The Tribune – BJP: Rajoana no martyr

Jangveer Singh, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 21. The Punjab BJP today made it clear in the assembly that it was against bestowing honour on former Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassin Balwant Singh Rajoana, saying it would not compromise on terrorism.

Speaking on behalf of the BJP after a demand from Congress Legislature Party Leader Sunil Jakhar that the party should make its stand clear on the floor of the House, Health Minister Madan Mohan Mittal said: “We do not regard any murderer as a martyr”.

Naming Congress legislators Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Rakesh Pandey and Tarlochan Sondh, the BJP leader said “I am with them” on the issue. Mittal explained his own role during the period of militancy, saying he had led the fight against terrorism from the front, even as he accused the Congress of being responsible for the same. He even claimed that “Rao wanted us to support the Akali faction led by Captain Amarinder Singh. He wanted to make Amarinder CM as he felt the people of Punjab would not accept a Congress government”.

Talking to TNS, Mittal said the memorial issue was likely to be closed with the Chief Minister making it clear that it would be a gurdwara without any photographs. “We had lodged a protest with the CM and told him categorically that raising a memorial to those killed in Operation Bluestar was not a good development”. He said with today’s clarification, the controversy on the memorial was over as the hardliners had given a different connotation to the proposed memorial.

Mittal also claimed that there were hardliners within the SAD who wanted to create trouble for Badal. “They want to put Badal in an awkward position and not us”, he said, adding attempts were being made to embroil Badal in a controversy by joining religion with politics.

The BJP leader also claimed that the SAD had little role in the decision to honour Rajoana, adding the Damdami Taksal and a few other hardline groups were behind the move. Mittal, however, made it clear that the BJP was opposed to any move to honour Rajoana. “We are clear that a murderer is a murderer and can never be turned into a martyr”, he added.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120622/punjab.htm#4

The Tribune – Rai: Sikh Mayor for Amritsar demand unjustified

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 21. State BJP general secretary Manjit Singh Rai today condemned the demand for a Sikh Mayor in Amritsar. In a press statement, he said such demands were aimed at creating a rift between the Hindu and Sikh communities.

“It was a Muslim saint, Mian Mir, who laid the foundation stone of Sri Harmandar Sahib. The shrine doors are open to people from all castes and creeds. The demand to hand over the political leadership of this holy city to a particular religion is against the teachings of the Gurus.”

Rai said undoubtedly Amritsar was sacred for the Sikhs. But this did not mean that political posts should go to the Sikhs alone. The demand was unjustified as the entire Punjab was the land of the Gurus. “If things are to be decided on this principle, then the Prime Minister of a Hindu-dominated country would never be a Sikh. Neither would a Muslim be the country’s President. Neither Gaini Zail Singh would have been President of India, nor General JJ Singh the Army Chief,” Rai said.

“Punjab has already witnessed terrorism and issuing such statements would only mean disturbing the peace and tranquility of Punjab.” he added.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120622/punjab.htm#6

The Hindu – Taliban attacks Afghan hotel; hostages taken

Kabul, June 22, 2012.  Three suicide bombers attacked a lakeside hotel north of Kabul, taking hostages and staging hours- long gunbattle with Afghan security forces, police said on Friday.

The bombers, armed with machines guns, rocket-propelled grenades and vests laden with explosives, attacked the Spozhmai hotel at Qargha Lake around 11 p.m. on Thursday night and fighting continued till Friday morning, said Mohammad Zahir, criminal director for Kabul police.

Eighteen people, including women and children, have been rescued from the hotel and two of the attackers are dead, said General Kadam Shah Shayem, a commander with the Afghan National Army in Kabul.

Kabul police chief Mohammad Ayub Salangi said at least one policeman was killed in the attack.

Four guests jumped out of a window at the two-storey hotel and crouched in the lake to hide from the attackers, Mr. Shayem said.

“Our forces have surrounded the area,” Mr. Shayem said. “There is still shooting. We are being very careful because there still are people civilians inside the hotel.”

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said they attacked the hotel because foreigners there were drinking and participating in other activities banned by Islam.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3557748.ece?homepage=true

Vilvoorde Vaisakhi Nagar Kirtan, 20 May 2012

Vilvoorde, Gurdwara Guru Nanak Dev Ji, naujawan

Vilvoorde, Gurdwara Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Palki Sahib

Vilvoorde, Gurdwara Guru Nanak Dev Ji, four big Singhs and one small one

Vilvoorde, Gurdwara Guru Nanak Dev Ji, end death penalty in India

Vilvoorde, Gurdwara Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Young Sikhs from Belgium and France

Gurdwara Guru Nanak Dev Ji
14 Lange Molen Straat
B-1800 Vilvoorde (Vlaams-Brabant)
Vilvoorde is just north of Brussel and near to Brussel Airport

To see more Belgium and Netherlands gurdwara pictures :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157622147381380/
 
More Belgium pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – Ruckus in Punjab House over memorial; Congress legislators ask ruling alliance to clear stand on twin issues of memorial, Rajoana

Jangveer Singh, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 21. The Punjab Congress today forced two adjournments in the Assembly, asking the ruling SAD-BJP combine to clarify its stand on the issue of raising a memorial for those killed in Operation Bluestar in 1984 and ‘honouring’ ex-CM Beant Singh’s assassin Balwant Singh Rajoana.

Replying to the Congress demand, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said a “small” gurdwara would come up in the Darbar Sahib complex. The gurdwara, bereft of any photographs, would be a symbol of peace and universal brotherhood, said Badal.

The BJP, however, struck a discordant note on the Rajoana issue with its Health Minister Madan Mohan Mittal saying that no “murderer” could be termed as a martyr.

The trouble began when Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Sunil Jakhar stood up during Zero Hour waving copies of an article written by eminent columnist Kuldeep Nayar in English, Punjabi and Hindi dailies.

Jakhar said the situation in the state was grim on all fronts. Jakhar claimed the article stated that when the Akalis were out of power they indulged in dharma morchas which evoked religious passions. “They (Akalis) are adopting the same tactics now while being in the position of authority. It means they want to divert people’s attention from problems like unemployment, drug trafficking and reducing income of farmers,” said Jakhar.

The CLP leader said the people had faith in Badal because he represented the secular face of the Akalis. But the Chief Minister was resorting to a balancing act now to appease the hardliners and ensure they were not offended by the recent social engineering exercise of the SAD, alleged Jakhar. He sought a statement from the government on raising of the Bluestar memorial.

The CM, too, was quick on his feet, saying though he did not expect the Leader of the Opposition to say anything that would create disharmony, he was ready to give a statement if required immediately. Akali legislators, including Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia urged the Speaker to let the CM speak on the issue immediately. The CM, however, said he wanted Jakhar to complete his speech and even asked his party MLAs not to interrupt the Opposition leader.

The CLP leader started off well but his speech was disjointed at places because he did not name either the Bluestar memorial or Rajoana initially. However, when the Speaker questioned him as to what he wanted exactly, Jakhar said Badal as well as the BJP should clarify their stands on both issues. He said the CM could not simply wash his hand off the matter by claiming the SGPC was behind both moves.

“Everyone knows the SGPC is your B team. Have you made any effort to stop these acts?” Jakhar added. In his reply, Badal said Congress leaders should remove any doubts in their mind that law and order situation and communal brotherhood would be affected due to the memorial.

Urging the Congress not to say anything that would spoil the atmosphere of the state, he said the party’s “sanjh” (bonding) with the BJP had restored peace. Badal asserted that as long as he was alive he would ensure that peace and communal brotherhood would remain intact in Punjab. “I am ready to sacrifice my life for this cause”, he said, adding that some forces were trying to derail the hard-earned peace in Punjab.

The CM even read out a prepared reply, which stated that the Army action on the Harmandar Sahib in 1984 had left deep wounds on the psyche of the Sikh community. He said this assault was condemned not only by Sikhs but by all right-thinking people from all communities.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120622/main2.htm

BBC News – Pakistan officials ‘harass’ US diplomats

Friday, 22 June 2012. Rising obstruction of US envoys by officials in Pakistan is “significantly impairing” the work of US personnel there, a state department report says.

The findings said 2011 interference by Pakistani officials reached “new levels of intensity”.

The US raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound and a Nato air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers were identified as turning points.

The report is strikingly blunt. Events of 2011 have had such an impact on relations between Washington and Islamabad that US diplomats in Pakistan are struggling to do their jobs. Meddling officials have long been a frustration, but in asking for the concerns to be raised in continuing dialogue, the state department is hoping that Pakistan will cut them some slack.

The US feels Pakistan should be more pro-active in combating militants, but it must balance its frustration with the need to keep a military ally. This report is yet another sign that in Washington, patience with Pakistan is wearing thin.

Pakistan withdrew military co-operation in the wake of the deadly November air strike, and correspondents say it marked a change in relations between the two countries.

The report, by the state department’s inspector general, acknowledged that the Pakistani government had previously interfered with US officials on its soil.

However, it said the problem had become much worse and recommended that the issue should be taken up by the US with Pakistan at the highest levels of government.

“Official Pakistani obstructionism and harassment, an endemic problem in Pakistan, has increased to the point where it is significantly impairing mission operations and program implementation,” the state department review said.

It described the harassment as “deliberate, wilful and systematic” and said examples of the obstruction included delays in getting visas, holding up shipments for construction projects and aid programmes, and surveillance of employees.

The report also claimed US officials were being singled out more than other international diplomats.

“While other diplomatic missions have experienced similar treatment, the United States is clearly the principal target,” the report said.

The report was based on visits to the US missions in the Pakistani cities of Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar, and Lahore.

It describes the raid on Bin Laden’s compound as a double embarrassment for the government, saying it was evidence of “both Pakistani government incompetence and its inability to detect or defend against a military intervention”.

“Events of the past year have rocked the US-Pakistani relationship and fundamentally altered the assumptions on which US engagement with Pakistan has been based since 2009,” it added.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18545708