Sonia asks Congress CMs to be vigilant

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI, OCT. 31. Concerned over the communal flare-up in Malegaon in Maharashtra and at reports of growing communal tension in the country, the Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, has directed her party Chief Ministers to be extra vigilant and to maintain communal harmony at all costs. She has spoken to many of them to ensure that the minorities do not feel insecure and has directed the AICC general secretaries looking after the Congress-ruled States to monitor the situation.

Ms. Gandhi has spoken to the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh, the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Mr. Ashok Gehlot and the Kerala Chief Minister, Mr. A.K. Antony. Disturbed over the turn of events in Malegaon and over reports of ``police high- handedness, she urged Mr. Deshmukh to act swiftly and decisively to prevent the situation from getting out of hand. She was reportedly keen on visiting Malegaon last Monday during her visit to Maharashtra, but had to give up her plans on the advice of the State authorities.

The Congress has been striving hard to recover its support base among the minorities and the leadership realises that unless it ensures protection to the life and liberty of the minorities in the States under its control, its voice will carry little conviction with them. Ms. Gandhi has been repeatedly showcasing the Congress-ruled State Governments as a model and with the Uttar Pradesh elections round the corner, the party realises that unless Malegaon is brought under control and similar incidents are averted in other States the issue will be exploited by its rivals.

The heightened communal tension figured at Tuesday's CWC meeting. Ms. Gandhi raised the issue at the all-party meeting.

There have been rumblings within the Congress over the action of the Maharashtra police in Malegaon. The chairman of the AICC's minority department and former Chief Minister, Mr. A.R. Antulay, likened the police firing in Malegaon to the bombing of the World Trade Center in the U.S. and the bombing of civilians in Afghanistan. He saw little wrong in the call to boycott foreign goods. ``This was a move started by the father of the nation himself,'' he said.

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Section  : National
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