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Sunday,
October 28, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Imam’s remarks ‘go against Islam’ Swamy told to pack up;
Rawat, Khanduri in line
PM, Bush to discuss global terrorism |
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Security
not just military concept: Gen Raghavan Rangaswamy sworn in Pondicherry CM Bhujbal washes his hands of Salem issue Telengana ‘not’ on BJP agenda All-party meeting on October 30
Curfew clamped on Gonda RI for three members of Quayyum gang Two NLFT ultras killed Explosives truck seized in Gujarat
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Imam’s remarks ‘go against Islam’ The slanderous utterances by the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, about cine star and Rajya Sabha MP Shabana Azmi during a weekend television show recently was indisputably in poor taste. The unflappable Shabana Azmi’s fault was that she dared to ask the religious leader why he had not gone to Kandahar to carry forward the so-called ‘jehad’ when he had issued a fatwa to all Muslims. Responding to questions over the telephone, the Shahi Imam said he did not want to respond to someone who was a “Nachne Gane Wali Tawaif”. The hostess of the programme implored the Shahi Imam to tender an unqualified apology but he refused to do so. Earlier, Shabana had questioned the Imam’s authority to give a call for ‘jehad’ following the US attacks on Afghanistan saying his writ “did not run beyond the area where he lives” in the national Capital. She had suggested that the Shahi Imam be airdropped on Kandahar to wage his ‘jehad’. The Imam’s jarring and unwarranted remarks have brought into sharp focus the growing dissension between conservative Muslims on the one hand and the liberal moderates on the other. The Safdar Hasmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) has demanded an apology from the Shahi Imam and appealed to democratic sections in all communities to
unequivocally condemn his unbecoming comment. Several Muslim academics of Jamia Millia Islamia have flayed Bukhari’s outbursts against Shabana and described him as a “blot on the fair name of Islam.” The National Commission for Women has belatedly criticised what it calls “crude and derogatory remarks” made by the Shahi Imam against Shabana. It said the offensive language used by the Shahi Imam “reflecting the ingrained patriarchical viewpoint is both unacceptable and objectionable.” The Tribune spoke to the former NCW member and Convener of the Muslim Women’s Forum Dr Syeda Saiyidain Hameed who was the first to rush to Shabana’s aid during the programme break and term the blatant abuse as shameful. Dr Hameed authored a report titled voice of the voiceless on the state of Muslim women after holding 18 public hearings. The forum recently organised a colloquium on purdah diktat. Excerpts from the interview: Q. What do you think of the Shahi Imam’s remarks? A. I refuted it on the air and I will repeat what I said while participating in the programme. The whole thing went into a very
undignified mode. Leaving aside the indignity and the slanderous nature of the utterances, the fact is that Islam does not distinguish between human beings. Something like this is antithetical to the teachings of Islam. If I’m a person who sings and dances, it does not mean that I’m not to be spoken to. Its like saying if you are a sweeper I will not talk to you. The Prophet interacted with everybody in society. Even if He was attacked personally, he reacted with kindness. If you are a Maulana and that too Maulana of Jama Masjid which is a very important mosque, you must reflect the ideology of the teachings of the Prophet. The real teachings of Islam are based on the Quran, the Shariat and the Sunnah. Q. A section of the Press has reported that the Imam is unrepentant. Has this harmed the image of Islam? A:
If this is the teaching we have to seriously question the teachings of the Imam. It is not like teaching the text of geography or political science. It is religion. From what I used to read in the press I often wondered what he preached during the Khutba every Friday. We offer Namaz at home. Having listened to his views I feel very concerned. I want my religion to be taught to people in a particular light. It has harmed the Imam’s image. For a discerning person, I hope, it has not harmed the image of Islam. Q.
Are women organisations joining hands to voice their opposition to the Imam’s remarks by seeking his removal? A. There is some move afoot but I don’t know for sure. Shabana said so the other day. The Imam has to live with his own conscience and see how many women he has alienated. Shabana is an artiste who has gone into the deeper sensitivities of women. Q. Do you agree with Shabana’s views that the Imam’s writ does not run beyond the area he lives? A. It does not affect me and I have not done any survey. Thousands of persons are present during the Khutba every Friday. His role is to educate the flock. The kind of things he is saying is not putting them on the Siratul Mustaqeen (straight path). Q. Do you share the perception that the media tends to overplay conservative and extreme views of Muslims in preference to liberal and democratic voices? A. I think this is true all over the world and the USA has played a negative role. The Muslim terror in a way has been fed bit by bit to their own reading public and viewers. For the first time in India we are realising that there is another liberal, democratic voice. |
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Swamy told to pack up; Rawat, Khanduri in line New Delhi, October 27 A direction in this regard to Mr Swamy came this morning after he met Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader L.K. Advani today. He has been asked to put in papers before October 29, highly placed party sources said here today. Even as party big-wigs were silent over the successor of Mr Swamy in Uttaranchal, party sources said the next Chief Minister will either be B.C. Khanduri, be a Minister of State for Road Transport and National Highways in the Vajpayee Cabinet or Bachi Singh Rawat, Minister of State for Science and Technology at the Centre. Talking to reporters after meeting former BJP President and in charge of Uttaranchal, Kushabhau Thakre, Mr Swamy said he wanted to quit today itself but Central leadership had asked him to stay for two more days. Mr Swamy, who also met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee this morning, said the state Assembly had been convened for Monday to fulfil constitutional obligation for convening it in six months. Although the party had been considering change of guard in the hill state in the wake of the coming Assembly polls there, today’s decision of BJP Central leadership has baffled top Uttaranchal leaders as there was strong feeling that Mr Swamy would be allowed to continue as Chief Minister till the first anniversary of the state falling on November 9, 2001. According to sources, the Central leadership has decided to preempt its move as they wanted to counter the growing popularity of Congress leader Harish Rawat in Uttaranchal by having a younger leader at the helm well ahead of Assembly election to be held early next year. Chances of Mr Bachi Singh Rawat taking over from Mr Swamy are bright as Mr Khanduri is wary of taking the mantle as he doesn’t want to be a sacrificial goat in the context of BJP failing to make a mark in the coming polls in Uttaranchal. Sources said, he is convinced that the BJP would not be able to win convincingly in the Assembly elections due to lacklustre performance of Mr Swamy and given the fact that there is hardly any time left to reverse the fortune ahead of polls. Under these circumstances, Mr Bachi Singh Rawat seems to be the ideal candidate as he has indicated his willingness to take over as Uttaranchal Chief Minister and the Central leadership also do not have much of a problem in relieving him from the Vajpayee Cabinet. Moreover, being an influential leader from Almora constituency from where he entered the Lok Sabha defeating the Congress big gun Harish Rawat, the BJP leadership feels that he will be the best bet. Mr Swamy, was here almost the entire last week, lobbying with top BJP leaders including, Mr Vajpayee, Party President Jana Krishnamurthi and Mr Thakre, for his continuance. Meanwhile, four top leaders of the party from Uttaranchal and close to Mr Swamy arrived here to meet the Prime Minister in their last ditch effort to have the present Chief Minister continue, highly placed source said. They are Mohan Singh Gaonvasi, Suresh Arya, Bharat Singh Rawat and Narayan Ram Das. The BJP’s Central leadership to promote younger leaders first had replaced Mr Ram Prakash Gupta with Rajnath Singh in Uttar Pradesh and followed it up recently by replacing Keshubhai Patel with Narendra Modi in Gujarat. |
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PM, Bush to discuss global terrorism New Delhi, October 27 “As this war goes on against terrorism it has to address terrorism in India. So I think that’s quite explicit and I think both leaders will be discussing that during the Prime Minister’s visit,” Blackwill said in an interview on Zee News. Asked why it took the September 11 attacks for the USA to understand India’s concerns about terrorism, Blackwill said “Every country feels its own terrorist attacks most acutely” and added “the USA made some mistakes in its terrorist policies.” To a question if Pakistan could be trusted, he said President Pervez Musharraf was making “significant contributions” in the war against terrorism, but “nothing will occur” between Washington and Islamabad that threatens India, according to a channel release. On being asked if the USA believed that “Pakistan harbours and trains terrorists”, Blackwill said the global war against terrorism “will reach every country that harbours terrorists, it will reach every terrorist organisation. It will reach every country that promotes terrorism and there will be no exceptions.”
PTI |
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Security
not just military concept: Gen Raghavan New
Delhi, October 27 The components of comprehensive security worked in mutually reinforcing ways, to improve or lower the security of both the state and its people, he said. The security discourse then changed to incorporate components of security. This approach to security was validated by the fact that terrorism, as witnessed in its national, regional and global form, was a consequence of the neglect of the interplay between the components of comprehensive security, he added. He said the idea of security was increasingly being questioned, in terms of whose security was being ensured, and what was being secured. The widely felt need to understand the relationship between the security needs of the state and those of its people had led to new initiatives, he said. Defence Minister George Fernandes was the guest of honour at the lecture in which the opening address was made by the Chief of Army Staff, Gen S.
Padmanabhan.
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Rangaswamy sworn in Pondicherry CM Pondicherry, October 27 Lieutenant Governor Dr Rajani Rai administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr Rangaswamy, who alone was sworn in today. His Cabinet colleagues would be sworn in on a later date. The Chief Minister should prove his majority on the floor of the Legislative Assembly within a month. Earlier, Chief Secretary TT Joseph read out the notification from the President, appointing the 51-year-old Mr Rangaswamy as the Chief Minister. The composition of Mr Rangaswamy’s cabinet is yet to be finalised as it is not clear whether the AIADMK and the TMC would take part in the ministry. Leaders of all parties, including the opposition DMK, attended the function at the Raj Nivas. PCC President V Narayanasami, Speaker MDR Ramachandran, MOH Farrok, MP and PMC Founder-Leader P Kannan, among others, attended the function. Mr Rangaswamy said his cabinet would soon be expanded. He had paid a courtesy call to AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha, he added. Drinking water and implementing welfare schemes for those below the poverty line in the Union Territory, would get priority, he added. Mr Rangaswamy signed the first official file as Chief Minister for purchasing dhotis and sarees worth Rs 1.53 crore from the Government-owned Anglo-French Textile mills to be distributed among Adidravidar people living below the poverty line. Mr Rangaswamy was elected Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader on October 19, following the resignation of Chief Minister P Shanmugham. Rangaswamy said the AIADMK which had three members in the 30 member Assembly and the TMC which had two members, had already supported the Congress led coalition ministry in the Union Territory. Rangaswamy, belonging to the backward Vanniar community, is the first from the community to occupy the top post.
UNI, PTI |
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Bhujbal washes his hands of Salem issue Mumbai, October 27 “We do not have any official confirmation about Salem’s arrest and subsequent release”, Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who also holds Home portfolio, told reporters here. “The extradition treaty has been signed between India and UAE and Maharashtra has very little role to play in it”, Mr Bhujbal said. “However, we are willing to exchange whatever information we have about Salem. More information about the gangster can be obtained from the Uttar Pradesh police since Salem originally hails from Azamgarh”, he said. “Salem was never arrested in Maharashtra,” the Deputy Chief Minister added. The Mumbai police was in constant touch with central intelligence agencies, Mr Bhujbal said. PTI |
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Telengana ‘not’ on BJP agenda Hyderabad, October 27 Addressing a press conference here, Mr Krishnamurthy said the demand for the formation of the states of Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal was incorporated in the NDA agenda and the NDA partners also had given consent for the formation of these states. He said the demand for a separate Telengana was being made by various political parties and the people on account of the backwardness of the region. However, if the Andhra Pradesh government was really serious about this demand, it must pass a resolution in the Assembly, which would have to be ratified by Parliament, he pointed out. “In my opinion, nothing can be done in this regard till 2004 when a new government is formed at the Centre after the parliamentary elections and the statehood demand will have to be incorporated in the new agenda”, he added. Asked whether the continuance of the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh was unfair in the light of the resignations of all Opposition MLAs, the BJP president said the Election Commission (EC) had made it clear that Assembly elections in that state should be held any time before April 2002. “If the EC stipulates that the elections should be held in November or December, my party is ready for the same”, he asserted. The BJP president denied that the Centre was bending over backwards to help the USA in its fight against terrorism and asserted that India would fight the battle on its own. “We appreciate the efforts of the USA in trying to mobilise public opinion against terrorism and the Centre is not going out of its way to help America”, the BJP president told reporters. India stood its ground after the Pokhran tests and it was the USA, a distant spectator to terrorism till the evil struck on its soil, which lifted the sanctions on us, he said. The
POTO ordinance should not be criticised only for sake of opposing it but the parties, more so the Congress, should come forward with valuable suggestions on how to tackle the issue of
terrorism and plug the loopholes in the law, he said. Assuring that there would be no human rights violation as feared by the Opposition, the BJP president said “the parties should try to understand the circumstances which forced us to bring out this ordinance” to curb terrorism. Terrorism and the methods to be adopted to check it would also be discussed at the BJP national executive meeting, he said adding that the ordinance was only to take appropriate measures for preventing terrorism and the scope for political misuse did not arise as it would be used only for the intended purpose. BJP chief said that his party would strive to achieve two-thirds majority in Parliament and expand its social and electoral base by accommodating those who were not associated with the party so far, particularly the minorities. He said from now to October next, the BJP would take steps to strengthen its social and electoral base and try to realise its goal of getting two-thirds majority. “But, in any case, the NDA experiment will not be given up”, he assured. Stating that the NDA had changed the very direction of politics in the country, Mr Krishnamurthy said “if in 1998, the politics of confrontation dominated the scene, the politics of consensus is the order of the day now. We went out of the way and brought 24 parties together to form the NDA and even succeeded in having a common agenda”. He said the BJP national executive committee would meet at Amritsar in Punjab on November 2 and 3, and Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee would address it. “The Swarna Jayanthi celebrations of the BJP will be held this month to commemorate the completion of 50 years of the party’s existence. A committee, headed by the Prime Minister, has been constituted to prepare programmes for the celebrations”, he informed.
UNI, PTI |
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All-party meeting on October 30 New Delhi, October 27 Invitation to leaders of all political parties and groups have been sent for the meeting which would be held in Parliament House. This would be the first all-party meeting since the USA launched its attack on October 7 in Afghanistan. Mr Vajpayee had met leaders of prominent political parties soon after the terrorist attack in the USA on September 11. Mr Vajpayee is expected to brief the meeting about the international assessment of the situation and India’s stand on the issue. The Prime Minister has been in touch with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has had extensive discussions with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and US Secretary of State Colin Powell. Mr Vajpayee is worried over some parties’ efforts to exploit the developments in Afghanistan for narrow political ends, sources said adding that the Prime Minister is expected to give vent to his concerns during the all-party meeting. |
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Narayanan is 81 years old
President K.R. Narayanan turned 81 today. Several VIPs called on Mr Narayanan at Rashtrapati Bhavan to felicitate him even though as a practice the
President does not celebrate his birthday. There is no cake cutting and no formal celebration is held. Those who wished him with flowers were Vice-President Krishan Kant, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, former President R. Venkataraman, his Cabinet colleagues Mr L.K. Advani, Mr Manohar Joshi, Delhi Lt-Governor Vijay Kapoor and Congress leaders Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Mrs Najma Heptullah, Mr Manmohan Singh, Mrs Meira Kumar, Mr Murali Deora. Minister of State in the PMO Vijay Goel also called on the President in the evening to greet him. Several people, including Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu Governor Dr C. Rangarajan, sent greetings to the President. Sources in Rashtrapati Bhavan today said the VIPs call on the President to greet him on his birthday even though he did not celebrate it because of the protocol requirements. |
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Curfew clamped on Gonda Gonda, October 27 Devipatan Division Commissioner Sudhakar Singh today said a cracker fired during a procession of Durga idols accidentally landed near a mosque in the Chowk Bazar area, leading to intense brickbatting. Devipatan Gurbachan Lal, DIG, told newspersons here this afternoon that Karan Singh, SI, and Gajendra and Ramnath Verma, constables were injured in the incidents. The two constables were admitted to the hospital. He said so far 31 persons had been arrested for rioting and the arrests were continuing.
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RI for three members of Quayyum gang Mumbai, October 27 Sham Tabrez Mohammed Iqbal Shaikh, Jahid Hussain Afzal Shaikh and Yusuf Ali Bannan Mirza, members of the Dubai-based gang, were convicted on October 24 by a special court set up under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Two other gangsters, Shabab Haider Babubhai Mirza and Shadap Tariq Rizvi, were, however, acquitted as the prosecution could not prove their involvement in the crime. The designated Judge, Mr Abhay Thipsay, convicted the trio under the Arms Act and the IPC. Although the accused were tried under the MCOCA, the court found that its provisions were not attracted.
PTI |
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Two NLFT ultras killed Agartala, October 27 The DGP Mr B.L. Vohra, told UNI here that acting on a tip-off, TSR jawans launched a combing operation this morning in the extremist-dominated Takarjala area. When the tribal guerrillas attacked the jawans, they opened fire in retaliation killing two top NLFT ultras on the spot, Mr Vohra said, adding that the encounter was still on. The jawans recovered two bodies along with one SLR and an AK 47 rifle from the spot.
UNI |
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Explosives truck seized in Gujarat Ahmedabad, October 27 The truck, held at around 2.30 p.m. was carrying 14 kg RDX, two AK 47 rifles and as many Chinese-made pistols, he said. Police and CBI officials were tracing the truck for the past three days. But four suspects riding the truck succeeded in eluding the joint police team, the minister added.
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The slanderous utterances by the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, about cine star and Rajya Sabha MP Shabana Azmi during a weekend television show recently was indisputably in poor taste. The unflappable Shabana Azmi’s fault was that she dared to ask the religious leader why he had not gone to Kandahar to carry forward the so-called ‘jehad’ when he had issued a fatwa to all Muslims.
Film
'Asoka' has received mixed response from the 
(
An
adalat for the disabled was organised near
Bangalore to enable them to voice their grievances.
