Address J&K after Afghanistan: India
NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (UNI): India today called upon that the International Community to address the issue of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir after tackling it in Afghanistan.
Minister of state for external affairs Omar Abdullah said terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Ireland and other places needed to be addressed in the changed perspective after the United States stamped out terrorist bases of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
Mr Abdullah made these observations prior to a meeting with the ambassadors and high commissioners from 15 African and Latin American countries to apprise them of New Delhis stand on the current international situation in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
"We hope the problem of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Ireland and the rest of the places is addressed in the changed perspective," he said.
Asked whether India expected any support from the countries it was conferring with on the issue, he said "we have not asked for any support.
We only convey our position on the issue." he however said "they do understand our point of view." "We are not holding such meetings for convassing for support on our concerns.
Some questions put forward are addressed," he added.
India has earlier held interaction with Arab ambassadors to apprise them of New Delhis stand on the issue.
Todays meeting was the last of such meetings except with the ambassadors and high commissioners of north American and European countries.
The minister said Indias stand on all aspects of regional and international situation after the September 11 incident has been conveyed to these countries.
Asked what kind of a borad-based, multi-ethnic government would India support in Afghanistan Mr Abdullah said any future government in Afghanistan should be truly representative of the Afghan people and supported by the international community.
"It is for the people of Afghanistan to decide.
Bulk of the population is of pushtuns.
They also have to be represented," the minister said adding that it would be unfair for the people of Afghanistan to say that a Northern Alliance government or headed by anyone else should be installed.
Any future government must be supported by the international community, he added.
Scindias body taken to residence after post-mortem NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (UNI): The body of late Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia was taken to his 27, Safdarjung Road residence this morning after a post-mortem was conducted and the body embalmed at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
The post-mortem of Mr Scindia and Mr Ranjan Jha, journalist from Aaj Tak was completed first.
Mr Scindias body was taken to his residence, while Mr Jhas body is being taken to his home town Bhagalpur in Bihar.
The post-mortem and embalming of Anju Sharma, Special Correspondent of Hindustan Times, Gopal Bisht (Aaj Tak), Sanjeev Sinha (Indian Express), Scindias personal secretary Rupinder Singh, pilot Vivek Gupta and co-pilot Ritu Malik was still on.
It would take a couple of hours before the entire process was completed, hospital sources said here.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan and Senior Congress leaders were present in AIIMS when the post-mortem was on.
Madhav was humble, grateful, says political Guru NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (UNI): Despite his royal lineage, Madhav Rao Scindia was a "humble and grateful disciple," says his political Guru Balraj Madhok.
The veteran Jan Sangh leader told UNI that he initiated the young Madhav-the scion of Scindia familyinto politics at the request of his mother Rajmata Vijayraje Scindia way back in 1969.
"The Rajmata introduced her 24-year-son to me at the familys "Kalideh Palace" in Ujjain and asked me to guide him into politics," said Mr Madhok.
The royal lady had invited the Jan Sangh leader to Ujjain, which was then part of their princely state, for campaigning during a byelection at that time.
"I asked Madhav, who was then a fresh graduate from Oxford, as to what he knew about Indian politics.
He said he did not know much," reminisced Madhok.
The Jan Sangh leader then told the young lad to go back and read the manifestoes of various parties like the Jan Sangh and Congress.
"The very next day he came to me again and told me he has done his home work.
It was then that I initiated him into politics and made him a member of Jan Sangh, Madhok said.
Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee was then the president of the Jan Sangh, Mr Madhok said who was the senior-most leader of the Sangh at that time and had already donned the partys top post once.
The young Scindia joined the Sangh but had difference of opinion with party policies and leaders on several ideological issues.
He was particularly peeved about what he said lack of individual freedom in the party and at several occasions he gave vent to his feelings before me.
Perturbed over Madhavs political vacillations, the Rajmata called Mr Madhok once again.
She told me that her son had decided to leave the Jan Sangh and urged me to dissuade him from doing so, he said.
The Sangh leader responded to the Rajmatas call again and persuaded the young leader to continue in the Sangh, after a long and heated debate at Scindias house in Delhi.
Later, Madhav Rao Scindia got elected to the Lok Sabha as an independent candidate with the help of the Jan Sangh in 1971 from the Guna parliamenatry consituency in Madhya Pradesh.
He was then still a member of the Sangh but had preferred to fight elections as an independent.
His differences with the Sangh persisted and he finally parted ways with the party and joined the Indian National Congress in 1972.
Despite the ideological differences, he always gave me the same kind of respect and regard, Madhok said.
However, every now and then Scindia used to complain that had he joined the Congress in the beginning he would have gone far ahead in the party, the Sangh leader said.
Nonetheless, he never showed any bitterness in this regard but always displayed the same warmth and affability which bacame his trademark in the political circles.
His attitude never smacked of arrogance which is generally found in royal families, Madhok said.
In his death, I have not only lost a humble and grateful disciple but an old friend as well, he added.
He indeed was a Prime Ministerial material , the Sangh leader said.
Shocked crowds throng Scindia residence NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (UNI): A pall of gloom descended on the residence of late Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia when his embalmed body was brought there this noon.
The body was brought in an ambulance from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where a post-mortem was conducted.
Mr Scindias son Jyotiraditya alighted from the vehicle and took the body inside with the help of a few people.
Hundreds of mourners, including senior party leaders and ministers, have gathered there from across the country and security personnel had a tough time controlling the crowd.
The mourners who gathered at mr scindia s residence included Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission KC Pant, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Congress Secretary Satyajeet Gaekwad, Murli Deora (MP), Delhi Finance Minister Mahendra Singh Saathi and MLA Tajdar Babbar.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is also expected to arrive there to pay his respects to the departed leader.
Heavy security arrangements have been made at Mr Scindias residence.
A large number of journalists and camera crew were also visible.
Mourners are pouring in to have a last glimpse of the late leader.
As the body was being taken inside the house, where vedic hymns were being chanted, many people broke into uncontrollable sobs.
Half-an-hour after the body was taken inside the house, the public was allowed to have a glimpse of the departed leader.
A long queue of mourners could be seen waiting patiently to pay their last respects to the charismatic Mr Scindia.
Union Coal Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and a large number of Congress leaders arrived to pay tribute to the deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha.
Congress leader Balram Jakhar, AR Antulay, NKP Salve, Shiv Shanker and Kapil Sibal were among the party colleagues who paid their last respects.
Attorney General Soli Sorabjee was also seen.
Congress President arrived at the residence of Mr Scindia at 1000 hrs and was still there with the family consoling them over the loss.
Former Prime Ministers IK Gujral and Chandrashekhar, Law and Company Affrairs minister Arun Jaitley, Culture minister Anant Kumar, minister in Prime Ministers Office Vijay Goel, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, Uttarakhand Congress chief Harish Buta Singh and MS Bitta were also among those who paid their last respect to the Congress leader.
Veteran Communist leader Har Kishan Singh Surjeet, Bihar Assembly Speaker Sadanand Singh also paid floral tributes.
The body of mr Scindia would be shifted to the All India Congress Committee headquaters tomorrow morning from where it would be flown to his hometown Gwalior in the evening.
The cremation would be held in Gwalior on Wednesday, party sources said.
Ranjans body flown to Patna NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (UNI): The body of senior news reporter Ranjan Jha, who perished in the aircrash along with senior Congress leader Madhavrao Scidia, was flown to Patna by an Indian Airlines aircraft this morning.
The body will then be taken by a chartered aircraft of the Bihar government to Bhagalpur for the last rites.
Civil aviation minister Shahnawaz Khan personally supervised the arrangements at Delhi airport, and also laid a wreath on the body before it was taken on the aircraft.
Earlier, a postmortem was conducted on the body at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
The body was later embalmed.
Known for his ready wit and humour, 39-year-old Ranjan had joined the profession with the Patna edition of Hindi daily "Dainik Hindustan" in the late 1980s.
He later moved to the capital and joined the "Jagran", shifting to "Aajtak" TV in 1995.
Ranjan is survived by his wife and two daughters.
President, PM, hundred others pay homage to Scindia NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (UNI): President K.R.Narayanan, prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral, union ministers and senior leaders from various political parties among the hundreds of people paid their last respects to deputy leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Madhav Rao Scindia at his residence here today.
The prime minister, who arrived at the residence accompanied by his adopted daughter, placed a wreath on the coffin containing the body of Mr Scindia.
He consoled the son and the family members of Mr Scindia.
He wrote on the condolence book "Vajrapat Ho Gya.
Kya Kaal Bhi Itna Croor Ho Sakata Hai? Mera Naman (a great calamity has befallen.
Can the destiny be so cruel? I salute him)." Party president Sonia Gandhi, who reached Mr Scindias residence in the morning, sat grief-stricken by the side of the coffin as hundreds of people-walked past the body to pay their last respects.
Minister for law Arun Jaitley, ministers of state Vijaya Goel and Ashok Pradhan, former ministers, CWC members, film star Anupam Kher, MPP and MLAs also paid their homage to the departed leader.
Earlier, the body of Mr Scindia contained in a coffin was brought in an ambulance from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences after the post-mortem to his residence at 27 Safdarjung road, accompanied by some Congress leaders and his son Jyotiraditya.
The body was kept in a room to enable the people to have a "Darshan" of the late leader.
Men and women stood up in large numbers in a queue waiting for their turn to have a glimpse of the body as recitation of the Vedic Mantras rented the air.
The body will be shifted to the aicc headequareters at 24 Akbar road tomorrow morning.
Later it will be flown to Gwalior in a special plane for the last rites.
MP govt declares holiday BHOPAL, Oct 1 (UNI): The Madhya Pradesh government today declared a local holiday on the passing away of former union minister and senior Congress leader Madhav Rao Scindia.
The announcement was made by the chief secretary P K Mehrotra in a condolence meeting at the secretariat here.
Forest minister Harvansh Singh described the loss as "irreplaceable", and recalled the contribution of Mr Scindia in the development of the state and the nation.
The state government has earlier announced a three-day official mourning from today during which the national flag would fly half-mast.
No official functions would be held during the period.
Scindias sisters arrive from London NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (UNI): Ms Vasundhara Raje, minister of state for small scale industry, and Ms Yashodhara Raje, MLA, both the sisters of senior Congress leader Madhav Rao Scindia, arrived here from London this afternoon after hearing the shocking news of Mr Scindias death in a plane crash yesterday.
Overcome with grief over the demise of their only brother and Maharaja of Gwalior, both the sisters were scheduled to come earlier this morning.
But their flight was delayed and they could reach here by 1445.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh, who was a close friend and colleague of Mr Scindia, also arrived on the same flight to pay his last respect to the departed leader.
But he has not reached his residence till now.
Events cancelled NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (UNI): A large number of functions slated for today have been put off following the sudden death of senior Congress leader Madhav Rao Scindia and several mediapersons in an air crash yesterday These included a meet-the-press programme with home minister L.K.
Advani, organised by the foreign correspondents club, and a meet on women empowerment with special emphasis on women mediapersons which information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj was slated to address.
A meeting of chief ministers/ health ministers of northern states on HIV/AIDS schedule for today has also been cancelled.
The railway ministry has cancelled all programmes slated for the week as a mark of respect to Mr Scindia, who was a former railway minister.
These included one where railway minister Nitish Kumar was to receive a dividend cheque from the Indian Railway Construction Limited (IRCON) this morning.
Other events cancelled today included a press meet by the bar council of Delhi, which specifically said the cancellation was in view of the death of four young mediapersons in the crash.
VHP to oppose any govt that prevents construction of Ram temple RANCHI, Oct 1 (UNI): The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today reiterated that it would oppose any government trying to prevent construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya.
VHP International General Secretary Praveen Bhai Togadia said here that the organisation would support the saints decision, taken at this years "mahakumbha" to start the temple construction by next march.
He added that the organisation would not consult with the government on the issue after the given deadline.
"No power on earth can now stop the temples construction," Mr Togadia said, adding, "the centre has been given an opportunity to remove the hurdles to the construction which the organisation would not care for after the deadline." The Parishad General Secretary said if the government could turn aside the apex courts order in connection with the Shah Bano case, it could also do so in the construction of the temple honouring the majoritys sentiments.
Welcoming the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Mr Togadia demanded that those "fanning tension" and "waging jihad" against the state must be accorded with death penalty.
He alleged that the SIMI had links with terrorist organisations like the West Asian "hamas" and Osama bin Laden led "al Qaeda".
Reacting on the demand for a ban on the Bajrang Dal, he said "it is an organisation of patriotic youths and has no connection with Pakistan or any anti national organisation." Day curfew lifted in Lucknow LUCKNOW, Oct 1 (UNI): Day curfew has been lifetd in the old city areas of the state capital as the situation has returned to "normal".
District magistrate Jeevesh Nandan told UNI that day curfew was lifted in view of the normalcy.
However, night curfew would remain as a "precautionery measure".
The district administration would meet tonight to review the situation before lifting the curfew totally.
Four police station areas of the old city of Lucknow had been placed under indifinite curfew following violence on September 27 in which four persons had been killed in the police firing.
Meanwhile, the round-the-clock vigil was on and the 19 companies of pac and two companies of rapid action force were still deployed in the sensitive areas, the DM said.
Ritus maiden flight turned out to be last NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (UNI): Co-pilot Ritu Maliks maiden flight also turned out to be her last.
She was 20 minutes away from completing her mission on a king air c-90 aircraft to Kanpur, when the plane crashed in Mainpuri district, killing all eight occupants on board including Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia and four journalists.
Air commodore (retd) P Badhwar, who imparted endorsement training on multi-engine aircraft to Ritu for two months till September 14 as the director of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uddan Academy in Rae Bareilly, also could not see his student reach the milestone with flying colours.
Instead, Badhwar was present at Palam technical area to receive Ritus body along with her father R S Malik, a deputy excise and tax commissioner in Rohtak.
Pratibha Yadav, who trained along with Ritu at the academy from July 14 to September 14, was also present to console Malik who lost his wife in November last year.
Badhwar said Ritu was "fully operational" on this type of aircraft.
"Like other trainees, she trained for 15 hours under different conditions including adverse weather and ten hours on the simulator," he told UNI.
"Besides, every trainee is made to fly on the jump seat for 20 hours to have hands-on experience of the control panels," he added.
The jump seat is placed between the pilot and the co-pilot and the trainee is made to carry out all the functions of the latter.
"King air C-90 is a very sturdy all-weather aircraft.
It is very difficult to ascertain the reasons of the crash at the moment, but something terribly must have gone wrong with the machine," he explained.
Before joining the academy in Rae Bareilly, Ritu had already acquired a Commercial Pilots Licence (CPL).
"She had come to the Academy for endorsement on multi-engine aircraft," Badhwar said.
He did not rule out the possibility of a bird hit "which might have totally incapacitated the pilots and co-pilot".
There was no Radio Transmission (RT) contact with the crew in the moments prior to the crash.
Ritu got the job as a pilot with Jindal strips only a few days ago.
"I met her two ago back at the airport .I just cannot believe that she is dead," Pratibha said before breaking down.
"It is sad that Ritu did not even live to get her first salary," she said in an emotion-choked voice.
MQM rally in Karachi to support US camapign NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (UNI): The Mutteheda Quami Movement (MQM) has announced its decision to once again try to take out a procession in Karachi to support the United States fight against global terrorism.
This was reported by BBC Urdu last night.
The Karachi administration did not allow an MQM procession on September 26 because it feared that clashes might erupt between Muhajirs and Pakhtuns and Afghans who live in this city in millions.
However, the party was allowed to hold a public meeting which was addressed by its self-exiled chief Altaf Hussain on telephone from London.
But going by a "Friday Times" analysis, there is much more to the MQM decision to once again try to take out a procession than meets the eye.
It speculates that the military government seems to be using the MQM to counter the Jehadi groups opposition to president Pervez Musharrafs support to the United States against Afghanisation.
According to the analysis, this is a windfall for the MQM which has been hounded by the establishment since 1992 when Mr Hussain fled to London.
During the past about a decade, Jehadi groups and sectarian extremists made inroads in the MQM strongholds in the city.
The party today is under pressure from seminarians.
A September 21 rally, organised by the pro-Taliban Afghan defence counsil, had turned violent (four persons were killed) because Pakhtuns were furious about MQMs indifference to the rally.
In his address to the MQM rally on September 26, Mr Altaf condemned "outsiders" for creating sectarian and communal problems in Karachi and other parts of Sindh.
He said the local people were tolerant and peaceful but outsiders created sectarian problems.
Both the Jamaat-Islami and the deobandi parties are headed either by Pakhtuns or a leader from NWFP.
They are Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur Rahman respectively.
Youth shocked over Scindias death MUMBAI, Oct 1 (UNI): The youth in the country is "terribly shocked" over the death of veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister Madhavrao Scindia, Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress (MPYC) presdient S Muzaffar Hussain said today.
The death of the much-admired Mr Scindia has terribly shocked the youth, he said.
Mr Hussain told UNI here that the loss of two great leaders Rajesh Pilot and Mr Scindia had created a void, which would never be fulfilled.
"Mr Scindia was an inspiration for the youth of the country and always encouraged young people to come forward," he said and added that with his death the "country has lost one of her greatest sons".
"He was an able administrator and a good politican," he added.
"The nation was looking at him to play a greater role in Indian politics," he said.
Besides politicians and the youth, the sports as well as the business fraternity also lost a big leader.