The Tribune – Malwa leaders demand opening of Hussainiwala

Ferozepur, April 13. The Congress leaders hailing from the Malwa region have asked the UPA Government to work towards re-opening the Hussainiwala-Kasur border for trade with Pakistan and other central Asian countries. The step, said he, would boost the area economy.

Senior Congress leader and Guruharsahai MLA Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi said Ferozepur district once was a trade hub.

However, the Partition and subsequent closure of the border post-1971 India-Pakistan war sounded death knell for commercial activities in the region. “Not only this, the district was divided time and again, which further proved catastrophic for the local traders. They have been clamouring for opening the border for the last 40 years,” he said. He also lauded the UPA Government’s efforts for boosting the bilateral trade with Pakistan and commissioning of the Integrated Check Post.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120414/punjab.htm#3

The Tribune – Jallianwala Bagh martyrs remembered

Manmeet Singh Gill, Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 13. The 93rd anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre was observed here today. A ceremony was organised in which Punjab Police jawans reversed their weapons at 3:59 pm to pay homage to the martyrs of the 1919 massacre. A two-minute silence was also observed.

The function was attended among others by former minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla, Scheduled Castes Commission Vice-Chairman and MLA Raj Kumar Verka, former Deputy Speaker Darbari Lal, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Supreet Singh Gulati and Jallianwala Bagh Trust Secretary SK Mukherjee.

Chawla said, “The Jallianwala Bagh martyrs will be remembered till eternity for their sacrifice. The political leadership must put in efforts to realise the dreams of the martyrs. The youth should work towards strengthening the nationalistic feelings among the people.”

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120414/punjab.htm#10

The Hindu – ‘Defence Ministry must respond positively to move to amend AFSPA’

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was more the symbol of a problem than its cause, say Interlocutors

Special Correspondent

Chennai, 14 April 2012. The Ministry of Defence needs to consider how to respond positively, “rather than negatively,” to proposals for repeal of and amendments to the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, the Group of Interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir has said in their final report.

While stating that the group’s impression was that the AFSPA was more the symbol of a problem than its cause, the report went on to add: “But symbols are important for peace processes, and thus the Ministry of Defence needs to consider how to respond positively to this issue rather than negatively.”

The Prime Minister’s Working Group on Confidence-Building Measures had also recommended reviewing the Disturbed Areas Act and AFSPA, “and if possible lifting the former and revoking the latter.”

The Jeevan Reddy Commission had proposed the repeal of the AFSPA and the incorporation of some of its provisions into a new national law, to be called the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The Ministry of Home Affairs had also recommended several amendments to the AFSPA, which will bring it in line with the Criminal Procedure Code while allowing for the protections for the armed forces that exist in every democratic country. “These proposals should be reviewed by the Ministry of Defence, and a decision taken at the earliest.”

According to the group, the goal was to arrive at a situation in which troops will be deployed only at the borders. “A step-by-step process would begin with the Army remaining in barracks and transferring any civilian policing duties to the paramilitary, with their onward transfer to the Jammu and Kashmir police. This step has already been taken in most urban areas but could be consolidated in rural areas.”

The group noted that one problem that arose in 2010 was that the J&K police were not trained or equipped to handle the transfer of duties. “Current initiatives at retraining, especially in community policing, as well as the revised Operating Manual, should help bridge the gap, but police-community relations remain volatile, especially in the urban areas, and appear to depend on the individuals in charge of district police stations.

In the rural areas, there is a problem of shortage of police but fresh recruitments should fill the gap. In this context, it should be noted that in the mountainous districts of Jammu, which border the LoC, the felt need was for the Village Defense Committees to be incorporated into the police, and to be made multi-ethnic.”

The next step, the report added, was to review military deployments to see whether security installations can be rationalised through reducing their spread to a few strategic locations and creating mobile units for rapid response. “The desire for redeployment of military and/or security forces and installations [created as part of counter-insurgency operations, and not prior cantonments] from the rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir is a heartfelt desire that unites the regional political parties and dissident groups.”

Given the large reduction in militancy-related violence, some thinning or strategic concentration of installations was worth considering, the report said. “It is difficult, for example, to see a present rationale for maintaining three camps, belonging to different regiments, cheek-by-jowl with each other, as is the case in Shopian.”

Dialogue with armed groups

Pointing to the absence of a formal commitment to ceasefire or disbandment as one of the obstacles to redeployment, the report said such a commitment would have made security reforms much easier to implement. The Prime Minister’s Working Group on CBMs had suggested that an “unconditional dialogue” with armed groups be initiated, and some steps were taken during the “Quiet Diplomacy” of 2008-09. “Since then, however, the issue has not come up again, and it needs to be put back on the agenda.”

Even in the absence of commitments from armed groups to ceasefire, disarm and demobilise, such reforms as are possible still need to be considered, the group suggested. Current numbers for armed militants present in the State were around 350, with bases in districts such as Sopore. Infiltration attempts have risen this year.

A significant finding was that all the delegations met by the group were explicit in their view that troops should be concentrated on the borders and LoC to prevent infiltration, and the focus was on internal redeployment alone: a phased withdrawal of troops from residential and agricultural areas.

On the military-to-military CBMs agreed between the governments of India and Pakistan, such as hotlines between commanders of border security forces, the report said their implementation needed to be reviewed and any remaining gaps filled.

Human rights violations

The report referred to the large number of gross human rights violations by a variety of groups, including murder and torture.

The issue gained salience with the investigation into unmarked graves, many of which contain bodies of militants killed in counter-insurgency and some of which are alleged to be of missing persons. The group recommended the setting up of a Judicial Commission to establish the best procedures for identification of the bodies in the unmarked graves.

The commission would see whether any of the bodies match the DNA of the families of the disappeared persons. The final step would be to try to identify all the bodies in the unmarked graves, and this would depend on cooperation from Pakistan.

“The exercise will be a massive and time-consuming one, and all concerned should be prepared to face the fact that they might not, in the end, have the full closure that they need.”

Referring to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) proposed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the report said even if justice cannot be provided for all victims of violence, if some of those guilty of human rights abuses, including militants, were to ask forgiveness from the families of their victims, it would provide closure for many. A TRC, it said, would also have a large impact in Pakistan, altering the “Kashmir narrative” in fundamental ways.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3312229.ece?homepage=true

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

Reyhan Kaur & Jatinder Singh

The documents

Two ladies and one man to do the needful

The assistent-schepen

The assistent-schepen explaining the pictures

To see more Belgium (mostly Limburg) pictures :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157622046344528/

More Belgium pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – Pakistan denies travel permits for PoK

Darshan Bharti

Poonch, April 13. The much-touted Poonch- Rawalakote bus service, “Rahen Milan”, which had brought cheer to lakhs of divided families on both sides of the Line of Control, is fizzling out due to lack of interest from the Pakistan side.

Over 6,000 applicants have been awaiting their turn to go across the border for the past five years.

Since the beginning of the bus service in 2005, thousands of people from Rajouri and Poonch districts have been applying for travel permits.

But after a wait for over three years, thousands of divided families have lost hope of meeting their relatives again as the Pakistani authorities have been continuously denying travel permits to Indian divided families. There has been no delay on the part of the Indian authorities, which has enabled hundreds of PoK travellers to visit areas across the border.

Mohd Matloob Khan of Chandak says: “I had applied for a permit to visit PoK to meet my relatives in 2007. In spite of repeated visits to the passport office and the agencies concerned, I have been unable to secure a permit. I have lost all hopes of visiting PoK.”

Mohd Nazir, a resident of Gursai, Mendher, says: “I applied for a permit in 2008 and have been making rounds of the offices concerned but to no avail. My relatives from PoK have visited here twice during this period.”

“The bus service was started amidst much fanfare with the hope that all divided families will be able to meet again. Mufti Sayeed, the then Chief Minister, had promised to establish meeting points on both sides of the LoC to facilitate meetings between families once a month.

He had also announced that the permit system would be made hassle-free and the DC would be empowered to issue permits and extension thereof to travellers. But nothing has come out of the assurances so far,” says Riaz, a resident of Harni, Mendher, who has been awaiting permit for the past three years.

Initially, two routes were opened in Poonch district – Tatta Pani and Chakkan da Bagh – allowing 30 passengers in each of the two buses to travel. The number was subsequently increased to 60.

The Tatta Pani road was, however, washed away forcing the authorities to shift the bus service to Chakkan da Bagh. This raised the number of travellers to 120 per week from Chakkan da Bagh.

At the start of the service, over 200 passengers used to travel from this side to PoK. With Pakistan authorities denying permits to Indian travellers, the number has gone down to just around 15 passengers per week. At times, not even a single permit is issued to Indian travellers.

Families lose hope

After a wait of three years, thousands of divided families have lost hope of meeting their relatives as the Pakistani authorities have been continuously denying travel permits to them. There has been no delay on part of the Indian authorities.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120414/main7.htm

BBC News – David Cameron calls for Burma sanctions to be suspended

Friday, 13 April 2012. David Cameron has said economic sanctions against Burma should be suspended in recognition of the
changes taking place in the country.

The prime minister spoke after a meeting with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon.

Ms Suu Kyi welcomed his call and said the suspension of sanctions would “strengthen the hand of the reformers”.

Mr Cameron is the first Western leader to visit Burma since her success in a series of parliamentary by-elections.

He is also the first UK prime minister to visit the country since it gained independence in 1948.

Earlier, Mr Cameron met President Thein Sein and said the government had to demonstrate that moves to democracy were “irreversible”.

‘Send a signal’

Burma was ruled for almost half a century by a military junta that stifled almost all dissent and wielded absolute power. The EU, US and other nations imposed sanctions.

The first general election in 20 years was held in 2010.

The installation of a military-backed, nominally civilian government in March 2011 and a series of reforms since – including the release of hundreds of political prisoners – has led to speculation that decades of international isolation could be coming to an end.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Ms Suu Kyi at the lakeside villa where she spent 15 years under house arrest, Mr Cameron said the arms embargo in place against Burma should remain in place, but it was right to suspend – not lift – the remaining sanctions.

They include an assets freeze imposed on nearly 500 people and restrictions on key industries such as mining and timber.

“[Burma] shouldn’t be as poor as it is. It shouldn’t have suffered under dictatorship for as long as it has, and things don’t have to be that way,” the prime minister said.

“I do think it is important to send a signal that we want to help see the changes that can bring the growth of freedom of human rights and democracy in your country.”

‘Long way yet’

Mr Cameron said it was right to respond to signs of change “with care”, adding: “All courses of action are full of risk, but I think this is the right step forward.”

He also praised Ms Suu Kyi, calling her “an inspiration for people across the world”.

She in turn welcomed his call for the suspension of sanctions, saying: “We still have a long way to go but we believe we can get there.

“This suspension will have taken place because of the steps taken by the president and other reformers.

“It would also make it quite clear to those who are against reform that should they try to obstruct the way of the reformers, then sanctions could come back.”

EU foreign ministers are to discuss policy towards Burma on 23 April, and sanctions are due to expire on 30 April unless leaders choose to renew them.

The BBC’s deputy political editor, James Landale, who is travelling with the PM, says the change in position by the UK makes it very likely that Europe will agree to lift the sanctions.

Sanctions safeguards

But he says Mr Cameron’s move is a gamble – and some would call it too much too soon – because if there is any regression by the regime it will be difficult to get European nations to agree to reimpose sanctions once again.

Labour shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said “the sequenced lifting of sanctions along with careful monitoring of developments” was “a sensible way forward”.

But former Labour minister Baroness Kinnock, the chairwoman of the all-parliamentary group on Burma, sounded a note of caution, saying there must be “clear measures in place to ensure that sanctions will be reimposed if there’s no further progress”.

“So we need to see interim measures, we need to see deadlines, we need to see benchmarks,” she told BBC Radio 4′s World at One.

Wai Hnin, from the Burma Campaign UK, told the BBC the recent changes in the country were proof that sanctions were working, but there was still “no democratic system in Burma yet”.

“To remove all the sanctions would be a little bit silly – I’m afraid that these changes will stop,” she said.

Mr Cameron also revealed he had invited Miss Suu Kyi to visit Britain in June.

She said that two years ago she would have declined, knowing she would have been prevented from returning to Burma.

“Now I am able to say perhaps. That is great progress,” she added.

‘Cultural’ activities

Burma is the final leg of the prime minister’s tour of South East Asia promoting UK interests.

Prior to arriving in Nay Pyi Taw, he stopped briefly in Singapore to meet its leader, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Ten members of the business delegation, which includes defence firms, accompanying Mr Cameron on his tour are also in Burma.

However, Downing Street has insisted the visit is purely political and the businessmen will merely be carrying out “cultural” activities.

Mr Cameron is not the first major Western figure to visit the country – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a landmark trip to Burma in December 2011.

He is, however, the first sitting UK prime minister to do so – Anthony Eden, who later became PM, travelled there while
foreign secretary, and Edward Heath visited after leaving No 10.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17698526