From the archives of Hindustan Times: July 15, 2019

Independence now: Congress demand (1942)

Wardhaganj- The Withdrawal of British Power from India is urged in resolution issued by the congress working committee yesterday (July 13).

It says that the - Congress wishes to take no hasty step and will like to avoid so for as possible any course of action that may embarrass the United Nations. It pleads for the acceptance of the proposal by the Government, but if the appeal fails the Congress will reluctantly be compelled to utilize all its non-violent strength for the vindication of its rights in a “widespread struggle under Gandhiji’s leadership.

The A.I.C.C. will meet in Bombay on August 7 to consider the resolution.

Asked what form his movement would take Gandhiji said: “the conception is that of a mass movement on the widest possible scale.” “There is no such thing as courting imprisonment this time” he added. “I want to make it as short and swift as possible”.

The Congress Working Committee has passed the following resolution today (July 14) :-”

The events happening from day to day and the experience that the people of India are passing through confirm the opinion of Congressmen that British rule in India must end immediately, not merely because foreign domination, even at its best is an evil in itself and a continuing injury to the subjects people, but because India in bondage can play to effective part in defending herself and in affecting the fortunes of the war that is desolating humanity. The freedom of India is thus necessary not only in the interest of India, but also for the safety of the world and for the ending of Nazism, Fascism, militarism and other forms of imperialism and the aggression of one nation over another.

Hague rejects Pak plea on prisoners’ trial (1973)

New Delhi-The Inter national Court of Justice has refused to grant Pakistan’s request for an interim injunction against transfer by India of the 195 prisoners of war for war crimes trial in Bangladesh and said the court must first of all satisfy itself that it has jurisdiction to entertain the dispute.

India had challenged the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the Pakistan complaint in this respect by an eight-to-one order, the court also declined a Pakistan request for a postponement of the announcement of its decision in view of the forthcoming Indo-Pakistan talks in Islamabad to be held on July 24.

This request for a postponement, the court observes, shows that there is no urgency in the matter.

The court’s order was given at The Hague last night, according to official information reaching here.

The World Court has fixed Oct. 1 this year as the date for Pakistan filing its memorial on the issue of its jurisdiction and Dec. 15 for India to file its counter-memorial.

In its order, the court has also made it clear that it no longer has before it a request for interim measures which is to be treated as a matter of urgency.

The court has thus put the onus of proving the court’s jurisdiction on Pakistan.

The court has also acknowledges Pakistan’s reference to the forthcoming Islamabad talks and thus indirectly recognises the political aspects of the subject-matter of Pakistan’s case. Observers in New Delhi are of the view that the court’s order vindicates India’s stand in the matter in its substance.

Soft note after shrill rhetoric (2001)

New Delhi - A SEEMINGLY tense and grim General Pervez Musharraf arrived in New Delhi this morning (July 14). But by the evening it was clear that a calm and confident President Pervez Musharraf would be going to Agra.

The morning didn’t show the day. At his last engagement for the day, the banquet at Rashtrapati Bhawan, the man who is seen by many Indians as the architect of Kargil said: “The legacy of the past years is not a happy one...Blood has been spilt, precious lives have been lost...We must not allow the past to dictate the future.” All the General’s earlier belligerence was gone.

Musharraf appeared to be in unfamiliar territory upon his arrival. This is the General’s first major diplomatic trip: he hardly smiled; his handshakes appeared to lack warmth; and he acknowledged people with what looked like a cross between a salute and a wave.