Cabinet Approves Anti-Terror Agency, Tougher Laws

Arming itself with tougher anti-terror laws and establishing an efficient mechanism to probe terror-related crimes, the Union Cabinet on Monday approved a proposal to amend the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 and also assented to the setting up of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

At its meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Cabinet also gave the assent to a proposal required to amend the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Act. After the meeting, the government issued a brief press note which said relevant Bills would soon be introduced in Parliament.

Hinting at the new measures on Saturday, Union Law Minister Hansraj Bhardwaj had said the legislation would be drafted after clearance from the Cabinet.

“We will try to balance the right to life and liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution with reasonable restrictions,” he was quoted as saying.

Having taken over the Home Ministry in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks, P. Chidambaram held parleys with Leader of the Opposition and former Home Minister LK Advani on the proposed anti-terror law and a central agency to probe such crimes.

Reports suggest the Home Ministry held similar discussions with other political parties as well. The BJP indicated that it was ready to support the creation of the NIA but not unless it was accompanied by a new anti-terror law.

The Congress led UPA had earlier repealed POTA, enforced by the NDA government, following reports and allegations of misuse of the preventive provision.

The Centre has been under fire for refusing to relent with a tougher anti-terror law despite repeated bombings and terror attacks, the opposition parties upped the demand in the days following 26/11.

Media reports attributing the information to ‘well placed sources’ say that a minor amendment to the National Security Act could be introduced to enlarge its scope to include terror-related crimes.

Amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act are expected to include provisions to set up special courts with stringent provisions for bail, shifting the onus of proof to the accused and a time-bound trial on a day-to-day basis which should be conducted and completed by the same judge.

They add that amendment to the CISF Act had become necessary to extend security cover to vital installations, including oil refineries and airports.

The Bills are likely to be introduced in the next few days.

‘Two Shoe’ Act - Goody Say Iraqis

Muntazer al-Zaidi of Al-Baghdadia television is cooling off his heels in a Baghdad prison for ‘shoe-ing off’ a Presidential attempt to resurrect a hugely unpopular image in the Arab world. The little known reporter’s bizarre ‘feat’ catapult him to the status of a national hero a day after the incident.

Zaidi threw a pair of shoes at US President George Bush during a press conference in Baghdad on Sunday, terming his action, “a farewell kiss to a dog,” employing two of the worst insults in the Arab culture.

President Bush was on a ‘surprise’ trip to the Iraq, a country where he is hugely unpopular for ordering a 2003 invasion.

The salvo, shot by Zaidi, failed to find the intended target, as Bush ducked out of the way of the first shoe while the other missed target.

The hack was immediately taken into custody and frogmarched out of the room and into detention, where he remains at the time of filing this report, as judicial officials mulled whether to charge him for assault.

Zaidi, according to CNN was also subjected to a drug and alcohol test to ascertain his state of mind.

Thousands of Iraqis, armed with shoes and placards demonstrating support for the action, called for an immediate release of Zaidi and withdrawal of US forces from Iraq in Sadr City - the venue of several bloody battles between Iraqi groups and American troops and Zaidi’s hometown.

In Najaf, several hundred people gathered on a central square to protest President Bush’s Sunday visit to Iraq, and demonstrators threw their shoes at a passing American military convoy, reports New York Times.

Despite the tensions writ large on Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s face - as he witnessed the incident, and the ignominy caused to President Bush, the episode sent Iraq into peels of laughter as gleeful Arabs viewed it as a symbolic blow against someone they hold responsible for devastating wars in the Muslim world that have cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

On his part, Bush tried to see the funny side of the incident. "I didn't know what the guy said, but I saw his sole," he remarked.

The humour was lost on Iraqis as nearly 130,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, but a recent agreement between Washington and Baghdad calls for American combat units to be out of Iraqi cities next June and to leave the country entirely by the end of 2011.

Bangladesh Warned against Terror Havens

Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram, on Monday said a CBI inquiry into the 30 October Assam blasts is likely by 18 December, he said that indigenous Assamese groups are suspected to have carried out the bombing in cahoots with the Bangladesh based Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HuJI).

Replying to a day-long debate in the Lok Sabha on the multiple explosions in Assam that left 89 people dead and 477 injured, the home minister warned Bangladesh saying despite repeated urgings by India, many north-east insurgent leaders continue to operate from Bangladesh.

He said the ULFA and NDFB are suspected to have carried out the 30 October blasts in Guwahati, Barpeta, Bongaigaon and Kokrajhar in coordination with Bangladesh-based HuJI.

Chidambaram added that Bangladesh was duty-bound to ensure terror perpetrators did not find safe havens in its territory; particularly as there was enough intelligence input to suggest HuJI’s links with banned outfits such as the United Liberation Front of Asom and the National Democratic Front of Boroland.

At the same time, Indian insurgent groups were also active in the northeast. “They aren’t foreigners. As long as there is insurgency, security forces will fight them. Life will be lost on both sides, but to defend India’s sovereignty and integrity, this deployment would continue.”

Echoing the sentiments voiced by members during the discussion under Rule 193, Chidambaram identified five issues that needed to be addressed urgently to deal with terrorism in the northeast — illegal immigration from Bangladesh, tardy progress of border fencing, lack of development of the region for a variety of reasons, a perception of pervasive corruption, and tardy implementation of the National Identity Card programme.

Gilani Denies Access to UK Sleuths

Islamabad has rejected British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's request to allow Scotland Yard investigators to question suspects held over November 26 attacks in Mumbai. Premier Brown made the demand to his Pakistani counterpart during a short visit to Islamabad on Sunday.

Sticking to his guns, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani disqualified the request saying Islamabad would follow its own laws.

A UK citizen - Andreas Liveras - was among the 176 people massacred in the terror attack, which New Delhi says were carried out by “elements in Pakistan”.

Informing the parliament of his discussions Gilani said: "I want to assure you that when I met the British prime minister yesterday, he asked if... we would allow them to investigate those people."

Claiming that he turned down the request, he asserted: "It is our country and our laws will be implemented. We'll follow our laws."
Britain and the United States support India in its attempts to urge Islamabad to crack down on militant groups following the Mumbai attacks.

Premier Brown used strong words during his visit to New Delhi and Islamabad to criticize the attacks saying, the "terrible terror outrages" had shocked the whole world and the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayeba (LeT) militant group had "a great deal to answer for".

Though diplomats in UK and US have sided with India in the aftermath of the attacks, the efforts have failed to impress a significant section in the country, which questions the dichotomy ridden western policy on terror.

Groups and citizens in India have raised doubts over the efficacy of policies that validate missile strikes inside Pakistan territory on one hand and continue to ink bilateral agreements on the other. Especially since recent audits, conducted by US based groups, have showed that terror combat funds pumped into Islamabad were not used for the specific purposes.

During his visit to Islamabad, Prime Minister Brown unveiled a USD 8.9 million deal with the country, terming it "the most comprehensive anti-terrorist programme" between the UK and another country.

Prime Minister Brown’s visit came amid escalating tensions between the two countries in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attack, which many term India’s 9-11 and called for a war on terror reminiscent of the action against terror elements following the WTC attack.

Abhisit Vejjajiva Elected Thai PM

Abhisit Vejjajiva, 44 - educated at Eton and Oxford, was on Sunday elected Prime Minister of Thailand, the third leader to be elected to the top post in as many months, Vejjajiva takes control with a slender majority in Parliament and inherits an economy teetering on the brink of recession.

Vejjajiva, leader of the Democrat Party, secured 235 votes from 436 MPs in a special session of Parliament.

The vote took place as 200 Puea Thai supporters in red shirts protested outside Parliament against what they said was the hijacking of democracy by the Democrat Party in collaboration with the army.

Minutes after Vejjajiva emerged the winner, the protesters smashed steel road barriers into the gates of Parliament House and hurled debris at police stationed just inside the ornate fence.

Later, they tried to prevent MPs from leaving the Parliament, and then attacked the vehicles of several Democrat MPs, in some cases smashing windows with chunks of concrete as the cars sped away. Four MPs were reported hurt.

Several protesters were middle aged, working-class women who wept hysterically and screamed obscenities against Vejjajiva and army chief General Anupong Paochinda - widely seen as having helped engineer the new ruling coalition.

Vejjajiva formally thanked MPs who had voted for him, but declined to make any further comment pending the mandatory - and usually routine - endorsement of his election by the King which officials said could come as early as today.

The party's secretary-general Suthep Thuagsuban, a key deal-maker, said the Cabinet line-up should be completed by Friday and a policy statement by Dec 26.

The royalist People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which helped pave the way for yesterday's denouement, said it would observe the functioning of the new coalition and warned that it would take to the streets again in the event of there being anything 'suspicious'.

The PAD had provoked months of political turmoil that climaxed late last month with the previous coalition government paralysed, unable to remove PAD supporters who had occupied the country's two airports.

The new coalition's legitimacy is likely to be challenged soon, with the pro-democracy 'red shirts', many loyal to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, believing their electoral right has been stolen.

Sonia Blasts Left for Withdrawing Support

Refusing to accept ideological differences as sufficient ground for pulling the plug on the government, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday criticised the Left parties for withdrawing support to the United Progressive Alliance government over the Indo-U.S. nuclear agreement.

Addressing a public rally organised by the Kerala state unit of the party to mark its State conference at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi, Gandhi accused the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala of squandering away Central funds on account of lack of coordination and unity among its constituents.

“We have been accused of going against the country. There is no question of the Congress compromising the nation’s security, integrity and independent foreign policy. The party leaders gave their lives for the country. They were martyred for the integrity and security of the country. No one need teach us about patriotism.”

Gandhi contended that the landmark nuclear accord with the US will facilitate development of the power sector, boost industry, commerce, and development of cities, villages and homes.

“Future generations will recognise the vision of the Prime Minister and the party in signing the nuclear agreement,” she claimed.

Gandhi said the UPA government had extended liberal financial assistance to all States. Kerala had benefited from the Central financial package in diverse sectors such as cashew, textiles, traditional industries, ports, highways and infrastructure.

Diplomatic initiatives were also taken to protect the interests of overseas Indians, particularly Keralites working in the Gulf. “However, the LDF frittered away all the opportunities, its mandate and the tremendous advantages that the former UDF government bequeathed to it.”

Referring to Mumbai terror attacks, Gandhi, paying homage to those who had laid down their lives while combating terror, said the idea of India came under assault. “It was an attempt to disrupt our pluralistic and secular way of life. There is a price to be paid and let us not be taken for granted. Let no one underestimate our resolve to face such acts.”

Congress, SP Number Twos Exonerated

The Lok Sabha committee constituted by the Speaker to probe the alleged cash-for-vote scam, which marred the Congress-led UPA government’s 22 July trust vote in the House, failed to trace the source of the “bribe money” or the players involved in what marked one of the murkiest episodes in the country’s parliamentary democracy.

In its report tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday, the seven-member committee, headed by Congress MP Kishore Chandra Deo, exonerated Congress leader Ahmed Patel and gave a virtual clean chit to SP leader Amar Singh, the two leaders had allegedly offered money to three BJP MPs, Ashok Argal, Mahavir Bhagora and Faggan Singh Kulaste.

The three BJP MPs had alleged that an amount of one crore was paid to them as “token money” at the behest of Amar Singh to induce them to vote in support of the UPA government or abstain from it during its trust vote. The episode was secretly recorded by CNN-IBN in collaboration with the BJP MPs.

In its 466-page report, the committee, however, said: “There is no direct evidence against Amar Singh.” As regards Patel, it said “there is practically no case against Ahmed Patel. His alleged complicity in the episode is based entirely on presumptions and surmises.” Both Patel, political advisor to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, and Amar Singh are members of the Rajya Sabha.

The committee concluded that “as there is no case against Ahmed Patel and no clinching evidence against Amar Singh, there is no occasion for the committee or the House to make a request to Rajya Sabha requiring them to appear before the inquiry committee for evidence”, adding: “There is also no occasion for referring the matter relating to complaint against the two members to Rajya Sabha for examination, investigation and report.”

The committee report cited absence of “clinching evidence” either in the CNN-IBN sting tapes and loose ends in the submissions made by various suspected players, both politicians and their non-political associates, to express its inability to go to the root of the matter, holding that it does not have the wherewithal to do so.

The committee, however, recommended that a probe by an “appropriate investigating agency” be done into the roles of Sanjeev Saxena, said to be an aide of Amar Singh, Suhail Hindustani, a “volunteer” in the operation, and Sudheendra Kulkarni, an aide of BJP leader LK Advani.

Two members of the committee, VK Malhotra of the BJP and Mohd Salim of the CPI-M, gave notes of dissent, distancing themselves from the report’s findings and conclusions.

In its reaction to the report, the BJP said it did not get justice as the “truth did not come to the fore”. The Congress said it is for Parliament to consider the report and take a decision.

India-China for Greater Cooperation against Terror

Continuing camaraderie found at the recent joint army maneuvers and in the wake of the November 26 terror attack on Mumbai, New Delhi and Beijing on Monday called for greater defence cooperation to combat the growing menace of terrorism and threats "sponsored by religious fundamentalism".

The call was made in the India-China Annual Defence Dialogue held in New Delhi. India was represented by Defence Secretary Vijay Singh and the Chinese side was led by Lt. Gen. Ma Xiaotian, of the People's Liberation Army.

"Both leaders highlighted the importance of Indo-China defence relations in the light of the new political order and the increasing menace of terrorism and non-traditional threats sponsored by religious fundamentalism," a senior defence official said.

Agreeing that "unilateralism" was not the way forward, the two sides agreed on the importance of "international cooperation."

"They agreed on the importance to work collectively to defeat these destabilising forces," the official added.

The two Asian powers also shared perspectives on various global and regional security situations, including piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

CBI Has to Probe Hari Masjid Case: HC

The Bombay High Court on Monday tightened the noose on the state and central governments for investigating the complaint of Farooq Mapkar, an accused and victim in the Hari Masjid police firing, which resulted in the death of at least seven people inside the mosque during the 1992-93 communal riots.

Observing that “it’s a case that affects the very soul of India”, a division bench of Justice FI Rebello and Justice RS Mohite said that the state will have to register an FIR based on the complaint lodged in August 2006 and the CBI will be ordered to investigate the matter, even though they had declined to do so.

The court is yet to pass any orders as the arguments will continue on Tuesday. The court also commented on the one-sided investigation carried out by the state police following the riots and also the probe done by the Special Task Force (STF) constituted following the Srikrishna Commission report in 2000.

The court was appalled by the fact that the statements of the injured were not recorded even by the STF.

Senior counsel Vijay Pradhan, who is appearing for Mapkar, submitted that the STF never visited the mosque or met any of the injured persons, including Mapkar. “This is not how a criminal investigation should be carried out,” Justice Mohite said.

The court was further surprised when it was informed that Mapkar’s trial was separated following which other accused victims were acquitted. Pradhan told the court that Mapkar’s trial was separated as he had raised certain objections and questions before the trial court.

“Just because questions were asked is no ground for separation of trial. He should have been acquitted based on the same evidence,” the court said.

“There are dead bodies. There is homicide. Now, question is who did it,” the court said.

“The most elementary is the examination of the injured as they are eye witnesses. How can anybody have trust in you?” the court asked.

The court further observed that this is a matter which CBI has to investigate for restoring confidence among every section of the society.

The court also observed that the STF had wound up the probe in two and a half months. There was no material despite glaring evidence pointed out by sitting judge Justice Srikrishna through the commission report, the court said.

Public prosecutor Satish Borulkar said that the state had no issues in handing over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation. He also contented that the CBI has provision to register offence in the absence of an FIR from the state. The court felt that such a thing might create legal tangles in the future.

While adjourning the case, the court said that “ this complaint prima facie discloses offence.”

Farooq Mapkar, who was chargesheeted for murder and rioting in 1992-93, had urged the court to initiate an action against the then Assistant Police Inspector Nikhil Kapse, who was held “guilty of unjustified firing” and “inhuman and brutal behaviour” by the Srikrishna Commission.

Police Firing Kills Two in Bihar

Two people were killed and several others injured when police opened fire to disperse a mob, protesting against the killing of a cloth merchant in Sitamarhi district of Bihar on Monday. The trader was reportedly shot dead by criminals after he refused to part with extortion money demanded by them.

Meanwhile, police teams have been deployed keeping in view the strong tension prevailing around the area. Senior police and administrative officials have also rushed to the spot and are camping to keep a close watch on the situation.

Trouble erupted when hundreds of people gathered outside the Sadar thana to protest against the killing of local trader Anil Kumar last night, the mob torched a police jeep and pelted stones at the cops.

Unable to control the mob, the police opened fire leaving Rajiv Mishra (18) and Laxman Mishra (20) dead and injuring several others.

20 people were also reportedly injured in the stampede triggered by the police firing.

A least one of the wounded is said to be undergoing treatment at a local hospital, where doctors term the prognosis as rather poor.

Meanwhile, the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a high-level probe into the incident and asked the deputy inspector general of police concerned to probe the incident. “The erring policemen will not he spared,” said Kumar while speaking to the media.