India
beat Pakistan (Go
To Top)
Karachi:
Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq struck a masterly
122 but was unable to prevent a thrilling five-run victory
for India in the first one-day international at the National
Stadium here on Saturday. Pakistan, chasing a record 350
to win, needed nine runs for victory from the final over
but left-arm fast bowler Ashish Nehra denied them the
win with a series of accurate, full-length deliveries.
The two nations went into battle on the cricket pitch
earlier, launching a historic series of matches the nuclear-armed
rivals hope will give new impetus to a fledgling peace
process. Every ball and every miss was cheered by an ecstatic
crowd packed on to the sunbaked terraces of Karachi's
National Stadium.
Shehryar
Khan, Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), said the
crowd behaviour seemed to show the city was quite normal
in all respects. "Well, so far so good because the crowd
is very orderly, they are very enthusiastic. We are hoping
to see a splendid match today. The security arrangements
are first class, and what I am pretty glad about is that
Karachi is to see a match after three years, and Karachi
is determined to show that they are a perfectly normal
city, perfectly normal people, and you can see that happening
now. So, Insha Allah all will go well,."said Khan.
"I think this is very very spirited crowd here, and the
most pleasant thing is that they are very very disciplined,"
Syed Kamal Shah, Inspector-General of police, added. Pakistan's
Information Minister Sheikh Rasheed said irrespective
of the outcome, the match was being played for good relations. A
former cricketer Imran Khan called India's cricket tour
a portal to many positive changes. The South Asian neighbours
are struggling to settle a range of disputes, especially
over the territory of Kashmir, which is at the heart of
decades of animosity and war.
Tamil Tigers split into North and East
(Go
To Top)
Batticaola
(Sri Lanka): A breakaway Sri Lankan rebel commander
- who has the support of 6,000 fighters - has denounced
the Tamil Tigers, saying they were no longer the sole
representatives of the Tamil people. The eastern commander
- who goes by the nom de guerre Karuna - said Tiger leader
Velupillai Prabhakaran lacked the leadership to heal the
rift - an unprecedented slap in the face of the founder
of the movement. "If he (Prabhakaran) had replied in a
proper manner, I would have said things were o.k. Instead
of replying, he took some improper steps which are not
charactaristics of a good leader," Karuna said in an exclusive
interview from his heavily fortified jungle camp in the
island's east.
Karuna
split from the Tigers last week, but has said he will
honour a two-year truce that has given Sri Lanka its best
chance for peace after two decades of civil war. The split
in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has rattled
Sri Lanka ahead of an April 2 election that is already
being fought over how to win peace with the rebels. But
Karuna said there was no hope of the two sides bridging
their rift. "The Wanni leadership is not considered the
sole representatives of the Tamils now. They cannot be
the representatives of the people living in the east,"
he said, referring to the Tigers' northern headquarters.
The
claim to be the sole representatives of the island's minority
Tamil community has been a pillar of the Tigers' platform,
and they have defended it by ruthlessly eliminating challenges
to their rule. The LTTE has appointed a commander to replace
Karuna but he is still at their headquarters in the north
and Karuna said it was not possible for him to return.
Karuna's camp is the largest rebel base in the north or
east - the areas claimed by the Tigers as a separate Tamil
homeland - and is home to about 6,000 fighters. The Tigers
expelled Karuna, whose real name is V Muralitharan, five
days ago for "acting traitorously to the Tamil people"
after he said Tamils in the east were being discriminated
against by northern Tamils.
The
split was especially surprising as Karuna was on the Tigers'
team for several rounds of peace talks with the government
before the negotiations broke down last April. He said
the issues raised at peace talks "were based on the problems
of the north" and that too many of his fighters had died
in the north's battles. Karuna was also one of the Tigers'
top military strategists, famous for leading counter-attacks
to take control of the island's main north-south artery,
dubbed the "Highway of Death" after 3,500 soldiers from
both sides died fighting over it. "Since I have been with
Prabhakaran for a long time, I could forsee what was going
to happen. But in spite of all the events that can happen
in the future, I took this decision on behalf of my people."
Muslims started Gujarat riots: Advani
(Go
To Top)
Bangalore:
Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani on Saturday
condemned the 2002 religious bloodshed in Gujarat but
said it was provoked by a Muslim mob. The revenge attacks,
which claimed over 1,000 lives, mostly Muslims, were sparked
after a suspected Muslim mob torched a train at Godhra
town, burning alive 59 Hindu activists. "The BJP believes,
Vajpayee-ji believes, I believe, if Godhra had not taken
place, the subsequent riots would not have taken place.
Godhra
was wrong but the killings of innocent people subsequently
was also wrong," Advani told a news conference in Bangalore,
where he arrived as part of his nation-wide chariot ride.
The veteran leader began the mammoth but controversial
journey across the country earlier this week as his BJP's
re-election campaign moved into top gear. Thousands are
expected to come out to cheer the leader as he traverses
the city in a specially-designed saffron and green bus.
"If you say Hindutva has been discarded, I don't agree
with that...Hindutva, in India at least, even according
to the Supreme Court, is Indian way of life, it is not
the name of a creed," he said.
It's
now Nationalist Trinamool Congress (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: The PA Sangma faction has merged with Mamata
Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress to form "Nationalist Trinamool
Congress" but the new entity downplayed the foreign origin
issue of Congress President Sonia Gandhi. An announcement
to this effect was made by Banerjee and Sangma at a joint
press conference here in the presence of Nagaland Chief
Minister N Rio, who is also Chairman of the North-East
People's Forum which has aligned with the NDA. Sangma
said , "the new oufit has full support if the North East
People's Forum led by the Chief Minister of Nagaland,
Rio."
The
Nationalist Trinamool Congress', the new outfit being
chaired by Ms Mamata Banerjee, will contest the elections
under the symbol of the All India Trinamool Congress.
Both Mamata and Sangma, however, downplayed the foreign
origin issue of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Banerjee
sidestepped questions whether she endorsed Sangma's views
on the foreign origin issue, saying "Whatever Sangmajee
is fighting for and on the basis of which his party split,
we respect his views in that regard," said Mamta.
BJP
workers prefer Bijoya to Hazarika (Go
To Top)
Guwahati:
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit in Guwahati
has come out strongly against the proposed candidature
of noted singer Bhupen Hazarika. Supporters of Minister
of State for Water Resources Bijoya Chakraborty took to
the streets in support of retaining her for the constituency.
There were reports in local media that the Central leadership
may give the seat to Hazarika, a popular singer. But the
BJP workers are not in a mood to spare the Guwahati Lok
Sabha seat to him at the cost of Bijoya Chakraborty, who
is seen as a performing MP.
"We
do not want anybody other than Bijoya, not even Bhupen
Hazarika. Otherwise no BJP worker will participate in
the polls. We have sent fax messages to the Central leadership
over the issue", said Arun Dutta, a local BJP worker.
Many supporters of Bijoya Chakravorty even shaved their
head as a mark of protest. Local workers believe Bijoya
has done significant work and utilised the Local Area
Development fund, meant for MPs. "In the last five years
Bijoya has done what no one had before. She showed what
exactly is the MP fund. If she is denied a ticket we will
not participate in the polls. This is our first protest
and we can go to any extent," said Sunit Das a councillor.
The
BJP State president, however, maintains that it's up to
the Central leadership to allot party tickets to a sitting
MP. "Our jurisdiction is restricted to below Assembly
level. We have to refer to the Central leadership for
sitting MPs. As far as demonstrations are peaceful, they
are fine. People have a right to show dissent. The central
election committee will decide whom to give ticket" said
Imdramani Borah, state president BJP. The controversy
can do precious little for the BJP, as the North- East
assumes a special significance in the scheme of things
for the party.
Vidya
Charan Shukla joins BJP (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: The new coalition partner of the National Democratic
Alliance the Rashtriya Janatantrik Dal president Vidya
Charan Shukla formally joined the BJP here on Saturday.
Shukla also met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and
BJP president Venkaiah Naidu. Shukla, a former Union Minister,
had attained notoriety with Jan Sangh leaders during the
national emergency. Shukla had been accused of supporting
Sanjay Gandhi in the actions taken after the promulgation
of the emergency. The Chattisgarh BJP election committee
had earlier suggested the central leadership that VC Shukla
be told to contest on the BJP's lotus symbol.
Congress likely to withdraw
support to Mulayam (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: The Congress is seriously considering withdrawing
support to the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led government in Uttar
Pradesh. If party sources are to be believed, the party
is "seriously" mulling over senior leader Arjun Singh's
suggestion that the party must withdraw its support to
the Mulayam government. "Arjun Singh is a senior CWC leader
and he has done his assessment in UP. We are thinking
over it and as soon as we arrive at a decision we will
let you know," party spokesman Anand Sharma said.
It
may be recalled that a couple of days ago Arjun Singh
had given enough indications at withdrawing support to
the Mulayam government. Party insiders say that Singh's
assessment was based on the party state unit's opinion
that Yadav was having a secret pact with the BJP. The
Congress has 15 seats in the UP Assembly and the party
withdrawing support from the state government is not going
to make any significant difference to running of the government.
SP leader Amar Singh had on Friday said that his party
was well prepared for Congress' withdrawal of support.
On the other hand, the Congress seems to have supposed
a setback when BSP chief Mayawati declared that she will
go it alone in UP, and her party would not have any alliance
or seat sharing agreement with the Congress.
Mayawati
rules out BSP-Cong alliance (Go
To Top)
Lucknow:
The Congress on Saturday received a major jolt when
former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj
Party (BSP) chief Mayawati ruled out any pre-poll alliance
with the party and announced it would go it alone in the
general elections. Addressing the party's 'Pardafash Maharally'
at the Ambedkar ground here, Mayawati charged the Congress
with "sailing in two boats." "On the one hand, the Congress
approached us for alliance and on the other hand in UP,
it is supporting the Samajwadi Party, which has a nexus
with the BJP," she alleged. She said the BSP had a "bitter
experience" when it left about 200 seats for the Congress
in the Assembly polls held in four states but the latter
failed to stop "communal forces" from gaining power. Taking
her three rivals, the SP, BJP and the Congress to task,
she claimed the trio shared the same ideology and were
opposed to the Bahujan Samaj. Blaming the BJP for allegedly
tarnishing her image through the Taj Heritage Corridor
(THC) case, she said false cases had been registered against
her so that her political opponents could see her behind
bars.
Sangh
spent UK charity funds to spread communal hatred: Report
(Go
To Top)
Islamabad:
Millions of pounds collected in funds from charity
outfits in the UK which were meant for victims of Gujarat
carnage in 2002 were actually diverted to Sangh organisations
in India which, in turn, spent the money on communal hate
campaigns, a report published from London has revealed.
According to a report in the News, the 80-page report
titled - "In Bad Faith? British Charity and Hindu Extremism"
- was recently released in the House of Lords. It is published
by Awaaz - South Asia Watch Limited, (ASAW), London.
The
report assumes significance especially in the wake of
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeking Muslim votes ahead
of the ensuing general elections in India. The paper further
said that ASAW has urged the UK Charity Commission to
cancel the charitable status of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh-UK
(HSS-UK), VHP-UK, and Kalyan Ashram Trust-UK (KAT-UK),
all part of the Sangh Parivar, and act against their trustees
for keeping unsuspecting British donors in the dark about
their affiliations and funding of extremist RSS organisations.
"Most striking of all was the behaviour of these organisations
in the wake of the Gujarat carnage which left 2000 dead
and over two lakh displaced and languishing in refugee
camps," the report said. "This report details the depth
of the connection between SIUK and the RSS, and the extent
to which RSS fronts in India are dependent on overseas
funding. One key finding is of SIUK making smaller donations
to legitimate British causes to gain respectability here,
while sending the bulk of its funds to RSS fronts in India,"
the paper quoted ASAW spokesman Chetan Bhatt as saying.
Poacher's
trap kills boy (Go
To Top)
Amakhor
(Madhya Pradesh): An illegal trap set up by poachers
in forested Amakhor in Madhya Pradesh has claimed a boy's
life, and seriously injured two others. The young boy
was electrocuted when he accidentally stepped on a live
wire, meant to trap wild animals. "The high tension wires
are used across the jungle. The animals are easily killed
and they make profits from them," Bhurasingh, father of
the deceased boy, said. Two others who were accompanying
the victim also suffered serious burns, and were later
admitted to a nearby hospital. Residents of nearby villages
were not aware of the live wires in the jungle till the
fatal accident happened. No arrests have been made so
far.
Mobile
phones to be allowed soon across border (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: India announced on Saturday that Indian and
Pakistani mobile phones would now be allowed to work across
the border under roaming facilities provided by phone
firms. Communications Minister Arun Shourie told reporters
here the facility would be launched immediately and would
be available for four months as an experiment. "The government
has decided to allow roaming facilities with Pakistan
for an initial period of four months. The experience will
be reviewed on 15th of June i.e. after four months. We
will not be extending this in the case of Jammu and Kashmir
and north-eastern states, where cellular service has begun
recently," Shourie said. Shourie said the move was part
of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's bid to make peace.
Vajpayee,
Musharraf likely to watch Lahore ODI together (Go
To Top)
Lahore:
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee are likely to watch together
one of the two one dayers between India and Pakistan to
be played at Lahore on March 21 and 24, a report in The
News said. According to the paper, though a final nod
in this regard is yet to come from New Delhi, hectic efforts
are on to host the Indian Prime Minister. The hotline
between the two foreign offices has been busy for the
last couple of days to organise Vajpayee's brief visit
to Pakistan. The report said that if the visit takes place,
the development will go a long way in cementing the ties
between the two nations, giving an impetus to existing
confidence-building measures
The
paper said that Vajpayee would arrive in Lahore in a special
plane in the morning and return in the evening. Quoting
sources, it further said that the Pakistani government
was making hectic efforts to ensure foolproof security
during Vajpayee's stay in Lahore. Unprecedented security
measures will be taken before the arrival of guests from
India, and heavy contingents of military, rangers and
police will be deployed in Lahore for the same purpose.
However, the Inter-State Public Relations (ISPR) had no
information about Vajpayee's visit being planned. When
asked ISPR DG Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan said: "I don't have
such information at hands at the moment." However, replying
to a question if such a meeting would be seen in a positive
light in view of the ongoing peace-process, he said, "certainly".
If the two leaders meet in Lahore, it will be seen as
another phase of 'cricket diplomacy' which, according
to the report, was first introduced in 1980s when hostility
between the two sides was at the peak. The cricket diplomacy
had paid dividends earlier, and it is expected to have
a stronger impact this time round, the report concluded.
Sarfraz
warns of match fixing in ongoing series (Go
To Top)
Islamabad:
A special team headed by Pakistan Information Minister
Sheikh Rashid should be set up for monitoring the "suspected"
activities of players in the national cricket team and
cricket board members "as there are great fears of match
fixing in the ongoing cricket series against India", the
country's former fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz has said. According
to a report in Online News, Sarfraz said that since the
cricket series between the two countries was taking place
after nearly 15 years "there are great dangers of match
fixing". He reportedly said that though the International
Cricket Council's (ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) had
succeeded in countering match fixing, but it could not
remove match fixing entirely. Comparing his country's
cricket team with that of India's, Sarfraz said that the
Pakistan cricket team was in a better position than the
Indian team. He said because India's bowling attack was
not so effective, the Pakistani team would easily whitewash
the series.
