ISI working on Musharraf Benazir, Sharif power-sharing deal

     Lahore: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf may after all not hang on to the post of Chief of Army Staff, for if sources close to him are to be believed, he is working on a power-sharing formula with his arch rivals Benazir Bhutto and Mohammad Nawaz Sharif. If the deal with Benazir's PPP and Sharif's PML (N) is clinched, the sources said it could lead to the dissolution of Parliament, fresh elections in 2005 and Musharraf relinquishing the army chief's office, reports the Daily Times. "President Musharraf wants to share power with the PPP and bring the PML-N into the loop, but his proposal excludes the return to power of both Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif as prime ministers. In this regard, the PPP is more amenable to the government's proposals than Nawaz Sharif but negotiations are continuing with both sides", confirmed sources told the paper. It has been learnt that senior ISI, MI officers and key personnel in the President's secretariat are conducting these negotiations in Dubai and Jeddah.

     The sources said that the government has given an assurance to the PPP leadership that in the event of a deal being clinched leading to fresh elections, the PPP will not be obstructed from galvanizing its votebank to make a bid to re-enter the corridors of power. There is also talk of an interim administration acceptable to all stake-holders for the conduct of free and fair elections. "Interestingly, the government's emissaries are learnt to have assured Bhutto that Musharraf will shed his uniform sometime soon and pull back army personnel from civilian institutions after the next elections" said the sources. In return, Bhutto must agree to accept Musharraf as President of Pakistan till 2007 and support him for continuing as president for another term after 2007. She also seems agreeable to staying out of the country until 2007, with a proviso that she be allowed to make brief visits to Pakistan to meet her spouse Asif Zardari who intends to stay on in Pakistan. The paper has also learnt that more meetings are scheduled in Dubai in the third week of December and Zardari may go there to join the parleys. As far as Sharif is concerned, he has been told to stay out of the country, and instead, permit his brother Shahbaz Sharif to return to the country for a possible political role. Sources say that Nawaz is reluctant to accept as of this moment, though he has been told to shed his stubborness.

Trinamul Cong bandh gives new dimensions to Bengal politics (Go To Top)
by Gautam Ghosh

     Kolkata: A proposal to find out some effective means "to contain the judiciary's interference with the people's right to observe strikes," mooted simultaneously by the ruling Marxists and the principal opposition party, Trinamul Congress, has given a new dimension to Bengal's politics. The move was considered by the rival parties after the state was partially paralysed yesterday by a 12-hour bandh called by Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee as a mark of protest against the fuel price hike. This is perhaps the first time that the CPI(M) and its main adversary have reached unanimity over a crucial issue closely connected with fundamental rights of the people as well as the state's work culture. While industrial houses feel bandhs and strikes show the state's work culture in poor light, political parties are not prepared to give up this "last weapon in the struggling people's armoury."

     Ms Banerjee, of course, expects the CPI(M) to take the initiative for a composite dialogue with all the political parties on the issue. The Marxists, however, are yet to spell out their strategy in the wake of three successive "Bangla bandhs" over the fuel hike issue. The partial success of yesterday's "Bangla bandh" despite the Left Front government's all-out efforts to maintain normalcy indicates that Trinamul Congress is slowly re-gaining some of the political ground it had lost after its debacle in the Lok Sabha polls. Ms Banerjee not only had to fight against the organised might of the state administration to ensure the bandh's success, but has even risked the Calcutta high court's ire in the process. Not only did she refuse to withdraw the bandh call by Thursday through newspaper advertisements as directed by the high court, but even reiterated her resolve to "uphold the people's rights at any cost." The high court is expected to issue a fresh order against the bandh sponsors on Tuesday when the concerned public interest litigation will be heard again.

      Yesterday's "Bangla bandh" was, in fact, an acid test of the Trinamul Congress chairperson's leadership in the wake of constant pressure from the high court, the state government and a powerful section of the local media to revoke it. Ms Banerjee was told that "bandh politics" was giving a bad name to Bengal and sending a wrong message to the foreign investors willing to set up new projects in the state. The Trinamul Congress leader, however, felt rightly or wrongly that the only way to exert pressure on the UPA government and the CPI(M), which is supporting it, to bring down the fuel prices was to organise a state-wide bandh. At the same time she was careful not to disrupt some major events held on the bandh day--the on- going infocom seminar, an international pharmaceutical congress and a couple of functions on the occasion of the World Disabled Day. Trinamul Congress, however, fully exploited the inherent contradiction in the CPI(M)'s stand vis-a-vis the bandh. The Marxists supported the issue on which the bandh was called and also could not accept the high court order against it. The party's only objection veered round the bandh sponsors who, in its opinion, had a "political motive." The obvious ambiguity in the CPI(M)'s stand only compounded the confusion among the people and helped Trinamul Congress bring the state to a partial standstill.

      According to informed sources, Ms Banerjee does not want any relaxation in her party's on-going stir aimed simultaneously against the CPI(M)-led Bengal government and the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre. She has already a string of political programmes to be held from the third week of December till February when the party will organise a mass rally at the Brigade Parade grounds. Trinamul Congress functionaries said her main intention was "to expose the unholy alliance between the Congress and the CPI(M)" and rejuvenate her party at the grassroots level before the Calcutta Municipal Corporation polls. Ms Banerjee's immediate task is to keep her flock together in the wake of the state Congress' attempts to woo some of her party legislators and at the same time keep the heat on the ruling Marxists.

Pakistan okays Amritsar-Lahore bus service (Go To Top)

     Patiala: Pakistan's Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi has said, Islamabad has in principle agreed to start a bus service between Amritsar and Lahore and now it is up to New Delhi to make the next move. He also vowed to develop Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak, as a Model City equipped with modern facilities for visiting pilgrims. The road from Wagha Border to Nankana Sahib near Lahore will be double-laned to ensure a maximum travel time of one-and-a-half hours, he told the World Punjabi Conference in his valedictory address here yesterday. Chaudhary Elahi also vowed that Sikh sacred sites in Pakistan, the cradle of the faith, would be protected and maintained by Pakistani authorities. "We have an age-old common cultural heritage and civilisation and, therefore, it is our foremost duty to respect the sentiments of the Sikh community," he said.

Air India trial closes in Canada (Go To Top)

     London: Final arguments in the trial of two Sikhs accused of bombing an Air India passenger jet have concluded, 19 months after the case began. According to The BBC, Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri are accused of planting a pair of bombs on Air India jets in June 1985. One plane exploded over the Atlantic, killing all 329 people. The second bomb killed two baggage handlers in Tokyo. British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Ian Josephson said he will deliver his decision on 16 March 2005. Both men deny the allegations. The trial, which started in April 2003, has been one of the most exhaustive and expensive in Canadian history. Final arguments lasted a month. In total, the court heard 115 witnesses at a cost of at least 100 million dollars. Police allege the bombings were done by a group of Vancouver- based Sikh militants who wanted revenge on the Indian government for the 1984 storming of Sikhism's Golden Temple in Amritsar. Bagri is alleged to have been a religious activist, urging fellow Sikhs in New York to "kill 50,000 Hindus". The prosecution's case was based largely on circumstantial evidence and the testimony of two witnesses, who say Malik and Bagri independently admitted their involvement in the plot after the bombs exploded. Key witnesses have testified that the accused asked them to take a suitcase to Vancouver airport but not to get on the flight. Prosecution lawyer Robert Wright said the guilt of the two men had been proven beyond reasonable doubt. "This is, in our submission, a politically motivated and terrorist event... consistent only with a political and religious zealotry," he said.

India-ASEAN car rally enters Cambodia (Go To Top)
by Ajay Sharma

     Phnom Penh: The India-ASEAN car rally reached the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on Saturday and was recieved by the country's Deputy Prime Minister, Sar Kheng, at the Phnom Penh temple in the presence of a huge public gathering. There was a lot of joy and dancing visible at the event after the cars crossed into Cambodia from Vietnam. Rallyists stopped for a tea break at a school where they were also served the local samosa. All members made compulsary donation of 10 dollars for the village school. The leader of the rally, Mr. Mazumdar, donated 1130 dollars in the presence of the Indian Ambassador Pradeep Kumar Kapoor. The school hopes to purchase a generator with the amount. The total collection was 3300 dollars. The balance will be donated to some other school.