In a petition littered with grammatical errors the lawyers alleged that Arundhanti [sic] Roy commanded the crow [sic]

In a petition littered with grammatical errors, the lawyers alleged that “Arundhanti [sic] Roy commanded the crow [sic] that Supreme Court of India is the thief and all these are his touts. Kill them…”The occasion of the alleged contempt was a demonstration outside the Supreme Court’s gates by 500 people, mostly small farmers from the Narmada valley, to protest against the court’s decision in October to allow building of the Sardar Sarovar dam to proceed. The NBA claims that nearly 40,000 families will lose their land and all they own. No provision has been made for resettlement, a key reason why the World Bank has withdrawn from the project.The petitioners claim the defendants committed contempt by blocking the gates, by chanting slogans against the judges that urged “kill the bastards”, and assaulting the petitioners themselves.In his affidavit, Mr Bhushant stated: “I am amazed and outraged … that such a ridiculously false and malicious contempt petition should be filed. I am, however, more pained that such a petition should have been entertained by this court.”Ms Roy, whose Booker Prize-winning novel The God of Small Things is the most economically successful book published by an Indian, said in her affidavit: “The petition is a pathetic attempt to target… the resistance movement.”The two-man bench declared: “In view of the denial of the allegations, the original contempt may not be there.

But we have to examine if the tone of the affidavits amounts to contempt or not.”. The Sri Lankan government has said is still open to Norwegian–sponsored peace talks with Tamil rebels even though they have announced an end to a unilateral truce in effect since Christmas Eve. The Sri Lankan government has said is still open to Norwegian–sponsored peace talks with Tamil rebels even though they have announced an end to a unilateral truce in effect since Christmas Eve.The truce, to which the government did not reciprocate, ends at midnight tonight.”The doors are open for talks with or without a truce,” said Ariya Rubasinghe, the government spokesman. “The government did not ask for a truce.”The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been fighting since 1983 for a separate Tamil homeland in the country’s north and east. More than 63,000 people have been killed.Norway has been brokering peace talks since 1999, with Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim shuttling between the two warring sides to nudge them toward the negotiating table.”We will know further what to do once Mr Solheim looks into the present situation,” Rubasinghe said.The Tamil Tigers had renewed their truce three times, and demanded the government also halt fighting and lift a ban on the organization so that peace talks could begin. The government has said the truce was a ruse and that the rebels were only regrouping.The last round of talks in 1995 ended abruptly when the rebels resumed fighting.In declaring they would not renew the cease–fire a fourth time, the rebels blamed foreign countries for cracking down on their organization while providing, money, weapons and training to the Sri Lankan government.The Tamil Tigers are banned in the United States, Britain, India and Malaysia and Sri Lanka. The rebels said that 160 fighters had been killed and 400 wounded since they announced the truce on December 24..

Police have arrested a prominent Malaysian opposition leader after he delivered a fiery speech at a rally, bringing to nine the number of anti–government activists detained in the last two weeks under tough security laws. Police arrested a prominent Malaysian opposition leader today after he delivered a fiery speech at a rally, bringing to nine the number of anti–government activists detained in the last two weeks under tough security laws.About eight plainclothes officers seized Lokman Noor Adam, a youth leader in the National Justice Party, or Keadilan, as he was leaving the site of the rally just in Shah Alam city, 19 miles south of Kuala Lumpur, witnesses said.Anuar Tahir, Keadilan’s secretary–general, said officers told party officials that Lokman was detained under the Internal Security Act, which was introduced in the early 1960s to stem a communist insurgency and allows authorities to detain people indefinitely without trial.”This is a clearly growing crackdown on our leaders,” Anuar said. “We don’t know where they have been taken, we have no contact with them. The authorities want to cripple us.”A police spokesman could not be reached for details.Seven activists, six of whom were Keadilan officials, were arrested April 10–11, and another party leader was detained at his home last Friday. At the time of the first arrests, police said the activists belonged to a group that planned in 1998 to use explosives in street protests to topple Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s government.Mahathir has defended the arrests, saying that enforcement of security laws “protects the freedom of the people.”Today, about 40 opposition lawmakers, relatives of the detainees and supporters gathered outside federal police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur to demand a meeting with national police chief Norian Mai about the arrests.A small group of relatives was allowed into the building to meet with senior officers, although Norian was believed not to be present.”I am shocked,” said Noorfarahin Ahmat, Lokman’s wife, of his arrest “This is my son’s first birthday. I wish Lokman was here to celebrate it.”Most of those arrested, including Lokman, were organizers of a rally to mark the second anniversary of former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim’s conviction on corruption charges on April 14, 1999.Anti–government gatherings, once rare in Malaysia, have become regular occurrences since Mahathir fired Anwar from the Cabinet in September 1998.Anwar, who is serving prison sentences totalling 15 years for corruption and sodomy, is seen as a symbol for the opposition’s battle for democratic reforms..

India’s military has accused Bangladesh of increasing its troops and weapons in a disputed border area where 19 soldiers recently died during fighting between the two countries. India’s military has accused Bangladesh of increasing its troops and weapons in a disputed border area where 19 soldiers recently died during fighting between the two countries.”The military buildup on the Bangladesh side is increasing, and they have moved in medium machine guns and mortars,” Arvind Ranjan, inspector general of the Indian Border Security Force, said in a telephone interview. He heads the BSF forces in the states of Tripura, Mizoram and southern Assam’s Cachar sector.There also were reports of a Bangladeshi troop buildup near Pyrdiwah, a village that Bangladeshi Rifles border troops took over last week, leading to clashes in which 16 Indian soldiers and three Bangladeshis died.A Bangladesh foreign ministry official called the movements routine and denied that troops had been sent to the frontier with India. “We are surely cautious, but to say that there is large movement of troops is wrong,” said the official, who cannot be named under standing briefing regulations in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital.Another Bangladesh official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that 20,000 more border guards were being recruited to the 38,000–man Bangladesh Rifles to guard the 2,460–mile frontier.