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Badal’s murder-plot charge is loss of nerve:Amarinder

CHANDIGARH, Oct 5: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today described the murder-plot charge levelled against him by his predecessor Parkash Singh Badal as ‘’ loss of nerve on his part when corruption probe is closing on him ‘’.

A Punjab Government statement released minutes before the Chief Minister talked with journalists here said, " whenever there has been crisis even in the past troubled decade in Punjab, Mr Badal has always lost his nerve and , in fact, during those troubled years (he-Badal) tried to please and do deals with the militant organisations to save himself."

Rephrasing the statement, the Chief Minister said, " Badal panics in crisis situation....During militancy also he struck deals with terrorists to save himself. But he knows he cannot strike a deal with my Government on the corruption probe against him... And hence the ridiculous charge against me."

The former Chief Minister, at a news conference here yesterday, had alleged that Captain Amarinder Singh and his friend Ravi Inder Singh were hatching a conspiracy to kill him. Ravi, an erstwhile colleague of Badal and former Punjab Assembly Speaker, had dismissed the charge as " Badal’s hallucination".

Asked what could motivated Badal to level such a serious allegation against him, the Chief Minister said, " he is feeling cornered because the police probe into corruption charges against him is closing in on him ", adding various wings of Punjab police, including the intelligence, vigilance and crime, are on the job.

Asked as to why his Government has not been able to prosecute Badal even seven months after assuming charge of the office, Amarinder said, " we do not want to leave any lacunae in investigation to secure his (Badal) conviction " on corruption charges. " We pray to the Almighty for his good health so that he is there to face prosecution," Amarinder added.

The Chief Minister said there was no security angle to the charge, adding Badal and his family have been provided 117 security personnel and several vehicles. The former Chief Minister personally has been given security cover by 66 personnel, including 25 NSG commandoes, two bullet-proof cars, two gypsies and two mini buses, adding his security was being supervised by an officer of an SP rank of his own choice. "I am ready to double Badal’s security if he wants," the Chief Minister added.

The official statement said," however, the charge that he has levelled is serious and the Chief Minister has decided to personally write to the Union Home Minister to ask him to make available whatever evidence he (Advani) may have to substantiate this charge." Badal has Z plus security and threat perception to his life is jointly assessed by the Central and State intelligence agencies.

The Chief Minister said Badal was already under investigation on corruption charges and his Government wanted him to be healthy and in a fit position to face the law of the land once cases (against him ) came to court.

Amarinder said Badal’s political career should have ended a long time ago because of the policies he has followed in Punjab but the time seems to have now come for him to meet his " political nemesis".

The Chief Minister said," Mr Badal is too elderly a politician for me to give any advice (on ) following a clean and pro-people politics. It is for the leadership of his (Badal) party to guide him on this path."

The Chief Minister said although "Badal enjoys security more than the prescribed norms for Z Plus but I have instructed IGP(Security) to review the security cover of the entire Badal family and ensure all necessary precautions ". He said, " IGP (Security) has confirmed after exchanging notes with the SP (Security) attached with Mr Badal that the security arrangements were more than satisfactory." Of the total 117 personnel detailed for the security of the former Chief Minister and his family, the statement said 51 personnel are looking after the security of his son, son-in-law, nephew and brother besides security vehicles.

The Chief Minister interacted with the media after laying the foundation stone of the building of Punjab and Haryana Bar Council. He announced a grant of Rs 25 lakh for the building, while local MP Pawan Bansal said he had recommended Rs ten lakh for it from the MP Fund for local area development.(UNI)

Narasimha Rao to critically appraise emergency years

VIJAYAWADA, Oct 5: Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao says he will critically appraise the emergency during the Indira Gandhi regime in his second volume of the book "Insider".

Mr Rao, who was Congress general secretary during the emergency days, said the book will also deal with the reasons for the fall of the Indira Gandhi regime in 1977. He was participating in a function here last night to mark the release of Telugu version of the first volume of "Insider" translated by journalist Kalipatnam Rama Rao.

Making it clear that he was not dealing with his five-year rule in his second volume as it was too contemporory, he, however invited questions from citizens regarding any aspect of his rule.

Mr Rao, who watched the working of the political system from close quarters handling key portfolios of External Affairs, Defence and Home before becoming the Prime Minister, said so far, he had received about 80 questions and proposed to shortly come out with a book containing his replies.

He said while it was for the readers to decide whether he was supporting or criticising the late Mrs Indira Gandhi’s actions in his first volume which deals with among other things, the crisis in Indian politics following the death of Mr Jawaharlal Nehru. In his second volume he was making a more critical analysis of the events, including the reasons for the fall of the Indira Gandhi regime in 1977 . "This is for brain-storming the society and need not shower encomiums".

Mr Rao has already completed 23 chapters having 300 pages and is working on adding 40 more chapters to make it a "self-contained" volume.

Stating that he as a "political activist" analysed the working of the political system as an insider, Mr Rao said ``the scene shifts from State to the Centre in the second volume’’.

Architect of the new economic policy, Mr Rao maintained that in developing countries, the Government had a very important role to play in regulating the economy and this had not come down inspite of efforts to minimise the same.

"Under the nep first only a window was opened in 1991 and later a door. But it is not at all correct to remove the door itself paving the way for free entry and exit", he opined.

He revealed that the Oriya and Urdu versions of the first volume of "Isider" would be released shortly. (UNI)

Gun is no solution to terrorism: Fernandes

MUMBAI, Oct 5: Defence Minister George Fernandes says gun is no solution to end terrorism, the biggest challenge faced by the country.

If that was so, a super power like the US with its intelligence gathering would have been able to fulfill its ‘dream’ of capturing Osama bin Laden, dead or alive, in the last one year, Mr Fernandes said at a function to release the performance-sheet of Union Minister of State for Power Jaywantiben Mehta.

Whether it was terrorism in the North-East or Kashmir or the Naxalites violence in Maharashtra or Andhra Pradesh, the primary reason was poverty and unemployment, he said. "We have to think in this terms while tackling terrorism. There is no meaning in asking for the power of the gun while putting an end to this menace."

Mr Fernandes said the NDA Government had been taking concerted steps in dealing with terrorism keeping in mind wiping out the problem of unemployment. Till August last year, 42.3 million educated unemployed had been registered in employment exchanges across the country and the number was increasing every day.

He expressed hope that free and fair elections in Jammu and Kashmir would help the troubled state to alienate itself from terrorism and work towards development.

Referring to the allegations of army coercing people to vote in the elections in that State, Mr Fernandes said, "one should not insult the Indian army by levelling such allegations. It is the most discplined force in the world and its job is to ensure that there is no disruption in the poll process and no threat to the lives of the voters, election officials and candidates." Mr Fernandes dismissed allegations of an intelligence failure in the terrorist attack on the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar. He defended India’s decision to test the nuclear device in May 1998, saying China was already in posession of nuclear devices and Pakistan with China’s help had also developed nuclear capability.

Comparing China’s progress with that of India, he said India was ahead of China in all respects till 1955, but later its growth accelerated and now that country was much ahead of India.

BJP spokesman Arun Jaitley, supported the energy reforms and said the energy sector was the key area on which depended the nation’s development.

He said all States should play a major role in implementing of the reforms as energy was a state subject.

Credibility was a must for every politician which decided his fate in public life. Terrorism was the main concern facing the nation today, he said and charged Pakistan with making terrorism an instrument of its state policy. (UNI)

HC calls for investigation papers in Salman case

MUMBAI, Oct 5: Expressing dissatisfaction over the manner in which investigations were conducted into the hit and run case involving film actor Salman Khan, Mumbai High Court today directed police to submit the case papers on October seven and ordered the actor to remain present on that day.

The directions were issued by Justices A P Shah and Ranjana Desai on a Public Interest Litigation seeking review of provisions of motor vehicles act with regard to payment of compensation to victims, the sentence to criminal offenders and adoption of reformatory methods to prevent such unfortunate happenings.

The judges expressed anguish over the plight of victims and directed public prosecutor Jyoti Pawar to lend her assistance on the point of application of law in this case. She has been asked to find out whether Salman had been appropriately charged in this case.

The prosecutor informed the court that Advocate General Goolam Vahanvati was seized of the matter and would address the court on October 7.

The court ordered the petitioners — journalists Nikhil Wagle, Nilu Damle and Sudha Kulkarni of Mahila Dakshata Samiti — to serve notice on Salman Khan.

The PIL has raised certain legal issues with regard to compensation paid to victims. It urged that the compensation paid in road accidents concerning rash and negligent driving should be determined on the basis of paying capacity of the person on the wheel and not on earning capacity of victims. Citing several instances of actor Salman Khan’s alleged violent behavior with co-stars and his involvement in a black buck poaching case in Rajasthan, the PIL suggested that he desperately needed psychiatric or psychoanalytical treatment before another fatal outburst.

Counsel for the petitioners, Niteen Pradhan, urged the court to direct police to invoke the provisions of mental health act, 1987, in the case of Salman and get him treated by a psychiatric in a hospital until such time he recovered.

The PIL cited instances to indicate that Salman had in the past allegedly turned violent on shooting sets and physically assaulted co-star and friend Aishwarya Rai.

The actor had even ignored police complaints lodged by the Rai family against him and disturbed shooting schedule of the actress on many occasions earlier, the PIL said.

The petitioners said they were not at all suggesting, even impliedly, that he was a lunatic or mentally derailed. They said they had sympathy for Salman but the nuisance caused by him in the society was untolerable.

Raising gender issue, one of the petitioners, Sudha Kulkarni, has contended that Aishwarya Rai need not come to the court to seek protection in view of tantrums thrown by Salman on shooting sets. Every women has a right to dignity and the Supreme Court had laid down guidelines for sexual harassment at workplace.

In such cases, it was for the police or the director on the shooting sets to file a complaint against Salman and set the law into motion, the PIL contended. (PTI)

BJP faces crisis of trust in MP

BHOPAL, Oct 5: Senior BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh unit organisational secretary Kaptan Singh Solanki today admitted that his partymen were facing the "crisis of trust" in the State.

"The situation has to be accepted without hesitation. But the party has initiated the process of intensive mutual interaction among the party leaders and workers to do tackle with the crisis," he told UNI here.

Mr Solanki, who has a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) background, however, said the BJP was not the only party facing this situation. The scenario was the same in almost all political parties, including the ruling Congress, he added.

He expressed confidence that the BJP would overcome the situation soon paying heed to all.

About the "spiritual cleansing" fast by State vice-president Dr Gauri Shankar Shejwar for, what he called, his failure to win the confidence of State leadership, Mr Solanki said this was an example of the crisis of trust of which Dr Shejwar became a "symbol". Asked if Dr Shejwar was resenting being not made the state BJP working president after being removed from the important post of the leader of the opposition, Mr Solanki said there was no point in creating the post of working president when a full time state party chief was there.

Mr Solanki said the changes made were part of the organisational reshuffle. Mr Vikram Verma was asked to resign from the post of State unit chief as he was inducted into the Union cabinet. Being a legislator, Dr Shejwar could not be made Union Minister so he was made senior vice president, he added.

However, Mr Solanki described Dr Shejwar’s episode as uncalled for, saying it had an impact on the party. But such phenomenon surfaced in all political parties, he added.

In the recent reshuffle, Mr Solanki said several BJP leaders set an example by voluntarily quitting the ministerial posts and joining the party organisation. This was a part of the party’s long-term strategy which would bear positive results in the near future, he added.

He denied that the party’s young turks were disappointed by the appointment of veteran leaders Kailash Joshi and Babulal Gaur to the posts of State unit chief and leader of the opposition, respectively. "The party high command must have a thought in taking this decision."

He said the party leadership had full faith in the younger lot who had been given important responsibilities in the national and state executives.

On the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate for the Assembly elections in the State next year, he said he did not agree to the concept in principle. However, such a step could be taken, if required, in view of the people’s expectations and immediate political scene. (UNI)

Brahmins do not have monopoly to perform
temple Puja: SC

NEW DELHI, Oct 5: In a judgement of far reaching consequence, the Supreme Court has ruled that Brahmins do not have monopoly over performing puja in a temple and said a non-Brahmin, properly trained and well versed with the rituals, could be appointed as a Pujari.

"As long as anyone well versed and properly trained and qualified to perform the Puja in a manner conducive and appropriate to the worship of the particular deity, is appointed as Santhikaran (Pujari) dehors his predigree based on caste, no valid or legally justifiable grievance can be made in a court of law," the court said on Thursday.

This ruling was given by a bench comprising Justice S Rajendra Babu and Justice Doraiswamy Raju while upholding the appointment of a non-Brahmin as Pujari in Kongoopilly Neerikode Siva temple at Alangad village in Ernakulam, Kerala.

Justice Raju, writing for the bench, said no doubt only a qualified person well versed and properly trained for the purpose alone could perform Pujas in the temple since had not only to enter the sanctum sanctorium but also touch the idol installed therein.

"It therefore goes without saying that what is required and expected of one to perform the rituals and conduct poojas is to know the rituals to be performed and mantras, as necessary, to be recited for the particular deity and the method of worship or ordained thereof," he said.

The court said if traditionally or conventionally, in any temple, all along a Brahmin alone was conducting pujas or performing the job of Santhikaran, it might not be because a person other than the Brahmin was prohibited from doing so because he was not a Brahmin.

It might be because others were not in a position and, as a matter of fact, were prohibited from learning, reciting or mastering Vedic literature, rites or performance of rituals and wearing sacred thread by getting initiated into the order.

"Consequently there is no justification to insist that a Brahmin or Malayala Brahmin in this case, alone can perform the rited and rituals in the temple, as part of the rights and freedom guaranteed under article 25 of the constitution and further claim that any deviation would tantamount to violation of any such guarantee under the constitution," Justice Raju said.

The court said the vision of the founding fathers of constitution to liberate the society from blind and ritualistic adherence to mere traditional superstitious beliefs sans reason or rational basis has found expression in the form of Article 17 of the Constitution.

It said that nobody could contend that the rights under Article 25 and 26 would be violated if a non-Brahmin, even if he was duly qualified, was appointed as a pujari of a temple. (PTI)

Jaitley opposes right to recall

MUMBAI, Oct 5: Strongly defending the political class of the country, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley has said "right to recall an elected representative might be harmful for our democracy".

"The right to recall option strongly favoured even by leaders like Jaiprakash Narain, majority of the urban middle class and a section of intelligentsia is not a feasible option given the country’s divided polity", Jaitley said here last night.

"It (the right to recall) may lead to anarchy", the BJP spokesman said while speaking on the occasion of release of project report of works done by Union Minister of State for Energy Jaiwantiben Mehta in her south Mumbai constituency.

Given the country’s divided polity and multi cornered contests, it is difficult for a candidate to secure 51 per cent of votes and those emerging victorious by getting 25-30 per cent votes could be recalled easily leading to anarchy, Jaitley said.

Stoutly defending political leaders, he claimed that an elected representative was the most accountable person.

"The elected representative is questioned by the people, his partymen and fellow members in Parliament", he added.

"He (the political leader) has to face everything keeping a smiling face despite accountability and criticism", Jaitley said adding, on the contrary there is no accountability for the bureaucracy or the judicial system.

Defence Minister George Fernandes, who was also present on the occasion, however, said "if today’s politics is not amended, then it will be not be able to achieve its objective."

"Instead of reflecting people’s sorrow and happiness, today’s politics is revolving around the political leaders," Fernandes stated.

He also lamented that Lok Sabha’s question hour, to highlight the problems faced by the Common Man, could take up only 3-4 starred questions now, instead of 30 questions in the past.

The elected representatives have now "forgotten the basic objective of the question hour," Fernandes added.(PTI)