Thursday, June 3, 1999

Sachar observer for Indonesia poll

181 TMMK persons held

56 IAS officers reshuffled

Cong-AIADMK talks today
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, June 2 — The Congress and the All India Anna DMK (AIADMK) will restart their stalled talks in Chennai tomorrow for a possible alliance in the forthcoming general election.

The Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, has deputed Congress Working Committee (CWC) members, Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr A K Antony, to hold talks with the AIADMK General Secretary, Ms J Jayalalitha.

The party which had initiated discussions with the AIADMK in April had earlier deputed Mr Sharad Pawar, who raised a banner of revolt a day before the second round of talks.

With Mr Pawar, who had a good rapport with the AIADMK leader, now heading a separate party, the Congress President has deputed those whom many consider are her confidants.

In preparation for the talks, the Congress President had summoned the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee chief, Mr T K Ramamurthee here.

The meeting takes place a day after the DMK, the main rival of the AIADMK, formalised its ties with the BJP and its allies with the DMK’s general council in Chennai endorsing the leadership’s decision to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

It remains to be seen what the new team will discuss since Mr Pawar had earlier indicated that the first round of talks with Ms Jayalalitha was exploratory in nature.

During their earlier understanding, the Congress and the AIADMK had stuck to the MGR formula under which the Congress contested two-thirds of the seats for the Lok Sabha poll while the AIADMK fielded candidates on the rest of the seats. For the assembly poll in Tamil Nadu, the formula was reversed.

The Congress is not in favour of any alliance which will necessarily mean sharing of power at the Centre. Instead, party is in favour of seat adjustment which will allow the Congress draw upon the strength of a regional party without running the government with support from inside.

George’s remarks draw flak
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, June 2 — The Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes’ statement on providing “safe passage” to Pakistani intruders in the Kargil sector came under strong criticism from senior retired service officers as well as the Congress party.

Mr Fernandes was more ‘’concerned about the well being of the aggressors than in the defence of the nation’’ charged Congress spokesman, Mr K Natwar Singh. He also said it was ‘’unfortunate’ that the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee had endorsed Mr Fernandes’ stand today.

In another forum, retired officers — a former Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal S K Mehra, a former Director General of Military Operations, Lt Gen V R Raghavan, and a member of the National Security Council, Lt. Gen Afsar Karim, said the statement was “highly irresponsible”.

Participating in a panel discussion organised by the Indian Women’s Press Corps, they said that the statement made by the Defence Minister “belies national objective and if such ‘safe passage’ is allowed, the Kargil misadventure could happen again.”

Air Chief Marshal Mehra dismissed as “absolutely ridiculous” the question of a safe passage for the intruders. “What kind of a message are you sending to the ground troops and airmen if you consider this,” he remarked and added that the infiltrators would either be killed or they should surrender after which the normal procedure would be followed.

Lt Gen Raghavan said that even if “hypothetically” safe passage was granted, this would open a Pandora’s box as it meant calling in observers from outside. “This will lead to further delays which is what Pakistan wants. Do we want to get into a situation where there would be no end in sight,” he said.

Asserting that a safe passage will send a wrong message and will embolden Islamabad to encourage intrusion somewhere else along the Line of Control, Lt Gen Raghavan said, “the outcome after a conflict has to be decisive. Pakistan should be made to make a formal and irrevocable commitment to the Line of Control”.

The former Director General Military Operations pointed out that the Kargil-Dras-Batalik region is extremely difficult mountainous terrain. He explained that a phased set of operations have been undertaken by the Indian defence forces. “The initial phase is to contain and stabilise the situation. Now, the infiltrators are being `squeezed’ and they are being cut-off from each other,” he said.

“In the next phase, the infiltrators would be eliminated. But a lot depends on the kind of support their political masters are ready to give them,” Lt General Raghavan added.

The extensive use of the Indian Army in internal security duties was affecting the operational capabilities of the personnel and alternative measures will have to be taken to confine the armed forces to border duties, Lt General (Retd) Afsar Karim said.

“The use of the Army for long periods in internal operations does affect their mindset. The Pakistani army’s involvement in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) for one and-a-half-years severely affected its operations in 1971,” he said.

On the political front, the Congress charged that the BJP was doing all it could to protect the Lahore Declaration by first attempting to protect Mr Nawaz Sharif and the ISI and allowing Mr Fernandes to say it publicly.

Mehra: missile-hit not ruled out
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, June 2 — Possibility of the MiG-27 fighter aircraft piloted by Flt Lt K Nachiketa being hit by a missile cannot be ruled out, a former Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal (retd) S K Mehra, said here today.

“The engine flame-out could have been caused by a mechanical fault, an engine failure or due to debris, who knows it could have been hit by a missile. The truth will come out only after wreckage of the plane is carefully studied,” Air Chief Marshal Mehra said at a panel discussion on Kargil operations here.

He said, “Aviation will have to live with accidents and mishaps which can take place with civilian as well as military aircraft.”

The former Air Chief described as “not done” the killing of Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja who was shot dead by Pakistani forces after he ejected from a MiG-21 shot down by a surface to air missile.

“Even we had Pakistanis landing here during the 1971 war but we treated them with dignity and respect. The dignity of the uniform has to be respected. India should raise the matter at international fora,” he said.

Air Chief Marshal Mehra also defended Sqn Ldr Ahuja’s decision to hover over to locate Flt Lt Nachiketa, who had bailed out after his MiG 27 developed an engine snag saying it was “common practice and part of military ethics.”

Comparing the Indian Air Force operation in Kargil sector with the NATO airstrikes over Kosovo, a former Director General of Military Operations, Lt Gen (retd) V R Raghavan, said the Indian Air Force was operating over “knife edge ridges”, unlike NATO aircraft which were pounding civilian targets in Yugoslavia from a height of over 17,000 feet aided with ultramodern electronic gadgets.

Advani for status quo on LoC

PANAJI, June 2 (PTI) — Union Home Minister L.K. Advani today said India would ensure restoration of status quo on the Line of Control in Kargil and described the current Pakistan-backed intrusion as a “desperate attempt to resurrect dying militancy in Kashmir”.

Referring to the statement of Defence Minister George Fernandes absolving the Nawaz Sharif government of the Kargil intrusion, Mr Advani said what the Defence Minister had meant was that the Pakistani Prime Minister had not been kept fully posted by the army on the developments.

However, “basically Sharif is responsible for these developments because he happens to be the Prime Minister of Pakistan,” Mr Advani added.

Dal (B) chief appeals against HC order
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, June 2 — The President of the Delhi unit of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), Mr Avtar Singh Hit, today moved an appeal in the Delhi High Court against a Single-Judge Bench order refusing to grant stay on the functioning of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC).

Mr Avtar Singh, in his appeal said the DSGMC executive which was constituted in an “unauthorised” meeting on May 12 by Mr Paramjit Singh Sarna, a supporter of the expelled Akali leader, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, was “misutilising” gurdwara funds.

The court adjourned the hearing to June 4 after Mr Avtar Singh’s counsel, Mr Mukul Rohtagi, said he would file an additional affidavit giving details of the alleged misuse of funds including issuance of 300 cheques to various persons showing purchase of “ghee” worth Rs 52 lakh.

Sachar observer for Indonesia poll
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, June 2 — Noted jurist Mr Rajinder Sachar, has been nominated as an international observer for overseeing elections in Indonesia, scheduled for June 7.

Justice Sachar, former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, has been invited by the Asian Network for Free Elections to be part of the group of 70 observers from Asia and other countries for the polls in Indonesia, according to a press release here today.

181 TMMK persons held

MADURAI, June 2 (UNI) — As many as 181 Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) workers have been taken into preventive custody in the southern district of Tamil Nadu in the wake of seizure of large amount of explosives in the state in the past three days.

The police said today the maximum numbers of arrests were Ramanathapuram district and remanded in judicial custody.

56 IAS officers reshuffled

BHOPAL, June 2 (PTI) — In a major bureaucratic reshuffle, the Madhya Pradesh government has announced reshuffle of 56 IAS officers including Collectors of 24 districts.

According to an official announcement late last night, the 24 districts where Collectors have been replaced include Bhopal, Sidhi, Morena, Betul, Sehore, Mandsaur, Shajapur, Mandla, Rajgarh, Shahdol, Chhattarpur and Datia.

Shiv Sainiks burn Pak PM’s effigy
NASIK: Shiv Sena activists burnt an effigy of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif here to protest against infiltration by Pak-sponsored militants in Kargil. The police said on Wednesday about 50 Sena activists gathered near Mahatma Gandhi’s statue at Devlalgaon on Tuesday and shouted slogans against Pakistan and its Premier before burning his effigy. — PTI

Bihar carnage suspect held
GAYA: The prime accused in the February 1 Narayanpur slaughter of 11 Dalits by Ranvir Sena was arrested from this district on Tuesday, the police said. Inspector General of Police (central range) Neelmani said the accused, Shivpujan Sharma, was arrested during the police raids at Sena hideouts in the district. — PTI

Decomposed bodies found
JAMSHEDPUR: A person found four decomposed bodies belonging to his sister’s family from a sewage tank in their house in the Ghorabandha area in the city on Tuesday, after efforts to trace them since February had proved futile, the police said on Wednesday. It said 24-year-old Chaitali Bhowmik, in league with her paramour, allegedly killed her parents, grandmother and her 18-year-old brother in February, dumped the bodies in the sewage tank and plastered it before escaping with the valuables. Her paramour’s mother and brother have been detained. Chaitali and her lover are absconding, the police added. — PTI

Revolver, drugs seized
MUMBAI: The police has arrested a man hailing from Uttar Pradesh after he was found in possession of a country-made revolver at Kalyan in adjoining Thane district on Tuesday. Acting on a tip-off, the police laid a trap and nabbed 55-year-old Imdad Hussain and seized the firearm from his possession near Ulhas Bridge at Kalyan, the police said. In another incident, a 45-year-old man was arrested and nearly 20 gm heroin was recovered from him at Kalyan on Tuesday. The police laid a trap near Kuldevi Mandir and nabbed Kathumal Gayaman as soon as he arrived on the spot. — PTI

Farmer held for killing peacocks
NASIK: Forest officials here have arrested a farmer for poisoning eight national birds, including four peahens, at Valkhed village in Dindori taluka of the district, the police said. The incident occurred a few days ago and on a tip-off, forest guard S.M. Inamdar went to the farmer, Daulat Bhivrao Shinde’s house on Tuesday and recovered the dead birds from a well near his field. A case has been registered against Shinde under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. — PTI