Saturday, May 29, 1999

Puri panel report released
NEW DELHI, May 28 — Setting up of a five-tier political set-up in Jammu and Kashmir, evolving an objective formula for allocation of funds to remove intra-regional imbalances and a rational policy for the promotion of languages and culture of various ethnic communities are some of the recommendations of the regional autonomy report for the state.

Naxals kill two former colleagues
HYDERABAD, May 28 — Naxalites of the Peoples’ War Group have shot dead two former colleagues, blasted a government office along with two guest houses and torched a state-owned road transport bus in the first day of the two-day north Telangana bandh called by ultras in protest against alleged "fake encounters and police repression" in Andhra Pradesh.

Parties back government
NEW DELHI, May 28 — Major political parties, led by the Congress, today rallied round the Vajpayee Government and backed its decision to use air power to flush out Pakistani-backed infiltrators in the Kargil area of Jammu and Kashmir.

Vikas Yadav on the run again
New Delhi, May 28 — Vikas Yadav, an accomplice of the main accused Manu Sharma in the Jessica Lal murder case, has absconded again after the Guwahati High Court stayed the anticipatory bail granted to him by a Manipur court, the police said.

Tariq to contest from Katihar
NEW DELHI, May 28 — Expelled Congress leader and Nationalist Congress Party general secretary Tariq Anwar said today that he would again contest the Katihar Lok Sabha seat.

Pakistan may send minister for talks

NEW DELHI, May 28 (PTI) — Pakistan is willing to fly its Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz to New Delhi for special talks to de-escalate the situation in Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan’s Information Minister Mushahid Hussain said today.

"Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called Atal Behari Vajpayee (on telephone) this morning and said since both countries are now nuclear powers, it is imperative that they resume dialogue as soon as possible," Mr Hussain told Star News in an interview.

According to a press release issued by the TV channel, Mr Hussain said the Foreign Minister was ready to visit India at the "earliest opportunity, depending on the availability of his counterpart in Delhi".

He said this in reply to a question whether any time-frame had been offered by Islamabad to fly down its Foreign Minister, the release said.

Meanwhile, addressing media persons, a spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs said "doors for dialogue" would never be closed.

When asked about the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes’ statement that armed intrusion was an act of the Pakistani Army and not the ISI or the Government of Pakistan, the spokesman said that in the polity of Pakistan, there were multiple institutions which wielded varying degrees of influence.

To a question if this assessment was a new discovery for the Government of India and it was not known at the time of signing of the Lahore Declaration, the spokesman said while it was known, the Lahore initiative was taken respecting the popular urge in the two neighbouring countries. On whether India should have insisted on the signature of the Pakistani Army chief on the Lahore Declaration, the spokesman evaded a reply.

Court summons Jaya on May 31

CHENNAI, May 28 (UNI) — In a significant move, special court Judge P Anbazhagan today fixed May 31 for framing of charges in the Tansi land deal case and directed all six accused, including former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha, her close friend Ms Sasikala and the 'ailing' former Minister Mohamad Asif to appear before the court on that day.

The Judge, who heard extensive arguments on two petitions filed by the former Rural Industries Minister Asif, passed the order after lunch break.

The Judge declined to put off the framing of charges by a day as requested by Ms Jayalalitha's counsel who said that she, as All-India Anna DMK (AIADMK) General Secretary, had an appointment to meet a political party leader on Monday and would not be able to come to the court.

The Judge asked the lawyer to consult Ms Jayalalitha and inform the court on Monday. After all, the process of framing of charges would take about 15 minutes time and she could come and go, he said.

The Judge also dismissed two petitions filed by Mr Asif, one demanding that he be furnished with a part of the documents in a language known to him and the other seeking adjournment of the proceedings for a week on the ground that he was suffering from coronary heart ailment and was being treated at the intensive care unit of a private nursing home here.

Puri panel report released

NEW DELHI, May 28 (UNI) — Setting up of a five-tier political set-up in Jammu and Kashmir, evolving an objective formula for allocation of funds to remove intra-regional imbalances and a rational policy for the promotion of languages and culture of various ethnic communities are some of the recommendations of the regional autonomy report for the state.

The report, authored by Mr Balraj Puri, who was working chairman of the Regional Autonomy Committee, was released by former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral in the presence of leading academicians, jurists and journalists at a function here last night.

"In his remarks Mr Gujral said that many steps had been taken for the devolution of financial and political powers to the lower levels of the administration. But a lot needs to be done in this direction he said adding that there was very little movement towards autonomy in the state.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Puri said that the decentralised institutions recommended by him should have powers to utilise funds in social sectors. He said the report pleaded for a policy for the promotion of all cultural identities.

Saying that most of the complications in the Kashmir problem could be directly traced to its internal tensions, Mr Puri hoped the political, economic and cultural measures suggested in the report for reconciling the diverse interests and aspirations of the people in Jammu and Kashmir would help in evolving a harmonious and composite image of the state.

Kargil: a diplomatic win
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, May 28 — Pakistan’s efforts to rope in international intervention against India’s air strikes on infiltrators holed up in the high ranges of Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir received a major setback with a majority of countries, particularly the USA, the UK and Russia, keeping a distance from the conflict.

While all countries expressed concern at the tensions on the Indo-Pakistan border, they advised the two countries to resolve the conflict in the spirit of the Lahore Declaration.

India scored a major diplomatic victory when the UK announced that it had no plans to ask the UN Security Council to seek a report on exchange of artillery fire in the Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

Baroness Symons, the Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth office, in reply to a question in the House of Lords last night categorically asserted that the British Government had no plans to ask the UN Security Council for a report on the shelling or situation in the Kargil area.

The minister, however, said the British Government was deeply concerned at the reports of fighting in Jammu and Kashmir and said it would continue to urge both India and Pakistan to work together in the spirit of talks held at Lahore in February this year to resolve the issues between them.

The USA, which had earlier corroborated India’s statement that the operations were confined to the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC), urged the two countries to show restraint.

Expressing serious concern over the shooting down of Indian fighter aircraft by Pakistan during the air operation over the Kargil sector yesterday, the US Assistant Secretary of State, Mr Karl F Inderfurth, who met Indian Ambassador, Mr Naresh Chandra, and Pakistan envoy, Mr Riaz Kohkar, separately in Washington yesterday, said it might add to the potential for further worsening of the situation.

Mr Inderfurth lamented that India and Pakistan, instead of moving back to the Lahore process to address their longstanding conflicts, were going in the opposite direction.

Traditional friends, Russia, described the infiltrators holed up in the icy heights of the Kargil sector as “fundamentalists, extremists and separatists” receiving various kinds of support from across the border.

The state-owned radio Voice of Russia described the armed bands entering the Indian territory as Islamic militants from across the borders.

A report from Tokyo said that Japan had urged the two countries to use self-restraint. It demanded an immediate ceasefire in Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Japanese Foreign Office, in a statement urged, both the countries to work together, to go back to the Lahore agreement and resume dialogue for a ceasefire.

Japan, which is Pakistan’s favoured nominee to mediate on Kashmir, said it was concerned over the tensions “heightened due to the larger-scale exchange of fire between Indian and Pakistani troops” in Kashmir.

The European Union, in a statement issued in Bonn, urged the two countries to halt all hostilities and abide by various accords between the two countries to avoid provocative action.

“The EU Presidency hopes India and Pakistan will keep to the agreements stipulated in Lahore which provide for solution by peaceful means of every type of controversy, including that of Kashmir” the statement said.

A report from Cairo said, “President Hosni Mubarak has been following with great concern the escalation of fighting and deterioration of the situation between India and Pakistan”.

The President also called for self-restraint and work together to resolve all bilateral issues, including Kashmir, through peaceful and diplomatic ways.

The International Finance Corporation, the private sector funding arm of the World Bank, said that private investors did not want to see tensions on the border and hoped that the situation would not get worse.

The IFC Director, South and Southeast Asia Department, Mr Rashad Kaldany, hoped that tensions on the Indo-Pakistan border would soon ease as India had just entered into the positive books of global investors with the impact of the nuclear tests-related sanctions withering away.

Meanwhile, reports from Islamabad said that the Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, held a high level meeting last evening to review the “preparedness and alertness” of the Pakistani forces following the shooting down of two Indian fighter planes.

It was reported that Pakistan has put its armed forces specially its air force at maximum alert.

The situation created by the airstrikes by India in the Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir and the shooting down of the two Indian fighter jets — India has claimed that only one plane was shot while the other crashed due to a technical snag — were discussed at the meeting.

Media reports said the meeting was attended by the Pakistan Foreign Minister, Mr Sartaz Aziz, Secretaries of Defence and Foreign Affairs and Chief of Pakistan Air Force, Air Marshal Pervez Mehdi Qureshi.

Reports quoted a senior Army officer as saying that the Pakistan air force was ready at different air bases and was carrying out combat air patrolling missions.

Naxals kill two former colleagues

HYDERABAD, May 28 (PTI) — Naxalites of the Peoples’ War Group (PWG) have shot dead two former colleagues, blasted a government office along with two guest houses and torched a state-owned road transport bus in the first day of the two-day north Telangana bandh called by ultras in protest against alleged "fake encounters and police repression" in Andhra Pradesh.

The Police said two former Naxals were shot dead by PWG Naxalites near Sangem village under Gandhari police station in the district yesterday. Four motor cycle-borne ultras took away two former Naxals from the village, who had surrendered to the police two years ago, and shot them dead from point blank range suspecting them to be police informers.

In another incident, three ultras first blasted the Kamareddy Mandal Development Office and then a guest house at Indalwai and another near Pocharam reservoir in Nagireddipet Mandal in Nizamabad district last night.

Parties back government
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, May 28 — Major political parties, led by the Congress, today rallied round the Vajpayee Government and backed its decision to use air power to flush out Pakistani-backed infiltrators in the Kargil area of Jammu and Kashmir.

A four-member Congress delegation, comprising Mr Pranab Mukherjee, Mr Natwar Singh, Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr P. Shivshanker, called on the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, here and expressed anxiety and concern over the developments.

Mr Natwar Singh, Chairman of the foreign relations department of the AICC, told reporters after the meeting that “we fully support the action to flush out infiltrators. There are no two opinions on national security, territorial integrity and sovereignty. At the same time it should be found out who was responsible for the entry of intruders”, he added.

Mr Natwar Singh, when asked about the handling of the Kargil situation by the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, said “less said the better”. He said the Minister should not have made the statement that the Pakistan Government and its Inter Services Intelligence agency were not behind the present developments.

A former Prime Minister, Mr Chandrashekhar, said that Pakistan’s machinations should not goad India into a panic reaction.

“Nothing should be done from our side which may escalate the present conflict into a full-fledged war” and “we should impress upon the rulers of Pakistan that in modern times war offers no meaningful solution”, he said.

The objective of the Indian action in Kargil, Mr Chandrashekhar said should be to flush out the infiltrators as also to convey that while India would be firm, it would also demonstrate a mature and restrained handling of the situation.

“One should not lose sight of the fact that one of the main objectives of Pakistan is to internationalise the Kashmir problem” he cautioned.

The Samajwadi Party said that it was unfortunate that Pakistan was adding fuel to fire in Kargil sector and blamed the Vajpayee Government for the current situation in the area.

Party General Secretary, Amar Singh, however, said that this was not the time to rake up issues. “Everyone should keep the morale of the armed forces high so that a befitting reply to this onslaught by Pakistan can be given” he added.

The Janata Party President, Dr Subramanian Swamy, said that India should teach a fitting lesson to Pakistan so that it did not interfere in the country’s affairs.

He, in a statement in Madurai, said that India should complete the operation “Vijay” in Kargil in a fortnight before Pakistan could internationalise the Kashmir issue.

Janata Dal leader and former Prime Minister, Mr H.D. Deve Gowda, was quoted as saying in an interview to a news agency that every effort should be made to dislodge the Pakistani-backed intruders from Indian territory. He however, said that it was the total failure on the part of Vajpayee Government in not sensing the situation.

The Bharatiya Janata Party expressed happiness that all political parties, including the Congress, rallied round the Government and backed the military action to flush out the invaders. “India has demonstrated to the world that when the nation’s security is at stake, all Indians are one”.

The party said, in a statement, that while the loss of men and material was deeply tragic, given the perversity behind the intrusion, the country must become inure to such losses.

Shiv Sena chief, Mr Bal Thackeray, said, in a statement in Mumbai that it was time that “Pakistan was taught a lesson for its continued support to infiltrators in Jammu and Kashmir”.

Apart from the political parties, a vast majority of Indians also supported the use of air power against the infiltrators.

A vast majority of net-surfers, who responded to a question “do you think the Indian Government is handling the Kargil problem correctly?” replied in the affirmative. A whopping 78 per cent of the respondents the world over said “Yes”.

Guwahati HC stays anticipatory bail
Vikas Yadav on the run again
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, May 28 — Vikas Yadav, an accomplice of the main accused Manu Sharma in the Jessica Lal murder case, has absconded again after the Guwahati High Court stayed the anticipatory bail granted to him by a Manipur court, the police said.

The anticipatory bail granted to Vikas Yadav by the Sessions Judge, Mr Sudhir Singh, Manipur East, Imphal, was stayed by the Guwahati High Court on Wednesday, the Delhi Police informed the Delhi High Court today.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Anil Dev Singh and Justice Mukul Mudgal observed “The police had lost an opportunity to arrest Vikas Yadav when he presented himself at the Delhi Police Headquarters.”

The standing counsel, Mr S.K. Aggarwal, submitted that the police was trying to verify the authenticity of the bail order as it had not been served on them and even if Vikas Yadav had been arrested, he would have been released on bail as per the order.

Vikas Yadav, son of Mr D P Yadav, a Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, appeared before the Joint Commissioner of Police, Southern Range, Mr Amod Kanth, with the anticipatory bail order and a battery of lawyers accompanying him on May 19.

The Guwahati High Court judge, Justice P.K. Sarkar, in the order observed that the “sessions court before granting anticipatory bail to Vikas Yadav should not have exercised this discretion.”

The high court stayed the bail after the police was able to convince the court that Vikas Yadav had given a false address to prove his bonafide credentials as a resident of Manipur, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, South, Mr Sudhir Yadav, said, adding that Vikas Yadav was missing for the past three days and they had conducted raids at his various hide-outs to arrest him.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police today submitted, in a sealed cover, a status report on the investigations into the case.

The 15-page report has the names of 116 persons, including police and other officials present at Tamarind Court, the illegal bar-cum-restaurant, on April 30.

The standing counsel, Mr Aggarwal, said the list of persons was incomplete as “each person who we question mentions the names of a few others who were present there on that night.”

Answering a query of the Bench, Mr Aggarwal submitted that the details provided by those present on April 30 were being checked to see if they were true and were corroborated by the statements of others.

The Judge observed, “We want to be sure that the investigation is not influenced by any person and it should be carried out in such a manner that the accused persons do not get a hint and remove out the vital clues.”

The court also directed the police to submit a copy of the case diary, including the statements, and adjourned the case to July 20.

The high court had directed the police to file the status report on a criminal writ by Bhrashtachar Virodhi Morcha (BVM) seeking a CBI probe into the case while alleging that the police was not able to investigate freely as some high ranking police and other officers were allegedly present at the restaurant when the model was killed.

IAF should use napalm in Kargil

NEW DELHI (ADNI) — The shooting down of one Indian Air Force MIG aircraft and the crash of another due to mechanical failure during the Dras-Kargil operations underscores the dangers that lurk across the Line of Control in the shape of US-supplied Stinger missiles and static surface-to-air missile (SAM) battery that has been put in place specifically to handle IAF involvement.

Indian military sources have confirmed the deep involvement of the Pakistan armed forces in the planning and execution of the Dras-Kargil infiltration and if the IAF aircraft has been shot down with a shoulder-fired Stinger missile then it confirms that the CIA has preferred not to take the rockets back after the completion of the war against Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. That the missiles were in the hands of the Taliban was proved when one was used against an aircraft operated by Rashid Dostam’s forces in 1996. Pakistan, which handles Taliban logistics, has apparently kept some for use in the Kashmir insurgency.

To minimise the danger posed by such surface-to-air missiles the Indian Air Force must endeavour to complete its task of eliminating the infiltrators as swiftly as possible as it is to operate within a five-km stretch adjacent to the Line of Control and its aircraft will come within range of shoulder-fired Stingers posted on mountains on the other side of the LoC or of static missile batteries kept in SAM-trap mode to provide an air defence ground environment system cover to the infiltration effort.

The only way the IAF can do this is to use cluster bombs and napalm bombs against the infiltrators. The cluster bombs will dispense more than a hundred bomblets that will saturate a large area on the mountainside where the infiltrators are either dug in or have crawled into crevasses or under overhanging rocks.

Napalm on the other hand will also cover a wide area in one strike but has the advantage of oozing into those area that are immune to cluster bomblets and cause death by asphyxiation among the infiltrators.

The use of these two munitions will reduce the number of sorties that the IAF will have to conduct in a hostile environment and thus reduce the risk to its aircraft.

One other way that the IAF can protect its aircraft from heat-seeking missile is to attach flare dispensers to the aircraft it deploys in that sector. This is what the Israelis do. It deflects heat-seeking missiles away from the aircraft thus allowing it freedom to operate with immunity over the battlefield.

Shiv Sainiks burn Pak flag
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, May 28 — Demonstrators belonging to the Shiv Sena, shouting "down with Pakistan", burnt the Pakistan national flag outside the Pakistan High Commission here today. They were later arrested by the Delhi Police.

The members of the Shiv Sena who were protesting against the striking down of an Indian Air Force fighter aircraft and Islamabad’s support to armed infiltrators in Jammu and Kashmir, caught security personnel by surprise and it took some time before additional forces could be summoned and the demonstrators rounded up. A photographer of a national news agency was injured in the melee.

The police personnel posted outside the High Commission in the Chanakyapuri diplomatic enclave resorted to lathi-charge when the protesters, led by Shiv Sena’s Delhi unit chief, Mr Jai Bhagwan Goyal, arrived in a van and a couple of cars and started raising slogans.

Initially efforts were made by the policemen to stop the Shiv Sena members but when it failed they resorted to lathi-charge. Despite the police charge, the protesters were seen forcing their way towards the High Commission. They raised anti-Pakistan, pro-India and pro-Balasaheb Thackeray slogans.

Additional reinforcements which reached the spot rounded up the demonstrators. Even the Sena chief Goyal was pulled out of a car as he got into it.

Later, the Sainiks along with the seized vehicles were taken to the Chanakyapuri police station.

PTI photographer Prabhat Kumar Pandey was injured in the melee as constable Dalip Singh hit him repeatedly with a lathi despite protests by lensmen.

Mr Goyal told reporters that India should retaliate against the striking down of the Indian aircraft.

The photographer received injury on his right hand in which he held the camera.

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has said though he did not wish for an Indo-Pakistan war, it was time that "Pakistan was taught a lesson for its continued support to infiltrators in Jammu and Kashmir".

"It is time that Pakistan is taught a lesson to give them a taste of our might," Thackeray said today in his party mouthpiece ‘Saamna’ while condemning yesterday’s missile attack on an IAF fighter aircraft inside Indian territory in the Kargil sector.

"The downing of an IAF aircraft while it was flying in Indian territory was a flagrant violation of international law," he said, adding the United States of America, Britain the, United Nations and NATO had no moral right to find fault with India.

"If the USA can mount attacks against Iraq and Yugoslavia which are far from its borders, then India has the full right to flush out terrorists who have infiltrated into its territory," he asserted. The Sena chief said the United States of America should pull up Pakistan for shooting down an Indian aircraft inside sovereign Indian territory.

Thackeray said the war-like situation on the Kashmir border was waiting to develop for some time now and warned that in the months ahead external and internal enemies would be active in the country. "The activities of Pak-backed infiltrators in Kargil is just the beginning," he cautioned.

Tariq to contest from Katihar

NEW DELHI, May 28 (UNI) —Expelled Congress leader and Nationalist Congress Party general secretary Tariq Anwar said today that he would again contest the Katihar Lok Sabha seat.

Answering questions he said he would be contesting on the NCP symbol.

The party which, has not been able to make any serious dent outside Maharashtra, has received a boost with a section of Lok Shakti leaders from Bihar offering to join the party. An announcement to this effect is likely to be made by this evening.

5 of family commit suicide
SASARAM: Five members of a family committed suicide allegedly by consuming poison in Rohtas district of Bihar, the police said on Friday. The reasons behind the family taking the “extreme step” at Sirisiyan village under Kargahar police station in the district on Thursday were being ascertained. The victims were identified as Prem Tiwari (35), his wife Indu Devi (30), son Bittu Kumar (8), daughters Pramila Tiwari (12) and Aand Sobha (9), he said. — PTI

Freedom fighter dead
NEW DELHI: Veteran freedom fighter from Andhra J. Chokka Rao died here on Friday following a heart attack, family sources said. Mr Chokka Rao (76) is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters. He represented the Karimnagar Lok Sabha constituency thrice in 1985, 1989 and 1991. He was a minister in the Vengala Rao Cabinet. Mr Chokka Rao was in the Capital to attend the AICC session on May 25. — PTI