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Political Notes

	February 27, 2006

Powerful explosion rocks Ahmedabad station



Twenty-five persons, including four railway officials, were injured in a powerful explosion at Ahmedabad railway station on Feb. 19. Indications are that the intention behind the explosion was to create terror. The possibility of RDX having been used in the explosion is not ruled out. The Railway Police said they may focus on some youth having terror links.



The blast did not have a devastating impact as the platform where the explosion took place was almost empty at the time. Fortunately, there was no train on the platform when the device went off.





No Muslim head count in the armed forces: Defence Minister



Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that recruitment to the armed forces is based on merit and open to every citizen including Muslims without discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, religion or region. Making a suo motu statement in the Rajya Sabha on Feb. 21, he said no survey has been conducted, or is proposed to be conducted for compilation of any statistics

than what is maintained in the data base of the armed forces.



The Defence Minister said the armed forces were professional, apolitical, secular and highly disciplined and every state contributed a fair share of manpower to them.



The Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee was set up on March 9, 2005 to prepare a report on the social, economic and educational status of Muslims. It was mandated to obtain information from the Union and State Governments and prepare a database so that the Government could make interventions, if necessary, for their uplift, Mukherjee said.





New twist to Amar Singh phone tapping



Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh has moved an application in the Supreme Court to restrain TV channels from playing the compact discs of his tapped phone conversations. Amar Singh, whose complaint to the top court against the tapping of his phones allegedly at the instance of the Centre recently nudgded the Centre to frame new guidelines for surveillance of telephonic conversations, sought action against the airing of the conversations.



His counsel, Pradeep Kumar, warned of tough action against “whosoever is taking benefit from the clandestine tapping of phones of political rivals.”



The development coinciding with day long income-tax raids on Flex Industries belonging to his friend, Ashok Chaturvedi, marked a sharp escalation in the ongoing political confrontation between the Congress and the SP. Amar Singh accused UPA of masterminding the three month long tapping and the leakage of its contents.



Amar Singh said that the CDs were “distorted and morphed” and accused a big Mumbai-based corporate house and a Congress functionary, who has just been shifted to the Governemnt of masterminding the plot.



The Congress, however, shrugged off the accusations of hatching the conspiracy.



Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav alleged that the circulation of the CDs was part of a conspiracy to build an atmosphere before the vital court decision on Feb. 28 on the defection of 40 Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs to the Samajwadi Party. Addressing a rally in Lucknow on February 24, he accused the Congress of undermining the Constitution to strengthen the forces responsible for exploitation of the scheduled castes and backward classes.



Tamil Nadu : MDMK to continue with DPA



The crisis in the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) in Tamil Nadu has blown over with the MDMK deciding to continue with the grouping for the coming Assembly elections. “The MDMK will continue to remain in the DPA and is committed to the victory of the alliance at the hustings,” MDMK chief Vaiko said in a statement seeking to end speculation that he would switch sides and go with the AIADMK in the elections.



DMK chief Karunanidhi was critical of Vaiko’s silence on the invitation to participate in the seat-sharing talks and had also asked the MDMK chief to clarify the situation in the context of speculative reports, said the controversy has come to an end with Vaiko’s statement.