Taslima twist: CPM clarifies remark

The West Bengal government faced further embarrassment on Thursday as Left front Chairman Biman Bose was forced to eat his words on Taslima Nasreen a day after commenting that the Bangladeshi writer should leave if her presence is causing trouble.

Bose today said he was rectifying Wednesday's statement on Taslima on behalf of his party and any decision on extending or cancelling her visa can only be taken by the Centre.

''The right to grant or cancel a visa des not lie with the state government, only the Indian government can do that,'' said Biman Bose.

The author's visa expires in February next year.

Taslima has not spoken since Wednesday's clashes but earlier this year, shortly after she was roughed up by protestors in Hyderabad, she had gone to release the Telugu translation of her book Shodh.

Speaking to NDTV about her reasons for wanting to live in Kolkata, Taslima said: ''I am getting so much support and solidarity from people that I am grateful to them. I want to live here peacefully. I want to write peacefully and I want to feel at home.''

Kolkata meanwhile is slowly getting back to normal a day after violent clashes. Public transport is back on the roads and all schools, colleges and offices have re-opened.

It was a tense night on Wednesday with several parts of the city under curfew. However, no further clashes were reported during the night.

Flag marches by the army are continuing this morning and the Army will hold a review meeting at later today.

On Wednesday a small protest by a little known Muslim group- the All India Minority Forum shot out of control and there were scenes of violence all day.

The group claimed it was protesting against the violence in Nandigram and also demanded the expulsion of Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen from the state.

Pakistani opposition in quandary over poll "farce"

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By Zeeshan Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Allies of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf are gearing up for an election due on Jan. 8 while his opponents are still undecided whether to boycott polls they say will be anything but free and fair under emergency rule.

A Supreme Court stacked with friendly judges on Thursday dismissed the last challenge against his re-election as president, clearing the way for him to quit as army chief, but he remains under international pressure to lift the emergency rule in order to give the polls some credibility.

"Elections are going to be a farce," Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf ousted in 1999, told Reuters earlier this week from exile in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Jeddah.

The Election Commission announced a poll schedule this week, requiring the candidates to file their nominations by Nov. 26 -- and the chances of Sharif being allowed back in time to post his candidacy are remote.

While their former leader languished in exile, turncoats in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML), the party co-opted by General Musharraf to form a political support base eight years ago, met on Wednesday in Islamabad to choose candidates.

"We will finalise our list of candidates latest by Saturday," Mushahid Hussain Sayed, secretary-general of the ruling PML told Reuters, adding that the party would like to see the emergency rolled back to prove it can win unassisted.

Authorities have freed thousands of opposition activists and lawyers in a first move to relax the emergency ahead of the poll.

But leading lawyers and judges who dared challenge Musharraf's authority are still in prison or under house arrest, and parties are strait-jacketed by bans on large rallies.

Yet the opposition has still to come up with a common course of action -- and the focus of attention has fallen on what Benazir Bhutto, another former prime minister, will do.

Musharraf let her come back to Pakistan last month protected from prosecution in old corruption cases she says were politically motivated.

Fearful he would lack support in the next parliament, Musharraf had turned to Bhutto, leader of the largest opposition party, the Pakistan People's Party, (PPP) in the hope that she would back him in return for a chance of sharing power after the polls.

Bhutto, whose homecoming was spoiled by a suicide attack that killed at least 139 people, struck an increasingly confrontational posture, however, once she got back.

The imposition of emergency powers on Nov. 3 made chances of an alliance more remote, and Bhutto subsequently reached out to other opposition parties to agree what to do.

If there was no consensus, the PPP will decide on its own what to do, Senator Latif Khosa, a close aide to Bhutto, said.

LATE FATHER'S ADVICE

While Bhutto has said she might boycott the polls, analysts believe she would be reluctant to present Musharraf and his allies with a walkover.

"It's a very difficult decision for a political party to stay away from electoral process and it seems People's Party is not likely to do that," Talat Masood, a former general-turned-analyst said.

Fazl-ur-Rehman, head of country's largest Islamist party, Jamiat-e-ulema-e-Islam (JUI), has also said he would not boycott the poll. Musharraf's camp have been trying to entice Rehman, like Bhutto, into some post-election arrangement.

Sharif's party -- confusingly also called the PML but generally referred to as the Nawaz League -- is insisting on a boycott, along with other smaller Islamist parties.

A boycott without the PPP wouldn't worry Musharraf, whose strategy is to marginalise Sharif and create something more akin to a two party system, analysts say.

Bhutto faced a similar choice in 1985 in an election called by Pakistan's previous military dictator President Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq, the general who deposed and hanged her father -- Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the country's first popularly-elected prime minister.

She chose to lead a boycott of the election -- and regretted the decision, saying later that she should have heeded the words of her late father.

"Never leave a field open, my father had said again and again," Bhutto wrote in her autobiography "Daughter of the East".

Climate Talk at Summit

SINGAPORE -- Climate change dominated the official agenda of an annual summit of Asian leaders, with participants pledging to help forge the blueprint to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

But on a day that the East Asian Summit was the last of a series of regional meetings in Singapore, significant attention remained on Myanmar, whose bloody crackdown on protesters in September has angered many governments. Yesterday, the Philippines and Japan warned Myanmar's junta that its so-called commitment to democracy was being closely ...

Govt for global cooperation in atomic field

Even as India initiated negotiations on country-specific safeguards agreement with the IAEA in Vienna, the government told the Lok Sabha that atomic programme can develop “faster” if international cooperation in the field is allowed.

The government’s pitch came as a team of officials led by atomic energy commission chief Anil Kakodkar held talks with IAEA director general Mohammed ElBaradei and other officials. The Indian delegation’s visit to Vienna was finalised after the Left parties gave a conditional go-ahead to the government to hold talks with IAEA last Friday.

Justifying the Indo-US nuclear deal, minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Prithviraj Chavan said in the Lower House that India needs to have international cooperation to acquire uranium technology and fuel, which is insufficient in the country. Noting that all countries in the world had uranium-based nuclear programmes, he said in reply to questions that India is deficient in the fuel and whatever reserves existed would be exhausted after some time.

Govt, Oppn fail to pin CPM on Nandigram incidents

NEW DELHI: The CPM has reasons to be satisfied with the outcome of the debate on Nandigram violence. While NDA speakers failed to corner the CPM in the Lok Sabha, the Union government willingly bought the party’s “outsider theory” and endorsed the West Bengal government’s stand that “liberated zones” cannot be allowed.

Quite contrary to expectations that the CPM could be mauled by both sides of the political aisle, the Leftists got away with minor bruises during the debate. The government side, which took care that its attack on the West Bengal government cause no grave injury, concurred with the Left view that it should not be seen through a narrow partisan prism.

Replying to the debate, home minister Shivraj Patil attempted to dispel the impression that the Centre was a mute spectator when he informed the House that “directions” have been sent to the state government to bring the situation under control. “Nobody should be away from their homes; goons on motorbikes should be stopped; full compensation should be given,” Mr Patil said. Home ministry officials clarified that it was not a “directive”, but an advisory, quashing the hopes of “tough talk” against the Leftists by the Centre. Incidentally, the Centre can act against a state government only if it fails to act against its directives sent under Article 256 or Article 355.

Initiating the debate, leader of the Opposition, LK Advani, demanded an all-party delegation from the Parliament be sent to Nandigram and asked the Centre to direct the West Bengal Government under Article 355 of the constitution - that provides for Central government’s intervention in any specific administrative matter in a state through direction to the governor. “If the state didn’t abide with the rule, the Centre should impose president’s rule,” he said. Mr Patil, in his reply, did not meet the demand of the all-party meeting on Nandigram.

The Congress fielded I&B minister PR Dasmunsi as its first speaker. The minister spent a lot of time attacking Mr Advani and the previous NDA regime for the SEZ policy along with taking swipes at CPM. Mr Dasmunsi, who has been leading the Congress’ attack on the Left outside Parliament, on Wednesday left “it to the people and the perturbed Left-minded intelligentsia” to give a befitting reply to the CPM.

Mohammad Salim (CPM) managed to put up a stout defence of his party and the state government. Mr Salim, who stuck to his party’s line that defeated political parties and Maoists are behind the violence, accused the Congress and Trinamool Congress of attempting to sabotage the peace process. Mr Salim insinuated that Mr Dasmunsi was behind the delay in the deployment of the CRPF in the state.

Of the other speakers, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal asked for an investigation into the circumstances that led to the blocking of roads in Nandigram. Mr Yadav also backed the CPM’s Maoist claim and said that he suspected they were behind the issue spiralling. RJD leader Devendra Prasad Yadav found fault with the rules for setting up of Special Economic Zones. The leader also asked for a He also asked for a constitutional amendment to allow the Centre to have direct control in troubled areas to help restore peace.