Saturday, July 17, 1999
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Jaya is arrogant, says
Swamy No headway in SP bid for third
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JD divided on tie-up with
BJP alliance Support for Kargil not Kashmir:
Dixit Education fund for children of
Kargil heroes WPO measures for jawans |
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Jaya is arrogant, says Swamy CHENNAI, July 16 — It is a case of a political foe-turned-friend-turned foe again. The Janata Party leader, Dr Subramanian Swamy, rebuffed by the AIADMK leader Ms Jayalalitha, through denial of a place in the AIADMK-Congress front, today lashed out at the “betrayal” and at the puratchi thailavi’s “arbitrary and arrogant style” of functioning.” Dr Swamy, announcing the termination of his party’s association with the AIADMK at a crowded press conference here, ruled out the possibility of any rapprochement. “If I have one tenth of brain which the public gives me credit for, I will never, ever again join Ms Jayalalitha,” he declared. Dr Swamy made it clear that despite the setback he had suffered, he would contest the Madurai parliamentary constituency from which he was elected to the last Lok Sabha. With a likely triangular contest for that seat involved major political alliances, Dr Swamy’s chances are, in political circles, rated as next to nothing, unless of course, Goddess Madurai Meenakshi chooses to shower her blessings on the Janata leader, who it must be conceded, has meticulously nursed his constituency. Dr Swamy said he would announce the future course of action by his party at a public meeting in Madurai on July 24. The Janata Party leader, who had been singing psalm of praise on Ms Jayalalitha ever since he threw in his lot with the AIADMK leader nearly three years ago, today made it obvious that he was not going to forget or forgive the treatment he had received from her. Dr Swamy, who had hitherto hailed Ms Jayalalitha’s “intelligence and independence of mind,” said in his statement today: “It becomes clear that Ms Jayalalitha is not her own person, but putty clay in the hands of a criminal lumpen cabal which seeks to control her physically and mentally. I was obviously posing to be a stranger to them in their nefarious designs.” He specifically mentioned the AIADMK leader’s friend and confidante, Miss Sasikala, as the principal villain of the piece. Dr Swamy, who was shocked at the AIADMK’s exclusion of his party in the allotment of 40 parliamentary seats from Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, had sought an appointment with Ms Jayalalitha, but was given one only this evening. He immediately wrote a letter to her saying that if she had already made up her mind not to give his party the Madurai seat, “it is a waste of time, yours and mine, to meet.” He waited till late Thursday evening, but in the absence of any response, he decided to break his alliance with AIADMK. Dr Swamy surmised that one of the principal reasons for the exclusion of the Janata Party in the AIADMK alliance was his stand in declining to withdraw corruption cases he had brought against her in a public interest petition. Dr Swamy said that at June 21 meeting with him, Ms Jayalalitha had asked why he was not withdrawing the criminal cases originally filed by him in which she was an accused. He had told her that these cases were all in the nature of public interest litigation and, therefore, he could not withdraw them. Dr Swamy said he had made it clearly publicly that he would not withdraw any of the cases. The question of withdrawing cases, therefore, could not be raised now. In the light of the
latest development marking the end of the AIADMK-Janata
Party association, Dr Swamy’s options seem to be
limited. He refused to disclose his future plans till
July 24, but reiterated his animosity against the BJP.
“I can never be on the same side as that of the BJP
even by default. ” he said. |
No headway in SP bid for
third front NEW DELHI, July 16 — Efforts by the Samajwadi Party and Nationalist Congress Party to consolidate a new front made no headway today as most non-BJP and non-Congress parties stayed away from their meeting to float a “viable third front.” The efforts, put in mainly by the Samajwadi Party leader, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav came a cropper with most parties invited to attend preferring to wait and watch. Besides, with both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress forging alliances with smaller regional parties, the outlook for a ‘third front’ which depends heavily on these regional parties, do not seem too bright. Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav had called for a meeting of like-minded leaders today at his residence, the second in a row, to forge a new alliance. However this second meeting turned out to be that of the SP and NCP alone, with a token presence by Samajwadi Janata Party leader and former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar. The Forward Bloc, which had participated at the last meeting on Wednesday, did not attend today’s discussions. Briefing reporters after the half-hour meeting, NCP and SP spokesmen D N Dwivedi and Amar Singh said interaction with parties opposed to both the Congress and BJP was underway and a clearer picture would emerge within the next ten days. Asked if their efforts to cobble together a new front had flopped, Mr Dwivedi said “these things cannot be made to order. Political parties are discussing it among themselves and I will not draw such a hasty conclusion.” The two leaders said they were keeping a close watch on the current political developments in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and expected some realignment of forces. Mr Dwivedi expressed the view that developments in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu would have “long-term implications for the third front. While the Janata Dal might split in Karnataka, TMC leader G K Moopanar has already decided to float a third front.” Asked why AIFB leader Debabrata Biswas did not attend the meeting, Mr Amar Singh said he was out of town and claimed that he was in touch with RSP leader Abani Roy. Today’s meeting was attended by NCP leaders Sharad Pawar and P A Sangma. Former Prime Minister and senior Janata Dal leader H D Deve Gowda, who did not attend the last meeting because of “preoccupation”, was not present at today’s meeting too. The CPM has indicated
that it has nothing to do with the proposed new front and
rejected the NCP’S “equidistance” theory
saying the NCP’S distance from the BJP is less than
that with the Congress. |
Shabana, Benegal, Devgan bag
national NEW DELHI, July 16 — Hindi feature film “Samar”, directed by Shyam Benegal has been chosen as the best film of 1998 in the 46th national film awards announced here today. The awards for best feature films, non-feature films, best books on cinema and best cinema critic were announced at a press conference here. Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pramod Mahajan told newspersons that Shabana Azmi had been adjudged the best actress for her role in “Godmother”. He said Ajay Devgan and Mammootty would share the best actor award for their roles in “Zakhm” and “Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar”, respectively. Last year’s blockbuster, “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”, directed by Karan Johar, won the award for the best popular film providing “wholesome entertainment and the universal appeal of its story, music, dance and performances”. This recognition is significant as it comes a decade after “Bagh Bahadur” by Budhadeb Das Gupta bagged the best film award. Controversial Hindi film “Godmother” directed by Vinay Shukla also bagged awards for best lyrics, best music direction and best editing. While Javed Akhtar has been chosen for the best lyrics award, Sanjeev Abhayankar has bagged the award for the best male playback singer for the song “Suno re bhaila” in the same film. Renu Saluja’s “innovative editing” and Vishal Bhardwaj’s music direction in the film have brought them recognition for best editing and best music direction. Rajeev Nath won the best director award for his Malyalam film “Janini”, while “Daya” in the same language by Venu bagged the Indira Gandhi award for the best directorial debut. “Zakhm”, produced by Pooja Bhatt won the Nargis Dutt award for the best feature film on national integration. Manoj Bajpai has been chosen for the best supporting actor award for his role in “Satya” while film-maker Suhasini Mulay has won the best supporting actress award for Hindi film “Hu Tu Tu” by Gulzar. “Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh” directed by Manoj Punj, has been adjudged the best feature film in Punjabi. The non-feature film jury has chosen “In the forest hangs a bridge”, for the best non-feature film award. Directed by Sanjay Kak, the film has been chosen for excellent cinematic documentation of the triumph of the collective spirit of human endeavour. “Cinemaee Bhasha aur Hindi Samvadon Ka Vishleshan” authored by Dr Kishore Vaswani has been chosen for the best book on cinema. The jury for the best writing on cinema has awarded the best film critic award to Meenakshi Shedde for her lucid and objective criticism. Mr Mahajan thanked the jury for taking pains to view almost 114 feature films and 105 non-feature films to finalise the names for the awards. He said 22 books on cinema were received as entries for the award and 17 film-critics sent entries for the award. Veteran film-maker, D.V.S. Raju, cinematographer and director, Shaji N. Karun and senior author and film-maker M.T. Vasudevan Nair chaired the juries on feature film, non-feature film and the best writing on cinema. Mr Mahajan said the
awards would be presented in the first week of August. |
JD divided on tie-up with
BJP alliance NEW DELHI, July 16 — The Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of the Janata Dal is to meet here tomorrow to consider the Karnataka Janata Dal’s proposal of having an electoral tie up with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. The meeting is expected to be a stormy one with the party sharply divided over an alliance with the NDA, which has the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a leading partner. While there is confusion over whether or not the Karnataka Janata Dal had entered into an understanding with the NDA, the Karnataka Chief Minister J.H. Patel said a final decision would be taken at the PAC meeting. Reports said that while Janata Dal president, Mr Sharad Yadav and its senior Member of Parliament, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan were in favour of such an alliance, it was likely to face opposition from former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, former party president, S.R. Bommai and former Union Minister S. Jaipal Reddy. Talking to newsmen after
his hour-long meeting with party president Sharad Yadav
here this morning, Mr Patel said although the final
decision would be taken by the PAC, he was personally in
favour of such an alliance. He had a long meeting with
Union Ministers George Fernandes and Ramakrishna Hegde
yesterday, both of whose parties are part of the NDA. Mr
Patel briefed the party president about his meeting with
the two Ministers. |
Support for Kargil not Kashmir:
Dixit NEW DELHI, July 16 — Former Foreign Secretary, J N Dixit struck a cautious note about the positive international response towards India’s stand on the Kargil conflict today. “It is important to understand that the international reaction is only in response to the Kargil conflict and not to Kashmir”, Mr Dixit said while speaking at a seminar organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) here. Mr Dixit said that India should not count on international support alone as it might change due to new perceptions in the geo-political situation. The aim of the country should be to establish a good relationship with Pakistan, he said adding that it is a “ long term, complex and hurdle-filled “ process. The withdrawal of the Pakistan backed intruders from the Kargil sector is actually the end of an “episodic” phase in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Dixit said. Mr Dixit said that there could be many more such conflicts in future if the the Pakistan Prime Minister’s recent announcement are any indication. The economic implications of the operations in Kargil cannot be analysed in isolation and it is interrelated with India’s relations with Pakistan ( both political and military), the geo-strategic equations and attitude of the international community that may impinge on these relations. “The problem lies in identity crisis among Pakistanis, a feeling of territorial angst and the feeling that Kashmir is unfinished part of the partition process. Until that is done things cannot be normal”, he observed. Moreover, there has been
a profound change in the cultural milieu of Pakistan
during the last 50 years. A different group of people is
ruling civil society, the generation having empathy
towards India is no more predominant and there is a
strong urge for a separate identity, Mr Dixit observed. |
Education fund for children of
Kargil heroes NEW DELHI, July 16 — Umeed, a non governmental organisation from Punjab, is donating Rs 5,00,000 to the Army Relief Fund for the Kargil soldiers. In association with the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA), Umeed is setting up a fund raising unit which will educate the children of all Punjab soldiers who died fighting in Kargil, or were incapacitated. Says Arvind Khanna, founder, Umeed: “Those soldiers have sacrificed their lives for us. It is our duty to ensure that their families are well looked after.” The unit for education
of children of the Kargil soldiers will be a charity-run
cell, where each household will be urged to donate just
Rs 5. Since Umeed workers are hopeful of tapping at least
5 lakh homes initially, there will be enough funds raised
to educate the children till college, free of cost.
“We have already spread our roots in Punjab. If
necessary, we will move to Delhi to raise the
funds,” says a ground worker at Umeed. The children
will be chosen by AWWA, based on a criteria of selection
laid down by AWWA. This is the first such effort to
channelise funds towards the families of the soldiers in
association with the Army. |
WPO measures for jawans NEW DELHI, July 16 — The World Punjabi Organisation (WPO), a voluntary organisation, has undertaken several measures for the benefit of jawans who fought in Kargil and civilians who were displaced due to the conflict. Talking to Tribune News Service, the secretary-general of the WPO, Mr Vikramjit Singh Sawhney, said the organisation was supporting “Aye Watan Tere Liye”, a star nite being organised in the Capital tomorrow. “We are assisting the organisers by giving them administrative support and helping them sell tickets which would enable us to raise money for the benefit of our brave soldiers,” Mr Sawhney said. He said the organisation hoped to raise about Rs 1 crore which would be given to the Army Central Welfare Fund. Among others, Amitabh
Bachchan, Govinda, Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Sunil
Shetty, Sri Devi, Preity Zinta, Udit Narayan, Anuradha
Paudwal, Abhijeet and Sudesh Bhonsale would take part in
the star nite. |
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| Lieutenant cremated with
full honours JAIPUR: The mortal remains of Kargil martyr Lt Amit Bhardwaj were consigned to the flames with full military and civil honours amidst the chanting of vedic hymns here on Thursday. The Chief Minister, Mr Ashok Gehlot, and a former Chief Minister, Mr B.S. Shekhawat were present at the funeral. — PTI ‘Shaheed gram’
for martyrs Six killed in
landslide 10 Naxalites
surrender Experts examine
Jagannath Puri One suicide
every week in WB jails Fruit ripening
at will 43 arrested
after clash EC order on
schemes Congress leader
killed |
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