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Sikh shrines in Pak during summit meet: SAD CHANDIGARH, July 13: The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today also urged Prime Minister....more Ask Musharraf to MUMBAI, July 13: Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray today lambasted......more Police should have NEW DELHI, July 13: National Human Rights Commission Chairperson....more V P Singh to attend NEW DELHI, July 13: Former Prime Minister V P Singh today expressed his reservations on the......more |
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Issue of
Pakistan Gurdwaras unlikely to figure at summit NEW DELHI, July 13: Despite fervent appeals by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, former SGPC chief G S Tohra and various Sikh bodies to the Prime Minister, the community’s demands .....more MDPRA to provide AGRA, July 13: In the face of persistent denials by Pakistan to acknowledge....more Indo-Pak summit to AGRA, July 13: When Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf....more Nostalgic memories of SHIMLA, July 13: As the world focus is on the Indo-Pak summit at Agra, dramatic events that .......more |
Take
up issue of Sikh shrines in Pak during CHANDIGARH, July 13: The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today also urged Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to take up the issue of upkeep of Sikh shrines in Pakistan with its President General Pervez Musharraf during his summit meeting with the latter at Agra. Addressing media persons here, party secretary-general Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said sad did not recognise Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) which had taken over the management of the Sikh shrines in the neighbouring country. "Only the Sikhs have the right to the upkeep of their shrines. We want the old arrangement to be restored," he said, adding Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) should be allow to station permanent "Sewadars" in gurdwaras in Pakistan for maintenance. Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD) had also made a similar demand on the Prime Minister yesterday. But its president Gurcharan Singh Tohra, while recognising the PSGPC, headed by former ISI chief Javed Nasir in his capacity as Chairman of Pakistan Waqf Board, demanded a "pre-eminent" role for the SGPC in managing the affairs of the Sikh shrines in Pakistan. Both SAD and SHSAD were also in agreement on the issue of corridor through international border in Dera Baba Nanak area of Gurdaspur sector for access to Kartarpur Gurdwara in Pakistan territory to enable Sikhs pay obesiance there. Mr Dhindsa said the Prime Minister should also consider the Pakistan’s offer of corridor, while Mr Tohra urged Mr Vajpayee to accept it to win the gratitude of the Sikh community. Mr Dhindsa disclosed that party president and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had submitted a written note to the Prime Minister to take up Sikh issues during the summit, adding he had followed it with External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh during the all-party meeting held in New Delhi early this week to discuss the Indian agenda for the summit. Asked if he would personally take up the Sikh issues with General Musharraf if an opportunity came his way by virtue of he having been chosen a member of the Government’s reception committee, Mr Dhindsa said if the concerned Pakistani minister happened to be in the Pakistan President’s delegation he would explore the possibility. "I have spoken to Jaswant Singh about it and he has assured to arrange a meeting with the Pakitsan minister if he happened to be in the delegation," he added. The Union Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister said Mr Jaswant Singh had also assured him that the issue of Punjabi youth languishing in Pakistan would also be taken up with Pakistani officials during the summit. Several Punjabi youth, who were duped by travel agents and pushed into Pakistan via Iran and Afghanisatan without documents, had been arrested and were lodged in a jail in Baluchistan. On the summit outcome, the Akali leader expressed the hope that it would pave the way for normalisation of relations between two neighbouring countries, adding sad have had always stood for freindly ties to mutual benefit of people on either side of the border. He said Punjab had been a victim of hostility between the two nations and sad held the view that sufferings of Punjabis would end with the normalisation of relations. The Union Minister expressed the hope that series of unilateral goodwill measures undertaken by the Vajpayee Government would be reciprocated by the Pakistan Government. On 54 Prisoners of War (PoWs) as claimed by their respective kith and kin, he said the Central Government has no list of such PoWs and Pakistan Government, too, had stated that no Indian PoW was in any Pakistani jail. But he said the offer made by former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief to allow a two-member ministerial team, including an Indian, to inspect Pakistan jails to scout Indian PoWs should be taken up in the Agra summit, adding the offer was made during the Lahore summit in February, 1999. (UNI) |
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Ask Musharraf to release PoWs
before MUMBAI, July 13: Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray today lambasted the Vajpayee Government for its "defeatist attitude" towards Pakistan and demanded that General Pervez Musharraf be told to release the 54 Indian Prisoners of War (PoWs) languishing in Pakistani jails before coming to India. "Why is Government of India not adopting a tough stand on the release of Indian PoWs making it a pre-condition for Gen. Musharraf’s visit"? Thackeray, whose party is part of the ruling NDA at the Centre, asked at a news conference here. Coming down heavily on the Vajpayee Government, he said "it is treading on a dangerous path with the summit talks involving a military leader like Gen Musharraf who harbours anti-India poison". Thackeray, flanked by Lt-Gen Hoon (retd), who heads Shiv Sena’s cell of retired soldiers, displayed a map of Indo-Pak border and warned against "soft peddling" on the Siachen Glacier which had a vital strategic importance with its access to Aksai Chin under Chinese control. Thackeray said the NDA policy on Kashmir was not very different from the one pursued by earlier Congress Governments who kept on extending the olive branch to the hostile neighbour. He, however, made it clear that Shiv Sena would not withdraw its support to the Vajpayee Government on the issue as it would spell "a bigger disaster". Thackeray described as a "misplaced magnanimity" Indian Government’s decision to relax restrictions on granting of visas to Pakistani citizens to visit India, saying it would facilitate a smooth entry to isi agents across the border. "It is equally ironical that the Hurriyat leaders who refused to talk to K C Pant, the Centre’s interlocutor, are invited for the tea party in honour of Gen Musharraf and Indian Government merely lodges a meek protest", the Sena chief said and asked "why has Gen Musharraf not invited Kashmiri Pandits to understand their sufferings?" Thackeray said the response from Pakistani Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) to their Indian counterparts on maintaining peace on the border on the eve of Gen Musharraf’s visit too had been "lukewarm" and Indian officers had made a laughing stock of themselves because of "undue hurry" on the part of Vajpayee Government. (PTI) |
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Police should have autonomy, but
be accountable NEW DELHI, July 13: National Human Rights Commission Chairperson Justice J S Verma has stressed the need for giving autonomy and developing accountability in the police force for restoring peoples confidence in them. Addressing a seminar on ‘police autonomy and accountability’ organised by the Institute of Social Sciences here last evening, Justice Verma said that in a democracy people should view police as protector and not as ‘persecutor’ accountability for police, which is invested with power, is a must so that power was not misused in an autocratic fashion. In a reference to the recent arrest of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, Justice Verma said "the shocking incident involving a person of advanced age who had held an important position has raised many questions about the police system of the country. If this can happen to the high and mighty of the country what will happen to those lower down the ladder," he wondered. He clarified that though the NHRC has issued notices to the Tamil Nadu Government about the human rights violation, it was yet to form a formal "opinion" in view of the conflicting report about the incident. Justice Verma said that no amount of laws or Supreme Court decisions or seminars could change the ground situation unless a cultural and mindset change was brought about in the force. Manner and modality of arrest should have proper justification so that people view the police as protector and not only as persecutor, he observed. Though police constitute an important component of criminal justice administration, the political will to reform the force was lacking, he said and added that the recommendations of the National Police Commissions were pending for the past two decades as no Government had taken any steps to implement it. The NHRC chairperson suggested that police should itself institutionalise an internal mechanism with the help of civil society to reverse the current trend of political interference and other infirmities. "To change the peoples perception and get their support and respect, radical changes are required in the behaviour of people who have power of superintendence." Citing an incident when a police official committed suicide following harassment from the political leaders, Justice Verma said that senior officials committed to the task could play an important role in developing an internal mechanism to regulate the exercise of discretionary power which gives rise to maximum arbitrariness and misuse to the political leadership. The norms and guidelines should be developed to control exercising of discretionary power so that it was not used by the whims and fancies of the people but applied in a manner consistent with the rule of law. Stating that the role of police in implementation of the rule of law was the bedrock in a democracy, he said police must be autonomous, uninfluenced and incapable of being influenced. The nhrc chairperson said that to ensure this proper structure and constitution of the police force was a must. "Though a police constable has been vested with considerable power, he has not been given decent salary which can ensure a decent lifestyle for him. Moreover, the education level and training of constables are not adequate," he pointed out and stressed the need for improving the service conditions of the police personnel. Former Home Secretary N N Vohra, human rights activist Shanker Sen and Joint Commissioner of Police Maxwell Pereira also participated in the deliberations. (UNI) |
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Indo-Pak summit to recapture old glory of Mughal capital AGRA, July 13: When Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf begin their summit meeting here on Sunday, it will not be the first time that this historic city plays witness to the shaping of destinies on the sub-continent. As the seat of the mighty Mughal empire in the 16th and 17th centuries, Agra, located some 160 km southeast of Delhi on the banks of the Yamuna river, is no stranger either to grandiose personalities or momentous events. In fact, historians say that the twin cities of Agra-Fatehpur Sikri are probably the only places comparable to Delhi in terms of their contemporary history. These cities may be nothing more than an adjunct to the world famous Taj Mahal today, but in their time they were the centre of major political, cultural and social events ranging from the expansion of a powerful empire to the propounding of the new religion of Din-e-Elahi. In fact, as the birth place of the concept of ‘Sul-i-Kul’ (peaceful co-existence) and the all-encompassing religion Din-e-Elahi, Agra-Fatehpur Sikri are ideally suited to host the July 15-16 Indo-Pak talks, aimed at breaking the deadlock between the two nuclear powers. It was in Fatehpur Sikri that Akbar built the ‘Ibadat Khana’ in 1575, where he debated the nuances and principles of major religions with their scholars to finally reach the conclusion that the basic tenets of all religions are the same and they are all different paths to the same destination. Perhaps, as Mr Vajpayee and Gen. Musharraf try to thaw the icy bilateral relations in the luxurious environs of the Jaypee Palace Hotel, they may take a leaf out of Akbar’s socio-political philosophy, based on the principles of tolerance and co-existence. But Sufi culture is not all that Agra and Fatehpur Sikri are famous for. Also connected with them are several episodes of political intrigue and machinations, befitting a capital city. Perhaps, among the most popular of these relates to the cunning escape of Maratha Chieftain Chhatrapati Shivaji from Agra Fort in 1666. Called to the court of Aurangzeb in Agra, Shivaji was angered when he was asked to stand among the ‘Mansabdars’ (military men) of the rank of 5,000 troops. The emperor, peeved at the Maratha’s "insubordination" ordered that he be arrested and incarcerated in Agra Fort. After spending weeks in capitivity, Shivaji struck upon the novel idea of being smuggled past the tight security in the fort in a basket of fruits and sweets, meant for distribution among the poor and indigent. The Marathas finally had their revenge on the Mughals when they sacked Agra in 1770. But, by then, the capital of the Mughal empire had already been shifted to Delhi. Among the major battles witnessed by the the city were in 1713 when Jahandar Shah, with 70,000 troops, fought against a rebel force commanded by his nephew Faroukhsiyar. After a bitter battle, the rebels won, and Jahandar Shah was captured and executed by his nephew, who succeeded to the throne. On October four, 1803, a British force under general lake besieged the town, which fell into their hands on October 18. On August two, 1857, the British Garrison holding the city battled the Indian mutineers. Deserted by the Indian troops in their ranks, the British were forced to go back to the city and take refuge in Agra Fort. They were stuck there till October, when a relief column was able to break through the rebel lines. The earliest reference to Agra is in the epic ‘The Mahabharata’ where it was mentioned as ‘Agravana’. Yet, it was during the medieval period that the city came into its own. Agra was first established as the capital by the Lodhi dynasty in 1501-02. But, it really emerged as a power centre under the great Mughal ruler Akbar, who made the city his home in 1527. He founded the present city in 1566 as the capital of the Mughal empire. From 1570 to 1585 he ruled from nearby Fatehpuri Sikri. He moved to Lahore for some time but returned to Agra in 1599 and remained there until his death in 1605. His son Jehangir did not spend much time in Agra and it was under his son and successor Shah Jahan that the city and its architecture flourished. Agra’s political importance dwindled from 1658, when Aurangzeb moved the capital back to Delhi. In 1671, Agra fell to the Jats who raided the city’s monuments. It was taken by the marathas in 1770 and landed in British control in 1803. The Agra Fort also saw much fighting during the mutiny in 1857. (UNI) |
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Nostalgic memories of 1972 Indo-Pak summit SHIMLA, July 13: As the world focus is on the Indo-Pak summit at Agra, dramatic events that occurred during a similar summit 29 years ago here, may have their own relevance for Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Leader of a vanquished Pakistan, Prime Minister Z A Bhutto came to this picturesque hill station with 90,000 of his troops prisoners in Indian hands, for discussion with his triumphant Indian counterpart Indira Gandhi during the five-day summit. Five days of tough negotiations produced no breakthrough and the summit nearly ended on a note of failure before the Simla agreement was signed late in the night of July two. Indira Gandhi and Bhutto, architects of Simla Agreement are no more, military rule has replaced democracy in Pakistan, Kargil conflict and cross order terrorism have added new dimensions to the Kashmir issue, the leader of opposition A B Vajpayee is at the centre-stage in a changed role and even the name of Simla has been changed to Shimla. During the 1972 summit, it was Vajpayee who rushed to Shimla and made strong plea to Indira Gandhi to take a tough stand and insisted that the ‘sacrifices made by the jawans should not be surrendered at the negotiation table’. Vajpayee was to address a public meeting but he was not allowed to hold the meeting in open and instead a closed door meeting was held in the Jain hall. He also addressed a press conference here and reiterated his party’s stand. Now the same Vajpayee would be holding talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf as Prime Minister of India and those who had seen him thundering at Shimla in 1972 would be keenly watching him. Shimla summit was like a festival for the local people and almost all the important leaders, diplomats, national and inter-national media and intelligence sleuths had descended on Shimla, the ‘queen of hills’. The bitterness of Indo-Pak war fought barely six month ago, was no where to be seen and the entire Government machinery was busy making best possible arrangements for comfortable stay of the guests. A large number of journalists had reached Shimla a few days before the summit and the grand hotel, situated close to the mall was made the ‘media centre’ for daily briefing. Indira Gandhi arrived at Shimla a day before the arrival of Pakistan Prime Minister Bhutto and personally looked after the arrangements and even went to a local shop to select a new carpet for the room in barne’s court (then called as Himachal Bhawan) where Bhutto was to stay. It was raining heavily on June 28 when Bhutto was to land at the annandale helipad early in the morning. Indira Gandhi waited for more than six hours in her car and walked on the slushy helipad to receive Bhutto when he alighted from the helicopter along with his entourage. The journalists and other dignitaries had also reached the helipad around 0600 hours and waited for arrival of Bhutto. Most of the journalists from outside as well as locals had gone to the helipad without having breakfast and were feeling hungry. After waiting for nearly four hours, over a dozen journalists went to the house of a local journalist who was living near the helipad and all the ladies from the neighbourhood were called to prepare ‘Paranthas’ in bulk. Some of the journalists had breakfast in the house while some other scribes were served packed ‘Paranthas’ at the helipad. The posh mall road where no vehicles were allowed was turned into a highway and all the diplomats, senior journalists and other dignitaries were issued special permits to ply their vehicles through the mall causing great inconvenience to the local people and tourists. Benazir Bhutto, the 16-year-old charming daughter of Pakistan Prime Minister, became a rage wherever she went and young boys and girls jostled to have a glimpse of her. Benazir had enough time for shopping and strolling on the mall and she visited several shops. She even went to convent of Jesus and Mary School here to meet the nuns who had taught her at murry. Indira Gandhi created a commotion by suddenly appearing on the busy mall road one evening and joined Benazir who was also strolling on the mall. The securitymen were taken aback and became panicky when Indira Gandhi freely mingled with the people, throwing all security to the winds. The Swatantra Party leader Piloo Modi, an old friend of Bhutto, also reached Shimla during the summit and Bhutto spent his free time talking to him and playing billiards at the Barne’s court. Veteran journalist V R Mohinder, who was a close friend of Piloo Modi, also joined them occasionally. Piloo Modi also addressed a press conference at Shimla and besides commenting on the talks, disclosed his intentions to write a book on Bhutto, which he eventually did. As the talks made little headway during the first four days, there was nothing much for the scribes during the daily briefings. Several rounds of talks were held at the cabinet committee room in the State Secretariat and Bhutto had last round of talks with Indira Gandhi at the retreat where she was staying. Bhutto addressed a press conference at the side hall of Barne’s court from an elevated platform on the evening of July two, only to announce that the talks had failed. The hall was packed to the capacity with mediapersons and Bhutto’s announcement came as an anti-climax. The mediapersons virtually called it a day. Most of them started packing up for leaving next morning. Around 2200 hrs, suddenly word went round that something was cooking up and an agreement was likely to be signed. The journalists were virtually dragged out of their bed and within an hour all of them reached Barne’s court. The arrival of Indira Gandhi and some other senior ministers confirmed the rumours that agreement was being signed and hectic activity was seen in the hall. When the stage was set for signing the agreement, the Doordarshan camera team was found missing. Desperate efforts were made to contact the crew members and the signing of the agreement was delayed by 40 minutes. The agreement was being signed in such a hurry that there was no tablecloth on the agreement table and a curtain was pulled down to improvise one. A tense Indira Gandhi looked side ways searching for something and a senior journalist standing by her side could guess that she wanted a pen and immediately offered her one. The curtain and the pen thus became a part of the history along with the table where a plaque and few photographs are displayed even today. (PTI) |
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