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Al Umma leaders charged-sheeted for Coimbatore blasts
The Special Investigation team (SIT) of
the Crime Branch has filed a preliminary charge–sheet naming the prime accused
in the Coimbatore bomb blasts’ case. The charge–sheet has stated that on
February 14, the day BJP leader, L.K. Advani was scheduled to address a
pre-election meeting at Coimbatore, powerful explosions took place in about a
dozen places in the city. The key accused in the charge–sheet are S.A. Basha,
founder president of the now banned Al–Umma, Mohammed Ansari, its general
secretary, Tajuddin, its vice–president and Abdul Nazher Mahdhani, the Kerala
People’s Democratic Party leader.
The charge–sheet says that the violence which followed the
blasts was planned by the Al Umma as a "brutal answer and retaliation for the
killing of 18 Muslims in communal riots and police firings and the extensive
damage to Muslim properties running into crores of rupees during three days
following the stabbing to death of a police constable, Selvaraj at Ukkadam on
November 29, 1997 by Al Umma cadre."
Dwarka, Somnath shrines on ISI hit list?
According to reports put out by the
Indian Union home ministry, the Dwarka, Somnath and 12 other shrines are under
threat of attack from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence-backed subversive
outfits. The shrines in Gujarat may be targeted during "a month–long ISI–masterminded
blitzkrieg starting from December 6." The state’s most vulnerable shrines are
the Dwarka and Somnath temples. Besides being the largest in the state, both are
also close to the Pakistan border. In the last week of October, the police
arrested an alleged activist of the ISI–backed Lashkar-e-Toiba. The
suspect who subsequently died in police custody was planning to target home
minister L.K. Advani and Gujarat chief minister, Keshubhai Patel, home ministry
sources claim. His arrest has strengthened suspicion about a wider ISI plot,
they added.
Women’s groups oppose Advani’s death penalty for rapists
proposal
Union home minister L.K. Advani has
announced that he is all in favour of enacting new legislation providing for
death penalty to rapists. The home ministry is in the process of drafting the
proposed enactment. As this falls within the purview of criminal law that is on
the ‘concurrent’ list, the proposed legislation will need the approval of state
governments. Women’s groups have vehemently protested against the proposed step.
They have cogently pointed out that by enacting such changes the government was,
in effect, ensuring that rapists go scot-free. Even now, most rapists escape the
long arm of the law and punishment by the judiciary; if the death penalty is
imposed, conviction and punishment will be even rarer, they argue.
Delhi to Lahore by bus, Insha-allah
Rupees 500 a ticket and you could soon be
on the road — Delhi-Lahore or Lahore–Delhi — three times a week. The bus service
to be launched in keeping with the latest cross–border governmental initiative
was all set to start from November 6, but faced last minute hitches from both
across the border and slips on the Indian side, reminiscent of typical
sub–continental efficiency!
Media reports covering the first historic ride that started at
the Delhi end on November 6 said there were no Pakistani officials awaiting the
arrival of the bus. Hindustani officials at the Wagah border, too, had no
instructions on the new venture! That is, neither the Pakistani nor the Indian
officials had any instructions from their respective ministries! Besides, there
was a local jurisdictional hitch: the Punjab government had not been approached
for the relevant certificate to allow a commercial bus to operate in the
province. Goodwill and good intentions apart, looks like it will be a while
before the obstacles are removed on the Delhi–Lahore route so that Indians and
Pakistanis can cross the Wagah in air-conditioned comfort, by road.
Kerala women refuse to take the backseat
A decision of the Kerala government directing
all private buses to move reserved seats for women to the rear of the bus has
raised much controversy. The decision followed a recent bus accident in the
state in which 16 of the 18 killed were women passengers who were unable to
flee. Two years ago, an inquiry committee that investigated a major bus accident
at Chemmanad had suggested shifting of the reserved seats for women to the back,
the inclusion of a mandatory emergency exit and two doors in all buses.
One of the reasons quoted for shifting women to the rear was
that most of the drivers in the private buses were young men who not only chat
with women and girls but also attempt risky manoeuvres to impress them! Many
have questioned the logic of the move which, instead of concentrating on
improvements in driving discipline and road conditions, has relegated women to
the back–seat. Presently, state–run buses in Kerala have reserved seats for
women at the rear while private buses, that ply 70 per cent of the bus routes in
the state have had seats in the front. The bad condition of roads mean a
particularly rough ride for those seated at the back.
BJP bans burials in Ayodhya
The BJP–dominated local coun cil in
Ayodhya passed a resolution banning burial of dead bodies within the municipal
limits of this historic town in the last week of October. The council also
sought to identify places for burial outside the municipal limits. The
resolution has been forwarded to the commissioner of Faizabad division for
approval.
The action of the council has, expectedly, evoked protests from
members of the minority community, some of whom have already called on the
commissioner to reject the same. Ayodhya, the focal point of the sangh
parivar’s hate–driven Ramjanma-bhoomi campaign, has a mixed
population. The title suit of the area where the Babri Masjid stood until its
demolition by activists of the RSS, VHP, BJP and the Bajrang Dal on December 6,
1992 has been pending with the Supreme Court.
The recent resolution passed by the council seeks to raise a new
point of conflict. It is debatable whether a local body can, through a simple
resolution, ban the burial of the dead within the municipal limits of a town and
whether a burial ground, can be shifted by an executive order of the government.
The commissioner of Faizabad, speaking to the media recently,
said that he had not yet received any resolution of the Ayodhya municipal
council. He did, however, admit that about two dozen Muslims have already met
him, individually or in groups, to protest against the resolution. Bajrang Dal
chief, Vine Katiyar who was formerly the BJP MP from Faizabad, and Paramhans Ram
Chandra Das, the chairman of the Ram Janmabhoomi trust, have welcomed the
municipal resolution.
Indo-Pak cricket series despite Thackeray’s threats
India will play Pakistan for an entire
three–test series and five one day international matches, as scheduled in early
1999 despite the recent threats dished out by Shiv Sena supremo, Bal Thackeray.
Jayant Lele, secretary of the Bombay Cricket Control Board (BCCI) said that only
the venues remain to be settled for the first tour of Pakistan in 11 years. "The
programmes and fixtures committees would meet either on November 16 or 18 to
finalise dates for the forthcoming tour," Lele told the media recently. "The
tour will go as per schedule despite threats by Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray to
prevent the Pakistani team from playing on Indian soil." Bangalore, Madras and
Calcutta will host the three tests while Mohali, Vishakhapatnam, Goa, Jamshedpur
and Jaipur are to organise the one–day internationals.
Mahesh Bhatt’s Zakhm faces hurdles
Mahesh Bhatt’s latest and the last
directorial venture, Zakhm, that tackles the reality of a deeply
communalised polity as manifested in the 1992–1993 Mumbai riots, has been
blocked by the censor board. The board’s chief, former actress Asha Parekh,
passed the film onto the home secretary for "approval" without even seeing the
film.
Private showings of the film, which poignantly deals with the
question of a multifarious religious identity, so typical of India, have been
enthusiastically received all over the country. The director and his cast, that
includes Ajay Devgun and daughter, Pooja Bhatt, anxiously await the final
verdict from the Union home secretary. Powerful imagery and a brutally honest
and well-scripted dialogue brings to the Indian audience a film within the
commercial Hindi film genre that takes a hard and penetrating look at the
communal schisms that threaten Indian society today. Will this film be "allowed"
to reach an audience that the director has made the film for? |
