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Security around tense Aligarh University
by Pankaj Saraswat

     Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh): The Uttar Pradesh Government on Wednesday had to order the deployment of Rapid Action Force personnel in and around the Aligarh Muslim University following protests in the wake of the Allahabad High Court order quashing the institutions minority status even as the University said it was keeping its options open of moving a higher court against the verdict. As demonstrations were held both in favour of and against High Court order, quashing AMU's minority status and holding as illegal the reservation of seats for Muslims in post graduate medical courses, authorities deployed Rapid Action Force to prevent any untoward incident from happening in view of the sensitive nature of the issue.

     Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Naseem Ahmed, in a press conference, defended the controversial reservation policy, saying its purpose was to "raise the standard of education" of Muslims and to restore the "pan-Indian character of the university." "The purpose of granting 50 per cent reservation for Muslim candidates was "not to increase the percentage of Muslim students admitted to the university, but to restore the pan Indian character of the institution and raise the standard of education," he said. Asked whether AMU will appeal against the order, he said "yes, that option is open before us" and added that a decision on this would be taken after receiving a copy of the judgement. Ahmad said in some of the courses the number of Muslims admitted had in fact "gone down" as compared to previous years after the introduction of the reservation policy. He said the university's decision to grant 50 per cent reservation to Muslims was based on the provision of 1981 AMU Amendment Act and article 30 (1) of the Constitution. Asked whether the judgement impinges in any way the authority of Parliament, he said "it is for the government and Parliament to decide."   

     University students gathered in large numbers outside the institution to protest the Court ruling, while some activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the BJP, attempted to take out a "victory procession" to welcome the verdict of Justice Arun Tandon on a PIL relating to the Aligarh Muslim University (Amendment) Act, 1981. Police prevented the ABVP activists from taking out the march and detained about two dozen activists, official sources said. Ahmad said he was "sympathetic" to the plight of those students whose admission has been quashed by the High Court order. Meanwhile, former MP and an elected member of the AMU Executive Council Waseem Ahmed said the "university was weighing all options for tackling the crisis arising out of the legal developments." He also urged the students to main calm and help the authorities tackle the situation. The AMU Teachers' Association is also planning to appeal against the judgement, sources said.

India test-fires surface-to-air Trishul missile (Go To Top)

     Chandipur On Sea (Orissa): Indian scientists on Wednesday successfully test-fired the indigenously built short range surface-to-air missile 'Trishul' from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-On-Sea, about 15 km from Orissa's Balasore District. The missile, especially designed for sea skimming exercise for the Indian Navy, was test-fired from a mobile launch pad at 3.17 p.m. Indian Standard Time, ITR sources said. It hit the object in the sky fitted with the Pilotless Target Aircraft(PTA) which was flown from the range just before the test-fire of Trishul. 'Trishul' was one of the five missiles under various stages of development by the Defence Research Development Organisation and a part of the integrated guided missile development programme. Launched in 1983, the missile has a triple role for the three wings of the defence. Indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), 'Trishul' has a triple battlefield role for the army, air force and navy, the sources said. The solid fuel propelled missile has a range of nine km and can be fitted with fragmented warhead, they said. 'Trishul', which formed part of India's Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), was about three metres in length and 200 cm in diameter and flew at supersonic speed. Modifications had been made for the naval version of 'Trishul' by making it a command to line-of-sight guidance missile. It has been fitted with a sensitive radar altimetre and height lock-loop control on board for the purpose, the sources said.

Delhi police arrests Hizbul militant with Rs.10 lakh (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The Delhi police on Tuesday night arrested a Hizbul Mujahideen militant who was carrying Rs 10 lakh (22,605 dollar), which was reported to be 'Hawala' money. The militant identified as Mushtaq Ahmed, a resident of Kupwara, was taking the money to Jammu and Kashmir, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Ajay Kumar said on Wednesday. Ahmed, who had arrived here some days ago, was caught near the Golcha cinema in central Delhi, Kumar added.

Alleged chain snatcher dies in police custody in Mumbai  (Go To Top)

     Mumbai: A 22-year old man, Kiran Bhatkar, detained by the Thane railway police for allegedly involved in chain snatching at Railway station, has died in the police custody. According to the police, Bhatkar set himself on fire in a document store room where he was kept. The suspect in his dying declaration has said that he took the decision because he feared police action, police sources claimed. "In many cases, persist a tendency among the criminals to inflict wounds on themselves in an attempt to scare the police. But Bhatkar suffered more than 50 per cent burns," said the Commissioner of railway police, Suresh Khopde. "With about 58 per cent burns, the victim succumbed to his injuries at the civil hospital," Khopde said. However, the sources say that the victim was beaten by police badly, due to which he died and the police were trying to cover it up. The post mortem report is likely to come today.