The Hindu : DPCC hunger strike continues

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 22, 2002

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DPCC hunger strike continues

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI APRIL 21. The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee under the leadership of its president, Subhash Chopra, today continued its hunger fast seeking the ouster of the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, for the "unabated communal carnage'' in the State.

While Congress workers sat on a hunger fast at the Uttam Nagar Terminal in West Delhi demanding restoration of communal harmony and peace in Gujarat, they also carried placards and banners condemning the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Government at the Centre for aiding and abetting the perpetrators of violence in Gujarat.

A large number of intellectuals, traders, school children, representatives of minority communities and the general public participated in the hunger fast. A visitor's book was kept at the venue for people to register their impressions on the communal violence in Gujarat.

Those who participated in the fast included Member of Parliament from Outer Delhi, Sajjan Kumar; DPCC Spokesperson, Mukesh Sharma, Mahabal Mishra, Mahendra Singh Yadav and two Delhi Government ministers -- Mahender Singh Saathi and Raj Kumar Chauhan.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Subhash Chopra said the time has come for people to take to the streets protesting against the crimes of the BJP who were bent upon dividing the country on casteist and communist lines. The BJP, he said, has flouted all democratic norms to keep Narendra Modi in power despite ample proof of the Chief Minister's direct involvement in communal violence in Gujarat.

Echoing similar sentiments, Mr. Sajjan Kumar also criticised the BJP for going out of the way to shield Narendra Modi. The Congress agitation over the past few days has woken the eyes of the people who were now baying for the ouster of Modi, he stated.

Mr. Mukesh Sharma said the DPCC will organise corner meetings and street plays along with hunger fasts till Narendra Modi is ousted from power. He said the BJP was making an unsuccessful bid to divide the country along communal lines but the vigilant Congress party will not allow the great democratic traditions to be violated at any cost to ensure the unity, stability and integrity of the country. The Congress party, he added, would continue its hunger strike by holding a fast at the Raghubir Nagar Chowk in South Delhi tomorrow.

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