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Musharraf has crossed threshold of lies: PM

By Amit Baruah

NEW YORK Sept. 15. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, launched a scathing attack on the Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, at a public meeting on Saturday night, saying that he had crossed the "threshold of lies''. Referring to the General's September 12 speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Vajpayee said, "Unhone kitni ghalat baten kahin. Jhoot bolne ke bhi had hoti hai." (He said such false things. There is a limit to telling lies.)

The Prime Minister, who warned the international community against flagging in the war against terrorism, said it was a "good thing'' that the country's highest court (the Supreme Court) had ended the controversy regarding the "saffronisation of education''.

Stating that the court had held that "no saffronisation was going on'', he said amid cheers from the audience: "Aur agar bhaguakaran ho bhi raha hai to kya aapati hai'' (And if saffronisation is going on, then what is the objection).

After a long pause, Mr. Vajpayee extolled the virtues of other "colours'' — including red and black. "Hamari shiksha agar hamari sanskriti se alag ho jaaye to shiksha ka kya labh hai?'' (If our education is divorced from our culture, then what use is this education?)

Mr. Vajpayee, who released a book in honour of Swami Vivekananda at a function organised by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, later addressed the public meeting at the same venue.

The meeting was organised by the Overseas Friends of the BJP and sponsored by a host of other groups, including the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, the overseas version of the RSS.

The Prime Minister dwelt at length on the meaning of the word secular — "fatwas'' were issued to say who was secular or not secular. A fight could develop over whether or not a political party believed in "secularism'' or not and several meanings could be attached to the word "secular''.

``We really believe in sarva dharma sambhav (respect for all religions), but we are called communal. Who can call Vivekananda communal,'' he asked.

Speaking in the broad context of the December 13 attack by Pakistan-based terrorists on the Parliament House Complex, he said they (the terrorists) claimed that they were fighting for freedom (azadi).

``Jab azadi ki larai chal rahi thi tab to inke purkhon ne kaam nahin diya. Tab to hissa nahin liya. Muslim League ne azadi ki larai nahin lari. Us samay bhi usne dange kiye,'' (when the freedom struggle was going on, their ancestors did not take part in it. The Muslim League did not take part. At that time, too, they organised riots) he said.

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