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BSP supporter killed in violence after Pal`s cremation

     Allahabad: Supporters of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) traded gunfire with activists of Samajwadi Party here today resulting in the killing of a BSP worker as violence erupted a day after the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal who was cremated amidst tight security. Angry BSP workers opened fire on the house of relatives of SP MLA Bijma Yadav at Dhumanganj locality drawing retaliation in which one of the BSP supporters was killed, Principal Secretary, Home, Alok Sinha said in Lucknow. The mob also attacked Dhumanganj police station and set the Rajapur police outpost on fire. The situation was brought under control after heavy deployment of Rapid Action Force and PAC personnel, Sinha added. Supporters of Pal, mainly from his native village Neewa near here, took to the streets, indulged in heavy brickbatting and fought pitched battles with the police. Describing the situation in Allahabad as peaceful, Sinha said Section 144 has been promulgated in the city as a precautionary measure.

      The BSP supporters alleged that Pal was cremated secretly without even informing his family members. However, Alok Sinha said a cousin of the late MLA lit the funeral pyre. He said an inquiry would be ordered into the allegations of the family that they were not informed about the cremation. BSP state president Barkhu Ram Verma alleged that Pal was cremated at Daraganj Ghat by the police against the wishes of the family which had wanted the cremation to take place elsewhere as per the family traditions. Terming the killing as an abject failure of law and order, Verma urged Governor T V Rajeswar to dismiss the Mulayam Singh Yadav government. Meanwhile, inquiries into the murder began following lodging of an FIR by the wife of the slain MLA in which two persons have been named, Sinha said. Pal, against whom 20 criminal cases were registered, was elected to the assembly from Allahabad West constituency in a byelection in October last year wresting the seat from SP nominee Ashraf, brother of party MP Ateeq Ahmed.

India's entry into the UN a big step: Gunter Grass (Go To Top)

     Kolkata: German Nobel Laureate Gunter Grass has said that India's entry into the UN is a big step. Grass said this during his visit to Kolkata on the invitation of Goethe-Institute Max Muller Bhavan, Kolkata, to hold poetry- reading sessions of his latest work 'Lyrische Beute' (Bonty of Lyrics, 2004). Grass while addressing a press conference said that with the US becoming a super power it is essential to control and criticise it on regular basis so that voices of the others could be heard. He was of the opinion that entry of India in United Nation was a big step forward in that direction. "I think it was terrible when we had two super powers, the Soviet Union and America and now we have 'one' and this needs control and critical opposition and I hope it is growing," said Gunter Grass. He also said that India has lost its touch with Gandhi, who in his view was a great man with the right vision for India. Grass has tried everything from sculpture, painting to writing but has always been more interested in poetry as he feels poetry brings him close to his inner soul. Max Muller Bhavan will be organising events with Grass. A panel discussion on ''The Segregation of Cultures in the Contemporary World: Clash, Convergence or Cooperation?'' would be organised on January 27 in Kolkata where Grass will be in dialogue with eminent personalities like Amitava Ghosh in New York, Najam Sethi in Lahore, Prof T N Madan in New Delhi, and Girish Karnad in Bangalore. Incidentally, Gunter returned to Kolkata after 18 years.

Helicopter crash in Iraq kills 31 US troops: CNN (Go To Top)

     Baghdad: A transport helicopter crash in western Iraq today killed 31 US Marines, CNN reported on Wednesday. US military officials in Baghdad said they could not immediately confirm the toll but acknowledged there were casualties.