Soviet Loan to India

 The Soviet Union has extended a credit of Rs. 2000 corer to India for the construction of new projects and the modernization of the existing works.

Bullet Proof Jackets For Police

* Bullet proof jackets would be provided to police personnel deployed in high risk duties wherever they were required. The material required for the jackets was not available in India and these would be imported from abroad.

 Chander Shekhar Blames Government for Punjab Problem

* The Janata Party President, Mr. Chandra Shekhar, stated in Chandigarh that the Punjab problem can best be solved through recognition and negotiations and not through confrontation. He said the problem in the State was being mishandled by the government, “The problem in Punjab,” he said, “was not of Pakistan’s making. A foreign country only takes advantage of the situation, it rarely creates it. The shortcoming is in ourselves”.

U.K. Sikh Resent Visa Discrimination

* A survey among the Sikh community in U.K. Showed that there was a strong feeling among the respondents that the Sikh community was being persecuted in India, says IK. Gujral. their emotional alienation had been compounded by the “discriminating visa issuance policy” of the Indian government that suspects most of the community. An entire community was being damned.

Than afternoon session with Mr. I .K, Gujral and Swaran Singh in UK. the participants protested a great deal about the alleged discrimination practiced by the High Commission in dealing with the visa and passport renewal applications. They felt that the Indian officials on both in London and at the airports humiliated the Sikhs and looked at them with suspicion.

Mirwaiz Threatens Violence in Kashmir

* The Mirwaiz of South Kashmir, Qazi Nissar Ahmad says the ruling coalition will collapse well before the coming elections. If the Centre ignores our struggle to secure rights for Kashmiri Moslems, we may be forced to take to the part of violence to have our grievances redressed, says the Mirwaiz.

Nayar Pleads for Release of Sikh Detainees

* Mr. Kuldip Nayar, a veteran journalist has pleaded for the release of all innocent persons in Jodhpur and the implementation of the Punjab Accord.

It is estimated that 350 persons have spent 28 months in Jodhpur without trial. “No government, least of all one that swears by democratic norms and principles, can hold its citizens for as long as two years without seriously straining its own creditability” writes the Tribune, Chandigarh in an editorial

Security Forces Shoot Down a Bridle Groom by Mistake

* Security forces in Amritsar District shot dead two persons “mistaking them for freedom fighters near Khalsa village, The marriage of one of the persons had taken place on that very day and he along with a friend were coming from Amritsar after dropping few guests at the railway station. The SSP categorically stated the victims were not freedom fighters and that the C.R.P.P, “mistook them for freedom fighters”.

 Farooq Fears Political Survival

* Asked if his coalition is still faced with problems, The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said, “I am still faced with enormous problem’s, In fact I cannot even predict whether I will be able to survive politically after the steps I have taken”.

Dr. Abdullah has informed the Prime Minister that since the border belt in Jammu and Kashmir was under the control of the defence forces there was no need for the application of the article 249 for the state.

The Punjab Scene

* The Punjab Government has deployed the army in parts of the state and soldiers have been given broad search and arrest powers. The Punjab Ministers’ critics say this would demonstrate that his much heralded 1985 Punjab peace accord has disintegrated and that the state government, he backed, has failed, Analysts see this as a sequel to disbanding a security organization by Mr. GS. Tohra, the newly elected President of the S.G.P.C. which had been set up to provide protection to the government agents planted in the Golden Temple management.

Mr. Barnala’s own political base was considered shaky after he dismissed Kahlon and Basant Singh Khalsa two of his ministers for sympathising with Sikh activists.

Earlier, there were reports that the Prime Minister was considering imposing more direct national government control in Punjab, perhaps with army troops. He was also considering legislation that ‘would strengthen the police powers of the Central Government in the state so that he could act without the permission of the state government.

‘The military deployed in Punjab would assist the Government authorities in maintaining law and order and it gives soldiers immunity from prosecution.

Article extracted from this publication >> December 19, 1986