Sonia sends veiled message to AIADMK

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JULY 19. In a veiled but stinging message to her ally, AIADMK, the Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, has said the ``recent events'' in Tamil Nadu have given a ``new urgency'' to focus attention on human rights.

Packing her message to the State Congress' convention on human rights here today with implicit suggestions to the AIADMK leadership, Ms. Gandhi said it was the duty of ``all those in positions of power'' to demonstrate through their own conduct the value they attach to human rights.

``If the message from the leadership is clear and unwavering (on human rights), then the entire Government machinery and law enforcement will follow suit'', she said, possibly referring to the alleged police excesses during the recent arrest of the former Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi.

The Congress condemned the ``manner'' of the arrest of Mr. Karunanidhi in the wee hours of June 30, even while opposing the BJP-led NDA's moves to invoke Article 356 and dismiss the AIADMK Government.

In the opening paragraph of her message which could further sour the AIADMK-Congress ties, the Congress president said the State convention on human rights had come at a timely moment. ``It will focus attention on this crucial subject at a time when recent events in the State have given it a new urgency''.

Ms. Gandhi went on to state that Constitutional provisions, on their own, were not adequate. And, it was the duty of all those in positions of leadership - in politics, administration or business - to be vigilant so that every citizen's human rights were respected, she insisted.

For democracy to function properly, it was equally important for the Press to play its role, both as a watchdog and to raise an awareness among the population at large of human rights, Ms. Gandhi noted.

The Congress MP from Sivaganga and Tamil Nadu Congress Human Rights cell chairman, Mr. E. M. Sudarshana Natchiappan, who read out Ms. Gandhi's message, issued a clear warning to the AIADMK that the party would take the lead in opposing the Government if it resorted to ``corruption and anarchy''.

In a retaliation to the AIADMK leader, Mr. K. A. Sengottaiyan's criticism of the Congress leadership, Mr. Natchiappan said the AIADMK general secretary, Ms. Jayalalithaa, should realise that his party was a powerful force which could cause a ``revolution''. Even while hitting out at the DMK for its ``five- year misrule'', he said it was the Congress which gave ``political recognition'' to the AIADMK in its inception, and brought Ms. Jayalalithaa to power in 1991 and 2001, and now stalled the Centre's move to dislodge the AIADMK regime.

Inaugurating the convention, the AICC Human Rights Cell Chairman, Mr. Justice Rengannath Mishra, called upon the Congressmen to make human rights their ``culture and way of life''. Lamenting that voters had been neglected, he urged politicians to modulate and adapt their behaviour in keeping with human rights.

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