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Political Notes

	July 09, 2007

India gets back one of Mahatma Gandhi’s last letters



India has taken into possession the draft article of Mahatma Gandhi, written just 19 days before his assassination, which was being put on auction in London by Christie’s. An External Affairs Ministry official said in New Delhi on July 3 that the manuscript is now with the Government. The seven pages of a draft article signed “M.K. Gandhi” for the Urdu Harijan, had been written on Jan. 11, 1948. It was part of a collection of over 570 handwritten manuscripts of deceased Austrian banker Albin Schram, which went under the hammer at Christie’s.



It is not known if the Government paid any money to the executors of Albin Schram’s estate.



The letter, however, is reportedly not the last piece authored by Mahatma Gandhi. Director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Mridula Mukherjee said, “This is not his last manuscript. In our collection, we have a similar hand-written draft which is dated Jan. 12, 1948. We also have another document of Jan. 27, 1948.”



Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathu Ram Godse on Jan. 30, 1948.





Taj Mahal in New Seven Wonders list



Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan’s monument- Taj Mahal - built in the memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, has been voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the world. Officials of the Indian representative of the Swiss organisation which organised the worldwide online poll said this in New Delhi on July 7. The worldwide poll in which people could vote for their favourite monument either online or through SMS was conducted by the New Seven Wonders Foundation, a Swiss non-profit group. But crictics say the poll has no sanctity as it was not promoted by organisations like the World Heritage Foundation. They say that the list of the seven new wonders of the world will be regarded as an effort of a private initiative only reflecting the opinion of people with access to the internet and not that of the world as a whole, UNESCO said.





Andhra Pradesh reserves four per cent jobs for Muslims



The Congress Government in Andhra Pradesh has cleared an ordinance to provide four per cent quota for Muslims in Government jobs and educational institutions. The State High Court had earlier quashed an Ordinance providing for five per cent reservation for Muslims. While scaling down the quota by one per cent, the sate Government called it a quota based on economic and social backwardness, instead of a religious quota for its nine per cent Muslim population. A Government spokesman said, “This is in tune with the observations made by the High Court while dismissing the earlier ordinance.”



Fifteen groups among the Muslims will benefit from the four percent reservation. These groups accounts for nearly 80 per cent of the state’s Muslim population.





Babri mosque demolition probe : Liberhan panel term extended



The Centre has extended by two months the term of the Liberhan Commission, probing the events which led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in December 1992.



The 14-year old Commission, headed by Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, whose term ended on June 30, has been asked to complete the probe and submit its report by August 31.







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Bangladesj Army Chief keen to have special relations with West Bengal



Bangladesh Army Chief Gen. Moeen U. Ahmed has expressed his keen desire to have special relations West Bengal. Not only that, he is also very keen to meet Indian heroes of the Liberation War when he visits the country from August 22 to 26.



Media reports quoting highly placed sources said Bangladesh had put in a request to meet Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw as well as General J.F.R. Jacob, who helped East Pakistan defeat its western oppressor and emerge as independent Bangladesh in 1971.



The sources said the Bangladesh Army Chief, a mukti-joddha or freedom fighter, is keen to pay respects to both the war heroes. He may travel to Wellington near Ooty where Manekshaw lives and Calcutta, where Jacob is said to divide his time with New Delhi.



Ahmed has also asked for a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. In the wake of the Foreign Secretary-level talks in Dhaka last week, where both sides declared their intention to end the bitterness of the past, the Bangladesh Government is keen to re-signal a special relationship with West Bengal.



Considering the Army is the power behind the caretaker president, Ahmed’s keenness to meet the heroes of the Bangladesh war as well as the West Bengal Chief Minister has sent a ripple of excitement through the Indian establishment.



The visit is no ordinary one, the sources said, and cannot be limited to meetings with the Indian army establishment and the Defence Minister. That is why Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon met the General in Dhaka last week.



“This is a political-military visit, let us not make any mistake about it. The most powerful man in Bangladesh is visiting India,’’ a source said.



New Delhi remains particularly keen to figure out the extent of Ahmed’s interest in holding on to power in Bangladesh. Although caretaker president Fakhruddin Ahmed has announced that elections would be held by the end of 2008, India wants to know whether the Army Chief will really relinquish power by then.



Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s considerable antagonism had put ties under strain, but the new Government’s zeal to improve relations is not lost on India, the sources said.



The Moitreyee Express, a train between Sealdah and Dhaka Cantonment, is ready to make its first trip. Tracks on the Bangladesh side have already been upgraded and Indian Railways is giving the final touches this side.



The Bangladeshi train is fitted with a special prayer car, besides chair cars and sleeping cars, according to media reports there.