Tuesday, January 1, 2002

Monika Devi To Take Action Against PTI For Unsubstantiated Report

Imphal, Apr 1 : International weightlifter L Monika will be taking up legal action against the Press Trust of India (PTI), a leading news agency of India, after the agency reported that the B sample of the athlete had tested positive. Stating this at a press meet held today at the Manipur Press Club in Imphal, the family of the weightlifter said they were surprised to see the news published about Monika in the local papers. They said a case was still on at the Delhi High Court and Monika`s advocate had plans to take legal action on the publishing of the news report in view of its falsity. Mention may be made that the urine sample test of the athelete had been done in four stages on June 6, June 29, July 15, and July 28 in 2008. Other than the test on June 6 all the tests came out negative. However, Monika was not allowed to participate in the Beijing Olympic Games by the Indian sports authorities. Later, the B Sample was sent to Tokyo for further tests. There is no official report from the WADA Tokyo and no news has been conveyed to Monika. The next hearing of the case at the Delhi High Court is on April 2, Monika`s family said here in Imphal while expressing surprise how the news was published. They also said the act was meant to suppress the emerging players of the state and asked all to stop such bias and discrimination in sports. Regarding the incident, L Mamta, sister of Monika, said that the state produced talented players and a player`s dream was to participate in the Olympic Games and such disturbances let down the morale of the players. It was shocking that the state government was keeping silent on such matters, she added.

Naga Rebel Barb at PC

A top Naga militant has dubbed P. Chidambaram “ignorant” in an interview published within hours of New Delhi ending two-day talks with his outfit in Zurich on Friday. The interviewer uses even more intemperate language against the home minister. Isak Chishi Swu, chairman of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah), purportedly gave the interview to sympathetic Dutch activist, Frans Welman, on March 10. It was, however, posted on www.tangkhul.com only on Friday, after NSCN general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and his team had wrapped up talks with home ministry officials and the Centre’s interlocutor, K. Padmanabhaiah, in the Swiss city. In the interview, Swu tears into New Delhi over the Naga stalemate. Welman, secretary of the Amsterdam-based NGO, Naga International Support Centre, asks Swu: “But then you have a (uses intemperate language) like Chidambaram who suddenly says something else. Conditions? He never heard of that, you know.” This was a reference to the minister’s statement that the talks should be within the ambit of the Indian Constitution. The NSCN is looking for a “special federal relationship between Nagaland and India”, a demand Delhi has rejected. Swu purportedly says in the interview that “a person like him (Chidambaram)” does not seem to know that when the negotiations began at the highest level, there had been no conditions. “But he is putting condition if he says ‘within the Constitution’… we did not start talking in that way, so he is completely ignorant,” Swu is quoted as saying. A home ministry source said Welman need not be taken seriously. Welman has been lobbying in Europe for the NSCN and its leaders Swu, who divides his time between Manila and Amsterdam, and the Amsterdam-based Muivah. In Zurich, though, the topic was not the Constitution but the ceasefire. Indian officials conveyed Delhi’s “zero tolerance” to truce violations, sources said. In recent months, there have been standoffs between NSCN cadres and the Assam Rifles. Chidambaram has told his officials that once the elections end, the Naga issue would be taken up urgently. The rebels, however, suspect Delhi would try to get them to “compromise” too much. The NSCN has been “studying” the Indian Constitution for over a year so it can point out which provisions are “unacceptable”.