
contest about 130 seats in alliance with Mr Sharad
Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party. |
NCM favours 100 seats for minorities NEW DELHI, July 3 (UNI) —In a significant move, the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has urged all political parties to “ensure at least 100 seats for the minorities in the next Lok Sabha”. It is for the first time that the commission has made such a recommendation to the political parties since, in its opinion, adequate representation of the minorities in the legislatures is to be secured “by an informal political and not a formal legal process.” It will be “due fulfilment of the minorities’ right in this regard and not in any way a generosity or magnanimity on anybody’s part”, the commission said. The NCM Chairman, Dr Tahir Mahmood, has conveyed this recommendation in a letter to the presidents of the BJP, the Congress and all other major political parties. In his letter, Dr Mahmood said the presence of minorities in Parliament has, ever since 1950, been quite disproportionate to their actual population in the country. The demand for reservation for minorities is opposed generally on the presumption that a minority community candidate can represent only the minority concerned. The minorities should be given a fair share, more or less in proportion to their population, in terms of the seats in the legislatures where they will represent particular constituencies and not specific communities. All political parties should, at the time of allotment of tickets for the forthcoming elections to Parliament and state assemblies, ensure that the minorities are adequately represented in both national and the state-level legislative bodies. The minority population
in the country, according to the latest census reports,
is 18.59 per cent. Going by this percentage, the
minorities should have over a hundred seats in
Parliament, the letter said. |
Urea scam accused surrenders NEW DELHI, July 3 (PTI) — Prakash Yadav, an accused in the Rs 133-crore urea scam case and son of former Congress minister Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav, who allegedly fired in the air in a South Delhi Club in an inebriated state on June 30, surrendered before the police this afternoon. Prakash, accompanied by his lawyer Raj Kumar Yadav, surrendered around 1530 hours before Assistant Commissioner of Police A.K. Singh in Greater Kailash police station, the police said. He also surrendered his licensed weapon to the police. “Prakash decided to surrender before the police after his application for an anticipatory bail was rejected by a city court today,” Mr Raj Kumar said soon after Prakash’s surrender. Prakash, a resident of
Panchmani Apartments in Kaushambi area of Ghaziabad, had
allegedly slapped the security guard of the South Delhi
club and fired three shots in the air from his revolver
after he was asked to finish his drink and leave the club
premises as it was time for closure. |
Higher pension for
ex-servicemen NEW DELHI, July 3 —The pensions of ex-servicemen, who retired before January 1, 1996, would go up by around 12 to 24 per cent following the Ministry of Defence notification. The ministry has notified a hike in pensions for ex-servicemen almost six months after it was first notified for the civilian employees. Following the notification, the monthly pensions will go up by around 12 per cent for officers of the rank of Captain and as high as 24 per cent for Lieutenants-General. Prior to last month’s notification, the pensions of servicemen differed widely, depending on when they retired. With salaries increasing each year, officers who retire later get much higher pensions than those who retired earlier. Under the new dispensation, even if a person, retired before 1-1-96, he/she will get a pension equal to at least half the minimum pay in that post today. Following the notification, a Lieutenant’s pension has been hiked to Rs 4,125 from Rs 3,775; for Captain it has been hiked to Rs 5,000 from Rs 4,520; for Major from Rs 5,640 to Rs 6400; for Lt Colonel from Rs 6,184 to Rs 7,550; for Colonel from Rs 7,228 to Rs 8,550, for Brigadier from Rs 7,993 to Rs 9,550 and for Lieutenant-General from Rs 9,029 to Rs 11,200. The calculations mentioned assume that all personnel are placed at the lowest end of their salary structure. For example, the pay scale for a Major currently runs from Rs 12,800 to Rs 15,000. So, a Major who retired before 1-1-96 will now get a pension of at least Rs 6,400 (that’s half of Rs 12,800). This pension would have been lower earlier, depending on the salary structure in the year the Major retired. For a Major, who retired in 1960, it could have been as low as Rs 2,500. In 1996, however, based on a one-time increment, pensions were equalised but with a cut-off-date of 1986. Based on this, prior to last month’s notification, the pension of a Major was Rs 5,640. A similar notification for bureaucrats was issued on December 17 last year, but the Ministry of Defence did not notify for the armed forces. According to ministry sources, the reason for not notifying this was the armed forces demand of one-rank, one-pension. While the ministry has been pushing for it, this has been shot down by the Ministries of Finance and Personnel, since it would lead to corresponding demands by the bureaucrats. The total cost of giving the defence forces one-rank-one-pension is estimated to be around Rs 300 crore. It is understood that if
the government does not agree to one-rank-one-pension,
the defence forces may get another one-time-increase
(OTI) of the sort they got in 1994. The last OTI, equated
all ex-servicemen who retired till 1986, giving them the
same pension for the same rank, irrespective of when they
retired. |
AIIMS to raise charges NEW DELHI, July 3 (PTI) — A 20 per cent to 100 per cent hike in charges is on the anvil at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to mobilise more resources for introduction of new diagnostic facilities. The new charges are likely to be introduced by the end of this month and the institute is working out the details, AIIMS Director P K Dave told mediapersons here yesterday. He said though the OPD registration fee as well as surgical, therapeutic and diagnostic charges were likely to be hiked by 20 per cent to 100 per cent, the overall hike would be nominal and would not go beyond the paying capacity of the lower middle class patients. The increase in service charges would help in the introduction of ultra-modern diagnostic and surgical facilities and improve the quality of the service provided by the institute, he said. He claimed that the
patients were willing to pay extra if the quality of the
services improved and quoted a study carried out on 500
patients at the AIIMS during the first few months of this
year. |
Shake-up in Delhi Govt NEW DELHI, July 3 (PTI) — In an administrative reshuffle, the Delhi Government today transferred and posted eight officials with immediate effect. While Ms Versha Joshi, currently a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) at HQ, has been posted as SDM, Nazafgarh, replacing Mr A.S. Dabas, Mr Amar Singh, a Manager in the Delhi Civil Supplies Department from the Union Territory Cadre Services (UTCS) , has been posted as SDM, Defence Colony, in place of Mr A.K. Singh. Mr K.D. Dogra, a Sales Tax Officer (STO) from the UTCS, has been posted as SDM, Parliament Street, while Mr Raja Babu, also an STO from the UTCS, has been posted as SDM, Punjabi Bagh, an official press note said. Mr Deepak Vermani, a Luxury Tax Officer from the UTCS, has been posted as Superintendent, Central Jail, in place of Mr Yashpal Garg who has been transferred to the Andaman and Nicobar Administration. Mr H.K. Meena, an STO
and working as Assistant Registrar in Cooperative
Societies in diverted capacity from the UTCS, has been
posted as Deputy Superintendent, Central Jail. |
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| Railways revises catering
tariffs NEW DELHI: The Railways has revised catering tariffs for standard meals, tea, coffee and mineral water served on its trains. The new rates came into effect from Thursday, an official press note said here on Friday. A standard vegetarian meal could cost Rs 25 and the non-vegetarian Rs 30. The de-luxe food served in the first class and air-conditioned coaches would cost Rs 40 and Rs 50 for the vegetarian and non-vegetarian varieties, respectively. The ‘janata khana’ would cost Rs 6 in place of Rs 5, the note said — PTI Petition
dismissed Arms seized from
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in West Bengal Cop sentenced
for rape ISI agent, 4
others held |
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