Bhopal, July 11 (IANS) As the month-long Simhastha (Kumbh) mela, the largest congregation of Hindus once in 12 years in Madhya Pradesh’s religious city Ujjain nears, the state government has started the preparation.

The state government has decided to shift the Department of Religious Trust and Endowment from Bhopal to Ujjain. The department, which falls under the Religious Department of the state government, at present is functioning from the Satpura Bhavan in Bhopal.

Interestingly, during the Kamal Nath government, the department was renamed ‘Addhyatm’, which was later changed to religious trust and endowment during the former Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s tenure.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, who also hails from Ujjain, he has directed the officials to set up a task force of senior officials associated with over a dozen departments.

The IAS officers with the rank of Additional Chief Secretaries and Principal Secretaries of all the departments along with the Ujjain district administration and police have been included in the task force. Each one would have a specific role to play in the preparation.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav-led MP government has already allocated a fund of Rs 500 crore for this mega international religious-cum-spritual event in 2028. This budget will be spent on the development works in Ujjain and 10 surrounding districts, including roads.

The Central government will also provide a fund for Simhastha. State Finance Minister Jagdish Devda, who attended the meeting of the council of finance ministers in New Delhi a couple of weeks back, has stated that the Centre has assured to provide adequate funds for Simhastha mela.

Last time, the Simhastha mela was organised between April 22 and May 21, 2016. It is celebrated on the bank of river Shipra and millions of people from across the world visit to Ujjain on this occasion.

–IANS

pd/dan

Chandigarh, July 11 (IANS) A delegation from the Czech Republic led by its Ambassador to India Eliska Zigova on Thursday called on Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Banwari Lal Purohit at Raj Bhawan here to discuss strengthening socio, political, economic, cultural, and scientific ties.

The Governor, during the meeting, said India has diverse social and cultural traditions right from south to north, to different shades and styles of turban in northern states, especially Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. He also said the people of Punjab are not only brave but also very hard-working and grow two to three crops a year.

“The land of Punjab is not just known for religious tourism but has great potential for eco-tourism too,” the Governor said.

He also asked the visiting delegation to spend a night at the Nangal Dam to enjoy the natural beauty of this region and work on avenues to collaborate in the area of eco-tourism.

The Czech envoy briefed the Governor that the recent visits of Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky to India led to the signing of the Strategic Partnership on Innovation, Sciences, and Technology. She further added they are actively working to foster a ‘sister-city’ relationship between Prague and Chandigarh.

–IANS

vg/vd

New Delhi: On the intervening night of January 2-3, 2005, Dr Shazia Khalid, a lady doctor, was raped by a Pakistan Army captain in a highly guarded Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) hospital facility in Sui, Dera Bugti, Balochistan.

Instead of arresting the officer, authorities under direct orders from President General Musharraf, who was also the military chief, sought to protect him.

They first sent the victim to a psychiatric facility in Karachi, subjecting her to character assassination, and ultimately hounded her to leave Pakistan.

Whilst the state authorities tried to cover up the incident, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, head of the Bugti tribe, condemned the rape as a violation of their tribal code and vowed to avenge it “at all costs.”

This sparked an uprising in Balochistan, with a series of attacks by the Baloch rebels on the military installations and PPL facilities. The Pakistani state responded with its military might, initiating a military campaign against Baloch tribes led by Bugtis, with General Musharaf mobilising nearly 5000 additional troops to the region. For a Baloch nationalist like the tribal chieftain Nawab Sardar Akbar Khan Bugti, this was as if life had come a full circle.

Nawab Bugti was born on July 12, 1927, in Dera Bugti, Balochistan, to the Bugti tribe chief, Nawab Mehrab Khan Bugti. He received his early education from Karachi Grammar School, South Asia’s second oldest private school, before attending Aitchison College Lahore. Akbar Bugti completed his university education at Oxford University before entering Pakistan’s political arena.

He assumed the tribal chieftainship by becoming the 19th Tumandar (chief) of his Bugti tribe following his father’s demise, allowing him a greater role in the tribal affairs of the region.

Nawab Akbar Bugti won his first election in 1958 by contesting a National Assembly byelection, paving his way to become the federal interior minister in Prime Minister Malik Feroze Khan Noon’s government before it was dismissed under the Pakistan Army-backed martial law declaration by President Major General Sikandar Ali Mirza months later.

With General Ayyub Khan’s administration barring him from holding any office through a 1960 political trial, Akbar Bugti continued to voice Baloch issues as the region witnessed recurrent anti-government nationalist movements.

He assumed a public role in February 1973 as the provincial governor of Balochistan when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s relationship with Ataullah Mengal, who headed the National Awami Party (NAP) government in the province, became precarious and descended the region into anarchy.

With Bhutto-led federal government taking a high-handed militaristic approach against the Baloch leadership, Akbar Bugti resigned from the governorship in November 1974.

The Bugti tribal chieftain assumed the chief ministership of Balochistan in February 1989 when he led the Balochistan National Alliance (BNA) to victory.

Yet again, Akbar Bugti took a strong position against the Benazir Bhutto-led federal government’s exploitative treatment of the region, seeking greater control over its resources and security affairs.

As such, he resigned in August 1990 when the provincial assembly was dissolved by the governor under orders from President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who was nudged by PM Bhutto to dismiss Bugti’s government.

Although he launched his own political outfit, Jumhoori Watan Party (JWP), and returned to the provincial assembly before joining the National Assembly in 1993, he continued to advocate for Balochistan’s internal autonomy. He pressed for the provincial government to have greater control over regional resources, including petroleum and gas plants, and called for a moratorium on land acquisition by the Pakistan Army for building more cantonments in the province.

While advancing age led Nawab Akbar Bugti to focus on tribal affairs, he remained a vocal advocate for Baloch grievances against Pakistan’s federal government as one of the three most prominent tribal chiefs, alongside Ataullah Mengal of the Mengal tribe and Khair Baksh Marri of the Marri tribe. This triumvirate continued to highlight the Baloch issues.

In September 2004, Bugti presented a 15-point charter of demands to Pervez Musharraf’s government, which included calls for provincial autonomy for Balochistan, greater control over resources, local government authority to execute and collect revenue from mega projects, the return of land acquired by the Pakistan Army, a halt to further cantonment construction, the disbandment of ISI-controlled militias in Marri, internal security to be managed by provincial police, and the release of all political prisoners.

Despite these demands, the federal government continued to ignore Baloch grievances, with the Pakistan Army unleashing its military might on the Baloch people under the pretext of America’s War on Terror. The rape of Dr Shazia by an army officer in Sui gas field hospital was more than a mere catalyst; it was seen as a significant affront to local traditions and tribal codes of honour, exacerbated by General Musharraf shielding the culprit from investigation.

The calls of Akbar Bugti, a septuagenarian figure of Baloch resistance, to avenge the honour of the lady doctor inspired a series of attacks on PPL facilities, gas pipelines, and military installations by various Baloch groups, including Bugti and Marri militias and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).

For Bugti, this marked a full-circle journey from playing a marginal part in Baloch resistance to holding government positions to declaring war against the oppressive Pakistani state.

With Balochistan on edge following Bugti’s calls, General Musharraf warned Baloch nationalists that they could no more “hit and run and hide in the mountains. This time you wouldn’t know what will hit you.” The Pakistan Army’s desperation was evident when it bombed and shelled the residence of the Akbar Bugti on March 17, 2005, killing 67 people in an attempt to silence this profound and veteran voice of Balochistan. This high-handed response only made Akbar Bugti a unifying figure for all Baloch people, who rallied behind his calls, including armed groups targeting military and state symbols.

Displaying its colonial and imperialistic attitudes, Pakistan’s federal government consistently declined to engage the Baloch leadership on their grievances and demands, as stated in the 15-point charter.

For instance, in December 2005, General Musharraf accused the Bugti-led tribal chieftain triumvirate of destabilising Balochistan, ruling out any negotiations, and declared his government was determined to “finish” the Baloch tribal chiefs and their groups.

In June 2006, merely two months before his killing, Nawab Bugti stated in a BBC interview that the “Pakistani government are communicating with us through the use of these cannons, fighter jets, deep penetration bombs; these are such great dialogues that they are having loud discussions with us.”

Akbar Bugti, along with dozens of his associates, was killed by the Pakistan Army on August 26, 2006, when a mountain cave in the Bhamboor hills of Dera Bugti was bombed by Pakistani forces. His assassination led to a large-scale civil disobedience movement in the region and became a primer for the ongoing fifth phase of Baloch insurgency since 1947, aimed at liberating the province from Pakistan’s control.

Furthermore, Bugti’s killing unified the tribes and internationalized the Baloch struggle, as evidenced by the grand jirga organized by the Khan of Kalat, Mir Suleman Daud, on September 21, 2006.

This jirga saw the participation of 83 tribal chiefs and over 300 tribal elders, and it adopted a declaration calling on the United Nations (UN) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to investigate Bugti’s killing and end the high-handedness of the Pakistani state and army. Baloch people’s struggle finally garnered the international media attention it truly deserved after enduring the highhandedness of the Pakistani state for decades.

After years of legal battle and protest by Baloch nationalists finally on 11 July 2012, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court in Sibi, Balochistan, issued arrest warrants for the former military ruler, Pervez Musharraf and several other high-ranking officials who were accused of involvement in the killing of Akbar Bugti.

The other officials included the former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, former Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Sherpao, former Governor of Balochistan Owais Ahmed Ghani, former Chief Minister of Balochistan Jam Mohammad Yousaf, former Provincial Home Minister Shoaib Nosherwani, and former Deputy Commissioner Abdul Samad Lasi.

All these were named suspects in the F.I.R. registered by police regarding the killing of Bugti in the military operation. Musharraf was even formally arrested by a police team from Balochistan on 13 June 2013, however was later granted bail due to his poor health and ultimately due to non-provision of evidence thus ending the investigation which was more of an eyewash.

The legend of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, continues to inspire Baloch nationalists till date as the Baloch struggle persists. Bugti once remarked, “We will not be there forever. But I am sure that our coming generations will continue my mission till the attainment of Baloch rights,” after his demise the statement has indeed turned out be prophetic.

Nevertheless, as Baloch people gear up to celebrate Akbar Bugti’s birth anniversary on July 12, it is fitting that his work for the cause of Baloch rights and especially in unifying the Baloch nation be truly recognised and propagated while continuing to expose the role of Pakistani government in his murder.

–IANS

dan/

New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) The Delhi High Court has ordered the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to demolish all unauthorised constructions on the Yamuna river bank.

A bench, headed by Acting Chief Justice Manohan, directed the DDA Vice Chairman to remove all encroachments and illegal construction on the Yamuna river bank, river bed and drains flowing into the river.

“He (DDA’s Vice Chairman) is also appointed as the Nodal Officer and shall coordinate with officials of MCD, Delhi Police, DMRC, Irrigation and Flood Control Department, PWD, Delhi Pollution Control Board and Forest Department. The Vice Chairman, DDA shall convene a meeting of all the concerned officials within a week,” the Bench, also comprising Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, said.

Apart from the demolition of all unauthorised constructions in the Shaheen Bagh area, the plea, filed through advocate Sumit Kumar, further sought a direction to prevent illegal construction on the river bank and floodplains in the near future.

The plea contended that the illegal construction in question has been going on without any permission or regard for environmental concerns and will endanger the ecologically fragile Yamuna floodplains.

The respondent authorities admitted in the court that the floodplain area is a prohibited activity zone and encroachment in this area leads to diversion of water, leading to floods in adjacent areas.

The Delhi High Court took note of the submission that as per many experts, floods in the national capital are man-made as they have been caused primarily due to encroachment of drains, river banks and river beds. Ordering the DDA Vice Chairman to file an Action Taken Report within six weeks, the Delhi HC directed the matter to be listed on September 9 for compliance.

–IANS

pds/vd

Mumbai, July 11 (IANS) Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Rais Shaikh on Thursday said that the representation of the Muslim community is lacking in the Maharashtra Legislature and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) should address this disparity.

The SP legislator has also written to Shiv Sena UBT Chief Uddhav Thackeray, state Congress Chief Nana Patole and state NCP SP Chief Jayant Patil and made a strong plea to give adequate representation to the Muslim community in the state council.

“Muslims make up 12 per cent of the state’s population, yet their representation in the Legislative Council is lacking. I urge leaders of the MVA govt to address this disparity. I have written to MVA leaders and advocated for adequate representation of the Muslim community in the state assembly and council,” the SP legislator said.

Rais Shaikh has written to MVA when they have not fielded any Muslims in the biennial state council election slated for July 12.

Incidentally, NCP SP legislator Babajani Durrani and Congress legislator Mirza Wajahat are retiring from the upper house.

“Maharashtra Legislative Council has a long tradition of one hundred years. The state has 12 per cent Muslim population. However, Muslim representation in the Legislative Council has remained very minuscule till date,” he said.

He said that Babajani Durrani and Mirza Wajahat are also retiring and therefore the Muslim representation in the Legislative Council will end now.

“In 1937, the twin-house system came into existence in the state. Since then, Muslim representation has remained constant in the upper house. Ending Muslim representation in the upper house of a progressive state like Maharashtra is unbecoming,” he said.

He said that MVA did not field a single Muslim candidate in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, despite the presence of Muslim-majority voters in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.

“Since the creation of the state of Maharashtra in 1960, out of 567 MPs elected from Maharashtra, the Muslim community has got a meagre representation of only 15 (2.5 per cent). Today there are only 10 Muslim members in the Legislative Assembly. Muslim representation in the state assembly is so dismal despite one in 10 Muslim voters in the state’s 11 crore population,” he said.

Rais Shaikh said that the MVA should correct its mistake by giving adequate representation to the Muslim community while filling the upcoming vacancies in the Legislative Council.

“By denying political representation to the Muslim community, the MVA is pushing the Muslim community towards a party like AIMIM which contributes to polarising the Muslim opinion,” he said.

He said that there is a strong demand from the leading leaders that the Muslim community should be adequately represented in the Legislative Council.

“It is expected that you (MVA) will respond appropriately,” he said.

–IANS

sj/dan