Hindu Saints March to Parliament; Musharraf Seeks NAM Help on Kashmir; NDA Whips Up Anti-Pak Hysteria to Divide Indian Society: Sonia; Pak N-weapons in Safe Hands, Declares US; 257 Dead, 1,000 Injured as Quake Strikes: China; Pak Plane Crashes, Afghan Minister Among 8 Feared Dead; Indian Food Flown to PM in Kuala Lumpur; Ismail Merchant's Autobiography Released; Bradman's Cap Fetches Over $ 500,000; A Beatle for You, Honey, on Your Birthday;

Home Contact Us Dateline New Delhi, Monday, February 24, 2003

Hindu Saints March to Parliament over Ayodhya

NEW DELHI: Thousands of saffron-clad Hindu saints, demanding the right to build a temple to Lord Ram at the site of the Babri mosque demolished by mobs in 1992, marched to Parliament on Monday. Heavily armed police personnel threw up barricades along the approaches to the Parliament building. The saints threatened bigger protests next month.

Ramchandra Paramhans, president of the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, threatened to barge into the undisputed land to complete the construction of the temple by next year. "After 25th March if I am not handed over the land, then, whether I am alive or not, I will carry the bricks on my head towards the undisputed land for the construction of the temple even if the Government shoots me. Hundreds and thousands of Hindus will be with me. The temple will be constructed within one year and three months," he said.

Ashok Singhal, president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, an affiliate of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said the agitation would continue till the temple is constructed. Police estimated the number of protestors at close to 5,000. Last week, the BJP-led coalition Government asked the Supreme Court to end a ban on religious activity near the mosque site, long a flashpoint of religious unrest, saying it would help defuse tension. The court adjourned the case until March 6.

KUALA LUMPUR: President Pervez Musharraf on Monday urged the Non-Aligned Movement to intervene in the Kashmir question and help settle the conflict. In his opinion, the NAM should "not shy away" from the principle of self-determination. He went a step further and proposed that a three-member panel of eminent persons be set up and define the group's mechanism for conflict resolution. Musharraf equated Kashmir with Palestine issue, saying that both the cases symbolised the right to self-determination. "The legitimacy of their cause is recognised by the United Nations and NAM must press for the realisation of these just causes and shun a selective approach to the UN resolution."

Reacting to Musharraf's statement on Kashmir, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said in his address, "I had never intended to mention such matters at this forum, but I am constrained to respond to some allegations against India. President Musharraf has referred to my country a little while ago. His strange logic masks Pakistan's territorial designs on an integral part of India. He justifies terrorism against India by talking of root causes. "Does he go into the root causes of sectarian terrorism in his country?", Vajpayee asked. "Or does he take stern action against the perpetrators of that terrorism?"

"He talks of the 'oppressed people of Kashmir.' These same people very recently cast their ballots in an election universally recognized as free and fair. They defied the bullets of the terrorists, aided and abetted by Pakistan ... Those very terrorists assassinated candidates and political activists in the elections and killed women and children because they refused to provide them food and shelter ... These terrorists continue to perpetrate violence against innocent civilians every day. Yet General Musharraf talks of an international humanitarian order," Vajpayee commented.

NEW DELHI: Sonia Gandhi, leader of the Congress party, on Monday warned ruling NDA not to hype Pakistan's war hysteria as an excuse for dividing multi-ethnic Indian society. Addressing Parliament during a vote of thanks on the President's address, which outlines the Government policy, she drew a fine line between tackling Pakistan's terror tactics and arousing Hindu extremism. "Pakistan's continued effort to foment cross-border terrorism and violence in different parts of our country must be combated vigorously. But we must not let our vigil down against ... forces who seem to disturb our social peace and harmony."

"But war hysteria is not a substitute for sound policy," Mrs Gandhi said. "While we deal with Pakistan's continued anti-Indian posture, confrontation with Pakistan must not be used as has been done by the BJP, to polarise our own society," she added. "The broader definition of security today must include social consolidation, internal unity, distributed social justice and countering all forms of religious and other extremism. My emphatic submission therefore is that during the tenure of the BJP-led coalition regime, the internal and national security situation has deteriorated alarmingly," she stated.

WASHINGTON: Pakistan's nuclear weapons are in safe hands and the US is satisfied with the measures Islamabad has taken to keep them secure, according to a senior official of the State Department. During a briefing to the Washington-based Defence Writers Group, the official and her aides reviewed the entire spectrum of the Islamabad-Washington relations, from Pakistan's nuclear weapons to the recent defence pact between India and Iran, says a report in Dawn.

The official remarked that "our overall assessment is that Pakistan has control of its nuclear arsenal and there is very little doubt about the fact that they have got it under wraps." Talking about security concerns within the country against seizure, diversion, accidents, or theft, she said: "We are always concerned with certain circumstances like this and we want to work - and we do - we've got conversations that go on with the Government of Pakistan in terms of export controls and exports in general and things along those lines. So we work that, of course."

There is always a concern with anyone. But our overall assessment is that their nukes are controlled." Pakistani authorities, it was emphasised, had had numerous conversations with US officials about the security of their nuclear weapons. "They are working with us and that we've got assistance in small amounts to help them, if they need it." But America was not providing the kind of help it gave to the Russians to secure their nuclear weapons.

BEIJING: About 257 people died and at least 1,000 were injured as a strong quake shook China's Xinjiang region on Monday. A thousand houses were destroyed, including schools and other buildings.The earthquake in the dry western desert region measured 6.8 on the Richter scale and rocked the area at 10.03 am (local time). The epicentre was in sparsely populated Jiashi. The toll was rising as reports of damage to homes, many of brick and concrete, came in. N Pak

KARACHI: A chartered plane, which carried, among eight passengers, the Afghan minister of petroleum and mines, Juma Mohammad Mohammadi, crashed in Pakistani territory on Monday. The wreckage of the aircraft was later found about 30 nautical miles from the port of this city. Search is going on to locate the bodies. Mohammadi held talks in Pakistan over the week-end on a major pipeline project. Others aboard the Cessna aircraft included an official of Pakistan's foreign ministry and Sun Chang Feng, chief executive of MCC Resource Development Co, a Chinese pipeline firm.

KUALA LUMPUR: Imagine a situation when one is 'pampered', with a capital P. Food flown in from across the country to a foreign destination. Food from five States.Cuisine at its best.That too by renowned chefs. This was done for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by the Indian embassy here on Sunday evening. He is here to attend the 13th Non-Aligned Summit, a meet over-shadowed by the crisis in Iraq.

Chefs Jiggs Kalra and Marut Sikka were specially flown in to oversee the arrangements. Says Sikka, "Keeping in mind the weather here and in India, we had to adjust at a hectic pace and keeping in mind the Prime Minister's palate and a penchant for good food, we decided on concepts from five places - Awadh, Hyderabad, Punjab, Kashmir and Rajasthan." "These are traditional dishes which are very famous for their taste and preparation," he said. Commented one foreign visitor, "It's excellent, I love it, the variety and the taste," adding, " I love Indian food."

Sikka.said: "The effort was to make a veritable klaeidoscope of dishes and ingredients assembled from the kitchens across India to make it a memorable experience not only for the Prime Minister, but also for everyone present."

MUMBAI: Ismail Merchant's autobiography, 'A Passage from India', was released here on Monday by thespians Dilip Kumar and Shashi Kapoor. The book records a 40-year journey of the famed film-maker who gradually shifted from Bollywood to Hollywood. Merchant, now based in the US, was present on the occasion. He started working on the book last year and the objective of documenting his experiences was to provide inspiration to the people.

SYDNEY: The baggy green cap that the late Sir Donald Bradman wore during his last Test series on Australian soil against India in 1947-48 has fetched a world-record price believed to be in excess of 500,000 dollars. An unidentified businessman from Sydney bought the cap before auction on Sunday night. According to Tom Byron, a spokesman for the buyer, his cricket-loving client, a "prominent businessman under 40," had been actively seeking to buy a cap worn by the cricketing legend for a long time. "Our journeys have taken us around Australia and certain parts of the world and they simply don't exist," Byron was quoted as saying by the Australian.

"We are talking about Sir Donald Bradman, the last baggy green he wore in his last Test on Australian soil. It is very significant," he added. After the 1947-48 series, Bradman gave the baggy green to close friend and Indian team manager Pankaj 'Peter' Gupta to inspire the Indian game. Gupta left the cap to a relative when he died before it was passed to its present owner.

LONDON: Billionaire businessman Ralph Whitworth, 47, paid one million dollars to Sir Paul McCartney, the ex-Beatle, to perform at his wife's 50th birthday. In an extraordinary attempt to convey love to his wife, the man secretly hired the McCartney, 60, to perform a 90-minute set on the occasion for his 150 guests, according to a report in the Sun.

Ralph, a father of two, said: "I feel honoured he agreed to do it. It was Paul's first private party. He has been asked numerous times before but has always refused. He said he was impressed by the gesture and by the fact that I said I wouldn't pay him a dime, but would help the charity." Seeing the great star CNN TV executive Wendy, for whom the show was held, burst into tears as her idol took the stage, with Ralph announcing: "Now we're going to play a bit of rock 'n roll for Wendy," Sir Paul, 60, belted out Beatles hits during the gig at a club in San Diego, California. He insisted his 636,000 pound fee went to the anti-landmine charity he supports with wife Heather, 35. "It was," he added , "a win-win show. Ralph gets to be the great husband, his wife gets a rocking party, I rehearse the band and - most important - Adopt-A-Minefield gets one million dollars."

The people present could not hold their tears while Paul was performing "People couldn't believe they were seeing the great man himself." "Keeping it a secret was very hard, but Wendy had no idea Paul would be there. When she saw him standing on stage, she was flabbergasted. We're both huge fans," Ralph, the devoted husband added.