Iran joins India, Russia against Taliban role NEW DELHI, Oct 20 (UNI) Iran has joined India and Russia in their opposition to involve a faction of the Taliban leadership in any future set up in Afghanistan.
The government of Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani, which is recognised by a majority of countries and linked to the Northern Alliance, should play a fundamental role in the future government in Kabul said Iranian Foreign minister Kamal Kharazi.
India, Iran and Russia are in favour of involving the Northern Alliance in the decision making on Afghanistan.
India and Russia have clearly stated that Taliban militia should be completely excluded from any future government in the war torn country.
They said there are no good and bad terrorists and their inclusion will not help in eliminating terrorism from the face of the world.
Iran refused to accept any US-Pakistan post Taliban solution and had taken serious view for excluding teheran on this sensitive issue, the daily teheran reported.
The US should be careful not to again be deceived by the Pakistanis on the question of Afghanistan, it said.
Iran has always opposed the taliban regime in afghanistan.
Anti-US protests dying in Pak NEW DELHI, Oct 20 (UNI) Anti-US protests in Pakistan were subdued yesterday as compared to those witnessed last Friday.
The Jamiat-ul-Ulema-Islam (JUL), which has been in the forefront of the protests against the US led attack on the Taliban and the Musharraf governments support to it, was quiet yesterday.
Its leader Maulana Fazlur Rahman, who has been under house arrest in Dera Ismail Khan, was charged with treason two days ago for calling upon the police and security forces to disobey the governments orders.
But Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), which revived its protests early this week, held a massive rally in Peshawar, where the party chief Qazi Hussain ahmed addressed the people in Pushtu language and announced that the partys movement would continue until president Pervez Musharraf was toppled and Islam was promulgated in Pakistan.
Urdu BBC quoted him as saying that Pakistan was created in the name of Islam and a ruler who did not respected this fact must go.
He said Islam bound the peoples of Pakistan and Afghanistan into brotherhood.
The party held a meeting in Lahore, too, but the rest of Pakistan was comparatively quiet.
The decline in the fury of fundamentalists protests coincides with emerging anti-Taliban statements from Afghanistan.
Yesterday the governor of Herat Ismail Khan said Taliban must quit.
At the same time former jehadi commanders from the Nangarhar province in Aghanistan have established a "Shoora" (Advisory Body) to build up political and military pressure on Taliban.
According to "The Nation", these commanders met in Peshawar at the house of Haji Mohammad Zaman who had been thrown out of Pakistan in 1997 for opposing Taliban.
Hajo Zaman told newsmen that the commander would send a delegation to Taliban to ask them to quit ot they would launch a military action against them.
Shadow of gloom amidst Puja boom PATNA, Oct 20 (UNI): The installation of the Holy Kalash (earthern pitcher) in households and puja pandals marks the beginning of festive season in Bihar even as apprehension of breach of peace looms large over the state.
The actual Puja begins on the seventh day from Amabashya with the removal of pat (cover) from the idols.
Idols of Durga with Mahisasura, Lakshmi, Sarswati, Ganesha and Kartikeya are installed on the puja eve amidst fanfare.
Although the spirit of the puja in Bihar is similar to that in Bengal, where the occasion has attained the status of a national festival, local variations are seen aplenty here.
Fasting for nine nights in Navratri is a hallmark of the puja.
Devotees take fruits and milk after sunset, till the immersion of the idols of goddess.
Strictures on intake of non-vegetarian food, after installation of the holy kalash, is another special feature in Bihar.
Consuming common salt during the festival period is also a taboo in Bihar but in some cases use of the Sindha variety is allowed.
Clad in their best outfits, people meet friends and relatives in community puja pandals and visit fairs to forget their woes for the brief period.
People are apprehensive of violence during the immersion of idols.
The administration has taken steps to pre-empt any trouble.
Processions have been banned along certain stretches in patna.
However, there has been no announcement of increase in railway berths allotted to Patna so far.
AP cyclone toll rises to 78 HYDERABAD, Oct 20 (UNI) The toll in the recent cyclone and heavy rains in coastal Andhra Pradesh, rose to 78 today, with more deaths reported from the affected areas, even as the State government took up relief and rescue operations on a war footing.
Official sources here said that Cuddapah reported the highest number of 33 deaths, followed by Kurnool 15 , Chittoor 5 , Nellore 12 , Anantapur 4 and Guntur 6 .
Another 32 people are reported missing.
However, a late night report from Nellore said that 25 fishermen were missing.
The fisherfolk living in Indukuru, Mypad and Aluru mandals, who ventured into the sea on Wednesday, were yet to return.
The officials here were unable to confirm anything about these missing fishermen.
Over 15,000 houses were damaged in the cyclone and rain havoc and several teams of officials were engaged in assessing the damage.
A final figure of the loss of life and property and the extent of damage caused to houses, roads, tanks and railway tracks, is expected by late this evening, the sources said.
Steps to ensure safety of Indians in Afghanistan NEW DELHI, Oct 20 (UNI) The government has initiated steps for safe passage of Indians from Afghanistan which was under attack from the United States, External Affairs minister Jaswant Singh told senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra who met him this morning.
Malhotra told UNI that he had urged Singh to ensure safety of Indians, particularly Hindus and Sikhs, residing in Afghanistan.
The External Affairs ministry has already directed Indian mission in Pakistan to take all necessary steps to help our nationals who reach Pakistani border from Afghanistan.
They can be provided all facilities at the Attari borders also, Singh informed him.
Advani rules out hot pursuit option to crush terrorism in Kashmir NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (UNI) Home minister LK Advani today ruled out for now the hot pursuit option to crush terrorist training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) but said the government would continue to be pro-active in its efforts to curb militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.
"In international law, it is legitimate that if anyone attacks you, you have the right to hot pursuit.
But we have avoided that until now and at the present point of time, we do not propose to do it," he said.
"The pro-active policy will continue which means we will not be looking for terrorists to strike first.
We will certainly go all out for them," Mr Advani told members of the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) here.
He said the world community must know how and where international terrorism took roots.
There is ample intelligence and analytical evidence to show that the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which has provided a safe haven to Osama bin Laden and other of the Al-Qaida network on its soil, was the creation of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan, he said.
"And the very same isi has been the planner, instigator and supporter of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir other parts of India." The home minister said the United States and other nations in the international coalition must ensure that those who are part of the war against terrorism are themselves not guilty of providing a safe haven to terrorists, hijackers and organisers of terrorist camps.
"The world community will have to look beyond the current campaign to succeed in its ultimate stated objective of striking at the historical, ideological, political and operational root of this evil," he said.
"Similarly, Pakistan will have to for its own good and for establishing peaceful and cooperative relations with India soon bury the hypocrisy of supporting terrorism in India and claiming to fight it in Afghanistan." Mr Advani said it is primarily Indias own task to fight this brand of terrorism and defeat it.
"We shall do so with a firm hand." he said the security forces in Kashmir have been successful in identifying, locating and eliminating militants in the past few months.
Mr Advani said Kashmir was a peaceful region initially with tourism as its mainstay.
But after getting defeated in three open wars, Pakistan started fomenting a proxy war of which terrorism was the guiding force.
Mr Advani said the new manifestation of international terrorism is a challenge to human civilisation.
What is at work behind Al Qaeda and similar terrorist organisations is a dangerous mindset that seeks to fundamentally redefine the premises and principles of the present world order.
It challenges not only the sovereignty of individual nations but also the universal concepts like secularism, pluralism and individual freedom, he said.
"The uncivilised destruction of the statues of Buddha at Bamiyan, which were a part of the global heritage of spiritualism, art and culture, cannot therefore be delinked from the uncivilised acts on September 11 in the United States and many more similar acts that India has suffered for the past 10 to 12 years." The campaign of hate, intolerance and violence propagated by the Al Qaeda network has simply no parallel in modern world history, Mr Advani said.
"The truth the world community must know, even in this post-September 11 era when the focus is more on the terrorist strikes in the United States, is that no country has suffered as much from this brand of religiously-masked irreligious terrorism as India has," he added.
US aims for military base: JKDF NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (UNI) Criticising the for continuous bombing of Afghanistan, Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Forum (JKDF) said the purpose of the attacks was to establish a US military base in the South Asian region.
" Washington has a hidden agenda to have military presence in the area," president of the JKDF Bhushan Bazaz said today adding that Osama bin Laden was a creation of the US.
Mr Bazaz also came down heavily on the Indian government for meekly surrendering to the US diktats.
US strikes "challenge to Muslim world": Shahi Imam NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (UNI) Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari today described the US-led war against terrorism as a "challenge to the Muslim world" and said Washington should have conducted negotiations with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan before carrying out military strikes.
In his speech after the Friday prayers at the historic mosque, the Shahi Imam said the United States had shied away from producing evidence against Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaida network before launching the air strikes on Afghanistan under the pretext of saving democracy, independence and humanity.
He referred to US secretary of state Colin Powells recent statement during his visit to Pakistan and India that Washington favoured a resolution of the Kashmir issue through dialogue and said the same principle could be applied in the case of the Taliban.
"The Muslims of the world want to know the crime of Osama bin Laden.
What wrong has he committed?" The United States has named bin Laden as the prime suspect for the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
The Imam said the US and Britain were talking about the Palestinian issue in order to garner support of the Muslim world.
"They are not serious to solve the Palestinian issue because they know that there will be none in the Middle East to buy arms if it is solved." He spewed his venom on the Indian government for supporting the US-led coalition against terrorism.
The Imam urged the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to chalk out a strategy for the liberation of Palestine and protection of Muslims from the "oppression and aggression" of the west.
In his address at Fatehpuri mosque, Shahi Imam Dr Mufti Mukkaram urged the government to take string action against the Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers who entered the sanctum sanctorum at the disputed site in Ayodhya and the BJP youth wing activists who reportedly indulged in acts of vandalism inside the premises of Taj Mahal at Agra recently.
Pak criticised for inhuman treatment to political prisoners NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (UNI) Separatist Kashmir leader Syed Nazir Gilani has openly criticised the Pakistan government for its inhuman treatment to political prisoners,stating that the military regime wanted to muzzle democracy.
Syed Gilani,who heads Jammu and Kashmir Council for Human Rights(JKCHR) said that many political prisoners fear that they might be poisoned by the officials of the National Accountability Bureau,while in detention.
This is for the first time that he came out openly against human rights violation in Pakistan.Mr Gilani had been actively involved in political activities in Pakistan occupied Kashmir before shifting to Britain.
In a statement from London,he described death of Mian Arshad Butt of Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP) in prison as a serious matter and urged the Pakistani authorities to respect rights of the prisoners in general and political prisoners in particular.
Syed Gilani also expressed anguish on the prolonged detention of senator Asif Zardari.
He said the government should have given him permission to go abroad for medical treatment.Similarly other politicians like Yousaf Raza Gilani,Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar and Naveed Qamar should not be victimised.
PWD minister N Rengaswami elected CLP leader in Pondy PONDICHERRY, Oct 19 (UNI) Public works minister in the outgoing Shanmugham cabinet N Rengaswami was today unanimously elected as leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the union territory of Pondicherry.
AICC general secretary Gulam Nabi Azad announced the unanimous election of Mr Rengaswami as the CLP leader following the resignation of Mr Shanmugham as chief minister.
Mr Azad said after having an interaction with the Congress legislators, the party leadership was keen that former chief minister V Vaithilingam should don the mantle.
Mr Vaithilingam, however, had said he could not assume the leadership till he was acquitted in the case which was before a court, the CLP unanimously elected Mr Rengaswami as the CLP leader, Mr Azad said.
A three-time member of the territorial assembly, Mr Rengaswami was a minister in the Vaithilingam cabinet (1991-96) and also a minister in the two Shanmugham cabinets.
He represents Thattanchavady constituency Mr Azad expressed confidence that Mr Rengaswami had the experience to hold the post and would be guided by former chief minsters, Shanmugham, M O H Farook and V Vaithilingam.
He clarified that last time itself Mr Shanmugham has said that he was interested in becoming an MLA or chief minister but the AICC had asked him to shoulder the responsibility.
President confers gallantry awards NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (UNI) President K R Narayanan today conferred 2 Kirti Chakra, 2 Vir Chakra and 20 Shaurya Chakra medals, 12 of them posthumously, for gallantry shown in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast while fighting militancy and armed aggression.
At a solemn ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mr Narayanan also presented 14 Param Vishisht Seva medals and 19 Ati Vishisht Seva medals to senior officers of the three services for distinguished service.
Prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, home minister L K Advani, defence minister George Fernandes, external affairs minister Jaswant Singh and the three service chiefs were among a large number of dignitaries who attended the years second defence investiture ceremony at the Durbar Hall.
Lt M N Atmaram of 11 Sikh, who sacrificed his life fighting ULFA terrorists in Assam on February 26, 2000, and Lt Ravinder Chhikara of 6 Grenadiers who died after a successful operation against militants in Rajouri district of J and K on July 19,2000, were awarded the Kirti Chakra.
The Vir Chakra gallantry medal was given posthumously to Sepoy Manoj Kumar of 12 Bihar who laid down his life when the Ghatak Platoon he was part of destroyed a Pakistani post at a height of 12,500 feet in J and K in retaliation for an attack on an Indian position.
Another Vir Chakra awardee was Maj Gopal Singh Chundawat of 19 Grenadiers for exceptional bravery in demolishing an enemy post in Pallanwala sector of J and K.
The awardees were: Kirti Chakra- Lt M N Atmaram (posthumous) and Lt Ravinder Chhikara.
Vir Chakra- Sep Manoj Kumar Singh (posthumous) and Maj Gopal Singh Chundawat.
Shaurya Chakra-Lance Naik Ranjodh Singh, Subedar Dalip Singh, Havildar Bhinwa Raj, Rifleman Suraj Mal, Grenadier Mohammad Ikram, Capt Hari Raj Kumar, Subedar Rajen Basumatary, Maj Sanjay Sood and Overseer Mohan Singh of Border Roads (all posthumous) and Capt A Narendran Nair, Havildar Zile Singh, Maj harmeet Singh Sidhu, Subedar Khushal Singh, Gunner Suresh Chand, Maj Devendra Singh Mankoti, Lt Lalit Kumar Sharma, Vijay Singh Rawat of Indian navy, Company Havildar Major Vanlal Chhuanga, Subedar Madan Lal and Lance Havildar Nainpal Singh.
Param Vishisht Seva medal- Vice Admiral Harinder Singh, Vice Admiral J C De Silva, Lt Gen A S rao, Lt Gen Shankar Prasad, Lt Gen Gurpreet Singh, Lt Gen V K Sewal, Lt Gen Avtar Singh, Lt Gen M P S Bhandari, Lt Gen M A Gurbaxani, Lt Gen A S Khanna, Lt Gen J R Mukherjee, Lt Gen B S Malik, Air Vice Marshal S S Chauhan and Air Vice Marshal G K Kwatra.
Ati Vishisht Seva Medal- Lt Gen B M Kapur, Air Marshal L K Verma, Maj Gen M P Ramrao, Maj Gen J S Kang, Maj Gen V K Varma, Maj Gen Vijay Krishna, surgeon Rar Admiral (now Lt Gen) S P Malhotra, Rear Admiral S K K Krishnan, Air Marshal R C Mahadik, Air Marshal B K Pandey, Air Vice Marshal S C Rastogi, Air Vice Marshal V A Patkar, Maj Gen S P Kalra, Commodore S S C Mukherjee, Air Vice Marshal D E Jonas, Air Commodore S H Tripathi, Air Commodore A D Chhibar, Bansi Lal Tikoo and Lalit Kumar Ganjoo.
Advani disapproves of VHP forcible entry in Ayodhya NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (UNI) Home Minister L.K.
Advani today disapproved of Wednesdays forcible entry of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders into the make-shift temple at a disputed site in Ayodhya.
He said the Centre is awaiting the report into the incident from the Uttar Pradesh State government.
"Prima Facie, I disapprove of what the VHP did," he told reporters at the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) here.
May be there was a security lapse, Advani said quoting prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that security arrangement around the disputed complex appeared to be slack and there was a need to further tighten it.
Activists of the Bajrang Dal and the VHP including its senior leader Ashok Singhal had barged inside the prohibited "sanctum sanctorum" of the make-shift temple.
Opposition leaders say the action was in breach of the Supreme Courts order.
They also claim that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was behind the October 17 incident at Ayodhya.
The party is trying to induce communal tensions across the country in its attempt to divert public attention from performance failures, they say.
Advani also sought to play down the incident at Taj Mahal last weekend.
Members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), who were in Agra to attend the Golden Jubilee national convention of the party, had gone berserk inside the Taj Complex and shouted Jai Ram.
The Home Minister said media reports were exaggerated.
The Supreme Court, however, has asked the state government officials and the Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) to explain their positions.
Govt deptts ,ministries on alert to check Anthrax : Advani NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (UNI) Various government departments and ministries are on alert to check the presence of Anthrax spores as the scare of biological warfare sweeps across the world, home minister L.K.
Advani said today.
The ministries of health, home and defence are monitoring the situation closely, he told reporters at the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC).
Advani said the Defence Research Development establishment (drde) in gwalior yesterday examined a packet following an Anthrax scare.
But the substance found turned out to be chalk powder.
The National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), is picking up early epidemeological clues to the use of bio-weapons.
It is being supported by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to train emergency squads and information dissemination.
A high concentration of Anthrax spores drawn deep into the lungs return to their bacterial state and then develop the infection, resulting in death.
Pondy CM resigns PONDICHERRY, Oct 19 (UNI) Pondicherry Chief Minister P Shanmugham today resigned, triggering hectic political activity to select his successor.
Announcing his resignation at a press conference, the senior Congress leader said he had decided to put in his papers a month ago and had intimated his decision to the party high command.
Sanmugham, a non-member of the Pondicherry Assembly, who took over as chief minister on may 24 this year, should have announced his decision to contest the by-polls to the territorial assembly by yesterday, before the six-month period for getting elected.
Yesterday, Congress spokesperson S Jaipal Reddy said in New Delhi that Shanmugham would be replaced.
Shanmugham had to go as no legislator was willing to give up his seat for him.
However, the Chief Minister said, "I resigned so that the party and the ministry can function smoothly and not because the Congress legislators failed to come forward to resign to enable me to contest the election." "I had desired that the announcement should be made by the high command.
However, reports which appeared in a section of the press maligning my image forced me to announce my decision to resign today.
There is no question of going back from this decision," he said.
The Senior leader said he would submit his resignation letter to the lT governor after a direction from the party high command.
Shanmugham, who broke down during the press conference, said he was a "disciplined politician" with 45 years of public service and had never aspired for power.
He said he wanted the government to continue with the support of all the ruling constituents.
Steps had been taken to ensure this, he added.
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