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It's pure terrorism, not freedom struggle: Advani
New Delhi, June 7 (ANI): Union Home Minister L K Advani said on Friday the whole world has realised that Pakistan was encouraging terrorism in India and world leaders, including US President George Bush and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, have been saying that permanent peace cannot be established in the region unless Islamabad stops abetting terrorism. Even the Americans now say that massacres, violence and efforts to destabilise the country constituted pure terrorism and not freedom struggle as claimed by Pakistan, the Home Minister said. He said no talks could take place between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Gen Pervez Musharraf at Almaty as it was the former who had invited the Pakistani President to Agra but the two sides could not even issue a joint statement. Stating that world opinion has undergone a sea change "from Agra to Almaty", Advani said the international community has realised that pressure should be exerted on Pakistan to end terrorism. "If Pakistan does not do that and India reacts in accordance with popular sentiments, it would be considered appropriate," he said after unveiling the statue of the last Hindu King of Delhi and Rajput warrior Prithviraj Chauhan at the Qila Rai Pithora complex here.(ANI) Pervez for effective action against infiltration: Armitage
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to top New Delhi, June 7 (ANI): India said on Friday it had been told by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf saw the need for permanent action against militants crossing over to Kashmir. "According to what has been conveyed to us by the U.S. administration, President Musharraf has made it clear hat seizing infiltration across the Line of Control needs to be an action that is permanent. So we will have to verify on the ground as to whether such steps have been taken," foreign ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao told reporters when asked if Pakistan had given any assurances that it would put an end to cross-border infiltration. Rao said India reiterated its stand that Pakistan must take permanent and irreversible steps to end infiltration and cross-border terrorism, and then New Delhi would consider taking reciprocal steps to ease tension. "Our view that Pakistan should take permanent and irreversible steps to end infiltration and cross-border terrorism was reiterated. And the fact that once if and when Pakistan takes steps to end infiltration, as Prime Minister has also said we would consider steps in reciprocity. But we have to be convinced that there is credible evidence on the ground that Pakistan is taking action to fulfill its various assurances." Armitage is in the region to defuse tensions between the nuclear neighbours, who are locked in a military standoff over the disputed region of Kashmir that has brought them to the brink of war. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has asked Pakistan to act on pledges to crack down on Islamic militants blamed by New Delhi for attacks on Indian targets in order to ease tensions between the two countries. Earlier, Armitage met Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh who conveyed to him that India was committed to peace despite being locked in a tense military standoff with Pakistan. "We are very much committed to moving on the path to peace because to peace there is no alternative that has been India's conviction and commitment". Singh told a brief news conference he held with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Armitage, who held talks with Singh earlier, was due to hold more talks with the minister as well as with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Singh said India was in favour of setting up a joint patrol with Pakistani troops to monitor cross border infiltrations into the restive Jammu and Kashmir. "The Prime Minister suggested joint patrolling as an answer to cross border infiltration. It isn't as if joint patrolling is going to be established tomorrow but it is evolutionary. It's an answer to the problem and one should work for it," Singh said. Armitage, who arrived in New Delhi from Islamabad on a mission to defuse tension in the region, said in Pakistan his talks had provided "a very good basis" to help prevent war. Singh repeated India's position that India would reciprocate positively if Pakistan acted on its pledge to crack down on Muslim militants. While New Delhi has suggested joint India-Pakistan patrols to check infiltration, Islamabad has said it may not be possible because of the tension between the neighbours. Pakistan has instead called for international monitors, a suggestion India rejects.(ANI)
India committed to peace: Jaswant Singh Go to top New Delhi, June 7 (ANI): Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh on Friday said that India was committed to moving on the path of peace. "We are very much committed to peace because to peace there is no alternative," Singh told a brief press conference he held with US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Armitage, who held talks with Singh earlier, was due to hold more talks with the minister as well as with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The US Deputy Secretary of State, who arrived in New Delhi from Islamabad on a mission to defuse tension in the region, said that his talks in Pakistan had provided "a very good basis" to help prevent war. (ANI)
Pak foreign minister resigns
Go to top Islamabad, June 7 (ANI): In what was described as a sudden move, Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar announced his resignation here Friday, citing health grounds. Press reports quoted him as saying: "I have offered resignation on medical grounds. My health does not permit me to fulfil the responsibilities". Later, confirming the reports, he said, "they are correct". "The Nation" quoted the minister as saying - "it was up to President Pervez Musharraf to accept or reject my resignation. However, as soon as the President accepts the resignation, I will quit my job". Reliable sources said Sattar had requested President Musharraf to relieve him of his job after he underwent a endoscopic surgery last week. A bureaucrat-turned-minister, Sattar had served as Islamabad's High Commissioner to India before being elevated to the post of foreign minister. (ANI)
Undeterred by Pak shelling they're determined to stay put
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top Akhnoor (J-K), June 7 (ANI): Undeterred by the continuous shelling from Pakistan, some migrant families living in Akhnoor sector of Jammu and Kashmir are determined to stay put and fight Pakistan in the event of a war. Ram Nagar relief camp was set up in the valley in 1999 as a temporary shelter for migrant families fleeing intermittent heavy shelling by Pakistani troops. Three years down the line, the relief camp in Akhnoor sector near Jammu, has turned itself into a more or less permanent home for scores of families with shelling by Indian and Pakistani troops becoming a ritual affair. Since the middle of last month the relief camp is absorbing more migrants as shelling across the international border and the Line of Control further north has become intense following a suicide raid on a military camp in Jammu which killed 34 people including the three attackers New Delhi said were Pakistanis. Migrant villagers, many of whom braved the shelling till they lost a family member, said they are trying to rebuild their shattered lives having lost their farms. "What other work will I do? We sew clothes. People give us money to stitch their clothes. Little work like this tides us over," said Neelam Sharma, a housewife. Migrants, a vast majority of them Hindus, said if Pakistan wanted it could halt exchange of firing like it did before Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf visited India almost a year ago. Villagers squarely blamed Pakistan for their plight. "We will throw bombs at Pakistan. We will advance our tanks on them. Not just the youth, even the elderly are enthusiastic about coming forward to fight Pakistan," said Beeto Ram. Relations deteriorated between India and Pakistan since the failed Agra summit last July. New Delhi has mobilised its troops seeking Islamabad to stop infiltration since a terrorist attack in December on parliament it blamed on Pakistani militants. More than a million men are locked in a six-month long military stand-off on both sides of the 3,310 kilometers-long border. India accuses Pakistan of arming and infiltrating militants into Kashmir. Pakistan denies the charge saying it provides only moral and diplomatic support to "freedom fighters".(ANI)
Rail-road traffic jam in Kolkata
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top Kolkata, June 7 (ANI): Over 450 Trinamool Congress activists in Kolkata were allegedly involved in obstructing road and rail traffic during the party-sponsored 12-hour statewide bandh on Friday. The Trinamool Congress rejected Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee's offer of talks on some of their demands including remunerative prices for the farmers, scam in the higher secondary education system, hike in electricity tariff, hike in charges in hospitals and other related issues. "The main issue is the support price of paddy which the government has totally failed to provide. So, the farmers are crying in the villages that they are not getting proper price for the paddy. All issues are related to the common man, so we have called the bandh," said Sovander Chaterjee, a Trinamool Congress activist. The state-run transport services were plying in the city though some shops and establishments remained shut. The attendance in both government and private offices also remained quite thin. The CPI (M) - led left front as well as the BJP are said to have opposed the bandh. (ANI)
Presidential poll schedule announced
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to top New Delhi, June 7 (ANI): Presidential elections will be held on July 15 and the counting of votes will begin three days later, Chief Election Commissioner JM Lyngdoh announced on Friday. Announcing the poll schedule, Lyngdoh said the last date for filing of nominations for the top post is June 25, scrutiny of nomination papers on June 26, while the last date for withdrawal of candidature is June 28. A notification for holding the polls will be issued on June 11, he added.(ANI)
Foreigners leaving Varanasi, hitting tourism badly Go to top Vananasi, June 7 (ANI): The holy town of Varansi is a huge draw for international tourists coming to India with its promise of spiritual enlightenment and a raw, rustic, wholly Indian charm. But, in this time of ominously gathering war clouds over South Asia, tourism in the town has been badly hit. Foreigners, all lured to Varanasi with its spectacle of great Hindu practices and spectacular temples, are leaving for their homelands. Most have been advised by their governments to leave the Indian subcontinent as fears of a fourth war between nuclear-arch rival India and Pakistan grow. "We are leaving because we don't want to be bombed out of the country.Yes, we are taking an earlier flight than we originally planned," said Zara Dunlop, a British tourist. "I am going back to, well I am leaving India because the Canadian Embassy has advised Canadians to leave India. Because of escalating tension between India and Pakistan and the potential for war," said Amy, a Canadian university student in Varanasi for two and a half weeks. Last Friday, the United States, Britain, Canada and at least a dozen other nations told their citizens to leave, worried the conflict could escalate. They also cut their embassy staff to essential personnel. Scores of foreigners have left India in the last fortnight after being ordered out by their governments and companies, fearful of an escalation in the conflict between India and neighbouring Pakistan. However, there are many who believe that the latest conflict between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours will not spill over into anything more than it is already a high stakes border stand-off. Apart from being a huge tourist destination, Varanasi is visited by several international students and scholars to study Indian culture and religion. Income of a large number of the city's population is dependent on the lucrative tourist trade. Hotels, restaurateurs, tour operators make great money from the dollar or pound carrying travellers. Local authorities say that the tourist trade in the whole of north India has been reduced to a paltry 1 to 2 per cent of the normal trade. "Ever since the events of the last year or so, the tourism industry has been badly eclipsed. Our fortunes were severely hit. All industries, related to tourism, be it hoteliers or the textile industry have been affected due to this. Even the local telephone operators or the small restaurateurs have been hit by this slump," said Gokul Sharma, chief secretary of Varanasi's Hotel Association. (ANI)
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