Excelsior... Nation

Conversion ordinance innocuous but likely
to be misused: Church

NEW DELHI, Oct 11: The recent ordinance of the Tamil Nadu Government on conversion had an "inherent danger" of being misinterpreted against the minority community, Delhi archbishop Vincent M Concessao today said and did not rule out going to the court or seeking the Centre’s intervention in the matter.

"At the face of it, the ordinance looks extremely innocuous and nobody should object to it per se. But given the persecution campaign against the minorities, the church has the apprehension that it may be misinterpreted by vested political interests," Archbishop Concessao told a press conference here.

Accusing the Jayalalitha Government of "showing unnecessary hurry" in promulgating the controversial ordinance, he said the church broadly agreed with terms like "inducement", "allurement" and "force" to ban conversions in the country.

But it was important to define ‘inducement’ and ‘force’ beyond any shred of doubt so that the ordinance was not used as a weapon against a person’s freedom to choose his nor her religion, he said, the church was studying threadware the legal implications of the decree before embarking upon its future course of action.

"A temple gives charity to the needy. A gurdwara organises langars (free community kitchen). A church offers scholarships to poor students or medical help to the sick people. Can these be called as inducements?" asked the archbishop.

Asked about the reasons for promulgating such an ordinance by the Tamil Nadu Government, the cleric said it was "quizzical" for him to fathom the motives behind it, especially when the Assembly was to meet soon. "But politicians have their own motives which we do not know." Strongly refuting allegations that the church in India was instigating mass conversions, archbishop concessao said "some 40 years ago, the Vatican had made it amply clear that the church should condemn even the trace of coercion to effect a conversion. This is the bedrock of the Catholic faith."

He said conversions did take place in India, but these were not on a mass scale. "If an individual is drawn to the church on his own volition and because of its ideology, nobody should object to it," he remarked. "Our faith is the greatest gift bestowed upon us by god and the church feels happy to share it with others. Of Gujarat, which led Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to call for a national debate on the issue, Dr Emmanuel said a fact-finding team of the National Commission of Minorities, which visited the area, found that there was just a single instance of conversion and that, too, from Christianity to Hinduism.

He also blamed political leaders for their "double-standards" on the issue of conversion to other religions. "Every year, people convert to Buddhism on the Ambedkar Jayanti day. The BJP has also given a call for ‘Ghar Wapsi’ (back to the Hindu fold). Conversion has now become a stick only to beat the Christians with," he regretted. (UNI)

Teachers should be encouraged to go to
rural areas: Jacob

CHANDIGARH, Oct 11: Punjab Governor and UT administrator, Lt Gen (Retd) J F R Jacob today underlined the need for paying more attention to the education in rural areas and slums, saying 70 per cent population of India lives in the rural areas.

Speaking after presenting Tara Chand Saboo excellence awards in school teaching for the year 2002 for the school teachers of the city, here, General Jacob said that teachers should be encouraged to go to rural areas and slums to teach the future generation.

He said that the country could emerge as a major power if we concentrate in developing human resource in the rural areas.

Speaking about changes brought into education system by the gloablisation and computerisation, Jacob said that the internet has brought a sea change in the education system and we have to prepare our children to face the challenges posed by new technology. He said that India cannot be left behind due to rapid changes in technology.

He said that teaching is the noblest of all professions but often, did not get the recognition it deserved.

He said that Chandigarh was conceived as a city of learning and culture and each school should strive for achieving the highest standard of education and teaching, combining innovative modern methods with time tested traditional principles.

Emphasising the need of sports, Jacob said that sadly sports are neglected in schools and we should pay more attention in encouraging the children to play traditional games, he was quoted as saying by an official release here.

Earlier, R K Saboo, the trustee chairman of Jan Seva Trust of Saboo family, which instituted the awards, spoke about the relevance of recognising the school teachers who are the architects of building a great nation by infusing qualities of discipline and hard work amongst the children.

General Jacob presented the awards to the winners of this year.

The excellence award for life time achievement, which carried a citation and Rs 50,000 was received by Mrs S Khorana, Principal, Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary School, sector 22, Chandigarh who set up the school with four children in 1955.

The other three awards carried a citation and Rs 20,000 each which included excellence award for school teaching which was won by Anuradha of Institute for the Blind, sector 26, Chandigarh for her dedication and involvement in teaching the blind children.

The excellence award for teaching in rural areas was given to Sartul Singh of Government high school, village Kaimbwala, who has opted to teach in a rural school for last several years.

The excellence award for young teachers was awarded to Koushik Sinha of Mount Carmel School, sector 47b, Chandigarh for his all round participation and involvement of students in extracurricular activities.

The jury comprised of Vibha Parthasarathy, for chairperson of the National Commission for women and former principal of Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, New Delhi, Anuradha Gupta, IAS, Hari Jai Singh, editor, The Tribune and J Veeraraghavan, currently director of Delhi Kendra of Bhavan Vidyalaya. (PTI)

Shekhawat launches JP’s birth centenary celeberations

NEW DELHI, Oct 11: Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat today launched the birth centenary celeberations of Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan here by releasing a commemorative coin, and lauded his programmes and ideology towards social uplift and poverty alleviation.

Mr Shekhawat also opened an exhibition on the life and works of the great socialist leader and released a sovenir on the occasion. The exhibition would be held all over the country, starting from Sitabdiyara, JP’s native village on the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border.

Speaking at a function organsied by the Culture Department and attended by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, close associates of JP, like Nanaji Deshmukh and former Prime Minister Chandarshekhar, the Vice President said Mr Jayaprakash Narayan was a great follower of democratic norms and had never aspired for any post or power.

Mr Shekhawat, who also heads the JP birth centenary committee, was all praise for the "Antodaya"scheme for the poor conceptualised by the Lok Nayak. In fact , he recalled that as Rajasthan Chief Minister in 1977, he had impelmented the scheme in the State with all success.

The Vice-President said despite his not holding any political post, JP had the moral power to have control on those who were in power. This control emanated from the support of the masses he had all through his public life, he added. Mr Advani,in his brief address, said that his political career was greatly influenced by Jayaprakash Narayan along with BJP’s ideologues Deen Dayal Upadhayay and Nanaji Deshmukh.

He said his unflinching faith in democracy was exemplary and worth emulating by those who were in politics. He had immense sympathy for the poor and downtrodden and his life revolved around this only, said Mr Advani.

Mr Chandrashekhar, another follower of JP, was all praise for the socialist leader, saying his association with him was the best part of his life. He was especially appreciative of the social works of Nanaji Deshmukh in Chitrakoot, a religious place in Uttar Pradesh.

Culture Minister Jagmohan announced a slew of programmes and projects to be taken up during the JP birth centenary. Apart from the exhibition, a full length film on Loknayak’s life, would be made and parks, public library, institutes, hospital and colleges would be named after him, said Mr Jagmohan. He also announced to name the national mission for develeopment of wasteland and natural resources after the Loknayak.

Uttaranchal Governor Surjit Singh Barnala, Union Minsiter of State Digvijay Singh and distinguished guests were present on the occasion. (UNI)

SC issues notice to Krishna on TN’s contempt petition

NEW DELHI, Oct 11: For the second time within a month, the Supreme Court today issued notices to Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna, Water Resources Minister H K Patil and State Chief Secretary A Ravindra on a contempt petition filed by Tamil Nadu accusing the State of "wifully" disobeying court’s October four order to release 9000 cusecs of Cauvery water.

A three-judge bench comprising Justice V N Khare, Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S B Sinha, however, exempted the three from personal appearance "for the time being" while asking them to file their reply to the petition one or before October 22.

The bench posted the contempt petition for hearing on October 24, when the previous contempt petition filed by Tamil Nadu accusing Karnataka of violating the apex court’s September three and Cauvery river authority’s September eight decision on release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

Quantifying the damage due to continued non-release of Cauvery water by Karnataka at Rs 2930 crore, Tamil Nadu counsel K K Venugopal said the entire Kuruvai crop was destroyed and the samba crops would meet the same fate.

He said the gameplan of Karnataka was to divert the Cauvery waters to its six lakh hectares of cultivable land so that Tamil Nadu becomes totally dependant on it for food.

"Do they want something serious to happen in the state of Tamil Nadu? do they want balkanisation of States," the counsel posed the query and criticised the neighbouring State for adopting a stand of "your farmers and my farmers".

The court on September three had ordered Karnataka to release 1.25 tmc ft water to Tamil Nadu’s mettur reservoir everyday till a final decision was taken by the Cauvery River Authority (CRA).

The CRA headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on September eight directed Karnataka to release 9000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu in its first contempt petition, on which the court had issued notices to Krishna and others on September 23, had alleged that Karntaka did not implement both - the apex court’s order and that of the CRA.

On October four, the Supreme Court adjourned hearing on the contempt petition till October 24 and directed in the interim order that Karnataka would release 9000 cusecs (approx 0.8 tmcft) of Cauvery water daily to Tamil Nadu in accordance with the order of the CRA.

Tamil Nadu on October eight filed the second contempt petition requesting the Supreme Court to punish Krishna, Patil and Ravindra accusing them of committing gross contempt of court by "wilfully" violating its orders.

The Jayalalithaa Government, while seeking compensation for the damage to the crops, dragged the Union Government into the scene by requesting the court to direct the Centre to issue a direction to Karnataka under Article 256 of the Constitution for implementing the orders of the apex court.

In another plea, Tamil Nadu had requested the court to direct the registry not to list any petition, appeal or application filed by Karnataka till it implemented the court’s directive. (PTI)

Angry young man turns 60
Amitabh wished a happy birthday

MUMBAI, Oct 11: The ‘Angry young man’ of Hindi cinema, who catapulted to unprecedented fame and whipped up mass hysteria as he essayed various roles, Amitabh Bachchan turned 60 today.

A demure gawky looking youth, Bachchan, who was turned down by a film maker and dubbed a ‘sure failure’ for his lanky looks, today cut his 60th birthday cake in the presence of family members, media and host of fans, who waited patiently to wish the star on his birthday and for retaining his reigning position in the film industry for three decades.

The birthday celebrations began with the star, who arrived from Tirupathi this morning, personally coming out of the house to accept bouquets, mementoes, laminated portraits and warm handshakes of scores of die-hard fans, who thronged his suburban residence.

The celebration mood at ‘Prateeksha’, the Juhu cesidence of the star became apparent as fans shouted and cheered aloud wishing him a long healthy life even as a series of flower baskets, birthday cards and personal messages poured in from all over the country to wish the ‘angry young man-turned senior citizen’ many happy returns of the day.

The festivity continued through the latter half of the day as Amitabh’s wife jaya presented him with a coffee table book ‘to be or not to be Amitabh Bachchan’. His son Abhishek, daughter Shweta and grandchildren joining in the birthday revelry.

Recounting the various sleepless nights and moments of nostalgia in the making of the book, Jaya said the concept of the book arose out of a desire to present an ‘Apt gift’ to the mega star on his birthday.

The book launch and the cutting of the book-shaped chocolate birthday cake in a suburban five-star hotel held many emotional moments as the entire Bachchan family recounted their association with the actor with Moist eyes.

Actor Abishek recounted how his expected one-page essay on his father turned out to be 50-page article before it was crisply edited to a few paragraphs.

Daughter Shweta recollected the various precious moments she had shared with her star-father who never let go of his human element. ‘He continues to be an important figure in our lives, influencing us at every turn’, she said.

The touching moment of the evening was when the ‘Birthday Boy’ broke down while talking about the unconditional support lent to him by his family and his close friend Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh in moments of ecstacy and tribulations.

An emotional Amitabh also expressed his heartfelt gratitude to his fans who remained loyal to him in both his high and low phases.

‘It is difficult to hold back tears in moments like these...It is difficult to explain what all my fans mean to me and why they shower me with such love. But I continue to reciprocate to their love and affection everytime I come before the camera’, he said.

‘At 60 there are challenges to be faced. It is important for an artist to keep moving, to keep creating...And I want to continue working’, he added. (PTI)

Jaya justifies conversion ordinance

CHENNAI, Oct 11: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today defended the state Government’s ordinance on prohibition of forcible conversion of religion, saying it sought to protect the weaker sections of the society from exploitation and will not encroach upon the freedom of minority groups.

Responding to the "knee-jerk reactions of disapproval from certain sections of the media and some religious heads" to the ordinance, Ms Jayalalithaa, in a statement here, said "the ordinance is not directed against any particular religion, least of all any minority religion. It is directed against the use of fraudulent means, allurement and force in enticing individuals into changing their religious denomination against their will".

"A simple reading of the ordinance will clearly show that it contains no reference to any particular religion", she said.

"It clearly recognises and provides for action to be taken to arrest a disturbing trend found in various parts of Tamil Nadu, as reported and documented, where inducements, monetary and material, fraudulent and clandestine, have been adopted by some persons and institutions to convert people to another religion, capitalising on their poverty, illiteracy and ignorance", she said.

Ms Jayalalithaa said Article 25 of the Constitution, which guaranteed the right to profess, practice and propagate religion, did not extend a licence to secure a change in the religious denomination of an individual against his/her will by exploiting the conditions of poverty and illiteracy.

Disagreeing with the criticism that the ordinance intended to cover minorities alone, she said a reading of the ordinance would clearly show that conversion by use of force or allurement or fraudulent means was an offence on the part of whoever committed it.

Allaying apprehensions of intimidation and harassment, Ms Jayalalithaa said the question of determining whether fraudulent means have been employed and what constituted force or allurement was subject to judicial review.

The remarks by certain sections of the press that the ordinance had subordinated the freedom of religion ‘’to the minions of law or the bureaucracy’’ was a sweeping and devastating indictment, she observed.

Flaying the Congress for its demand to repeal the ordinance, she asked "why has the Congress president not asked Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister (a Congress-ruled state) to repeal this Act. Then why are they crying themselves hypocritically hoarse in sanctimonious self-righteousness and pseudo secular tones about the minorities being affected".

Ms Jayalalithaa said the eclectic origins of Indian society with multifarious religious denominations could not be allowed to be exploited by unscrupulous forces, often funded by dubious and anti-national sources from foreign countries to de-stabilise the social structure.

"To shy away from making laws to protect the vulnerable sections of society from inducements that interfere with their freedom of choice in pursuing their own religion, by raising the bogey of misuse of authority, is not liberalism but an enemy of liberty per se", she said.

"In the turbulent cauldron of India’s multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-class and multi-lingual society, the soft state is not a viable model if our democractic and secular character is to be preserved", Ms Jayalalithaa contended.

Asserting that Tamil Nadu was right in promulgating the ordinance, she said even the Supreme Court in its 1977 ruling in the Stanislaus vs State of Madhya Pradesh case, had held that the right to propagate one’s religion (by advocacy or preaching) does not include the right to convert another.

Referring to criticism connecting the AIADMK Government to Hindu fundamentalism, she said the AIADMK was a value based party that acted on its own ideological convictions.

The AIADMK Government, which derived its strength from the dravidian ideals of rationalist leader ‘Periyar’ E V Ramasamy, late Chief Ministers C N Annadurai and M G Ramachandran, always stood for protecting the weak and downtrodden in the society, she claimed.(UNI)