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India: Defense Minister Defends Him (r)
- Subject: India: Defense Minister Defends Him (r)
- From: Rangoonp@xxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 21 Jun 1999 04:02:00
Subject: India: Defense Minister Defends Himself as GOV'T Totters
(Arakanese Not Karen)
To: burmanews@xxxxxxxxx, "Burma Net-l @igc.apc.org" <burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>,
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X-Sender: shibolet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
NOTE: The group detained are not Karen rebels but members of an
Arakanese Rebel group. THEY WERE BETRAYED and some killed by the Indian
Military Intelligence when purchasing guns as they had done before from
the MIs. They have been in prison for about a year.
When will India and their MI's admit their betrayal and that they are
the gun runners selling guns to the Arakanese group of freedom
fighters????
India: Defense Minister Defends Himself as GOV'T Totters
Inter Press Service
06-APR-99
NEW DELHI, (Apr. 6) IPS - Defense Minister George
Fernandes defended today his sacking of India's navy
chief
and said it did not call for a parliamentary probe as
demanded by both the opposition and a key ally of the
ruling
coalition.
As the issue threatened the survival of the government,
Fernandes told a crowded press conference that Admiral
Vishnu Bhagwat's dismissal in December was a routine
decision and that the government could not agree to a
parliamentary probe.
With Minister for Parliamentary Affairs P.R.
Kumaramangalam present, Fernandes however said the
government was prepared to debate the issue in Parliament
-- something which it had avoided earlier on the grounds
that
it concerned sensitive issues.
"The government cannot agree to have a parliamentary
probe every time it sacks a defense officer -- as far as
the
government is concerned he (Bhagwat) is just another
officer," he told a largely skeptical press conference.
Yesterday, the AIADMK, the second largest constituent of
the 19-party coalition, withdrew its two ministers in the
Cabinet of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a sign
that
it was preparing to withdraw support to the government
over
the issue.
At the conference, Fernandes avoided mention of the
AIADMK and its leader Jayalalitha Jayaraman who has
demanded reinstatement of Admiral Bhagwat, institution of
a
joint-parliamentary committee (JPC) into Bhagwat's
sacking
and removal of Fernandes as defence minister.
Even as the BJP stuck to its guns, Jayalalitha appeared
to
backtrack announcing that she was still willing to
negotiate
with the BJP leadership.
How the AIADMK votes will decide the fate of the
year-old,
Vajpayee government should the Congress party force a
trial
of strength in the Lok Sabha (lower house) on the JPC
issue
when Parliament reconvenes after a recess in the budget
session on Apr. 15.
Fernandes denied ever having called Bhagwat a security
risk saying it was creation of the press. The sacking, he
said
was carried out because of the former naval chief's
"defiance
of the authority of the government."
Other reasons cited by Fernandes for the sacking included
criticism and disclosure of details of a top-secret
project of
the Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO)
which he did not name but said "were all over the
newspapers anyway."
The project, to build a nuclear-powered submarine with
the
help of Russia, has been running for 20 years now and
Bhagwat had opposed its continuance on the grounds that
money was being squandered on it although it produced no
results.
According to Fernandes, Bhagwat never opposed the project
at Board meetings but chose to denigrate the DRDO and
expose the country's security "just because he could not
have his own man to head it."
The defence minister also defended himself against
charges
by the sacked naval chief that he was a security risk.
According to Bhagwat, Fernandes had interfered with
security operations in the Andaman seas against
gun-running by Karen rebels in Burma, Sri Lankan Tamil
Tiger rebels and various insurgent groups operating in
north-eastern India.
Fernandes admitted that he had advised against
"precipitate
action in the Andaman seas" because of the international
fallout of "Operation Leach" led by Admiral Bhagwat in
the
Andaman seas in February, five weeks before he took over
as defence minister.
According to Fernandes, although the operation led to the
arrest of 73 men who are still in custody and the seizure
of
weapons "there were human rights complaints and
ramifications for the security of our men."
Last month, despite a tip off from the Sri Lankan
government, the Indian navy chased but failed to arrest
gun-runners after they had offloaded a consignment of
arms
and were heading back to the Thai coast.
But Fernandes said the navy was free to act on its own
and
in fact he had passed a second order giving clearance for
action. "Bhagwat knew about this second letter but does
not
speak about is -- he is taking the country for a ride."
Fernandes denied harboring Karen rebels in his own home a
cause for friction between New Delhi and Rangoon saying a
group of Burmese who have been living in his home were
students who feared deportation.
"These boys and girls are recognized as refugees by the
United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)
and have been living in my home since 1992 when the
police
asked them to leave the country," he said.
The conference seemed like the continuation of a
mud-slinging act between Fernandes and the man he
sacked. Copies of complaints against Bhagwat made by his
subordinates in the navy were circulated to the press.
Fernandes said, "The reputation of the ex-chief of the
navy
for levelling slanderous, unsubstantiated and baseless
allegations through affidavits sworn in courts and the
publicizing these through the press is too well known to
need
elaboration."