The Hindu : 'Row over rly. bifurcation unjustified'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 13, 2002

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'Row over rly. bifurcation unjustified'

By K. Balchand

PATNA JULY 12. The Defence Minister, George Fernandes, came out in favour of the bifurcation of the Eastern Railway and the creation of the East Central zone for the first time today, saying that a dispute over the issue was "unjustified." Raising a dispute over a Cabinet decision amounted to challenging the democratic system.

Before leaving for Nalanda, his parliamentary constituency, to assess the areas affected by floods, Mr. Fernandes told presspersons here that the objectives behind the decision, taken in 1996, and its implementation had to be taken into consideration, particularly because it was part of the action plan to replace the railway tracks and bring down accidents. Stating that the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, would be taking the final decision in the matter, Mr. Fernandes said that he was against any attempt at politicising the issue and playing up one State against the other.

He ruled out the demobilisation of troops along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and hoped that the international community would appreciate the deployment of forces as part of the global war against terrorism. The situation had not changed "radically or permanently," despite the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage's "mission" to the subcontinent.

The challenges would remain until Islamabad fulfilled its promise of putting an end to transporting terrorism, demolished terrorist training camps and handed over the 20 wanted fugitives sought by India. Though the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, had given the impression in June of curtailing infiltration, it was short-lived, Mr. Fernandes said.

Denying that India had erred in opening its airspace for Pakistani planes, he said that the decision had been taken with the conviction that Pakistan would reciprocate positively. "But, we are disappointed."

Mr. Fernandes described as "very unfortunate" the arrest of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and MP, Vaiko , under the Prevention of Terrorism Act in Tamil Nadu. Refusing to comment further on the issue, he, however, said that whenever there were instances of misuse of POTA, there should also be agencies to oversee its implementation.

`Decision on ER by Sunday'

PTI reports from New Delhi:

A decision on the bifurcation of the Eastern Railway will be taken at a meeting between Mr. Vajpayee and the Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani, by Sunday.

Mr. Advani told reporters in Mathura that ``Mr. Vajpayee proposes to have discussions on the bifurcation issue and the resolutions passed by the Assemblies of West Bengal and Bihar after the return of Mr. Fernandes from Patna either tomorrow or on Sunday... We will consider the issue from all aspects and then decide.''

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