Saturday, Sep 21, 2002
Saturday, Sep 21, 2002 |
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By Vinay Kumar
Talking exclusively to The Hindu on his return from Mumbai this morning, Mr. Advani felt that such utterances should not have come from a Chief Minister. Asked about Mr. Modi's controversial speech, he said that an individual's (Mr. Modi's) public criticism at a time when the party was in the election mode in Gujarat would only "weaken the party.'' However, he hastened to add that the BJP, as a party, also did not approve of Mr. Modi's controversial remarks. On the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's reported plan of circulating the audio tapes of Mr. Modi's speeches which reportedly contain objectionable remarks vis-a-vis Muslims, Mr. Advani said Hindu organisations should not become counterparts of Islamic fundamentalism. He said the riots, violence and killings in Gujarat in February-March were a "matter of shame'' and a blot on the Government which in the past four years had provided a riot-free atmosphere. He said all his speeches in both the Houses of Parliament reflected his "deep distress'' over the Gujarat riots. "Even during my visit to London last month, I said that the Gujarat riots were a blot on our Government and a matter of shame. I met two Muslim representatives in London from the British Council of Masjids who came from the British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw's constituency. I told them that nobody was defending the riots in Gujarat, it was indefensible, but in the past too bad riots had been sparked by small incidents and here it was a horrendous holocaust. "While quelling the riots, nearly 200 people were killed in police firing in Gujarat but the policemen still get the blame.'' In one incident, police shifted 400 school children to safety from a madrassa in Bhavnagar to the proper city and the effort was acknowledged in the Lok Sabha by the CPI(M) leader, Somnath Chatterjee. Answering queries on the current Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls, Mr. Advani said the most important task remained the "peaceful, free and fair'' conduct of elections in the State. "After the polls, we will see what kind of combination comes to power and talk to it on devolution of powers to the State. The post-poll scenario will also show how international pressure on Pakistan will affect its attitude to terrorism,'' he said. Pakistan would have to dismantle the infrastructure of terror machinery on its soil, wind up training camps and cut off the financial lifeline to the terrorist organisations before a dialogue could be started with it.
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