Advantage Outsiders
With the balance tilted against it, the Taliban regime will soon find itself vanquished.

Lull Before The Storm
Amid calls for a quick and decisive end to the conflict, Afghanistan has been abuzz with talk of an imminent Northern Alliance ground war against the Taliban.

History's Pointers
The Soviet Union's 10 years campaign in Afghanistan — a conflict that led to a humiliating withdrawal and, some say, its eventual breakup
— can be a learning experience for
the US.

NEWSNOTES

AJIT JOGI
The Chattisgarh chief minister has been declared a Scheduled Caste by the National SC/ST panel

Q. Are you a tribal?
A. Yes and I belong to the Kanwar community. My ancestral hamlet is called Jogi Dongri and is located in Pendra Road block of Bilaspur district in Chhattisgarh.

Q. How do you view the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes' findings?
A. Under Article 338(5) of the Constitution it has no jurisdiction to investigate a matter of this nature and whatever it is trying to do is patently illegal and politically motivated.

Q. There have been two such cases in the high court.
A. Yes, in 1989 and 2001 and they have both been decided in my favour. In fact, in the second case the petitioner was penalised by the high court for raising frivolous matters.

Q. What are these documents that the panel chairman Dilip Bhuria has cited?
A. These are the very documents rejected by the courts. I have a certificate from the competent authority dated as far back as 1967. Bhuria has decided the case on his whims and other members of the commission have refused to sign the final order.

Q. Do you suspect the role of your partymen who have also been raising this issue?
A. No. It is the BJP functionaries who are involved. The petitioner Sant Kumar Netam and Bhuria are both members of the BJP.

—Neeraj Mishra

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