Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site crystal.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!whuxl!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!godot!harvard!seismo!uwvax!crystal!ravi From: ravi@crystal.UUCP Newsgroups: net.nlang.india Subject: News from India Message-ID: <426@crystal.UUCP> Date: Wed, 20-Mar-85 11:04:11 EST Article-I.D.: crystal.426 Posted: Wed Mar 20 11:04:11 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 23-Mar-85 00:17:42 EST Distribution: net Organization: U of Wisconsin CS Dept Lines: 172 This bulletin came over IITNET. I. The Indian government announced the release of nine Akali leaders on March 11. These leaders, including Akali Dal president Harchand Singh Longowal, Jagdev Singh Talwandi, S.S. Barnala, Atma Singh, and others, had been in jail ever since Indian army's attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar in the first week of June allegedly to cleanse religious places of Sikh extremists. According to Union Home Minister SB Chavan, detention orders against these leaders had been withdrawn with immediate effect. The Press Trust of India released the names of those to be freed; the list did not include Siromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee President G.S. Tohra and former Chief Minister of Punjab Prakash Singh Badal. Subsequently it was also announced that Arjun Singh, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, would replace Satarwala as the new governor of Punjab. Satarwala was brought in after the army action in Punjab last year when the former governor Pandey was asked to leave after his administration was allegedly blamed for mismanaging the Punjab situation prior to the army attack by not keeping an eye on extremist activities. The government's move came apparently after five Sikh high priests had called for a mass rally to Delhi if Akali leaders under detention were not released. Their release has been demanded for quite sometime now by Sikh high priests, Akali leaders, opposition parties as well as newspapers and other intellectuals in an attempt to deal with the Punjab crisis. Earlier, the Akali Dal threatened to launch a protest campaign beginning April 13, Baisakhi Day, if the government did not concede their demands; one of their demands is an investigation into nationwide anti-Sikh rioting last November after Mrs. Gandhi's assasination. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi has however ruled out any inquiry recently. According to government accounts, over 2700 people died in riots against Sikhs in 4 days with over 2000 people killed in New Delhi. II. The details of the latest assembly election results are available now. Rajiv Gandhi's Congress(I) party won majority in eight states - Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and the union territory of Pondicherry. However, Congress(I) won just over 50% of total assembly seats; this is in contrast to Congress(I) winning over 80% seats during the Lok Sabha elections. Telugu Desam party of NT Rama Rao won 202 out of 292 seats, more than the two-third majority; Congress(I) could win only 49 seats in Andhra. NTR was thus able to reconsolidate his base which is why he had called for an early election. The most surprising result was in Karnataka, where Ramkrishana Hegde of Janta party increased his party's strength by almost 50%. Janata party got 139 out of 224 seats with Congress(I) getting only 66. Congress(I) had routed Janata party in the Lok Sabha following which Hegde had resigned and requested fresh elections in the state. In Sikkim, N. Bhandari's Sikkim Sangram Prashid won 30 of the 32 seats, thus giving a stunning defeat to Congress(I). Bhandari had been ousted by Indira Gandhi after he had announced to reserve seats for Nepalis and grant other concessions to them. In Bihar, Congress(I) got 189 seats out of 308 with Dalit Mazdoor Kisan party emerging as the largest opposition party with 45 seats. In Gujarat, Congress(I) had a sweep with 149 seats out of 182; in Himachal also Congress won big with 55 out of 65 seats. In Madhya Pradsh, Congress obtained 250 out of 320 seats and BJP was the largest opposition group with 58 seats. In Maharashtra, Congress(I)'s majority is reduced to 162 out of 288 with coalition led by Sharad Pawar gaining a foothold with over 100 seats. In Orissa, Congress captured 117 out of 145 seats. In Rajasthan, Congress(I)'s margin was also reduced; it won 113 out of 198 seats. In UP, Congress got 266 out of 422 seats with Charan Singh's Dalit Mazdoor Kisan party getting 85 seats. In Pondicherry, Congress(I) and AIDMK coalition won a majority. New governments were sworn in all the states. Except for Rajasthan, Bihar, Sikkim and Pondicherry, new chief ministers were selected. In Rajasthan, Harideo Joshi, who was the chief minister during 1973 to 1977, was sworn in as the chief minister. He replaced Harilal Deopura who took charge following the resignation of SC Mathur few days before the poll because of the alleged murder of Raja Man Singh and two others by the police. In Bihar, Bindehswari Dubey, state Congress unit president, succeeded Chandrasekhar Singh. In Pondicherry, MO Farook was sworn as the Chief Minister. In other states, the incumbent chief ministers were sworn in: ND Tiwari in UP, Arjun Singh in MP, Virbhadra Singh in Himachal Pradesh, Madhavsinh Solanki in Gujarat, Vasantrao Patil in Maharashtra, and JB Patnaik in Orissa. According to news reports, there were talks in Delhi circles prior to the elections that most of the incumbent chief ministers might be asked to step down after the election in an attempt to give a clean image of Rajiv Gandhi's administration; however, the reduced margins of Congress victories and setbacks in Karnataka and Andhra impelled the Rajiv Gandhi forces to retain the satus quo. According to a preliminary analysis, it appears that the Janata party was the biggest vote gainer in this election. It gained 80 seats, with the maximum gain in Karnataka. BJP gained 29 seats, DMKP gaining 28 seats. CPI lost 6 seats whereas CPI(M) gained 2. Rajiv Gandhi's Congress(I) lost 70 seats with the biggest loss being in UP where it lost 29 seats. III. Indian government announced on March 11 that it planned to introduced a bill in the next parliament session that would give powers to the government to confiscate properties in India of Indian dissidents living abroad. According to the Press Trust of India, those covered by the government decision are "nonresident persons of Indian origin indulging in various seditious, terrorist, and antinational activities which threatened or disrupted the sovreignty, territorial integrity and unity of India." There were no immediate reports on what activities the government would put under these categories. However, it is generally believed that the bill is primarily directed against Sikh dissidents abroad including supporters of Khalistan. Other possible targets include those from the North Eastern Region including Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, and Assam. Some newspapers have commented that there is a possibility that any kind of criticism of the government and news reports could be covered under these provisions. Indian government had, for instance, impounded the passports of many Indian nationals in US and Canada during the emergency because of their vocal opposition to the emergency. Another example given in the newspapers was of Braham Chellaney, an Indian reporter based in New Delhi for the Associated Press, who reported on the Indian army action on the Golden Temple last June. Chellaney is being charged with sedition for his reports which were later coroborrated by Indian newspapers including Indian Express and India Today. Exisiting laws already empower the government to seize property under certain conditions such as when a person evades a warrant. IV. The Indian Consulate in New York announced that a Minnesota law firm, Robins, Zelle, Larson, and Kaplan, has been appointed by the Indian government to represent India in its law suit against Union Carbide, USA in connection with the Bhopal tragedy in which over 2500 people were killed by a leak of lethal gas Methyl Isocyanate. There were reports from New Delhi that Indian government was planning to file a case in the US seeking damages for the victims of the gas leak. A spokesperson of the law firm refused to comment on what specific type of action the firm was planning; it was acknowledged that one course of action would be a parens patria-type action, a sort of collection action. The firm reportedly has over 25 years of experience in dealing with industrial catastrophe litigation. Reuter quoted the Minister of State for Law HR Bhardwaj as saying that Indian government would file a law suit on behalf of all the victims. According to the minister, "American Lawyers have unnecessarily complicated the situation. They will now have to operate under the instructions of the main counsel of the Indian counsel." It is reported that the Indian government could use its FERA act to force Indian citizens to instruct their American lawyers to take orders from the attroneys hired by the Indian government. It is widely expected that Indian government is likely to agree for an out-of-court settlement as Union Carbide has been asking for thus undercutting the American lawyers who have filed suits on behalf of many victims. Reuter also quoted the Union Law minister Asoke Sen as saying "We have not ruled out an out-of-court settlement. If there is a good compensation, we are prepared to go in for an out-of-court settlement." In another development, the Indian Council of Medical Research reported that over 10 to 15% of the Bhopal gas leakage victims who come for checkups at medical centers are showing symptoms of psychiatric problems. According to the Council, "Symptoms of anxiety and depression are foremost among the patients." Sources: India Now, India Abroad, the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor.