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#1 From: "chro chro chro" <chro@rediffmail.com> Date: Sun Jul 4, 2004 6:22am Subject: ENCOUNTER WATCH : ISHRAT'S MOTHER MAY BE ARRESTED SOON Rediff News, July 03, 2004, Saturday Ishrat's mother may be arrested soon Sheela Bhatt in Ahmedabad The Gujarat Police is considering arresting Shamima Begum, mother of Ishrat Jahan Sheikh who was gunned down on June 15 along with three others in Ahmedabad. The Gujarat Police claims that the 19-year-old Mumbai college student and the three people accompanying her were Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists out to kill Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Home ministry sources told rediff.com that Shamima could be arrested because there is 'enough evidence' of her being a party to the alleged conspiracy to kill Modi. "Our probe has made it clear that Ishrat, her mother Shamima and Javed were in close contact since long time. Both had visited Lucknow and Faizabad and visited Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar twice," Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) D G Vanzara told reporters in Ahmedabad on Saturday. A senior officer of crime branch was sent to Lucknow and other places to get more proof. Sources also told rediff.com that Lucknow Police has also confirmed that Ishrat and her mother had visited a hotel in the city. They added that Mumbai Police has confirmed that Javed was introduced to Ishrat and her mother in a Kalyan hotel by neighbours Rasheed and Pervez One sources said eye witnesses to these meetings will soon give their account on oath, under section 164 of the Indian Penal Code. "Once these statements are recorded it will be difficult to not arrest Shamima," the source added. The Crime Branch is also interrogating Shivchand Chaudhary, Ishrat's neighbour in Mumbra. ------------------------------------------ #2 The Hindustan Times, July 04, 2004, Sunday Modi's 1,000 days of love, hate and attitude Indo-Asian News Service Gandhinagar, July 3 Narendra Modi completed a high-profile, turbulent 1,000 days as Gujarat Chief Minister on Saturday ??” a period when he went from being branded the poster boy of the Hindu rightwing to a modern-day Nero. It has been an eventful though controversial tenure for Modi, who owes his ideological underpinnings to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He was sworn into office on Oct 7, 2001, when then chief minister Keshubhai Patel's popularity graph was going down dangerously. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) needed a charismatic leader to lead it to victory in the assembly elections of 2002. Modi had then said he would have to work as if in a one-day cricket match: be target-oriented and at a fast pace. The next few months did not show the promised approach. But then came the Godhra tragedy when the burning of a train, in which many Hindu rightwing volunteers were killed, put the spotlight on Modi in a manner no one would have anticipated. Godhra sparked the worst ever anti-Muslim violence. In what shocked the nation, Modi went on TV to say he could understand the Hindu community's anger. Practically justifying the massacres, he reportedly said every action was bound have a reaction, referring to the burning of the train in Godhra town and the backlash. The sectarian strife lasting for more than two months claimed more than 1,000 lives. The bloody events established Modi as the new Hindu hardline icon. There were brickbats too. Modi was roundly criticised by political parties, human rights groups and intellectuals for his handling of the violence and mayhem. Even the Supreme Court compared him with a modern-day Nero who fiddled while Rome was burning. But in the state and elsewhere, his popularity among sections of Hindus grew - partly because they perceived him as a man who delivers and partly because of the high profile communal card. Modi minced no words in taking jibes at the perceived enemies of the Hindu rightwing - from Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Hoping to take advantage of the polarised atmosphere in Gujarat after the violence, he dissolved the assembly in April 2002, seeking polls about six months ahead of schedule. At that time, it seemed to work. Modi led the BJP to a sweeping victory in the assembly elections in December 2002, winning a record 128 seats in the 182-member assembly. But the chinks in his armour began showing, with leaders in his own party terming him as an egotist and autocrat and publicly demanding his ouster. Sure enough, the BJP suffered major reverses around the country as well as in Gujarat in the Lok Sabha polls in April-May this year. Much of it was blamed on Modi's harsh rhetoric during campaigning and the Gujarat riots. Worse, some BJP allies even blamed him for their own defeats. The jury is still out on whether he will continue as chief minister. In his second innings in Gandhinagar, he is striving to reinvent himself as a reformer of the economy and public administration. But his recent past continues to haunt him. Modi's move to reform the power sector has backfired. A cut in subsidy to the agriculture sector in electricity tariff has fuelled farmers' anger. Critics say his attempts to solve the perennial water scarcity problem in the state have remained a non-starter. The state, competing with Maharashtra to attract the highest amount of domestic and foreign private investment, seems to have faltered. Suddenly it looks as if Modi's one-day match has turned into a drab Test, with no one knowing how it will end. ---------------------------------------------------------- Indian Express, July 04, 2004, Sunday BRANDED : Punjab jail officials ???brand??™ inmate a thief JATINDER KAUR TUR AMRITSAR, JULY 3: In an incident bringing back memories of the case in which Punjab policemen had tattooed the word ??????jebkatri??™??™ on the foreheads of two women pickpockets, some Central Jail officials here allegedly branded the words ??????ya chor lai (this is a thief)??™??™ on the back of a prisoner. While the incident happened on July 1, it came to light only yesterday when the prisoner, Rocky Paapa alias Fakkar, appeared before Chief Judicial Magistrate Harpreet Kaur Randhawa and showed her the wound. Rocky, who was sentenced for a theft on February 9, says trouble began when he complained of stomachache and was refused medicine. Next, he asked for rice but was given chapatis instead. It was then that Rocky, who had been sent to the chakki room a week earlier for picking up a fight with an inmate, began to protest loudly. ??????Jail guards dragged me out of my cell and beat me. Jail superintendent Capt S.P. Singh and Assistant Superintendent Raj Kumar whispered something to Havaldar Chakkar Gulbadan, who handcuffed me, and then used a hot iron rod to write on my back,??™??™ he says. IG (prisons) S.K. Dutta, who has asked Singh to file a report within 24 hours, said the jail authorities had nothing to do with the branding. Deputy Superintendent Iqbaljit Singh claimed the prisoners often injured themselves to blackmail authorities into giving them drugs. ??????The tattoo on his back reads ???ya chor lai??™ and not ???yeh chor hai??™. This clearly indicates that it??™s the handiwork of some other prisoner,??™??™ he says. SMO (Civil Hospital) Dr Ashwani Kumar Sondhi said a team of three doctors examined Rocky today. Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (CHRO) 3, Rams' Cottage Ambalathumukku, Pettah Thiruvananthapuram-695 024 (Ph.: 0471-2476262) Web: www.humanrightsindia.com www.humanrightskerala.com |
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