PM rules out formal talks with Pak

CHENNAI, Oct 18 (UNI): Prime minister A B Vajpayee today ruled out any formal talks with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.

In a brief chat with reporters at the airport, Mr Vajpayee, who was to the city to attend the wedding of BJP president Jana Krishnamurthys son this morning, said: "There is no proposal to hold formal talks with Pakistan".

Mr Vajpayee was replying to a question on the current state of India-Pakistan relations and on whether India proposed to hold talks with that country at this stage.

His assertion assumed significance in the wake of US secretary of state General Colin Powells advocation for resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan.

Asked whether he was satisfied with the talks with Gen Powell, Mr Vajpayee said: "We had free and frank talks.

Indias position has been explained to him." On the Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders entering the makeshift Ram Temple at Ayodhya yesterday by breaking the security cordon, he said if slackness in security had occurred, the security measures would have to be tightened further.

He replied in the affirmative when asked whether the centre would preserve the disputed site at Ayodhya.

On compaints that the centre was not taking action against the Tamil Nadu government on the badly handled arrest of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi on June 30, the prime minister said: "If the complaints are genuine, action will be taken." Mr Vajpayee, who advanced his departure by 15 minutes to Delhi, was seen off at the airport among others by Tamil Nadu Governor Dr C Rangarajan, Tamil Nadu chief minister O Pannerselvam, union rural development minister M Venkaiah Naidu, state BJP general secretary I Ganesan and MGR-ADMK general secretary S Thirunavukarasu.

Union home minister L K Advani, who also come to attend the wedding, also left for Delhi along with Mr Vajpayee by a special IAF aircraft.

Pak-sponsored terrorism root cause of Kashmir imbroglio: Nayyar VIJAYAWADA, Oct 18 (UNI): The United States has failed to understand that Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism was the root cause of the Kashmir imbroglio, says journalist and MP Kuldip Nayyar.

Speaking on Indo-Pak relations here last night, the former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom took exception to US secretary of state Colin Powells description of Kashmir as a "central issue" between the two countries, notwithstanding his amendment later that it was an "important issue".

The US had suddenly woken up to the menace of terrorism after the horror of September 11 at New York city and Washington, DC, Mr Nayyar said.

The problem between India and Pakistan was ideological and not territorial.

"New Delhis belief is that Kashmir is a symptom, not a disease.

The ailment is Pakistans hate-India policy," the former diplomat felt.

Speaking about the people on either side of the border, he said, "They want to travel, trade and meet.

They want people-to-people contacts to spread.

And they expect the borders to become soft so that they can span the gulf of hatred and enmity." An example would be the 80,000 people from both countries who assembled at the Wagah-Amritsar border on the night of August 14-15.

BJP, Rajnath must apologise for Ayodhya, Agra incidents: Mayawati LUCKNOW, Oct 18 (UNI): Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) vice-president Mayawati today said the Bharatiya Janata Party and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Rajnath Singh should apologise to the people for BJP-sponsored vandalism in Ayodhya and Agra and take action against the guilty.

"The UP chief minister and the BJP leaders should seek apology from the countrymen on the Agra and Ayodhya incidents and book the guilty persons if they have any morals left," she said at a press conference here.

Claiming that BJP was trying to create communal disturbances after September 11 terrorist attacks, she said her party would agitate if the government did not act against those involved in the incidents.

"Vandalism by the youth wing of the BJP in the historical Taj Mahal during their national convention in Agra on October 14 was an act like that of Taliban who ruined the Bamiyan Buddhas," she said.

Forceful entry of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders to the disputed and restricted area of Ayodhya yesterday also proves that the BJP and its supported organisations were going for "terrorist" like action to create communal tension in the country, she claimed.

Holding the party leadership responsible for the incidents, she said almost all the senior BJP leaders, including some union ministers, were in Agra while the chief minister was present in Faizabad yesterday, when the incidents occured.

She welcomed the Supreme Court order for a probe into the Agra episode.

claiming that the BJP, which had lost its popularity and failed to address the problems of the people was now trying to divert the attention of the masses by inciting communal disturbances, Ms Maywati said their only motive was to create fear among the minorities.

The BJP had masterminded the two incidents to gain "political mileage" in the forthcoming assembly polls in the state, she said.

She also warned the BJP leaders against making controversial statements to demoralise the minorities and spark communal disturbances.

Stating that BSP was against terrorism, the party vice-president said, " We wont allow anyone to play with peoples sentiments or incite clashes among communities and castes." About the centres committment to flush out terrorists from the Kashmir valley, she said, "The intrusion of Pakistan in Kargil shows that they could not protect the countrys intergal part so how could they flush out terrorism?" she asked.

Mulayam asks SC to intervene in VHP entry into Ayodhya site LUCKNOW, Oct 18 (UNI): Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav today urged the Supreme Court to intervene in the Vishwa Hindu Parishads (VHP) forceful entry into the disputed structure in Ayodhya yesterday and order the arrest of those guilty.

Talking to newspersons, the former UP chief minister said the VHPs action was a clear violation of the Supreme Courts order banning entry into the restricted zone.

"The court should not spare those taking the law into their hands, ensuring that such incidents are not repeated," he said.

Mr Yadav alleged that yesterday s action was at the behest of the BJP government at the centre and in the state, in view of the coming assembly elections.

He called upon the public to "beware" of the BJPs conspiracy to spark communal tension in the country, adding that the party was attempting to divert public attention from its "failures." Angry mob ransacked Dinaboomi office MADHURAI Oct 18 (UNI) The office of Dinaboomi, a Tamil daily, was ransacked and journalists were allegedly attacked by CPI(M) workers here late last night.

Police sources said the CPI(M) workers, apparently irked by a news item published in the daily, barged into the editorial department and attacked the journalists, including chief reporter Panneerselvam, reporter Sundarapandian and sub editor Ponnalagu, besides damaging property worth Rs five lakh.

According to Dinaboomi sources, the mob, allegedly led by CPI(M) Madurai Mayoral candidate Jyothiraman and Urban District Secretary, also jostled news editor Thirunavukkarasu and other staff.

A camera belonging to photographer Subramanian was also damaged in the Melee.

The unruly mob left the scene after warning the staff with dire consequences if they did not behave in a "proper" manner.

pPnneerselvam, Sundarapandian and Ponnalagu, who sustained serious injuries, were admitted to the government Rajaji hospital.

The Madurai reporters guild condemned the attack.

Police have registered a case.

DMKs demands Karunanidhi disappointed over centres apathy CHENNAI, Oct 18 (UNI) Former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi today expressed disappointment over the centre not initiating action against those allegedly responsible for the violent incidents during his arrest here on June 30 last and for "turning a blind eye" to the alleged violence unleashed by the ruling AIADMK during the first phase of the local body elections in the state.

When asked at a press conference at the DMK headquarters here on whether the BJP-led NDA government at the centre was unable to pay enough attention on issues relating to the states and on those pertaining to its allies on account of the ongoing war in Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US, Mr Karunanidhi said: "I dont know.

But the fact is that the centre has not taken any action on our demands".

Mr Karunanidhi said he could not meet prime minister A B Vajpayee during his visit to Chennai yesterday and this morning as his grandson had to be hosptalised due to sudden illness.

Responding to the prime ministers remarks at the airport before his departure to Delhi this morning, that action would be taken only if the complaints were genuine, Mr Karunanidhi said "its all right".

Asked why the centre seemed to be acting ambiguously on the issue, he quipped "because it is the centre".

Left demands action against VHP for entering Ayodhya site NEW DELHI, Oct 18 (UNI) The Left parties today demanded immediate action against the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal activists who led by their leaders, forcibly entered the disputed site at Ayodhya yesterday, defying Supreme Court orders.

The BJP-led governments at the centre and in Uttar Pradesh was answerable for this "provocative and illegal" act, they said.

The VHP defied the security arrangements and the Supreme Court order, with an eye on the UP elections, they said.

This was not a case of security lapse as claimed by the prime minister, but a "conscience connivance" between the state government and the Sangh Parivar, the CPI and CPI(M) said in separate statements.

The CPI(M) politburo demanded that those responsible for the act be immediately arrested.

"The home minister has to be accountable for such activities at the site, which is under the jurisdiction of the centre," the party said.

The party said the VHP had been encouraged by the prime ministers recent statement that a solution for the Ayodhya issue would be found by March and that the talks were on for the purpose.

Also, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee followed this up by reviving the Ayodhya cell in the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) after a meeting with top VHP leaders, it added.

The CPI central secretariat hoped that the Supreme Court would initiate suo motu action against the VHP for violating its orders.

The party demanded that the UP government proceed against the VHP activists, including its president Ashok Singhal.

The UP governments denial that no such incident occurred was a deliberate attempt to protect the VHP and Bajrang Dal, the party said.

"It is not a question of security lapse as claimed by the prime minister, but a conscience connivance between the UP government and the Sangh Parivar," the CPI added.

PM asks China to open alternative route to Mansarovar NEW DELHIi, Oct 17 (UNI): Prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today asked China to open the alternative route for the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage in Tibet, saying the present path is tough and surrounded by woods.

"I look forward towards opening of the other route to the Mansarovar pilgrimage which is much more easier than the present one that is tough and surrounded by the dense forests," Mr Vajpayee said.

He was speaking after releasing a book on the Mansarovar pilgrimage "An Odyssey in Tibet" authored by Tarun Vijay, the editor of the RSS mouthpiece "Panchjanya." Mr Vajpayee recalled that he had first raised the question of opening the Hindu pilgimage in Tibet for Indians way back in 1979 when he visited Mansarovar.

It took some persistent efforts on the part of Indian leaders that China later opened the gates for the pilgrimage, he said.

Due to the difficulties faced by the pilgrims on the present route, the prime minister said, only highly healthy people could traverse this journey.

They also had to go through several medical tests to provre their fitness for the pilgrimage, he added.

Shahi Imam flays US bombings NEW DELHI, Oct 18 (UNI): The Shahi Imam of Fatehpuri Masjid today took a swipe at the us for its unabated shelling of Afghanistan, saying Washington had "orchestrated a death dance of innocent civilians in the name of wiping out terrorism." Making an impassioned appeal to prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to voice his indignation over the bombings and demand their immediate cessation, Shahi Imam Mufti Mohammad Mukarram Ahmed said hundreds of people had perished and thousands maimed while city after city bore telltale marks of destruction.

"The loss of a single life in Afghanistan is now beyond the threshold of our tolerance.

It is highly regrettable that American bombers first wreak havoc and then Pentagon says that civilian casualties were due to missing of the target." The cleric, who also dashed off a telegram to the US embassy here criticising the attacks, said these acts of the US were "an open act of crime." He said Indian Muslims were not supporters of terrorism and substantiated his statement by pointing out that they had strongly condemned the Black Tuesday attacks on the US cities.

"Even the UN agencies are now appealing that the attacks have to be stopped.

Washington should not be oblivious of the fact that some UN buildings also have been damaged in the bombings.

The US, which trumpets its democracy, should not be insensitive to the sufferings of those who have lost everything in the attacks," he said.

The Shahi Imam said he had also sent a telegram to the United Nations drawing its attention to the "savage attacks" by Washington and demanding its immediate intervention to stop the bombings.

Fernandes reinduction last nail into democratic coffin: Gowda NEW DELHI, Oct 18 (UNI): Former prime minister and Janata Dal (S) president H D Deve Gowda today said that reinduction of defence minister George Fernandes into the cabinet by the NDA was the last nail into the democratic coffin and asked the secular and democratic parties to launch a mass campaign to save the nation.

Addressing a news conference here he said unity among the democratic and secular parties was a must and as things would go from bad to worse as the Bharatiya Janata Partys mother organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was exercising its remote extra constitutional authority to reinstal Mr Fernandes.

He further said there was discontent within the NDA on the reinduction which according to him was the most unethical act committed by any post independence government, he said.

Prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, by giving a clean chit to Mr Fernandes had only showed his utter disregard to the public opinion, he added.

Unity of the democratic and secular parties was a compulsion and he offfered to hasten it.

Answering a question, he said if there was any effort to unite Janata Party constituents like in the pre 1977 days, he would extended his support.

" I have no political ambition but the country should be freed from this misery," he remarked.

Mr Gowda dared the NDA coalition to come out with the full report of the Subramanian committee on Kargil and the Central Vigilance Commission reports on defence dealings if the government was serious about its proclamations of providing a clean and transparent government.

If these reports were to become fully public, than the nation will come to know of the failures of defence ministery as well as the defence minister, he said.

The government, he alleged was not bothered about the outcome of the judicial commission inquiry into the Tehelka.Com probe.

While serving defence officers were put on trial based on these tapes the defence minister was exonerated.

The middlemen left untouched, he lamented.

The former prime minister said election to Uttar Pradesh was the real test for Mr Vajpayees image and his government.

It will be a peoples verdict for the two year NDA rule, he remarked.

45 dead, 30,000 marooned in cyclone-hit Andhra HYDERABAD, Oct 18 (UNI): Army helicopters dropped food and water packets in the marooned villages of the cyclone-hit coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh where 45 people have died and 30,000 rendered homeless, officials said today.

Kurnool and Cuddapah districts were the worst hit in the cyclone Tuesday with 16 deaths each followed by Nellore and Chittoor (five each) and three in Ananthpur, the officials said.

Massive rescue and relief operations were underway in the affected areas, they said.

About 80 relief camps were operating in the affected districts.

As the water started receding, traffic was restroed on the Chennai-Kolkata national highway and on the Nandyal-Cuddapah road.

Several people were missing after the cyclone hit the state on Tuesday.

Four deaths were reported on Tuesday and 36 more yesterday.

The extent of damage could be assessed only after the flood waters receded, the officials added.

India to help restore normalcy in Afghanistan: Jaswant NEW DELHI, Oct 18 (UNI): India will do its best to help restore normalcy in Afghanistan after the current conflict is over, external affairs minister Jaswant Singh has said.

"Reasonable living conditions must be restored so that Afghan people can lead a normal life.

We look forward to a lasting peace in the region," he said while addressing the first Tej Bahadur Sapru lecture here last evening.

Mr Singh said India has already offered to send one million tonnes of wheat and woollen blankets for Afghan refugees settled on the Pakistan border.

A similar request has been made to Iran for refugees settled along the Afghan-Iran border.

The September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington has injected a sense of vulnerability all over the world, Mr Singh said.

Mankind has known causes of earlier conflicts whether they were territorial or ideological.

But the new phenomenon of global terrorism accepts none of these.

"Terrorism is an ideology by itself.

It seeks to conquer minds of the masses by terror.

It replaces a sense of order which is essential for civil societies.

Liberty and free thought are adversaries of terrorism." Mr Singh said the September 11 terror strikes have redefined the geopolitics in post-cold war era.

Besides, they have inflicted social, political and economic trauma for on United States, the most powerful nation.

At the same time, terrorism itself has changed dramatically.

"What is evident now is that we are witnessing globalisation of terrorism, resulting in global anarchy.

Terrorism is challenging the very concept of power, the instruments and hierarchy of power in orderly societies." The minister said changes in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past three years or so were symptomatic of the dangers facing the world today.

But terrorism cannot be equated with Islam.

"Terrorism is a religion in itself which does not recognise any other religion." Mr Singh said India does not recognise the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

It recognises the Northern Alliance government of Burhanuddin Rabbani which still has a seat in the United Nations.

Adding a word of caution for the Central Asian countries, Mr Singh said 20 per cent of global energy resources are located there.

"The global community cannot afford social and political anarchy in these nations." Left decries anti-terrorism ordinance as backdoor-entry of TADA NEW DELHI, Oct 18 (UNI): All India Peoples Resistance Forum (AIPRF), a conglomerate of various Left groupings, has criticised the promulgation of anti-terrorism ordinance, dubbing it as an attempt to bring through the backdoor another version of the draconian TADA which the government was forced to drop under pressure.

Taking the benefit of US-created euphoria against terrorism, the government has decided to surreptitiously push through prevention of terrorism ordinance, 2001, when it failed to enact such repressive legislation in parliament following heavy criticism by the opposition.

The government, therefore, dropped the Prevention Of Terrorist Activities(POTA) bill 2000 which had also been criticised by the National Human Rights Commission(NHRC).

The latest ordinance gives a wide-range of arbitrary powers to the investigating police officers and contains more notorious clauses than the Terrorist Activities and Disruptive (prevention) Act (TADA).

TADA, which was introduced in 1985, had given sweeping powers to the police, leaving no legal remedy and even no scope for judicial intervention in favour of a person taken into the custody under the Act.

Police even imposed TADA in cases of ordinary crime which was evident from the fact that the conviction in the cases of TADA detenues was around 1.1 per cent.

These facts were ample testimony that the TADA suppressed the democratic rights of the people and therefore came for severe condemnation from all sides.

The latest statute would again provide a lever to security forces to suppress democratic rights and violate human rights, turning the Indian state virtually in a police state, the forum said.

The AIPRF sought immediate intervention of president K R Narayanan for pressing the NDA government to drop the draconian statute.

US commits full support to Indias fight against terrorism NEW DELHI, Oct 17 (UNI) The United States today committed its full support to Indias fight against terrorism and endorsed New Delhis position that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir cannot be resolved on the basis of a two-nation theory.

"We make no distintion between what happened on September 11 (in the United States) and the October 1 attack outside the Jammu and Kashmir assembly complex", US secretary of state Colin Powell said at the end of his visit to India.

The secretary of state, at a joint press conference with external affairs minister Jaswant Singh, described Kashmir as an important issue clarifying that his remarks on this matter in Islamabad had been misinterpreted.

He said he had not referred to Kashmir as a central issue between India and Pakistan.

It was "central in the sense that it is an important issue".

"We are committed to root out terrorism in all its manifestations and forms.

It is not limited to Afghanistan.

Our efforts are directed at all forms of terrorism including against India".

Firmly emphasising that the US was a friend of both India and Pakistan, Mr Powell said.

"to that extent our efforts will be helpful".

India and Pakistan must move forward to resume dialogue.

"I fully agree", Mr Powell commented on external affairs minister Jaswant Singhs remarks that Jammu and Kashmir is an example of the secular traditions of India.

"We cannot re-invent the two nation theory again", Mr Jaswant Singh said.

He said the US greatly valued Indias decision to fight shoulder to shoulder with America in the global alliance against terrorism.

Mr Powell, who arrived here yesterday after a brief visit to Pakistan, held meetings with prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, home minister L K Advani, Mr Jaswant Singh and leader of the opposition Sonia Gandhi.

He and Mr Advani signed a bilateral treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters which marks an important step forward in Indo-US law enforcement and counter-terrorism cooperation.

New govt in Kabul after eliminating Al Qaeda terrorists: Powell NEW DELHI, Oct 17 (UNI) US secretary of state Colin Powell today said a new government would be installed in Afghanistan only after the elimination of Al Qaeda terrorists there.

"Only after the terrorists are gone, there can be a new government in Kabul, Mr Powell said while addressing a joint press conference here with external affairs minister Jaswant Singh.

Mr Powells statement comes amid speculations across the world that the us would first install a new government in Afghanistan and then carry on its hunt for the terrorists hiding in the mountainous terrain of that country.

Afghanistan must cease to be a base for the terrorists before the new dispensation was put in place there, he said.

VHP leaders force entry into "Garbh Griha" in Ayodhya AYODHYA, Oct 17 (UNI) Tension prevailed in the disputed area in the Ayodhya, when hundreds of Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists along with their leaders forcefully entered in the " Sanctum Sanctorium (Garbh Griha)" of the makeshift Ram temple here this morning.

The VHP activists accompanied by its working president Ashok Singhal, vice presidents Giri Raj Kishore, Dr Sujit Dhar and Srish Chandra Dixit, general secretary Sr Pravin Bhai Togadia, treasurer Phulla Reddy, Bajrang Dal national president Surendra Jain and co-convener of Bajrag Dal Praksh Sharma had a scuffle with security forces before entering.

They were demanding darshan of Ram Lalla from closer proximity as the entry into the "Garbh Griha"is prohibited.

VHP leaders alleged that the administration had made activists unsuccessful attempts to arrest Mr Singhal while the VHP and leaders had gone inside to have "Darshan" of the diety.

Divisional commissioner of Faizabad Anil Kumar Gupta, deputy inspector general of police R P Singh, district magistrate B P Misra and district police chief Prabhat Kumar reached the spot immediately after geting the information.

The chief minister Rajnath Singh and state BJP president Kalraj Misra were also in the Faizabad to adrress a rally.

Dr Gupta, also incharge of the disupted complex, later told "UNI" that about 25 persons had entered the prohibited place, and were driven out by the security personnel.He said some more persons had attempted to force their entry but were denied the access.

He admitted that the incident took place apparently due to laxity on the part of central reserve police force personnel, deployed at the complex.

He said he was sending his detalied report to the government in this regard.

It may be pointed out that the security inside the acquired land area has been entrusted to CRPF.

The commissioner said depite the presence of some VVIP persons in the town, the administration had manged to save the situation timely.

He also denied the vhp allegations that the security personnel had misbehaved with Mr Ashok Singhal.

He descrbied the situation as "under control".

Pendency of suit cannot quash proceedings in forgery cases: SC NEW DELHI, Oct 16 (UNI) The supreme court has ruled that mere pendency of a suit cannot be a cause for quashing criminal proceedings in a case of forgery.

Apprehending criminal action against them, the accused in such cases would be encouraged to frustrate the course of justice by filing suits with respect to the documents intended to be used against them, the court said.

The onus of proving the allegations beyond reasonable doubt in a criminal case, the court said was not applicable in the civil proceedings which can be decided merely on the basis of the probabilities with respect to the acts complained of.

The ruling was given by a bench of Mr Justice M B Shah and Mr justice R P Sethi.

The appeal by M Krishnan was directed against an order of the Karnataka high court quashing criminal proceedings against Vijay Singh and another with the offence of forging documents, bonds and other papers.

The SC in its judgement said that in a criminal court the allegations made in a complaint had to be established independently notwithstanding the adjudication by a civil court.

"Where the actual foundations for the offence have been laid down in the complaint, the high court should not hasten to quash criminal proceedings merely on the premise that one or two ingredients have not been stated with the details or that the fact narrated reveal the existence of commercial or money transaction between the parties," the court observed.

It cannot be said that the complaint filed by the appellant did not disclose the commission of an offence or there existed any other circumstance which can be made the basis for quashing the proceedings, the court added.

In fact the allegations made in the complaint required adjudication and the complaint could not have been aborted in the manner it has been done by the high court by the impugned order.

The impugned judgement being contrary to the settled position of law was thus not sustainable, the court added.

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