Advani using Kashmir to be PM: Yasin Malik

SRINAGAR: Yasin Malik, a Kashmir faction leader who has never supported the pro-Pakistan sentiments in the valley, says Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani has been "exploiting" the Amarnath land row to secure his vote bank and be the next prime minister of India.

"Advani, powered by other Hindu extremists in the Sangh Parivar, wants to be the next prime minister of India and he is exploiting the situation to come to power by giving a communal tone to the Amarnath land row," Malik said.

Malik, who advocates the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence for the "freedom" struggle in Kashmir, is chairperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), which he says is a secular separatist movement for an independent state.

The wave of unrest that has engulfed Jammu and Kashmir has killed at least 40 people, most of them in firings by police and paramilitary troopers, in almost three months since the government first allotted land to the Amarnath shrine board in May and then revoked the decision on July 1 - triggering protests first in Muslim-majority Kashmir and then in Hindu-dominated Jammu.

The row over the land for pilgrims headed to the shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva in the valley has snowballed into a major controversy and re-ignited the separatist sentiment in the Kashmir valley that till some weeks ago was enjoying peace with hotels full of tourists and filmmakers too.

The Hindu pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave "has been going on for more than a century-and-a-half", Malik said, asking: "Why do we suddenly need land transfer in the name of the shrine board?"

"The pilgrimage," Malik said, "is a Muslim legacy and shouldn't have been tampered with."

The JKLF leader, who had been on a hunger strike for five days from Aug 5 onwards to protest the "economic blockade" by Jammu, said that the entire valley "was being used to enable Hindu pilgrims camp and Muslims would dutifully offer their services for the peaceful conclusion of the pilgrimage".

"Even during the current crisis the pilgrimage concluded peacefully," he said from his home in Maisuma near the city centre Lal Chowk.

Describing the Amarnath row as a "tip of iceberg", he said: "New Delhi is adamant to overlook the writing on the wall. Kashmiris are fighting for their rights and their identity."

Regretting the violence over the issue, he added that the issue needed to be looked at "from a conflict paradigm not just through the prism of statecraft".

"I had warned India and Pakistan that the anger in Kashmiris has not died. It was hidden there and now it has erupted like a volcano."

"The Indian government," he said, "mistook the silence in Kashmir as a return of peace."

Stressing that dialogue was the only way out, he asserted that the authorities avoided serious talks with the Kashmiris and now the result was before them.

"India and Pakistan sooner or later will have to talk to the Kashmiris and solve the dispute. Our aspirations have to be taken into consideration."

Malik had a round of talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2006 during which he advocated inclusion of Kashmiris in the India-Pakistan dialogue over the state, which is ruled in parts but claimed in full by the two South Asian nuclear-armed neighbours.

Source : Times Of India

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Mayawati's social engineering not worrying Cong

NEW DELHI: BSP making inroads into the Congress base in the national Capital does not seem to have shaken the grand old party with its leadership exuding confidence that Mayawati's social engineering will not cut much ice here.

Congress' Delhi unit chief Jaiprakash Aggarwal said his party has a "strong base" in the city and expressed confidence that the party-led government will return to power for the third successive term in the coming Assembly elections.

"BSP winning seats in municipal elections last year has not affected our strength. They have not won any seats reserved for Dalits. They won some seats in the MCD because we were a little weak then," he said.

"I see no threat from BSP and we are not disturbed by their rise. They will not be able to pose any threat to our traditional vote-bank," Aggarwal, also a Rajya Sabha member from Delhi, said.

He also made light of BSP announcing candidates for 66 Assembly seats in Delhi. "This is not going to help BSP. I am confident that we will emerge victorious for the third consecutive term in the polls," he said.

When pointed out that BSP garnered 9.9 per cent of the votes in the MCD election in April 2007, he said "it does not mean that BSP is powerful. The fact was that Congress was weak at that time. Now our party has strengthened itself."

The BSP has announced its intention to replicate the "social engineering", which helped them to win the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, in the national capital.

Of the 66 candidates whose names have been announced so far, over 20 belong to upper castes while about 20 are from the backward classes.

Source : Times Of India

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Informal talks for LS polls have begun: BJP

BJP has already begun informal talks with political parties in Tamil Nadu on the possibility of forging alliance for the coming Lok Sabha elections, party state president L Ganesan said on Thursday.

Barring Congress, DMK and Left, BJP has number of options to choose its ally or allies for the polls and final shape would be taken at the right time, Ganesan told reporters in Coimbatore.

Stating that both PMK and Left were 'vulnerable,' due to recent developments--PMK going out of DPA and latter withdrawing support to UPA government, he said "BJP is open and made its stand clear that it would welcome the parties, which supported candidature of LK Advani for Prime Minister's post.

There was political compulsion for not allying with Congress, ideological compulsion with Left parties and 'the situation in Tamil Nadu' for not allying with DMK, he said.

He lashed out at the Congress-led UPA government for the "neglect of Hindus" in Jammu & Kashmir and said that there was nothing communal in the Amarnath issue.

Source : Hindustan Times

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Battle for Jharkhand enters its last stage

The battle for Jharkhand entered a decisive phase on Thursday with Congress president Sonia Gandhi stepping in to break the impasse over government formation.

She conferred with her party colleagues and Rashtriya Janta Dal’s (RJD) Lalu Prasad and then met Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren who is seeking her intervention to have him installed as chief minister.

Incumbent Madhu Koda has been asked to come to New Delhi for consultations on Friday.

Koda, along with the other Independents, has been holding on reportedly with Lalu’s blessings.

The final decision on the Jharkhand imbroglio would be taken after Koda's arrival.

"We are discussing among ourselves and everybody will have the same stand. Any decision taken will be a collective one," said Ajay Maken, AICC leader in charge of Jharkhand.

But the Soren camp claims the JMM chief's chances of becoming CM have improved with Lalu reportedly softening his anti-Soren stand. The JMM leader reportedly managed to get the backing of BJP’s two suspended members, Manohar Tekriwal and Vishnu Bhaiya, and the promise of support from two JD(U) MLAs.

A section in the UPA feels Koda may step down before his trust vote on August 26 to pave the way for Soren. However, it would be left to the JMM leader and his 17 MLAs to secure 42 votes in the 81-member House.

Unwilling to annoy Lalu, the Congress has repeatedly said that its nine MLAs would back Soren but it was for him to get the numbers.

While Independents Stephen Marandi, Bhanu Pratap Shahi and Chandra Prakash Choudhary are with Koda, Joba Majhi, Enos Ekka, Hari Narayan Rai and Kamalesh Singh are keeping their cards close to their chests.

Only Bandhu Tirkey is backing Soren, who believes he has the numbers with support of JD(U) and suspended BJP members.

The JMM chief is now hoping that MLAs wanting to avoid President's Rule and early assembly polls would back him.

The Congress has stepped in now to take the steam out of the four Independent ministers not aligned with the UPA and to ensure the JMM supports the Manmohan Singh government till the nuclear deal is through.

Besides, it knows that just as it needs the RJD in Bihar, it needs the JMM in the state and Lok Sabha polls in Jharkhand.

Source : Hindustan Times

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JMM chief Shibu Soren claims RJD support for CM post

NEW DELHI: Shibu Soren's hopes of making a comeback as Jharkhand chief minister by replacing incumbent Madhu Koda received a boost on Thursday with the RJD assuring the JMM supremo of its support.

Soren said after his meeting with RJD supremo Lalu Prasad that the Railway Minister had not only promised his party's backing but also assured him help in securing the support of independents.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) General Secretary Hemlal Murmu was with Soren when he met Prasad.

The development is expected to help Soren in a big way as Congress has already assured him support.

"We are behind Soren like a rock. Not only will our (nine) MLAs support him on the floor of the House but we will also make efforts to make him the chief minister," AICC secretary Abdul Manan had said in Ranchi yesterday.

Two suspended BJP MLAs -- Vishnu Bhayya and Manohar Tekriwal -- have also favoured the JMM leader's bid for chief ministership.

Both Bhayya and Tekriwal had been suspended for siding with former chief minister Babulal Marandi.

Source : Times Of India

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Jammu: Protesters attack Congress leader

Jammu, Aug 21 (IANS) Senior Congress leader and former deputy chief minister Mangat Ram Sharma had a narrow escape when angry protesters attacked him amid violent protests after curfew in Jammu was relaxed for 12 hours from 5 a.m. Thursday

Sharma was on his way to a doctor's house in Bhagwati Nagar here, when a group of youth attacked his car with stones. Security guards were unable to bring him out of the vehicle.

However, a guard on a bike saved Sharma who took a ride on his bike to escape the mob.

The word of the Congress leader's presence brought more crowds who damaged cars parked in the area and set on fire some vehicles.

Sharma was health and medical education minister in the Ghulam Nabi Azad government, which had July 1 cancelled the allotment of forest land to the Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) - triggering violent protests in Jammu region.

There were protests and clashes in many parts of Jammu Thursday.

On Wednesday, over 50 people were injured in clashes that saw several police posts and vehicles damaged and government buildings attacked, leading to curfew which was relaxed Thursday morning.

"There was need to impose curfew Wednesday because the Jammu agitators had threatened to bring children on the streets," an official said. People in large numbers, including children, still came out on the streets despite curfew.

Police and paramilitary forces have taken vantage positions to keep a watch on the situation, the official said.

National Security Adviser M.K. Naryananan, who had reviewed the situation in the state in Srinagar Wednesday, had voiced his concern over the law and order situation in the region. In Jammu, the nearly two-month-long agitation with consecutive days of shutdowns has left 12 people dead, more than 1,000 injured and massive economic losses.

The genesis of the trouble lies in the state government's decision to transfer a 40-hectare plot of land in the Kashmir valley to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board but later withdraw this following protests in the Muslim-dominated valley. The revocation July 1 ignited an agitation in the Hindu majority Jammu region.

The Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti that has been spearheading the protests had given a call for a three-day programme of "jail bharo" or fill-the-jails, and Wednesday was the turn of children after men courted arrest Monday and women Tuesday.

The death toll in the entire state in the waves of protests and counter-protests now stands at around 40.

--Indo-Asian News Service

NEW DELHI- Pro-shrine protesters have attacked the police station and torched vehicles in Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu district. ( Watch )

Police have fired teargas to quell the agitation by the protesters.

In Delhi, National Security Advisor MK Narayanan briefed the Cabinet on the Jammu and Kashmir situation.

Earlier in the day, curfew was lifted in Jammu and Udhampur districts, while it was relaxed for varying periods in other areas of Jammu province, which was reeling under massive protests over the Amarnath land row.

Curfew, which was reimposed in Jammu on Wednesday on the third and final day of ' Jail Bharo Andolan ' of Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti (SASS) was lifted for the day from 5 am to 8 pm on Thursday, official sources said.

Day curfew was also lifted in Udhampur district from 5 am to 10 pm, they said.
In Kishtwar town, the authorities gave three-hours curfew relaxation from 9:30 am on Thursday, the sources said adding that it was also relaxed on Wednesday for three hours initially and later extended in phases to 12 hours.

The town was rocked by communal clashes on August 12 resulting in the death of two persons and injuries to several others. Some shops and houses were also gutted during the clashes.

In Samba town, the curfew relaxation period has been given for 11 hours from 5 am, they said.

Samiti convenor Leela Karan Sharma had alleged that governor N N Vohra is supporting such activities in Kashmir in order to divert the attention of the national and international community from the demand of Jammu people.

The Samiti has also given programme of agitation from Thursday to August 25 and called for civil disobedience against the state government.

Source : Times Of India

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PPP backs Zardari for Presidency

Islamabad: Asif Ali Zardari may be the next president of Pakistan as the Pakistan People's Party has backed their party chief for the post of President.

Zardari has said that a decision will be made only after consulting ruling coalition partners. However, Zardari rules himself out for the post of President.

But the big question is whether Zardari as President would be acceptable to Nawaz sharif of the PML-N. There is already tension between the two leaders with still no agreement over the reinstatement of the deposed judges.

Source : NDTV

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AGP seeks photo I-cards for Indians

GUWAHATI: The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) today demanded that photo identity cards should be provided to all genuine Indian citizens to remove feeling of apprehension from their minds in order to avoid clashes like the ones in the districts of Udalguri, Darrang and Sonitpur. A delegation of the regional party visited the affected areas of the three districts yesterday to take stock of the situation and appealed to all sections of people not to allow themselves to be instigated by anyone.

Talking to this correspondent, AGP president Brindaban Goswami said that as all the political parties and organizations of Assam have accepted March 25, 1971 as the cut off date for detection and deportation of foreigners, the Government must expedite the process of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and provide photo identity cards to all genuine Indian citizens within a specific time frame to remove apprehension from the minds of all sections of people.

Goswami expressed the view that the feeling of apprehension in the minds of the people is one of the main reasons for the tension, while, “certain forces also tried to take advantage of the situation by instigating the people for their own gain.” He appealed to all sections of people of Assam to maintain the bond of unity and not to pay heed to any rumour.

The AGP president said that there was no record of any discord between different sections of people in the areas where clashes broke out and the people told the AGP delegation that they were living peacefully for years. But now tension prevails in the area after the clashes and the Government also failed to take adequate precautionary measures on time to prevent such unfortunate incidents.

However, Goswami said that the possibility of such clashes in other parts of the State cannot be ruled out till a permanent solution to the problem of infiltration of foreigners is found. He demanded that the Government should expedite the process of sealing the international border with Bangladesh to prevent fresh infiltration and the foreigners who came to Assam after March 25, 1971 must be detected and deported under the provisions of the Assam Accord to instil sense of security among the indigenous people. He said that a strong political will is required to solve the problem and the loopholes in the laws should be plugged to make the process of detection and deportation of foreigners more effective. He also asserted that no one should be allowed to give communal colour to the problem of infiltration of foreigners.

The members of the AGP will observe hunger strike in all the district headquarters on August 22 in support of the demand for permanent solution to the problem of infiltration. The party will also launch a signature campaign all over the State from August 26 to put pressure on the Government for implementation of the Assam Accord for a permanent solution of the problem and to provide identity cards to the Indian citizens on the basis of updated NRC within a specific time frame.

Source : Assam Tribune

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Sharif threatens to quit Pakistan coalition: Report

SINGAPORE: Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has threatened to pull his party out of Pakistan's ruling coalition if it does not decide by Friday to reinstate judges purged by former president Pervez Musharraf, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The deadlock over the judges opened up cracks in the coalition led by slain Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) soon after Musharraf, faced with the threat of impeachment, resigned on Monday.

Sharif told the newspaper that the sacking of the judges last year had shaken the foundations of the country and it was necessary to restore them to their jobs.

"We will not try to bring the government down," Sharif said in remarks published on Thursday. "But of course we then have no choice but to sit in the opposition."

The PPP led by Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari, has wavered over restoring the judges, partly because of concern the deposed chief justice might take up challenges to an amnesty from graft charges granted to party leaders last year, analysts say.

Leaders of two small parties in the four-party alliance have played down the dispute but said they had been given three days to resolve the problem between the big parties. Sharif said Zardari had earlier assured him that the judges would be reinstated within 24 hours of Musharraf's impeachment.

"We supported him on impeachment. It's now his turn to support us on the reinstatement of judges." The departure of Sharif's party from the coalition would not force an election, analysts have said, adding that the PPP, the biggest in parliament, should be able to gather enough support to remain in government.

With Sharif winning much popular support for his tough stand on the unpopular Musharraf and the judges, an election is the last thing Bhutto's party wants, Rasul Bakhsh Rais, professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences said on Wednesday.

"If elections are held, I don't think the People's Party can survive. It will be wiped out," Rais said. The coalition leaders are also divided over Musharraf's future. There has been no announcement since his resignation on whether he would get immunity from prosecution and be allowed to live freely in Pakistan. Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf ousted, said he bore no grudges toward the former military ruler but he must be held accountable for his actions.

"I'm not a man who believes in revenge. Although he mistreated me, I don't have any score to settle with him. But somebody who dismisses the parliament, subverts the constitution, arrests the judges must tell the people why he did that. He must answer these questions under whatever forum the law provides." he said.

Source : Times Of India

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Deregister parties backing terrorists, separatists: BJP

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday urged the Election Commission to “deregister” political parties which were openly siding with “banned terrorist outfits” and those supporting “separatists” in Jammu and Kashmir.

A party delegation submitted to the Commission a two-page memorandum, signed, among others, by Yashwant Sinha, Prakash Javadekar, Vijay Goel and Arun Shourie.

BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi later told journalists that the delegation “verbally” told the Commission that it should take “suo motu notice” of the parties which expressed themselves against the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India and “others” that openly sided with separatists supporting their call to march to Muzaffarabad (in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir).

While the names of the parties were not mentioned, Mr. Naqvi admitted that the BJP had in mind the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Lok Jan Shakti Party and the People’s Democratic Party.

A senior functionary said the BJP could consider filing a petition before the Commission seeking that the PDP be deregistered for its “pro-separatist” role in Jammu and Kashmir.

“If Congress leader Arjun Singh could ask for deregistering the BJP on the basis of L.K. Advani’s Somnath to Ayodhya ‘rath yatra,’ arguing that the party was misusing religion, why could not the Commission consider deregistering the PDP for its recent utterances,” the functionary asked.
‘Avoid mistakes’

The memorandum stressed the need to avoid “mistakes” in the preparation of photo electoral rolls. It pointed out that a large number of voters were not able to include their names on the rolls as many areas were under flood waters.
“Sensitive booths”

The BJP asked that “sensitive booths” be identified and that “unnecessary restrictions” on regular and legitimate means of campaigning and holding of meetings be lifted. When the campaign got pushed back, money and muscle power would take centre stage, the party argued. The Commission should put in place a code of conduct which allowed the parties to reach out to voters without undue restrictions.

Source : The Hindu

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