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Consular access to Sarabjit Singh
by Ashok Dixit

     New Delhi/Islamabad: Pakistan today conveyed to India that it would grant consular access to Manjit Singh alias Sarabjit Singh, the Indian sentenced to death by Pakistan's Supreme Court last week on charges of spying for India's external intelligence outfit - RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) and the prime suspect behind the 1990 bomb blasts in Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan. An External Affairs Ministry spokesman in the Indian capital confirmed the news when contacted on the matter. He said that the Indian High Commision in Islamabad had been informed by the spokesman of the Pakistan Foreign Office, Naeem Khan, that consular access has been granted. Singh is be presently lodged in the Khot Lakhpat jail in Pakistan's Punjab province. "Permisssion for consular access has been granted as requested by India," Khan was quoted by a news agency as saying, adding the Indian High Commission can get in touch with the authorities here to work out the dates for meeting Singh. The case of Sarabjit Singh has hogged newspaper headlines in both Pakistan and India this past week after the family of the accused said his was a clear case of mistaken identity and threatened to commit suicide if he was executed. Sarabjit's sister, Dalbir Kaur and his two daughters claimed that he was a resident of the village of Bhikiwind who had strayed into Pakistan in an inebriated state in 1990. They claimed that he had been picked up by the Pakistani Rangers (West Punjab range) and was falsely accused of being the mastermind of the 1990 blasts. Apart from public appeals for his release, the family spent most of this week knocking on the doors of political leaders to save the man who has been on death row in Pakistan since 1991. The issue was taken up very strongly in the Indian Parliament with concerned MPs urging the UPA Government to ask Pakistan to reconsider the matter on humanitarian grounds. The family have met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister K.Natwar Singh, both of whom have promised to take up the matter in right earnest. Natwar Singh met Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan and his deputy last evening and discussed the matter. This followed a meeting the day before between Pakistan Foreign Secretary Rias Muhammad and India's High Commissioner to Pakistan Shivshanker Menon.

Sarabjit should not be hanged, says Jyoti Basu  (Go To Top)

     Kolkata: Veteran CPM leader Jyoti Basu, on Friday said that Pakistan should release Sarbjit Singh and should not hang him under any circumstances. He also said that the centre should make all initiatives to bring him back and if required he can be given life sentence in India itself. "He should not be hanged. He should be released. If necessary he can be given life sentence here," said Basu. Basu was talking to reporters after attending a state party meeting.

Another Indian 'spy' family in distress (Go To Top)
by Ravinder Singh Robin/Devraj

     Gurdaspur/Panjim/Chakalha Baksh: After the Indian Government took up the case for an early release of Sarabjit Singh with Pakistan, it has kindled hopes in another family of a man facing similar charges. Sarabjit's is not an isolated case. According to reports there are hundreds of Indians languishing in Pakistani prisons, a majority of them unknowingly strayed onto the other side of border. Kripal Singh, a native of Gurdaspur village in northern Punjab, is also one of those unknown prisoners facing death sentence for spying in the same Pakistani prison for past 15 years. Now, his family too has been motivated to appeal to the Indian Government for his early release. His family says Kripal, a farmer by profession, had strayed into the Pakistani side by mistake in 1990 and they came to know about his whereabouts only through a letter written from the prison. Though the family has now taken the initiative to seek Kripal's freedom, it will not be a happy homecoming for him, as his aged parents passed away after reports of his being in Pakistan became known. "We know that he is facing death sentence. So we also appeal to the government that he should also be released at the earliest and returned to India," said Gurnam Singh, a friend of Kripal.

Sonia to visit Kerala on Saturday (Go To Top)

     Thiruvananthapuram: United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will visit Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday to inaugurate a new office of the party there. Sonia's visit is expected to revive the fortunes of the party, which received a setback following the setting up of a parallel Congress party by veteran leader K Karunakaran. During her one-day visit to the State Sonia will also address a public meeting at Central Stadium in connection with the concluding function of the 22-day-long 'chaithanya yatra', led by state Congress president Ramesh Chennithala. "Sonia Gandhi will arrive in Thiruvananthapuram tomorrow. She will inaugurate the new wings of the party office and mark the completion of the Chaitanya yatra (awakening rally)," said Tom Vadakkan, party's media secretary. Sonia's tommorrow's visit has been scheduled after many postponements. Two previous visits slated for August and December last year, were called off at last moment. In August 2004, the visit was called off on account of the bitter row in the Party due to veteran leader K Karunakaran's dissidence against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and former Chief Minister AK Antony. Karunakaran was miffed after the Party leadership expelled his son Muralidharan on charges of anti-party activities. But, despite showing public resentment against Chandy, he maintained that his move was to strengthen the Party, and that he had nothing against Sonia Gandhi. In December, the visit was called of on account of a violent protest organised by the State Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) against a sex scandal case allegedly involving the then state Industries minister PK Kunhalikutty.

Bihar Assembly polls to be held before November 22: EC (Go To Top)

     Chennai: Following the meeting between the full Election Commission and political parties of Bihar held yesterday in Patna, Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami today said that the Bihar Assembly polls will be held before November 22. Talking to media persons here, Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami said, "The Chief Election Commissioner has said that polls there will be held before November 22. I have nothing more to add on that." Yesterday, in their meeting that was headed by the Chief Election Commission B B Tandon, a disagreement between the parties was reported over the dates of the elections. The NDA and the Left parties were in favour of a single-phase poll in November, while UPA allies- Congress and LJP- had sought for polls in January- February. Whereas the ruling party Rashtriya Janata Dal had not expressed any preference saying it was always ready for the electoral battle. The meeting was called by the EC to interact with the party leaders about how to conduct fair and peaceful Assembly polls in the state. Besides a unanimous demand of 100 per cent electoral photo identity card, leaders had also sought for deployment of Central Para-Military Forces (CPMF) at all polling stations to avoid booth capturing and bogus voting. They had further suggested arranging special booths for weaker sections and removal of tainted and ineffective officials from election duty. Giving attention to this suggestion, the EC has reportedly ordered transfer of District Magistrates of Sheohar, Nalanda and Khagaria. The basis of this order is believed to be their bad performance in respect of preparation of electoral photo identity cards. According to reports, a suspension order of Officers in-charge of three police stations in Patna was also released after the ECs discussion with top Bihar officers.

Girls held in dance bar raids (Go To Top)

     Mumbai: Mumbai Police is on a spree to crackdown on dance bar girls. Carrying on its drive against the banned dance bar girls on Thursday night the police arrested 13 girls during one of such raids at a bar in Ghatkopar suburb. The manager of the bar was also arrested by the police. The latest arrests have come a day after the arrest of 190 people in 12 separate raids in bars in Powai and Saki Naka localities by Police following a tip-off that some dance shows were being conducted defying the ban in the State.

Chidambaram's resignation in CBDT scam sought (Go To Top)

    New Delhi: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj today demanded Finance Minister P Chidambaram's resignation for allegedly 'getting his wife -- Nalini Chidambaram -- appointed as the senior legal counsel to the Central Board of Direct Taxes.' "This is a clear case of corruption where a Cabinet minister has helped his wife get a job that brings in huge financial benefits to her. For every hearing, she gets paid Rs 2 lakh (Rs.200,000) to represent the CBDT. This is a fit case for finance minister to resign from his post and if does not do so, then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh should drop him from the Cabinet," Swaraj told reporters at the party's regular briefing in the capital this afternoon. When asked whether the issue would crop in Parliament on Monday, Swaraj replied in the affirmative. However, the CBDT issued a clarification with regard to Nalini Chidambaram's engagement as a special counsel for the Income Tax Department. 'The Board would like to clarify that in January 2004, Smt Pushya Sitaraman, senior standing counsel for the Income Tax Department, Chennai briefed Shri P Chidambaram (then practising as a senior advocate) in a case involving large revenue (clubbed with a batch of cases raising the same issue). The case was not taken up for hearing until May 2004, when Shri Chidambaram became finance minister,' the press release said. 'In July, 2004, due to the non-availability of Shri Chidambaram, Smt Pushya Sitaraman persuaded Smt Nalini Chidambaram, senior advocate, to take up the case, in view of her long experience and familiarity with the subject. A proposal to this effect, received from CCIT-I, Chennai was approved by the CBDT as per the prescribed procedure,' the press release added. The CBDT claimed that the proposals for engagement of counsel are not submitted to the finance minister for approval. In this case too, the file was not put up before the finance minister. Nor was the finance minister informed of the matter, CBDT said.

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