Endowment lands should not be sold away: BJP

VIJAYAWADA, Nov 29: Andhra Pradesh BJP president Chilkam Ramachandra Reddy today said the Government should not sell away endowment lands but instead increase the lease amount to financially strengthen the temples.

‘The Government has no right to sell the land as yesteryears’ Zamindars and landlords had gifted the respective lands to temples. Instead of selling away the lands, the Government should increase the lease amount so that there is a flow of finance for the maintenance of the temples’, Reddy, who is here to oversee the membership drive, told a press conference.

He advocated construction of more community halls in Dalit areas than constructing Kalyanamandapams with huge funds.

The Government should set up more of ‘Veda Pathashalas’ to keep up the Indian tradition and culture, which will also help in further strengthening the traditions by training more and more ‘Pandits’.

‘There is a good demand for Veda Pandits in foreign countries to look after Hindu temples. When employment exchanges have lost its significance, the Government should take up a drive towards creating employment potentialities through various sources’, he suggested.

Referring to the membership drive, Reddy said as against 17.80 lakh ordinary members in the State, the present enrolment would jack it up to 25 lakhs and even the active membership would be increased.

He said the memebership drive would be over by December one and the elections for party organisaions at all mandals and districts would be taken up in Janauray next.

Claiming that there was enthusiasm among all sections of people specially of minorities, Reddy said in the present elections, more new faces could be found at all levels.

Membership drive was taken with all sincerity to strengthen the cadre even at the grass-root level. (PTI)

Dissidents planning to rope in national leaders

LUCKNOW, Nov 29: The dissident BJP legislators in Uttar Pradesh have decided to rope in national leaders of some political parties to take up their cause and to make as a national issue their "persecution" at the hands of the Mayawati Government.

Several leaders, including the two former Prime Ministers Vishwanath Pratap Singh and Chandrashekhar, former Union Ministers Ram Vilas Paswan, former Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Yadav and Samata Party’s Prabhunath Singh, were expected to visit the State in the first week of December to register their protest against the "persecution" of dissident legislators in the State, dissidents’ sources here told PTI today.

The dissident MLAs had also reportedly sought the help of Congress president Sonia Gandhi in this regard, sources said.

They alleged that a case of land grabbing had been registered against two dissident legislators Bharat Tripathi and Narendra Verma at Sitapur.

Sources also said the dissidents would hold a meeting here tomorrow to chalk out their future course of action.

Spokesman of the committee, Ramashish Rai, who recently visited Delhi, reportedly met senior opposition leaders and apprised them of their "persecution."

Chandrashekhar and Paswan were likely to meet the jailed independent MLA Raja Bhaiya at Banda jail in the next few days sources claimed.

The dissidents said that it was the "duty" of the opposition parties to "unitedly launch an agitation to expose" the "autocratic" attitude of the Mayawati Government.

They claimed that V P Singh and Laloo Yadav had also assured them that they would tour the State to particpate in the agitational programmes.

Jailed MLA Dhananjay Singh had also sought intervention of the President A P J Abdul Kalam to direct the Government to seek a fresh vote of confidence by convening a special session of the Vidhan Sabha.

Singh also urged the President to intervene in the "persecution" of dissident legislators. (PTI)

Govt accused of double speak on cross-border terrorism

NEW DELHI, Nov 29: Accusing the Government of speaking in two voices on the issue of cross-border terrorism, the Congress in the Lok Sabha today demanded that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee should clarify the position.

Raising the issue during zero hour, Congress chief whip P R Dasmunsi quoted Defence Minister George Fernandes as saying in Parliament in reply to question that mobilisation of troops had achieved quitportedly said the mobilisation exerted military pressure on Pakistan and forced the Pakistani President to denounce support to ‘Jehad’ through his speeches of January 12 and May 27.

"Some of the terrorist organisations in Pakistan were banned, some terrorist camps in PoK were closed, their accounts frozen and leaders arrested. The infiltration this year has come down considerably compared to the figures of the corresponding period of the previous year," Fernandes was quoted as saying.

Dasmunsi contended that External Affairs Ministry was giving a different line saying Pakistan has done nothing to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure operating from its soil.

MEA officials maintained that after an initial dip, infiltration levels had shot up and even increased to the corresponding levels of last year, Dasmunsi quoted from a newspaper report.

MEA figures showed after Musharraf’s May 27 declaration of ending infiltration, there had been an increase in the infiltration level. There were 1,624 incidents after May 27 as compared to 1,403 in the sixt-month period before that.

Dasmunsi said the differing views had created confusion among the people and was only helping the Pakistan President.

"Government cannot keep quiet on this issue," he said demanding "Prime Minister should come to the House and clarify the situation".

As the Congress member persisted with his demand, speaker Manohar Joshi requested Law Minister K Jana Krishnamurthy, who was present in the House, to bring the matter to the notice of the Prime Minister. (PTI)

I can’t be denied right to motherhood: Young woman

CHANDIGARH, Nov 29: Punjab State Human Rights Commission has taken cognisance of the first ever petition of its kind by a young woman claiming that "right to motherhood" is part and parcel of her basic human rights and she cannot be deprived of the same on account of the fact that her husband is serving a jail term.

Conceding that there was no room for intervention, the commission wanted the matter to be studied from all possible angles as it was quite relevant.

The 31-year-old Kalpana Daniel in her petition has pleaded that she cannot be denied "right to motherhood" and should be allowed to cohabit with her husband.

"The complainant’s husband has been convicted by a due process of law and she happens to be his wife. She has argued, being denied `right to motherhood’ is tantamount to denial of her basic human rights," a top PSHRC official said today.

Taking cognisance of the plea on the grounds that the issue raised in the complaint is "quite interesting and has relevance on basic human rights," PSHRC’s acting chairperson N K Arora has directed the Additional Director General of Police (Prisons), Punjab, "to study the matter from all possible angles keeping in view the existing provisions of the jail manual," says the order passed by the Commission.

"After going through the contents of the complaint, the commission does not find on the face of it, any room for intervention, particularly when the conviction of husband of the complainant is a matter of adjudication before the hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High Court," the order says.

It, however, adds that the basic issue raised in the complaint is one of "larger concern".

"The complainant, as a person, may legitimately feel that she has a basic right to motherhood, which has been temporarily rendered non-exercisable because of no fault of hers," says the order.

The order says the Commission is not aware of any provision within the framework of the jail manual under which some kind of relief could be considered in favour of the complainant.

"In fact, the PSHRC would not even know if she is already a mother or about the term of conviction of her husband," said the official.

"It is an issue which has far reaching implications and needs to be debated and deliberated upon," says a human rights lawyer Charanjit Singh Bakhshi.

"Daniel is seeking the implementation of a moral right by seeking co-habitation with her husband to conceive a baby. However, it needs to be debated if a state can confer upon the accused (Daniel’s husband) the right to liberty (by releasing him), which may infringe upon the right to security of the people or that of the state," Bakhshi argues.

He said that it remains to be seen if some provision or arrangement could be worked out which will enable the couple to meet at some place in the jail premises where the complainant’s husband was lodged.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact Daniel at the address given by her in the complaint with the PSHRC proved futile. She has given an address of new Preet Nagar locality in Ludhiana.

The family living at the address said that Daniel had never lived there and was now believed to be living in Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

Kalpana Daniel has filed the complaint with the PSHRC giving a "C/O" address of one Rishi Bhardwaj, who himself was not available today. Enquiries made with the people living in the neighbourhood of Daniel’s given address, revealed that she was earlier working as a nurse and her husband, who is currently serving a jail term, was formerly employed in a Ludhiana Hospital. (PTI)

In Naroda Patia fear is still palpable

AHMEDABAD, Nov 29: The Godhra train arson and the ensuing violence in Gujarat may have been reduced to a topic of academic discussion for many today, but in the industry dominated Naroda Patia, where 89 people were killed, the fear is still palpable.

Frequent rumours do the rounds in Naroda Patia that its residents will be attacked again, once the Assembly election results are declared, creating a fear psychosis.

The hurt of being targeted in the riots lingers on in the locality, one just has to scratch the surface.

The area, on the city’s outskirts, bears the look of a locality under siege, with most houses having permanently closed windows and doors in a kind of a self-imposed curfew by the residents.

Added to this is the fact that, even after nine months since the violence, only about 2,400 people have returned to Naroda Patia of the earlier population of about 6,000 people residing in 1200 odd houses, of which ten per cent are Hindus, according to one estimate.

The December 12 election has the locals worried. Many fear that the law and order situation here would deteriorate once the poll results are out and that they would be victimised yet again.

However, irrespective of their religion, the residents of Naroda Patia are unanimous on two counts — that all of them will vote and that they will flee their homes when the expected bout of violence breaks out and would return only after it was safe. Sixty-year-old Rafiq Sheikh, a street vendor who sells goods from fruits and vegetables to ice-creams in this area, told UNI that he would certainly exercise his franchise but his choice of candidate would not be dictated by the latter’s religion.

Sheikh, whose means of livelihood was destroyed in the riots, said rumours were still going around that the residents would be attacked again and so the entire locality wears a deserted look at night fall.

While thanking Allah for sparing the lives of his near and dear ones in the violence, he said he would stay away on December 12, fearing violence after the present security cover was removed.

In response to another query, he said his family would definitely obey the "Fatwa" of their local Imam (priest) asking community members to cast their votes for a particular candidate.

Seventy-five-year-old Mehrunisa is a bitter person today, having been permanently scarred in the violence. Her house and other property was completely destroyed in the riots.

In response to a question she remarks in a sarcastic vein, "I will vote for caretaker Chief Minister Narendra Modi if he promises to attack us again and kill me since life has been reduced to nothing but sheer hell now."

Another resident, Sabbir Raja Chauhan (30), a flour mill owner, faces financial ruin. He opined that there was nothing left for him in the locality. He plans to sell his shop and residence and move to another locality dominated by the minority community. Sabbir, who had set up his flour mill and home just a month before the riots broke out, had utilised the money from his father’s gratuity fund after he retired from the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC).

He claimed to have already sold his shop. The name of the mill has been changed from "Khwaja Flour Mills" to "Krishak Flour Mill", as per the wishes of the new Marathi owner.

He rued that his dreams of living a peaceful and prosperous life with his family, comprising his parents, wife, two kids and elder sister, were shattered due to the violence.

Earlier, he used to was earn Rs 300 per day but was now working for Rs 80 as a daily wager in another flour mill in the Muslim dominated Danilimbda area of the city.

Outsiders may feel that following the riots, a deep wedge had been driven between the Hindus and the Muslims residing in Naroda Patia but this is far from the truth, claimed another resident, 35-year-old Hansaben Vaijnath Behari.

"Nothing has changed for us and we still live together like we were doing before the riots," she said.

She also recalled that on that fateful day of March 1, she and her family members had fled from the scene after being attacked by a violent mob.

Hansaben felt that by continuing to live together, members of both communities were providing morale courage to each other.

"Unki Himmat Se Hum Hain Or Hamari Himmat Se Woh" (we are providing each other with moral support by continuing to stay together), she said.

A similar view was expressed by another shopkeeper, Shankarbhai Vaghela, owner of Shankar Kirana stores. He said there was no tension between him and his tenant (a Muslim). However, another Muslim tenant had left the place for reasons of personal safety. (UNI)

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