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From KAPUR@ge-crd.arpa Tue Mar  4 20:46:05 1986

 News Bulletin 3/1/86

 General Strike against Price Hikes

A one day all India general strike on Febrary 26 against recently announced
increases in the prices of essential
commodities by Rajiv Gandhi government was
largely peaceful. The city of Bombay was
reportedly paralyzed by the strike which was
organized by oppposition parties and trade
unions. Over 7000 people were arrested
nationwide. Protestors denounced the government
as being "anti-poor and pro-rich." Many
newspapers and magazines marked this first
nation-wide protest against the Rajiv Gandhi
government as the end of the honey-moon between
Rajiv and the middle classes. 

The government said the increases were
necessitated to curb oil imports, reduce energy
consumption and raise revenue for development
programs.

The dissidents within Congress(I) itself have
used this issue as a way to challenge Rajiv
Gandhi and his close circle. According to one
columinist, Rajiv Gandhi earlier successfully managed to
avert a crisis in his party by calling the
meeting of the party executive which passed a
resolution demanding a cut in price increases.

 Punjab situation

Punjab Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala warned
that army rule will be imposed in the state if
extremist violence continued. Barnala delivered
his warning at a memorial service held on
February 21 for a moderate Sikh student leader
killed by gunmen in early February. 
Barnala added that increasing violence in the
state could lead to army rule in which popular
government could not function. 

On the same day, another Sikh moderate and his bodyguard were
shot dead as they were coming to the same service
where Barnala was speaking. 

The situation in Punjab remained tense as
leaders of All India Sikh Students Federation
and Damdam Taksal continued to control the Golden
Temple. Curfew was imposed in Gurdaspur, Batala,
and other cities of Punjab. A procession by
Hindu Shiv Sena was cancelled on Feb. 22 following a request
by the state government. 

Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee had
announced a meeting in Amritsar on March 1 to
consider Gurcharan Singh Tohra's resignation.
Tohra resigned at the Sarbat Khalsa in the
interests of what he termed as
Panthic unity. Some news commentaries have
accused Tohra of harbouring extremists and
agreeing to their conditions in early January to begin
kar sewa for the Akal Takhat; these gestures
reportedly emboldened the extremists resulting in their 
finally taking over the Golden
Temple complex.

The credibility of Barnala government has also
damaged because of the center's decision to
postpone transfer of Chandigarh to an indefinite
date. According to the agreement reached by Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi and late Akali leader Sant
Harchand Singh Longowal, Chandigarh was to be transferred on 
January 26 to Punjab.

 Two Convicted in Indira Gandhi murder Win Appeals

Two Sikhs, Kehar Singh and Balbir Singh, who were
convicted earlier by a Delhi Sessions Court, of
having conspired to murder Indira Gandhi and
sentenced to death, won appeals on February 21. 
The Delhi High court said that it would have to
confirm the death sentences on Gandhi's former
bodyguard Balbir Singh and civil employee Kehar
Singh before they become effective. 
Their lawyer told the court that they were
shifted to heavily-guarded separate cells,
powerful search lights were put on them,
they were not allowed to wear shoes and their
traditional turbans and they were denied books,
newspapers, and writing material.

 Sri Lanka sets 9 conditions to solve Tamil Crisis

Sri Lanka President Junius Jayewardene set on
Feb. 20, 9 conditions for resolving the Tamil
crisis. He told the opening session of the
parliament that Tamils must accept Sri Lanka's
constitution and abandon their demands for a
separate state. Further, all militants must
renounce violence, disband their groups, close
training camps and surrender their weapons. 

Jayewardene said that his government was prepared
to reduce security operations in the Tamil areas
and lift the 33 month old state of emergency if
Tamils agreed to the proposals. He also said that
his government was ready to introduce
legislations to set up provnicial and district
councils on which power could devolve.
He however rejected the latest proposals made by
the moderate Tamil United Liberation Front.

 Brain Drain at 70%

About 70% of India's brightest science and
engineering graduates have reportedly gone to the
United States and West European countries in the
past 5 years, and this number is increasing.
The brain drain was reportedly greater in the
areas of software technology, aeronautics and
operations research. These were the findings of a
study conducted by the Indian Institute of
Technology, Delhi. 

According to the Dean of Undergraduate Affairs at
IIT Delhi, Prof. Ray, "the Indian government must
do something to tackle with this problem... We
can ask students seeking admission to the IITs to
sign a bond to serve the nation for a minimum
period of 10 yers. I do not know how far this
wil be successful, but there is no harm in trying
out a proposal."

According to a England-based journal Nature, the
ratio of students returning to India after
attaining a doctorate degree is only 18%. 
Over600 students reportedly migrate to the US every
year. And, more than 11,000 students have gone
to the US, West Germany, France, England, and
Sweden for "further research and job
opportunities" not available in India.

 Rajiv's India: Victim of Inner party Bickering

According to the syndicated columnist Jack
Anderson, his movie Rajiv's India became a pawn
in the chess game of two Congress party factions.
Andreson added that these two factions were
struggling for power and one of them made an
issue for political reasons.

Rajiv's India was scheduled to be telecast on
Doordarshan on Feb. 7 following a screening for
the press at the Taj Hotel. It was cancelled at
the last moment reportedly at the instructions
from Prime Minister's office. It is rumored that
a former Indira Gandhi aide, Yashpal Kapoor
complained to Rajiv Gandhi that the movie was
anti-Indira Gandhi and made him to cancel its
telecast despite that the movie was earlier
praised by the Information and Broadcasting
Minister. 

Sources: India Now, India Abroad, the New York
Times


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