Four killed, one injured as CRPF personnel runs amok
by Bilal Butt

    Srinagar: A policeman ran amok in a security camp here killing four of his colleagues and seriously injuring one, police said on Wednesday. The incident took place in a camp of paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) when Avtar Singh, a CRPF constable opened fire on his colleagues after an altercation. CRPF Commanding officer R S Sahota, said that the incident is an odd one and therefore it would not be right to blame the force. "He was probably under some family tension, we are looking into the matter. He has been handed over to the police. This is one odd incident in a police force of over a hundred thousand soldiers. Hence you cannot blame CRPF. I know it has put a black spot on the force but this is just one incident," he said. He further added that the matter could be a personal one and it is being probed.

    During the last 16 years of fighting militancy in the Kashmir valley, the psychological trauma among the security forces in Kashmir has shown a marked increase. Around 100 army and paramilitary personnel including a dozen officers have died after angry or depressed colleagues have opened indiscriminate fire. Security forces have now found yoga, a natural remedy for mental and physical stress of its personnel, who live constantly on the edge, fighting terrorism in difficult terrain and harsh weather. Both the Army and the CRPF have now introduced yoga as an essential part of their training programme to reduce stress and tension.

Saran gives Mulford a dressing down on Iran nuke (Go To Top)

    New Delhi: Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on Thursday summoned the U.S. Ambassador to India, David C.Mulford, and short of giving him a dressing down on the nuances of diplomacy, said that his remarks on the Iran nuclear issue and the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal were "inappropriate". In a statement issued here after the meeting, the official spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs, Navtej Sarna, said that Saran had told Ambassador Mulford that statements made during the course of his interview with the PTI news agency on Wednesday "were inappropriate and not conducive to building a strong partnership between our two (India and the United States) independent democracies." The statement further went on to say that the "Foreign Secretary informed the Ambassador that India's vote on any possible resolution on the Iran nuclear issue at the IAEA would be determined by India's own judgement of the merits of the case." "Concerning the proposed India-U.S. civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement, the Foreign Secretary reaffirmed India's stand that both countries needed to work in the spirit of the 18 July 2005 Joint Statement and in strict conformity with the reciprocal commitments contained therein," the statement added.

   According to the statement, Ambassador Mulford expressed his sincere regrets, saying that "his remarks had been taken out of context." He told the Indian Foreign Secretary that "It was not at all his intention to question India's right to take decisions on various issues on the basis of its own national interests. The statement concluded by saying that the Foreign Secretary and the Ambassador agreed that the two sides would work closely together for a successful visit by President Bush to India. It maybe recalled that Mulford had warned on Wednesday that India stood to sacrifce its civilian nuclear deal with the United States if it did not vote in favour of Iran's nuclear activities being referred to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for further scrutiny at the February 2 Board of Governor's meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Mulford's comments invited a stinging reply from New Delhi, which said the position that India will take on this issue at the IAEA will be "based on India's on independent judgement," while the nuclear energy cooperation "stand on its own merits" Categorically rejecting any attempts the proposed nuclear pact as a quid pro quo, Sarna said India will go ahead with negotiations "on the basis of its own national interest."

Pashtun leader Wali Khan dead (Go To Top)

    Islamabad: Wali Khan, the son of "Frontier Gandhi," Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, died in Peshawar today after a prolonged illness. Family sources said he was 89. The Pashtun leader died after remaining in coma for the past two days. He had suffered a stroke on Tuesday, and the end came at around 7.45 a.m. today, his son Afsandiyar Wali Khan said. His body has been kept at the Jinnah Stadium to enable the public to pay their last respects before it is taken to his home town Charasadha for final rites. As soon as the news broke about Wali Khan's death, hundreds of locals at his daughter`s house in Peshwar to pay their last respects. India's High Commissioner, Shivshankar Menon and Deputy High Commissioner, T C A Raghavan have conveyed their condolences to Wali Khan's family and plan to attend the veteran leader's funeral on Friday. Wali Khan, the son of Frontier Gandhi, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was highly regarded by many Indian leaders and shared close association with many Congress leaders.

     Khan Abdul Wali Khan was one of the most politically active sons of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. A very senior politician in Pakistan, he served as the President of the National Awami Party, the National Democratic Party and the Awami National Party (ANP) for many years and was the ideological mentor of his party. Born on January 11, 1917 in Utmanzai town of Charsadda District, Wali Khan received his early education from the Azad Islamia High School and later shifted to Irish Government's Deradun Public School. He completed his Senior Cambridge in 1933 and started his political career by joining the Khudai Khidmatgar Movement in 1942, a movement was launched by his father. Prior to the creation of Pakistan, in 1947, Wali Khan remained a member of the All India Congress Committee and was the provincial joint secretary of the party. His early politics after Pakistan's creation were said to be influenced by his uncle Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (known as Dr.Khan Sahib). Dr Khan Sahib preferred a more pragmatic approach to Pakistani politics and advocated a political reconciliation with Pakistan's establishment. Khan Sahib's assassination in front of a young Wali Khan in 1958 had a lasting impact on the latter's life. After General Ayub Khan came to power in 1958, Wali Khan and many other politicians of that time were imprisoned and disqualified from contesting elections or participating in politics.

   In the elections in 1970, Wali Khan was elected to both the National Assembly and the NWFP Assembly from Charsada. In 1988, he was elected a member of National Assembly from NA-5 after defeating Nisar Muhammad Khan. He became the leader of opposition in the National Assembly in which Benazir Bhutto was the leader of the house. The 1990 general elections saw Khan Abdul Wali Khan being defeated by Maulana Hassan Jan of JUI(F). He was, however, offered a seat in the Senate by the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif or the offer of contesting for the National Assembly from Lahore. He chose to retire from politics. Wali Khan served several stints in prison during his 48-year-long political career. The first was when he was arrested under the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) by the then British Raj in 1943 for his role in the Khudai Khidmatgar Movement. In 1948, he was arrested by the new Pakistani government and released after six years in 1954. His third stint in prison was after Ayub Khan's Military government came into power. This was followed by another brief arrest after Yahya Khan ousted Ayub Khan. His final stint in prison was considered a more bitter experience. Arrested on the orders of Prime Minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, accused of treason and put on a trial for his alleged role in the "Hyderabad Conspiracy" along with close party colleagues, his party was banned and a brutal crackdown was launched against his family and friends. In his book Facts are Sacred, he wrote of his various stints in prison with a tinge of bitterness. Wali Khan and by extension his party and family had a long association with senior leaders in the Congress Party of India because of his father's close association with Mahatma Gandhi. The preference for dialogue over conflict with India and his links to the country also strengthened the impression that he was anti-Pakistan. He always showed a preference for secular politics over populism.

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