The Tribune – Besides Rajoana, fate of 11 others hangs in balance

Aman Sood, Tribune News Service

Patiala, April 3. There was so much opposition and hullabaloo over the hanging of Balwant Singh Rajoana, who was awarded the death sentence for the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. Not many are, however, aware that Punjab has as many as a dozen convicts awaiting decision on their death penalties. These convicts are languishing in the state prisons for the past several years with their clemency petitions pending either in the higher courts or before the President.

Sources in the Home Department confirmed that 12 convicts in the state jails are awaiting decision on death penalties. Some of them sentenced in 2005 do not know their own fate as their pleas are awaiting decisions at various stages. “We have 12 convicts lodged in various prisons in the state. Despite their being a threat to the society for their proven acts of crime, we (state) are spending on their board and lodging”, the sources said.

A jail official revealed that these convicts usually follow jail norms and seldom create a problem. But even these convicts are not sure of their fate. “The last hanging in India was done in 2004. A majority of these 12 convicts do not like to talk about it. But many of them are curious to know whether their pleas for turning their death sentence to life imprisonment will be accepted”, he stated. The convicts sentenced to death and languishing in the jails are Vikram Singh, Jasbir Singh, Balwant Singh Rajoana, Mohinder Singh, Suraj Ahluwalia, Resham Singh, Gurnayab Singh, Kulbir Singh, Gurmukh Singh, Saleem, Judge Singh and Gurwail Singh. While some were given the sentence in 2005 and 2006, others were awarded the penalty in 2007, 2011 and 2012. These convicts on death row are lodged in jails of Amritsar (3), Faridkot (4), Hoshiarpur (2), Ludhiana (2) and Patiala (1).

Balwant Singh Rajoana is a death row convict who doesn’t want clemency. He has refused to defend himself in any court since 1995 and has lashed out at the persons who have filed petitions on his behalf. Speaking to TNS, Punjab DGP (Jails) Shashi Kant said the convicts can be hanged once their pleas pending at various levels are cleared. “Till then they would continue to
wait for their fate”, he stated.

Supreme Court seeks details

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Centre to furnish details of 18 mercy pleas, including that of Parliament attack death convict Afzal Guru, pending disposal before the President. A bench of justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya also asked eminent jurist Ram Jethmalani to file written submissions on “whether the President should objectively apply mind while deciding mercy petitions”. The court passed directions while dealing with the appeal filed by death convict Devender Pal Singh Bhullar, challenging the undue delay in the disposal of his mercy petition by the President.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120404/punjab.htm#10

The Tribune – Plot to protect Bibi’s fair name

Saurabh Malik, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 3. The judgment in the Harpreet Kaur abduction case brings out gory details of attempts made by a mother to safeguard her prestige at the cost of her daughter.

The judgment by Additional Sessions Judge Balbir Singh says: “The conspiracy had been hatched for terminating the pregnancy of Harpreet Kaur, with accused Bibi Jagir Kaur. However, because the status, political and social, of accused Bibi was to be safeguarded at all costs, the Bibi distanced herself from the process of executing the conspiracy and accused Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi, Paramjit Singh Raipur and Nishan Singh, along with approver Dr Balwinder Singh Sohal, took upon themselves to accomplish the object of conspiracy by keeping Bibi informed of the developments from time to time”.

The judgment goes on to say: “There is no difficulty in accepting the version given by the approver regarding the clandestine manner in which Harpreet on the very early morning of March 19, 2000, was taken under sedation from Jasdil Mansion in a vehicle by accused Dalwinder and Paramjit, along with the approver, directly to Kapurthala at the clinic of Dalbir Kaur, staff nurse in the committee bazaar, where Dr Satpal, her husband, was also present.

“According to the approver, he informed Dr Satpal that the pregnancy of the girl, his relative, was to be terminated as she was unmarried…. Dr Satpal and his wife Dalbir Kaur took Harpreet to the delivery room while she was still unconscious and medicines for abortion were administered to Harpreet by Dalbir and Dr Satpal. After examining Harpeet, they told him that the process would be lengthy and they had injected medicine … and the abortion might take place within 24 hours and 72 hours….”

The judgment adds: “If the versions given by the approver and Dalbir are closely scrutinised with the rest of the evidence of the prosecution, it transpires that a clear-cut effort seems to have been made by Dr Sohal apparently to help and save staff nurse Dalbir and her husband Dr Satpal, who jointly terminated the pregnancy of Harpreet Kaur while she was under sedation, without her consent….

“The prosecution has been able to prove that accused Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi, Paramjit and Nishan abducted Harpreet, who was a major, by deceitful means…. The prosecution has further been able to prove that Dhesi and Paramjit got the pregnancy terminated without Harpreet’s consent after keeping her under sedation” and this was done neither in good faith or for saving her life.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120404/punjab.htm#12

The Hindu – Chief Ministers meet on May 5, exclusively to debate NCTC

Special Correspondent

New Delhi, 3 April 2012. Bowing to pressure from its constituent, the Trinamool Congress, the UPA government on Tuesday agreed to hold a separate meeting of all Chief Ministers here on May 5 to discuss exclusively the issue of setting up the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC).

Even as charges fly thick and fast that his government was ignoring consultations with the States and undermining the principles of federalism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh instructed Home Minister P. Chidambaram to write to all Chief Ministers, informing them of the May 5 meeting.

Briefing journalists here, Mr. Chidambaram said three Chief Ministers had requested the Prime Minister for a separate meeting to discuss NCTC.

Several Chief Ministers including Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal and Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu have reiterated their demand for a separate meeting. The two are among the non-Congress Chief Ministers who have written to the Prime Minister criticising the Centre’s move, on the ground that NCTC would violate the principles of federalism and encroach on their turf.

Others opposed to the NCTC proposal include Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Naveen Patnaik (Odisha), Narendra Modi (Gujarat) and Manik Sarkar (Tripura).

During the press conference of the Group of Ministers on Media, Mr. Chidambaram said the conference of Chief Ministers on internal security would be held as scheduled on April 16. The agenda has already been sent to all of them.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Law Minister Salman Khurshid were present.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3277097.ece

19 February 2012 – Vilvoorde visit

On the 19th of February I went to Vilvoorde to introduce tw0 people of Internationaal Comité Brussel and Leuven to the president of the  Vilvoorde Gurdwara

Sint-Truiden, train coming in from Genk and Hasselt

Sint-Truiden, train from Genk and Hasselt to Brussel and Gent

Brussel Noord, TRAXX engine pulling Intercity to Amsterdam

Brussel Noord, Intercity to Amsterdam not stopping in Brussel Noord

Brussel Noord, TRAXX engine pulling train to Brussel Zuid

To see more Belgium and Netherlands public transport pictures :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157622685920411/

More Belgium pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – Rs 27.94 cr for kin of 1,513 youths killed during Punjab militancy

Aditi Tandon, Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 3. Years after militancy was crushed in Punjab, justice has been done to the families of youths who were picked up by the police, killed and cremated in gross violation of human rights.

Closing the 16-year-old Punjab mass cremation case which involved the killing of youths in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Majithia districts of the state, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today awarded a compensation of Rs 27.94 crore to the families of 1,513 victims (out of the 2,097 cremated) who could be identified after documentation of circumstantial evidence.

In each of these 1,513 cases, Rs 1.75 lakh will be paid to the next of kin of the victim. The commission has written to the DC, Amritsar, to release the money.

The NHRC award marks the end of hearings that followed the December 12, 1996, Supreme Court order which remitted the case of Punjab’s 2,097 unidentified bodies to the commission after the police and the CBI were unable to make a headway.

As many as 532 bodies remain unidentified.

Speaking to The Tribune today, NHRC member Satyabrata Pal said: “The Punjab Government has assured us of the payment.

This was our last and best effort to identify the bodies after the police and the CBI were unable to do so.”

The NHRC orders came on the report of the second committee set up to identify the cremated bodies. The committee, comprising IAS officer DS Bains, Virender Singh, District and Sessions Judge (retd) and DIG (Border Range), Amritsar, submitted the findings on March 22, 2012.

During its hearing, the commission on October 10, 2006, noted that of the 2,097 bodies cremated in Amritsar, Majitha and Tarn Taran, 1,245 had been identified.

For human rights abuse of the 194 youths in police custody immediately before their death, the families will get a compensation of Rs 2.50 lakh each.

“In case of 1,051 identified deceased persons whose bodies were not in police custody but were cremated by the State of Punjab without following the Punjab Police Rules and humanitarian law, the commission has awarded Rs Rs. 1.75 lakh to the next of kin,” the order says.

While the commission had identified 1,245 bodies, for the rest (814), it had appointed Justice KS Bhalla, retired judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court as Commissioner for receiving evidence and probing the matter.

The Bhalla Commission submitted its report on June 30, 2007, and identified 143 bodies and the commission on February 15, 2007, awarded compensation in 53 cases.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120404/main2.htm

BBC News – Afghanistan: Militants ‘kill police by poisoning food’

Tuesday, 3 April 2012. Afghan police in Helmand Afghanistan’s police are increasingly vital to the country’s security, but are a target for militants.

Militants killed four Afghan policemen and two civilians inside a police checkpoint by poisoning their yoghurt and launching an attack, officials say.

The attack happened in the Nehre Siraj district of southern Helmand province, the local police chief told the BBC.

There have been several recent poisoning incidents involving members of the Afghan National Police, the BBC’s Bilal Sarwary reports from Kabul.

It comes amid attempts by the Taliban to infiltrate the security forces.

Three police officers have been reported missing – along with their weapons and a police vehicle – following Tuesday’s attack in Helmand.

They are believed to have been working with the Taliban, intelligence officials told our correspondent.

Helmand’s police chief Ahmad Nabi Ilham said the Taliban militants had first poisoned the police officers’ yoghurt before launching a full scale attack on the checkpoint.

Similar tactics had been used by insurgents in Helmand before, Dawood Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor, said.

He told the BBC an investigation is underway to establish exactly what happened.

Afghanistan’s police are playing an increasingly important role in the country’s security as Nato troops prepare to pull out in 2014.

But there are concerns that the speed with which they have been expanded to fulfil new roles has allowed many militants to infiltrate their ranks.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17597797

508.The Man in Blue – Stephen Dedalus and I

The Irish writer James Joyce (1882–1941) is world famous because of a book that few people have read and understood : Ulysses. It describes a day in the life of Dublin through the wanderings and musings of a number of main actors.

In Ulysses actual events are followed by things that happen in the minds of the characters without this being made clear. The many quotes in foreign languages, including Latin and Greek further complicate matters. Because I know Dublin well it was easier for me to separate reality from fantasy.

James Joyce also wrote Finnegan’s wake, which like Ulysses is a difficult book, but his collection of short stories Dubliners is a much easier read. The book I recently reread, A Portrait of the Artist as a young man, is more challenging than Dubliners but if you have the annotated version it should be manageable for most.

A Portrait of the Artist as a young man shows what a brilliant writer Joyce is. His mastery of the English language is amazing and so is his ability to take you with him on his journeys through Dublin and through life.

The young man in the book is Stephen Dedalus and through the life of Stephen Joyce describes how he became the man whose main subject was Dublin, but who spent most of his adult life outside Ireland.

There is a particular section in the book that appealed to me more this time than it did during my first read of the book, many years ago. It is when Stephen goes to a Jesuit secondary school. The Jesuits are a Roman Catholic order with a long record of intellectual excellence.

Stephen has gone through a period where he lost the proper Roman Catholic way and visited prostitutes. The school organises
a retreat and the book gives long sections of the sermon by the Jesuit priest who leads the retreat.

The sermon is powerful, explaining exactly what happens to you, according to the Roman Catholic understanding, when you
leave the narrow path. Mostly Sikhs and Roman Catholics agree on what are sins and what not, but the Roman Catholics ‘know’ in full detail what God will do to you when you commit certain sins and do not confess your sins and change your ways.

I do not believe in a hell where the lost souls burn eternally or a ‘purgatory’ where others souls go to undergo punishment before being allowed into heaven.

But both the sermon and Stephen’s reaction to it did work on my soul. But because Stephen was struggling with who he was and where he came from, I got a vision of a Harjinder Singh who was totally liberated from useless habits, who was not bound to the culture he comes from, in short who is liberated in this life.

Do not worry, I am not suffering from delusions. I am still very much a human being who, as is our nature, makes many mistakes. But I am a Sikh, a learner, and do make progress, although it is often ‘two steps forward and one step backward’.