LONDON, Jan 14:

British Prime Minister David Cameron today ordered an urgent investigation into a decision by Margaret Thatcher’s Government to send an SAS officer to India in 1984 to advise Indira Gandhi in planning Operation Bluestar to flush out militants holed up in the Golden Temple.
Cameron asked Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood to conduct the investigation after documents declassified under the 30-year rule suggested a British special forces officer advised the Indians on carrying out the attack.
The premier’s spokesman said the investigation will examine two issues – British action in 1984 and the decision to release such sensitive Government papers.
Labour MP Tom Watson and Lord Indarjit Singh had demanded an explanation after documents made public over the New Year indicated that an officer of Britain’s Special Air Service (SAS) was dispatched to help India plan for the raid on the Golden Temple, an operation that left over 1,000 people dead.
“These events led to a tragic loss of life and we understand the very legitimate concerns that these papers will raise. The Prime Minister has asked the Cabinet Secretary to look into this case urgently and establish the facts,” a Government spokesman said.
“The PM and the Foreign Secretary were unaware of these papers prior to publication. Any requests today for advice from foreign Governments are always evaluated carefully with full Ministerial oversight and appropriate legal advice.”
The documents being referenced were released by the National Archives in London under the 30-year declassification rule as part of a series over the New Year.
A “top secret and personal” letter, dated February 23, 1984, nearly four months before the raid in Amritsar, and titled “Sikh Community”, stated: “The Indian authorities recently sought British advice over a plan to remove Sikh extremists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
“The Foreign Secretary decided to respond favourably to the Indian request and, with the Prime Minister’s agreement, an SAD (sic) officer has visited India and drawn up a plan which has been approved by Mrs Gandhi. The Foreign Secretary believes that the Indian Government may put the plan into operation shortly.”
Lord Singh, director of the Network of Sikh Organisations in the UK, told : “These documents prove what Sikhs have suspected all along, that plans to invade the Golden Temple went back months even though the Indian Government was claiming even weeks before that there were no such plans.”
“I have already approached the Indian Government through the High Commission of India for the need of an independent international enquiry to establish the exact facts. I will now raise the issue in the House of Lords,” he added.
Some of the documents have been reproduced on the “Stop Deportations” blog that focuses on UK’s immigration policy, and claim Thatcher sent an SAS official to advise Gandhi on the operation.
Watson, an MP for West Bromwich East, said he had been told there were other documents that had been withheld. “This is not good enough. It is not unreasonable to ask for an explanation about the extent of British military collusion with the Government of Indira Gandhi,” he said.
He has written to Foreign Secretary William Hague and plans to raise the issue in the House of Commons.
“I think British Sikhs and all those concerned about human rights will want to know exactly the extent of Britain’s collusion with this period and this episode and will expect some answers from the Foreign Secretary,” he said.
“But trying to hide what we did, not coming clean, I think would be a very grave error and I very much hope that the foreign secretary will…Reveal the documents that exist and give us an explanation to the House of Commons and to the country about the role of Britain at that very difficult time for Sikhism and Sikhs.”
Five months after Operation Bluestar, Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for the raid on the Golden Temple. (PTI)

Mohinder Verma

JAMMU, Jan 14: The Government’s tall claims about laying required focus on industrialization in the backward and rural areas have turned hollow as four Industrial Estates established several years back have failed to yield desirable results till date due to improper planning and an amount of Rs 4.74 crore spent on development of the same has virtually become unfruitful expenditure.
Reliable sources told EXCELSIOR that with the objective to promote industrialization in the industrial backward areas of the State, the Government some years back started development of Industrial Estates in Gran area of Reasi district, Dandi area of Bhaderwah in Doda district, Sangrambhata in Kishtwar district and Dewal, Billawar in Kathua district.
An amount of Rs 4.74 crore was incurred on the development of these Industrial Estates—-Rs 66.89 lakh on Gran Reasi Industrial Estate, Rs 167.41 lakh on Dandi Industrial Estate, Rs 137.38 lakh on Dewal Industrial Estate and Rs 102.08 crore on Sangrambhata Industrial Estate, sources informed.
However, these Industrial Estates failed to achieve the objective behind their development and industrialization in these areas still remains a distant dream because of the non-serious approach adopted following their establishment, sources said, adding due to this the expenditure of Rs 4.74 crore has also been rendered unfruitful.
Stating that these Industrial Estates could not achieve the desired objective due to improper planning, sources said, “before development of these Industrial Estates no ground work was carried out to ascertain the potential for establishment of industrial units, availability of raw material and other allied factors”, adding “what to talk of having proper planning at the time of taking decision about establishment of these Industrial Estates even at the later stage this important aspect never received the due attention of those making tall claims about laying required focus on promotion of industries in backward areas”.
As far as Industrial Estate at Gran in Reasi district, which was developed three-four years back, is concerned, not even one plot has so far been allotted to the persons interested to set up industrial unit. “We could not make allotment of plots as Revenue Department has yet not transferred land to the Industries Department”, Krishan Lal, General Manager, District Industries Centre (DIC) Reasi said when contacted, adding “we have taken up the matter with the concerned authorities and hopefully the land will be transferred in near future”.
Similarly, no unit has been established in Industrial Estate at Dandi Bhaderwah till date mainly because of the fact that raw material and market aspects were not thoroughly pondered upon before development of Industrial Estate, sources said.
When approached, General Manager, DIC Doda, Dalmir Choudhary said, “we have made allotments to seven interested persons but none came forward for establishment of units”, adding “one person has raised a structure but the same is not being put to any use”.
As far as Industrial Estate at Sangrambhata is concerned, only two units have come up till date thereby indicating the pace with which the industrialization is taking place in backward and rural areas, sources informed.
According to Suresh Chander, General Manager, District Industries Centre Kishtwar, four more persons have shown interest in setting up of their units in the Industrial Estate. He, at the same time, said, “the Government is in the process of identifying 217 kanals more land for setting up of one more Industrial Estate”. He, however, could not specify as to what purpose identification and acquiring of more land would serve when the existing Industrial Estate has failed to yield desirable results.
“Similarly, the Industrial Estate at Dewal in Billawar area of Kathua district has failed to meet the objective behind its development”, sources said.
The fate of these Industrial Estates substantiates the news item carried by EXCELSIOR on December 25 mentioning that vital surveys are not being conducted for assessing the industrial potential, which is otherwise imperative before setting up of Industrial Estates.

NEW DELHI, Jan 14:
Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti today came under attack from ally Congress and Opposition BJP which demanded his removal over his being indicted by a court for “tampering of evidence” in a case in which he had appeared as a lawyer.
However, Bharti, who belongs to Aam Aadmi Party, and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal put up a stout defence saying the court was “wrong” in the matter.
The demand for his resignation came in the wake of reports on a ruling by Special CBI Judge Poonam Bamba in a case in August, 2013 that the conduct of Pawan Kumar and his advocate (Bharti) “is not only highly objectionable and unethical but also amounts to tampering with evidence.”
The CBI Judge had made these observations while cancelling the bail granted earlier to Bharti’s client, facing trial in a graft case relating to bank fraud.
The court had taken strong exception to the fact that Bharti and his client Pawan Kumar had telephonically contacted one of the prosecution witnesses to extract his opinion on the matter.
Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Harsh Vardhan said, “It has been proved that he was caught tampering with evidence in Patiala House Court.
“Even the Judge has observed this. In such a situation, I think the people of Delhi demand Somnath Bharti’s resignation and if Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal talks about ethics, then he should sack his minister,” he said.
Arvinder Singh Lovely, President of State unit of Congress which gives outside support to AAP Government, said law protector has become a law breaker. A party that came to power on the basis of morality should question its own conscience.
“Are you such a big man that when there is a sting operation against you, then it is incorrect. If a court gives any verdict, then you raise question over that verdict. What you do is right and what others do is wrong?
“They should ask their conscience if they have one, what they are doing is just or not…Today the people of Delhi want to know whether is this ethical,” said Lovely.
At a press conference, Bharti claimed he was not indicted by the court. He even faulted the court saying it was erroneous on the part of the Judge to say “conversation” with prosecution witness amounts to tampering of proof.
“What is prohibited is intimidation. Conversation is not prohibited,” he said.
Kejriwal said they want the media to show the recording to the nation.
“You decide what evidence has been tampered with after watching the recording. We respect the court but in this matter the court is wrong…The Judge called the sting operation as tampering of evidence. This is not tampering of evidence,” Kejriwal said.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said that the AAP had claimed to have set high standards of public morality and the nation was watching whether they would walk the talk.
Meanwhile, with its on-going nation-wide membership drive, AAP claimed over 10 lakh people joined the outfit in the last five days.
The party also announced Adarsh Shastri, grandson of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, and former IPS officer Uday Sahay have joined it.
AAP had kick-started the membership drive campaign ‘Mein Bhi Aam Aadmi’ on January 10, with an aim of getting over 1 crore members by January 26.
Senior party leader Gopal Rai, who is over-seeing the national membership drive, said over 6.6 lakh people joined the party by giving a missed call on a mobile number followed by 4.5 lakh who registered as members through its website.
Over 1 lakh SMSes were sent to the (mobile) number and the rest of the people have joined the party by manually filing a form.
“We have finished training of our volunteers. We will soon start over 300 district camps and hold membership camps. Our volunteers will do door-to-door campaigining for getting more people to join the party,” Rai said.
With the party receiving complaints that many people were not able to join it because of the busy mobile network, it announced two more mobile numbers (08082807715/ 08082807715) on which people can either send SMSes or call to become members.
Rai claimed the party has so far received support from across the country in its membership campaign but it got maximum support from North Indian States.
“We have received maximum support from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. We have also received good response from Gujarat and Maharashtra,” Rai said.
In the South, the party has received maximum support from Karnataka, particularly Bangalore city, followed by Tamil Nadu, Kerela and Andhra Pradesh.
The party also announced of Adarsh Shastri, grandson of late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, joining the party along with former IPS officer Uday Sahay.
Asked what prompted him to become a member of the party, Shastri, a former head of the Apple (West India), said he liked the “conviction” the party has.
Probed further whether he was keen to contest Lok Sabha elections on an AAP ticket or had applied for a party ticket, he said “if the party thinks, I will contest…I have not applied for any ticket”.
Former IRS officer Jeetendra Kumar Shukla, senior Supreme Court lawyer Santosh Kumar, social entrepreneur Richa Pandey Mishra, ‘Career Launcher’ founder Satya Narayanan R also joined the party. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Jan 14:
CBI has written to the Law Minister expressing reservations over the new provisions introduced through Lokpal where the agency will have to take the nod of Central Vigilance Commission before filing charge sheets in cases referred by the anti-corruption watchdog.
CBI officials were taken aback after a provision was brought in the Lokpal Bill by amending the CVC Act which said that in cases of corruption by group ‘C’ and ‘D’ officers, referred by the CVC, CBI will have to present its final report before the panel, agency sources said.
The sources said the agency has raised the issue that under Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 the investigating officer, after concluding its probe in a given matter, files it final report before the competent magistrate only.
The provision introduced by the Government sidelines Section 173 of the CrPC which is a dilution of the agency’s powers, they contended.
In its representation before the Law Ministry, the agency has claimed that charge sheets cannot be shown to any authority other than the competent courts.
So far in the matters referred by CVC also, CBI investigated the cases and filed its final report before the competent magistrate but now under the new law, modifications have been made in the CVC Act as well.
Under the new provisions, an investigating officer cannot proceed to file the final report without showing it to the CVC in the cases which have been routed to it through the anti-corruption watchdog.
“Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, any agency (including the Delhi Special Police Establishment (CBI) shall, in respect of cases referred to it by the Commission, submit the investigation report to the Commission.
“The Commission shall consider every report received by it under sub-Section(2) from any agency…And may decide as to a) file charge sheet or closure report against the public servant b) initiate the departmental proceedings or any other appropriate action against the concerned public servant by competent authority,” the Act said. (PTI)

NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH, Jan 14:
Political parties today asked the Government to come clean on reports that Thatcher Government in UK had advised Indira Gandhi before ‘Operation Bluestar’, with Akalis alleging that a “conspiracy” against Sikhs stood “exposed”.
BJP asked the Government to come out with facts on Operation Bluestar and sought to know if the action against Sikh militants holed up in Golden Temple was planned on British advice or was any other country also consulted.
“It is about time that the Government of India decided to tell us the truth as to what the real facts were. This would enable the people of India to conclude whether Operation Bluestar was a strategic miscalculation,” Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said.
Labour MP Tom Watson and Lord Indarjit Singh had stated that recently declassified documents in Britain brought out that Margaret Thatcher regime had sent an Special Air Service officer to India to help advise Gandhi in planning the operation to flush out militants from the Golden Temple.
Following this, British Prime Minister David Cameron today ordered an urgent investigation into the issue.
Punjab’s ruling Akali Dal said the involvement of a foreign nation in issues concerning internal security matters has caused a lot of concern to Sikhs.
Alleging that the ‘conspiracy’ was hatched in January, 1984, Akali leader Naresh Gujral said, “You invited a foreign country for your internal security matter, India has never done so before.”
“The party (Congress) had even gone to the extent of compromising national sovereignty for political gains,” SAD secretary Daljit Singh Cheema said in Chandigarh, asking the Congress-led UPA to come clean on the matter after reports “exposed nefarious designs of Congress against Sikhs”.
Lt Gen (retd) Kuldeep Singh Brar, who commanded the Army division that carried out Operation Bluestar, claimed the operation was planned and executed by Indian military forces and questioned the veracity of such documents that indicated foreign advice ahead of the action.
“I just cannot believe any of this because the operation was planned and executed by military commanders in India. We never saw anyone from the UK coming here and telling us how to plan operation,” Brar said.
He said the veracity of these documents must be checked. “There was no involvement (of UK) in it whatsoever. As far as these documents are concerned, I suggest that the authenticity of these must be checked.”
In Amritsar, radical outfit Dal Khalsa said, “the Sikh diaspora has been deeply hurt” and wrote to British Premier urging him to clear the air.
The chief of SGPC, apex religious body of the Sikhs, Avtar Singh Makkar said the news has left the Sikhs numbed.
Jaitley said instead of exploring alternative methods of evacuating extremists holed up in the Golden Temple, the Government went ahead with the operation and hurt Sikh sentiments.
“If British Government was being consulted in February 1984, it only lends credence to the fact that Government of India neither believed in nipping the problem at the initial stage nor in exploring alternative methods of evacuating the extremists from the Golden Temple.
“It wanted to invade the sacred precincts of the Golden Temple no matter even if it hurt the national interest and certainly the interests of the Sikhs,” he said. (PTI)

FEROZEPUR, Jan 14:
The Ferozepur Sector BSF team was awarded Rs 1 lakh today for successful operations in the region.
DG BSF Subhash Joshi, who gave the award, commended the troops for the December 3 operation in which a Pakistani smuggler was killed in a brief encounter. Nine packets of heroin along with arms and ammunition were recovered.
Joshi, who was on a visit to the Sector in Punjab Frontier, was briefed about various operational and administrative activities in the region.
During an address to a  Sainik Sammelan, he listened to soldiers’ grievances and assured them of complete support.
Joshi was accompanied by Inspector General of the Punjab Frontier, Ajay Kumar Tomar and DIG, Ferozepur Sector, Ravi Joseph Lokku. (PTI)

Excelsior Correspondent

Srinagar, Jan 14: For the first time since last year’s tension between Indian and Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC), troops of the two countries held flag meetings and exchanged sweets at the LoC on the occasion of Eid-e-Milad, the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
A defence spokesman said that a flag meeting between Indian and Pakistani soldiers was held in Kargil sector today. “The meeting was organised by the Indian side on the occasion of Milad to extend best wishes and greetings to the Pakistan Army soldiers. The meeting was conducted in a cordial manner with pleasantries and gifts being exchanged by the two sides”, the spokesman added.
The spokesman said that a similar meeting was held between Indian and Pakistan Army soldiers deployed at Kaman Aman Setu. “In a brief ceremony, organised at Aman Setu in Uri, officers and jawans of both Indian and Pakistan Army deployed on Line of Control greeted each other on the auspicious occasion of Milad and also exchanged sweets”, the spokesman added.
“These meetings have gained importance in light of the measures being instituted by India and Pakistan to restore normalcy at the Line of Control. This initiative has been widely appreciated by the local population as it further reinforces the commitment of the Indian Army towards ensuring tranquility, peace and prosperity in the region”, the spokesman said.
Last year’s there was major confrontation along the LoC after killing of two soldiers in Mendhar sector on January 8, 2013, and beheading of Lance Naik Hemraj. This was followed by killing of 5 soldiers in August last year in Poonch sector leading to escalation of tension along the LoC.
However, the situation improved by the end of 2013 and no major incident of the ceasefire violation has taken place since then.