Opposition for ban on Bajrang Dal too

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 28. The Centre's decision to ban the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) evoked a mixed reaction from political parties. While the BJP, welcomed the decision, the Opposition parties described it as a ``political motivated move taken with an eye on the coming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.'' The Opposition was unanimous in suggesting a ban on the Bajrang Dal too.

The BJP was unreserved in welcoming the ban on the SIMI, which, it alleged, had links with the ISI of Pakistan. It was confident that the Government had ``adequate proof'' of this and the SIMI's involvement in several bomb blasts here.

``The SIMI has become a recruitment centre for future terrorists,'' the party general secretary, Mr Narendra Modi, said, even as he came down heavily on ``parties'' - the finger was pointing at the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party particularly - who have ``not yet decided whether they are with the terrorists or with the humanitarians.''

Even as the BJP demanded a ban on other organisations as well which were active in the North-East, in Jammu and Kashmir, and those behind the Coimbatore blasts, it categorically stated that there was no need for a ban on organisations such as the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad because a tribunal had found them working within the Constitution. Mr. Modi said, in the case of the Shiv Sena, the Sri Krishna Commission had not said that it was a terrorist organisation.

Mr. Modi refused to name the organisations the BJP thought were fit for a ban. He was also not willing to admit that the SIMI ban may have more to do with the coming Uttar Pradesh elections and less with terrorism. The BJP-led Government, he said, had not imposed the ban with the narrow purpose of polarising the votes in U.P. along communal lines.

Ill-timed, says Cong.

The Congress termed the action as ``ill-timed.'' In a statement, the party spokesperson, Mr. Jaipal Reddy, said ``the international situation was very tense'' and it is not in the national interest to disturb the domestic scene. He charged the BJP with being far more interested in reaping the electoral harvest in U.P. by seeking to divide people on communal lines.

Accusing the BJP of abandoning even the pretence of sectarian neutrality, Mr. Reddy said that while banning the SIMI, the Government had turned a blind eye to the ``nefarious record'' of organisations such as the Bajrang Dal. The Congress maintained that the ``naked attempt to fan communal discord would not help the BJP in U.P.''

The CPI(M) has demanded that the Government come out with full information on the basis on which it has imposed the ban. In a statement, the party's Politburo pointed out that there were organisations such as the Bajrang Dal, whose activities were inimical to the national unity, and charged the Centre with remaining silent on such disruptive activities.

The party also condemned the ``indiscriminate'' police firing in Lucknow where three youth have lost their lives. The Rajnath Singh Government, given its communal bias, will try to use the prevailing atmosphere to target the minority community. All the democratic forces must strongly resist such moves, it said.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) charged the Government with taking a ``politically motivated step'' with an eye on the coming Assembly elections, especially in U.P. and Uttaranchal. The move was an attempt to divert the attention of the people from the Government which has failed to perform, it said.

The party's Vice President, Ms. Mayawati, sharing the CPI(M)'s view that activities of the Bajrang Dal and Sangh Parivar outfits such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and RSS were not being taken into account, accused the BJP-led government of adopting double standards by not imposing a ban on these outfits, especially the Bajrang Dal. The move would vitiate the communal harmony. The Government did not even bother to take the Opposition leaders into confidence when the Prime Minister held a meeting yesterday to discuss the situation in the wake of terrorist attacks in the United States, she said.

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