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Govt. won’t
lionize Hurriyat From B L Kak NEW DELHI, May 6: The Government of India has rejected the demand for a referendum in Kashmir. "Why a referendum in a State ...more GUWAHATI, May 6: With new poll friendships forged, old alliances demolished and an.....more Beggar menace: Delhi Govt yet to chalk out strategy NEW DELHI, May 6: The Delhi Government is yet to chalk out any effective strategy to tackle the ...more Home of coalition politics THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, May 6: Kerala, the home of coalition politics, has always voted for.....more Delayed FIR not a sure NEW DELHI, May 6: In a major judgement which would help probe agencies, the Supreme Court has ........more |
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President, PM extend Buddha Purnima greetings NEW DELHI, May 6: President K R Narayanan, Vice President Krishan Kant and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today greeted the people on the....more
‘Opposition cannot provide CHENNAI, May 6: BJP leader and Union Minister Murli Manohar Joshi today said the opposition alliance in the five states going to the Assembly polls on May 10, would not be able......more Work permits for SILCHAR (ASSAM), May 6: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said the Centre was.......more |
Govt.
won’t lionize Hurriyat From B L Kak NEW DELHI, May 6: The Government of India has rejected the demand for a referendum in Kashmir. "Why a referendum in a State like Jammu and Kashmir which is, and will be, part and parcel of the Indian Union", asked a top Government official. The official, when contacted by a small group of mediapersons for the Government’s viewpoint on the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) chairman, Prof. Abdul Ghani Bhat’s demand for a referendum in Kashmir, was blunt in his expression: "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Frustrated people can only be expected to encourage frustrating thought and feeling". When asked to elaborate on it, the official said: "I don’t want to be drawn into discussion on a matter, which will never take place, namely, a referendum in our own State of J&K". The APHC chairman had reportedly stated that the 23-party conglomerate would contest the elections if there was a referendum to enable people to decide whether they wanted to join Pakistan or remain independent or favoured the status quo. The Union Government official remarked: "One can only sympathise with those people who are not sure of their victory at the hustings in Kashmir. And one really can’t do anything for those who do not have solid vote banks to fall back upon". The remark was, obviously, meant to convey the message that the separatists within and outside the Hurriyat Conference continued to be unsure of the voters’ mood, and, hence, their attempt to rake up issues, which no Government at the Centre will afford to concede. The Centre is aware of the general public feeling in the Valley that participation of separatists in the Assembly polls can invite the wrath of the pro-Pakistan jihadis. Already, the pro-Pak lobby has blamed a section of the Hurriyat men for having launched an exercise to build bridges with Indian Government , thereby ignoring the "sacrifices of thousands of Kashmiri freedom-fighters all these years". The Centre has also turned down the proposal, seeking "direct" supervision of members of SAARC nations of the conduct of Assembly elections in Kashmir. The proposal has been floated by the J&K Democratic Freedom Party president, Mr Shabir Shah. The Centre’s standpoint on this issue: SAARC nations cannot be involved in an exercise which is the responsibility of the Election Commission of India. The Election Commission, and not outsiders, can be tasked to conduct and supervise the poll process in any part of the country, including Jammu and Kashmir. "What can one do if a particular person or party insisted on deriving pleasure out of the wishful thinking", remarked the Government official when asked to comment on Mr Shabir Shah’s reported statement that he was ready to contest the Assembly elections if the polls were held under the "direct" supervision of members of SAARC nations. The official recalled: "Not long ago, the Hurriyat leaders as well as Shabir Shah and company had stated that they were prepared to participate in the poll process if the elections were held under the UN auspices". How come the emphasis has now been allowed to shift from the UN auspices to "direct" supervision of members of SAARC nations, the official posed. |
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GUWAHATI, May 6: With new poll friendships forged, old alliances demolished and an anti-incumbency wave sweeping the state, the voters are at the cross-roads as the AGP-BJP combine and the opposition Congress vie for power in Assam which has witnessed unprecedented pre-poll violence unleashed by outlawed ULFA. The contest will be direct between these two major players though the left parties are in fray as the third front in combination with some new small parties. The ruling AGP which won 60 seats in the last 1996 elections and the BJP, then fighting the polls on its own bagging four seats, face an uphill task against a rejuvenated Congress. The party had won 34 of the 124 seats in the last Assembly elections. Pollsters here are of the view that no single party is heading for a majority and a hung Assembly is on the cards. Moreover, a handful of smaller parties and independents who are expected to create ripples in certain pockets, may turn out to be the deciding factor in the formation of the next Government. The Assamese Hindu community, which supported the AGP since its inception in 1985, has shown signs of shifting their support to the BJP, dissatisfied as they are with the party seen as having failed both in 1985 and 1996 to solve the state’s burning problems such as insurgency, economic underdevelopment and unemployment. The BJP, which was shaping up to be an alternative to the AGP had secured the second position behind winner Congress in the last two Lok Sabha elections in assam. The alliance between the AGP and the BJP just prior to the polls, however, has disillusioned the Hindus who now feel confused. The split in the BJP resenting the alliance with the AGP and the formation of the Asom BJP led by senior leader and former IGP Hiranya Bhattacharya, further alienated the masses. The Congress, rocked by dissension within the party, further added to the confusion with the late announcement of party candidates which resulted in many rebels in the fray as independents. Congress, depending mainly on the minorities and the tea-belt electorate of upper Assam, however, undertook quick damage control exercise. The BJP will contest 44 seats while agp and its new allies, including the All Bodo Students Union and the Autonomous State Demand Committee (U) will contest the remaining of the 84 seats with the AGP contesting 64. Immediately after the alliance was announced, the ruling AGP-led four party alliance of CPI, CPI(M) and the United Peoples’ Party of Assam (UPPA) was dissolved with the CPI and CPI(M) withdrawing their support to the Government. The UPPA merged with the Samajwadi Party which entered into an alliance with the United Minorities Front (UMF) and will contest 38 seats during the forthcoming polls. The Left Parties were considering an alliance with the Congress at an earlier stage but it did not come through as the Congress decided to contest all the 126 seats in the state on its own. The Samata Party, a NDA partner, will contest 24 seats in Assam without any allies but has appealed to both the AGP and BJP to support their candidates. The five-party Rashtriya Democratic Alliance (RDA) led by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is another prior to the polls in the state, which is expected to create considerable wave. The other partners of the RDA are Asom Jatiya Sanmilan, Asom Gana Sangram Parishad, Purbanchaliya Loka Parishad and Labour Party alliance. In the 1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had both times won 10 of the 14 seats, while the BJP bagged one seat in 1998 and doubled its tally in the following elections winning two seats while the AGP was completely washed out. The clash between the parties have taken a backseat as the state reels under the spate of militant attacks, particularly on the AGP-BJP workers and candidates, in the run-up to the polls with the ULFA, NDFB and the United Peoples’ Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) joining hands to disrupt the polls. Militants operating in Assam since 1979 when the ULFA was formed, have made their presence felt during the elections since the 1998 Lok Sabha polls targetting several politicians. This time, too, the militants have launched unabated attacks killing 35 people, including BJP’s Dibrugarh candidate Jayanta Dutta and injuring more than 50 people so far, including AGP’s Barpeta candidate Kumar Dipak Das. (PTI) |
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Beggar menace: Delhi Govt yet to chalk out strategy NEW DELHI, May 6: The Delhi Government is yet to chalk out any effective strategy to tackle the menace of beggars in the national capital in view of complexities of the problem accentuated by migrants and inadequacy of rehabilitation measures by the Government. "The problem is accentuated by the fact that delhi has a floating population. A large number of people, mainly labour class from adjoining states, come to the capital in search of livelihood. Since the generation of employment is far from sufficient, they are forced to resort to means such as this," Secretary and Director Social Welfare, M K Mishra told PTI here. Mishra said the administration was doing all it could "but virtually it was impossible to eradicate this problem absolutely as the number kept growing". "We plan to look at the policies and improve on the existing areas", he said. Stressing for an effective awareness programme to educate masses about the evils of begging, Mishra said, "we may take up the task for creating awareness on a large scale". "The approach to address the issue has fallen far short of what was initially planned or devised, ...And that is exactly why we still have them (beggars) despite various Government agencies, policies and rehabilitation homes," said a senior welfare officer in the deptt of social welfare and empowerment. "We don’t need more resources but a ‘strategy’ to uproot this social weed," he said. The national capital adopted the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act 1959 on 1st of March 1961. Under the Act, 12 statutory institutions — 10 for male beggars and two for female beggars — were set up for the prevention of begging; detention, training and employment of the beggars and also for the custody, trial and punishment of beggar offenders. Of these 12 institutes are acting as custodial homes, two also double up as Reception cum Classification Centres (RCC) where beggars, found soliciting or receiving alms in a public place, are kept during the pendency of their inquiry or conviction by the court. There are also some allegations that police has been wrongfully apprehending even the non-beggars in large numbers as it tends to shy away from the subsequent responsibilities. Joint Commissioner of Police Amod Kanth, however, says that there could be a possibility that police might have erroneously detained richshaw pullers or labourers but "it is purely a matter of investigation". Kanth strongly advocated that the raiding operations should be conducted "jointly" by the Police and Welfare Dept for picking up the beggars, as this would greatly minimise the instance of wrongful apprehension as allegedly claimed by some of the Government-run homes. "No doubt, the Welfare Deptt is far competent an agency to judge whether a person is a professional beggar or not and if the person is to be detained under the act. This coordination will, of course, iron out the discrepancies, if any," he said. (PTI) |
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‘Opposition cannot provide dependable, durable Govt’ CHENNAI, May 6: BJP leader and Union Minister Murli Manohar Joshi today said the opposition alliance in the five states going to the Assembly polls on May 10, would not be able to provide a ‘dependable, durable and development oriented’ Government, which can be provided only by NDA. The opposition had different types of alliances in various states and such groupings were not on a long term basis and they could not provide a good government, he said participating in a meet-the-press programme organised here by the Chennai reporters guild. "Opposition parties can come together, but it has to be on the basis of an understanding and on a long term basis. What we find is that they are not even able to have joint campaigns and oppose each other in one part and are together in another part," he said. People would judge what type of alliance was "durale, dependable and development oriented", he said adding the people of Tamil Nadu would `appreciate’ and support the NDA. Elaborating on how successful the NDA Government headed by Prime Minister A B Vajpayee has been during its three-year rule, Joshi said the opposition conglomeration was not based on a pattern that could lead to a healthy situation. Asked whether he thought more time should be given for a successful opposition grouping to emerge, Joshi, who was here enroute to Madurai, said opposition experiment was not dependable as even in the same state "you have different status. This is slightly shaky", he said. Asked to comment on various opinion polls, which predicted a victory for AIADMK front in Tamil Nadu, he said "predictions may or may not be true. But the mood of the electorate in Tamil Nadu was in favour of NDA, which is going to sweep the polls". He said though BJP had not sought power sharing in the event of NDA’s victory in the state, all NDA partners going to polls together would support the DMK Government. "Power sharing does not assume primacy for us. What matters is supporting one of the NDA partner, who may form the government", he said. On introduction of Sanskrit, he said it was not mandatory for the states to introduce Sanskrit. "All states were free to have their own curriculum. National Council for Education Research and Training only provides a framework. Making syllabus and writing books are the job of the State Government," he said. (PTI) |
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Work permits for Bangladeshi migrants SILCHAR (ASSAM), May 6: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said the Centre was considering a proposal to give work permits to migrants from Bangladesh who could not be evicted due to certain problems. "The Centre is seriously considering the proposal to issue work permits to Bangladeshi migrants who are suspected to be foreigners but could not be evicted due to a host of legal and constitutional problems", Vajpayee told a mammoth election rally for the AGP-BJP candidates at the police parade ground here. Vajpayee said the names of these infiltrators would be registered after a thorough scrutiny and then allowed to stay in the country till the issue of the Illegal Migrants’ Determination by Tribunal (IMDT) Act was resolved. The Prime Minister admitted that deportation of the Bangladeshis from Assam at present was impossible because of many "legal problems and constitutional hindrances". His Government, he said, was committed to the development of the north east and had already announced a package of projects to ensure the speedy progress of the region. He said the package included custom relief, incentives for entrepreneurs and several measures to curb unemployment in the region. The Prime Minister said the Centre had already approved a Rs 4,000 crore power project under the central sector at Tipaimukh in Manipur which would generate 1200 mw per day. He regretted that the earlier Governments at the Centre had not attached much importance to the power sector which resulted in slow rate of development in the country. Vajpayee said, ISI agents were active in the north east and were behind the subversive activities in the region. He asked the Pakistani Government to "withdraw these elements from the north east without delay". Referring to the ongoing violence in Assam, Vajpayee said the people here were politically mature and must not be cowed by threats. "The most befitting reply to the violence unleashed by militants would be for the people to come out and exercise their franchise without any fear. Ballot must prevail over the bullet in a democracy", the Prime Minister added. The National Democratic Alliance Government at the Centre, he said, was committed to implement the Silchar-Saurashtra national highway scheme along with the other from Kashmir to Kanyamkumari to bond the country through villages and cities. (PTI) |
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