The Tribune – Sarabjit’s sister in Ajmer, wants to meet Pakistan President

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 7. Dalbir Kaur, sister of Sarabjit Singh who is on the death row in Pakistan, has reached Ajmer, hoping to meet Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari during his visit tomorrow and to appeal him for Sarabjit’s release.

Talking to The Tribune over the phone from Ajmer, Dalbir said she had met Ajmer Deputy Commissioner as well as members of the advance team of the Pakistan President. “I have brought into their notice my purpose to meet the President and they have assured me an appointment with him”. She said she would appeal for clemency to Sarabjit and would also hand over relevant documents to the President.

Earlier, too, a clemency petition for Sarabjit was filed before the Zardari, but a decision is yet to be taken on it. Sarabjit is lodged in a Pakistan jail for the last around two decades regarding a bomb explosion.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120408/punjab.htm#9

The Tribune – How Rajoana escaped gallows; Jailor cited Harbans Singh’s case while refusing to hang Rajoana

Ravi Dhaliwal, Tribune News Service

Batala, April 7. After performing his household chores, 87-year-old Harbans Singh retreats to his one-room dwelling and with serenity of a Buddhist monk, he prays for the “health and prosperity” of Babbar Khalsa International terrorist Balwant Singh Rajoana.

The case of Rajoana, who is lodged in Patiala Jail with the death sentence pronounced on him being suspended by the Union Government, has a lot of similarities with the life of octogenarian Harbans Singh who lives with his two nephews on Aliwal Road in Batala. When Patiala Jail Superintendent L S Jhakhar created uproar by refusing to carry out the Chandigarh court’s orders to hang Rajoana, he had cited the case of Harbans Singh. After being convicted for a murder in 1981, Harbans had his death sentence stayed as the Bareilly Jail Superintendent had refused to hang him saying that “the documents were incomplete and he would hang him only after getting the requisite documents.”

Jhakhar, too, had toed the same line and had also stated that he would not hang Rajoana since “the documents were incomplete.”

Harbans Singh, who along with two of his accomplices Jeet Singh and Kashmira Singh, was convicted for murdering four people in a case pertaining to a land dispute, was awarded death penalty by a Pilibhit court in 1981 which was later upheld by the Allahabad High Court, the Supreme Court and President Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy.

His co-accused Jeet Singh was sent to the guillotine in October the same year, but Harbans escaped the gallows as the Bareilly jailor refused to hang him. Later, he along with Kashmira Singh filed review petitions in the Supreme Court following which the later got his sentence commuted to life imprisonment whereas Harbans’ case was sent back to the President with the recommendation to commute the death penalty.

Feeling uneasy, and a bit embarrassed, because the spotlight had suddenly shifted on him following the Rajoana case, Harbans Singh, who preferred to remain a bachelor after spending the prime of his youth behind the bars, claims that his case had benefited a large number of people. “A large number of convicts have been benefited from my case. However, it is for the first time that I am hogging the limelight because of the stay granted on Rajoana’s execution,” he said.

There may be several similarities between Rajoana and Harbans. However, there is a glaring dissimilarity too. While Harbans filed a review petition in the apex court, Rajoana has refused to file any mercy petition and is willing to be hanged. “I pray that like me, he too should be released from Jail,” he says.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120408/punjab.htm#11

The Asian Age – PM gets 26/11 ammo for Zardari

Asian Age Correspondents

New Delhi, 8 April 2012. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari’s India visit on Sunday may be “private” but it was increasingly assuming “official” hues on Saturday for, under the broad term of “bilateral issues”, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to raise with Mr Zardari India’s concern about 26/11 terror attacks mastermind and Laskhar-e-Tayyaba founder Hafiz Saeed roaming freely in Pakistan despite the evidence New Delhi has provided of his involvement.

An indication of this came when, ahead of Mr Zardari’s visit, the Union home ministry handed over to the Prime Minister’s Office all the dossiers it has given to Pakistan post 26/11, including the one on Saeed. Earlier this week, the US government put out a bounty of $10 million on Saeed.

Amidst indications that Saeed will figure in the PM-President meeting, Mr Zardari himself chose to strike a different note on Saturday. He told reporters in Lahore that he did not expect Saeed to be the focus of his meeting with the Indian PM. “My stance on Saeed is not different from that of my government. My visit to India is of a religious nature and I do not think Manmohan Singh will make me sit (and discuss only) this issue,” said Mr Zardari.

Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik is also part of the the Pakistan President’s delegation.

The Zardari-Singh meeting is scheduled for half an hour, beginning 12.15 pm Sunday at the Prime Minister’s 7, Race Course Road residence.

http://www.asianage.com/india/pm-gets-2611-ammo-zardari-107

28 February 2012 – Antwerp, trams, the river, the castle and the wedding

On 28 February I went to Antwerp to attend the wedding of Jatinder Singh & Reyhan Kaur
As I was early I had time to take pictures of trams, the river and the castle

Rooseveltplein – De Lijn tram 24 to Hoboken

Frankrijklei – De Lijn tram 24 to Hoboken

Kipdorpbrug – De Lijn tram 11 to Deurne

Kipdorpbrug – De Lijn tram 10 & 11
Trams to central Antwerpen take the road on the left
Trams to Deurne come from the road on the right

Kipdorpbrug – De Lijn tram 10 & 11
I am going to take the road on the right to walk to the Grote Markt

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 – Avalanche buries 100 Pakistan soldiers in Siachen

Islamabad, April 7. A massive avalanche slammed into a Pakistan Army base in the Siachen sector close to the border with India today, burying over 100 sleeping soldiers under snow and triggering a frantic search for survivors.

The bodies of some soldiers had been pulled out of the snow, state-run Radio Pakistan quoted the army’s media wing as saying. It did not say how many bodies had been recovered.

Some reports suggested that 135 to 150 soldiers had been hit by the avalanche, but these could not be independently confirmed. The rescue operation will take some time to complete, the report said.

The avalanche hit a battalion headquarters at Gyari in Siachen sector at 5.45 am. Chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told the media that over 100 soldiers of the Northern Light Infantry, including a Colonel, were trapped following the avalanche. “It’s a very massive scale slide.

They (soldiers) are under the slide but we haven’t lost hope. The rescue work is on, and we are keeping our fingers crossed,” he said.

Helicopters, sniffer dogs, additional troops and teams of doctors were sent to the desolate region as the army launched a massive rescue operation.

Army officials said heavy engineering machinery had been moved by air from the garrison city of Rawalpindi to speed up the rescue work.

However, state-run Pakistan Television said rescuers were facing difficulties in moving heavy machinery to the far-flung area. (Agencies)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120408/main2.htm

BBC News – Pakistan President Zardari visits India for talks

Sunday 8 April 2012. The President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, is due to travel to India in the first visit there by a Pakistani head of state for seven years.

Mr Zardari will meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, before travelling to an important Muslim shrine in Rajasthan.

Officials say the trip is a private visit, but there is hope it could boost economic ties between the two nations.

However correspondents say little progress is expected on other issues.

Officials say Mr Zardari is coming for private religious reasons – to visit the shrine of Sufi saint Moinudin Chishti in Ajmer, 350 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of Delhi.

The president was due to land in Delhi at 11:00 (05:30 GMT) and meet Mr Singh at his residence before flying south to Ajmer and then returning to Islamabad in the evening.

Pilgrimage spot

Relations between the two countries have been gradually improving since peace talks were derailed after the Mumbai attacks in 2008.

Mr Zardari recently backed the lifting of trade restrictions on India, and Pakistan is also talking of dropping a restrictive list of what products it will buy from India.

But tensions remain over more sensitive issues, such as the disputed region of Kashmir, and Pakistani militant activity against India.

Only this week, India again called for Pakistan to hand over Hafiz Saeed, the man it alleges planned the Mumbai attacks, after Washington announced a $10m bounty for his arrest.

Pakistan has again refused, asking to see proof for the allegations.

Correspondents say few expect any headway with these issues during Mr Zardari’s visit.

The BBC’s Andrew North in Delhi says it used to be cricket that gave Indian and Pakistani leaders the cover they need to meet.

The last time a Pakistani leader met Mr Singh was in 2005 when then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf happened to be at the same cricket match as the Indian prime minister in Delhi, our correspondent says.

The shrine of Sufi saint Moinudin Chishti is one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in the region, receiving a constant flow of devotees.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17648622