National
Terrorist's Arrest: Opposition wants Minister to quit
By Arunkumar Bhatt
NAGPUR, DEC 7. Pandemonium broke loose in the Maharashtra Assembly today with the Opposition demanding resignation of the Minister of State for Home, Mr. Kripashanker Singh, on the issue of the Al-Qaeda operative's arrest in Mumbai.
The Opposition alleged that the arrest of Mohammad Afroze Abdul Razad, trained in Australia, the U.S. and the U.K. to pilot an airliner for crashing it into the British Parliament, was further investigated at the instance of the Union Government and Mr. Singh had given a clean chit to the alleged terrorist in a press statement.
The Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Chhagan Bhujbal, who holds the Home portfolio, had informed the House in a suo motu statement about the arrest of the Al-Qaeda operative in Mumbai and details about his training in piloting an airliner and he being a member of the group assigned by the Al-Qaeda to hit the British Parliament with a hijacked aircraft, the way the World
Trade Center in New York was attacked on September 11.
The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Narayan Rane (Shiv Sena), alleged that Mr. Singh had told a newspaper that Mohammad Afroze was not involved with Al-Qaeda.
The statement helped the accused and therefore the Minister should not continue in the Government even for a moment, he said. The Minister did not have any right to say anything when his senior had decided that the case be kept secret, he said.
Mr. Singh, who was present in the House, said that he would make a statement in this regard in an hour's time. The Deputy Speaker, Mr. Pramod Shende, did not allow more comments as Mr. Singh was to make the statement.
Mr. Gopinath Munde (BJP) insisted on speaking and said that the Minister was not empowered to decide if Mohammad Afroze was innocent. The Opposition members rushed to the well of the House and gathered at the rostrum to argue with Mr. Shende.
Mr. Shende adjourned the House for ten minutes. But found the Opposition in the same mood when the House met again. Members of the BJP and the Shiv Sena said that the chair insulted their leader by addressing him in an impolite manner and raised slogans. The House was adjourned again.
The Opposition members not only gathered at the rostrum and but also indulged in slogan-shouting, some of them even tore papers and threw them about while others squatted on the floor of the House. Mr. Shende was heard saying that this was not according to the code of conduct.
When the House met again, Mr. Rane took strong objection to Mr. Shende's language and said that it was unbecoming of the dignity of the office he occupied. Mr. Shende apologised but said in an emotion-choked voice that the Opposition members had shouted slogan, ``down with the deputy speaker supporting a traitor''.
Later, the Opposition entered into lengthy arguments with the Speaker, Mr. Arun Gujarathi, about allowing the Minister to make a statement. They said that he could make the statement either suo motu or on the direction of the chair.
But here, he was responding to his senior Minister's directive. The Home Minister, Mr. Chhagan Bhujbal, had stated yesterday that Mr.Singh would make a statement about what he told the press.
But Mr. Gujarathi disallowed the objection and allowed Mr. Singh to have his say. The Minister read out his brief statement under Rule 48 that when he was asked by reporters about Mohammad Afroze's arrest, he inquired with the Navi Mumbai police who told him that he was arrested for his involvement in house-breaking and what he had conveyed to the media was based on that information.
The Opposition was hardly satisfied with Mr. Singh's statement but Mr. Gujarathi disallowed any debate on it. He told them firmly that they could give a notice for full-fledged debate on the issue or find some other way to raise the matter.
The Speaker told the Opposition that they should cite a rule or ruling against his decision to allow the Minister to make the statement and in that case he would rectify his error, if any.
Bhujbal orders probe
UNI reports:
Mr. Chhagan Bhujbal today said that he had ordered a probe into the ``leak'' of information to a section of the media regarding the arrest of the Al-Qaeda terrorist Mohammed Afroze Razzak two months ago. ``The guilty will not be spared. Strict action will be taken against those responsible,'' Mr. Bhujbal, who is the Home Minister, told reporters in an informal chat here.
Razzak was arrested on October 2, and the news was prominently carried in several Mumbai based newspapers in mid-November.
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