SOUTH ASIA
Mamata Talks Of Resignation, Then Backtracks
Railway minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday asserted that she will “resign from any post” if she failed to prove that the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) was misusing the central forces sent to flush out Maoists from the troubled western districts of West Bengal.
But as her comments gave rise to intense political speculations about the course she could pursue, Banerjee called a press conference and claimed that her comments had been misinterpreted. She said she had not talked about resigning.
“I have said regarding withdrawal of forces we have spoken to the prime minister as also Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Our party leaders have held umpteen number of meetings with the home minister (P Chidambaram). It is not right, they don’t know the situation.
“I said, why should central forces act as per CPI-M’s dictates? If I am lying, punish me, but if what I say is true, then the forces should be withdrawn,” she said. Banerjee also said that the Congress has to decide between her party and the CPI-M. “In Indian politics, the CPI-M and Trinamool can never be together. If anybody asks me to chose between the CPI-M and the Congress, the I will choose the latter,” she said.
“Can DMK and the AIADMK be together? So the Congress has to decide between the Trinamool and the CPI-M.
“We welcome an alliance with the Congress. If they also want an alliance, they are welcome. But if they do not, then we have to think about ourselves… All options are open,” she said. Making her frustration clear at the central government for not heeding to her repeated demands for withdrawal of forces from Lalgarh and other areas, Banerjee told the CNN-IBN channel: “With the central forces, (we have) no objection. But why should the central forces abide by the CPI-M?” She alleged the CPI-M was using the central forces to attack Trinamool cadres and declared that she could prove her allegation.
“If I am not correct, I can challenge you I will tender my resignation from any post. If I am correct, then they have to withdraw their central forces,” she said.
Banerjee also charged the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) spearhead Congress of not listening to or consulting her party on important issues like price rise of essentials or increase in petroleum product prices. But as her comments gave rise to intense political speculations about the course she could pursue, Banerjee called a press conference and claimed that her comments had been misinterpreted. She said she had not talked about resigning.
“I have said regarding withdrawal of forces we have spoken to the prime minister as also Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Our party leaders have held umpteen number of meetings with the home minister (P Chidambaram). It is not right, they don’t know the situation.
“I said, why should central forces act as per CPI-M’s dictates? If I am lying, punish me, but if what I say is true, then the forces should be withdrawn,” she said. Banerjee also said that the Congress has to decide between her party and the CPI-M. “In Indian politics, the CPI-M and Trinamool can never be together. If anybody asks me to chose between the CPI-M and the Congress, the I will choose the latter,” she said.
“Can DMK and the AIADMK be together? So the Congress has to decide between the Trinamool and the CPI-M.
“We welcome an alliance with the Congress. If they also want an alliance, they are welcome. But if they do not, then we have to think about ourselves… All options are open,” she said. Trinamool Congress is the second biggest partner of the UPA.
-HT
SOUTH ASIA
Pakistani Anti-graft body wants travel ban on Nawaz Sharif, kin
Pakistan’s anti-corruption watchdog has asked authorities to place ousted premier Nawaz Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law on the Exit Control List to prevent them from leaving the country.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) sent a formal request to the ministry of interior. The interior ministry officials confirmed that the NAB wrote that names of Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar should be put on the Exit Control List (ECL), which listed individuals not allowed to leave Pakistan.
The NAB argued that as the trial of the three nears its conclusion, it is feared that they would leave the country.
Earlier, a similar request to place name of finance minister Ishaq Dar on ECL was not accepted, allowing him to go to London and never return.
Sharif, 68, and his family this week filed an application with the accountability court seeking a fortnight’s exemption from personal appearance from February 19 onwards to let them go to London to see Sharif’s ailing wife. Three cases were filed against Sharif and his family last year, including Avenfield properties, Azizia & Hill Metal Establishment, and Flagship Investments.
Maryam and Safdar are accused only in Avenfield properties case. The NAB had filed two supplementary references against Sharif, his sons Hasan and Hussain regarding Al-Azizia Steel Mills & Hill Metal Establishment and Flagship Investment cases.
SOUTH ASIA
Pakistan “breaches obligations’ on nuclear arms reduction, UN court told
The Hague: Pakistan is violating its “obligations” to the international community by failing to reduce its nuclear arsenal, the Marshall Islands told the UN’s highest court on Tuesday.
The small Pacific Island nation is this week launching three unusual cases against India, Pakistan and Britain before the International Court of Justice.
Majuro wants to put a new spotlight on the global nuclear threat, its lawyers said yesterday, by using its own experience with massive US-led nuclear tests in the 1940s and 1950s.
“Pakistan is in breach of its obligations owed to the international community as a whole,” when it comes to reducing its nuclear stockpile, said Nicholas Grief, one of the island nation’s lawyers.
DeBrum warned that even a “limited nuclear war” involving the two countries would “threaten the existence” of his island nation people.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.
In 1998, the rival neighbours both demonstrated nuclear weapons capability.
The ICJ’s judges are holding hearings for the next week and a half to decide whether it is competent to hear the lawsuits brought against India and Pakistan — neither of which have signed the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
A third hearing against Britain — which has signed the NPT — scheduled to start on Wednesday will be devoted to “preliminary objections” raised by London.
The Marshalls initially sought to bring a case against nine countries it said possessed nuclear arms: Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the United States.
Israel has never admitted to having nuclear weapons.
But the Hague-based ICJ, set up in 1945 to rule in disputes between states, has only admitted three cases against Britain, India and Pakistan, because they have accepted the ICJ’s compulsory jurisdiction.
Pakistan’s lawyers did not attend Tuesday’s hearings.
It did however file a counter-claim against Majuro’s allegations saying “the court has no jurisdiction to deal with the application” and insisting that the case is “not admissible”, said ICJ President Ronny Abraham.
SOUTH ASIA
Bangladesh to drop Islam as official religion following attacks on Hindus
New Delhi: Bangladesh is likely to drop Islam as its official religion following a series of attacks on people from other faiths in the country. The country’s Supreme Court is hearing a plea challenging the status of the official religion of the country to Islam.
Bangladesh, which was declared a secular country after its formation in 1971, was declared an Islamic country following a constitutional amendment in 1988.
According to a report in the Daily Mail, the plea has challenged the declaration of Islam as the national religion of the country.
The move is being supported by leaders from the minority communities like Hindus, Christians and Muslim minority Shiites.
Bangladesh has 90 per cent of Muslims, 8 per cent Hindus and remaining constitutes Christians and Muslim minority Shiites.
In last month, a Hindu priest was hacked to death following an attack on a temple in Panchgarh district. Two others were seriously injured in the attack. There have been several lethal attacks on writers and bloggers.
According to a report in the Independent, Islamist groups Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh and Ansarullah Bangla Team are believed to have carried out at least seven attacks on foreign and minority people in Bangladesh in the past year.
