The Hindu : Deal resolutely with religious extremism, MP tells Advani

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 17, 2002

National

National

Deal resolutely with religious extremism, MP tells Advani

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MARCH 16 . Armed with appeals from people in distress, `hostile' pamphlets and `revealing' reports, the Congress MP, Eduardo Faleiro, has written to the Union Home Minister, L.K. Advani, asking him to deal ``resolutely with all forms of religious extremism in an even-handed rather than in a selective manner.''

Releasing the letter to the press today, Mr. Faleiro said he had been receiving messages from various parts of Gujarat after he toured the State as a member of the Congress delegation. ``Things are far from normal in Gujarat... defenceless people of all communities are being attacked and are dying,'' he said to buttress his demand for Army deployment in the State.

Of the view that no judge of Gujarat could be fair while investigating the violence, the Rajya Sabha member said the K.G. Shah Commission appointed by the State Government ought to be replaced by one headed by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court or any High Court outside Gujarat.

Given the role of the Gujarat police in the riots, Mr. Faleiro has also demanded that the criminal investigation be handed over to the CBI.

Another issue he has raised pertains to intelligence failure as newspapers had carried reports of Bajrang Dal activists on the Sabarmati Express beating up members of a particular community and forcing them to shout `Jai Sri Ram' prior to the Godhra incident.

Similarly, he has questioned the State Government's position that the riots were a reaction to the Godhra incident as the VHP chairman in Gujarat, Keshav Ram Kashiram Shastri, is on record stating that shops in Ahmedabad were looted on the basis of a list prepared by the VHP.

He has also urged the Government to take action against organisations that had issued pamphlets calling for a boycott of shops run by members of a particular community and products made by them.

Mr. Faleiro has also included a demand for early imposition of President's rule in Goa. Stating that the budget for 2002-03 had not been passed, he said the only way to pull Goa out of `sure financial doldrums' was to impose President's rule so that the Centre can intervene.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National