The Hindu : Parties ask people to remain calm

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 26, 2002

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National

Parties ask people to remain calm

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI SEPT. 25. Across the political spectrum, parties strongly and unequivocally condemned the terrorist attack on the Swaminarayan temple in Gandhinagar, and appealed to the people to remain calm and not be provoked by the grim tragedy that unfolded in Gujarat last night.

It seemed that the communal carnage in Gujarat since February had chastened the two main parties — the Bharatiya Janata Party was cautious and emphasised the need to maintain peace and the Congress high command even distanced itself from the `bandh' call given by its State unit.

The Samajwadi Party leader, Mulayam Singh Yadav, however, did not hesitate to criticise the Government. He was reported from Gorakhpur to have demanded the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, for his inability to do his job and described yesterday's incident as more proof of the "shameful failure'' of the Vajpayee Government in containing terrorism.

The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, flew to Gandhinagar this afternoon accompanied by the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Manmohan Singh, and the general secretary in-charge of Gujarat, Kamal Nath, to visit the temple complex and meet the injured in the civil hospital.

In a message, she said the "evil and barbaric assault on a sacred place of worship . . . was an attack on humanity itself and on all the fine values of our culture and our civilisation''. Sharing the grief and pain of those who had lost a relative or a friend "for I know what it means to lose one's loved ones in a terrorist attack'', she also pledged her party's full support to fighting terrorism, fanaticism and the hatred that was threatening to tear the country apart.

The BJP president, Venkaiah Naidu, has cancelled his programmes for the next two days and has called a meeting of party office-bearers and executive committee members here tomorrow afternoon. Mr. Advani will attend the meeting where the political fallout of the terrorist attack is expected to be discussed and the party's political strategy worked out. The party is apprehensive of another communal carnage which, after all, may not work to its political advantage.

In a statement here, the general secretary and spokesperson, Arun Jaitley, said the attack could have been the result of frustration among terrorists because of the successful completion of the first two phases of polling in Jammu and Kashmir. It is a "testing time for all of us . . . the need of the hour is unity, calm and peace,'' he said; urging people not to be provoked by the attack. Also, he suggested that the terrorists probably wanted to "disrupt the social fabric of the civil society of Gujarat'' which had been restored to normality in the last few months.

Mr. Jaitley said the BJP was neither opposing nor supporting the `bandh' calls given by the Congress for today and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad for tomorrow. "But we will ensure that no violence results from these calls.'' In response to questions, he said he did not think this incident should be used to postpone elections in the State beyond November-December; after all, elections were held in Jammu in the constituency where an attack took place very near a polling station the day before polling.

He also said Mr. Advani's boast in Gandhinagar of a "major achievement'' in the handling of the temple attack related to the prevention of more casualties and a hostage situation rather than an attempt to take credit.

The Congress was apologetic about the statement made by the PCC president, Shankarsinh Waghela, that the Government should stop talking about cross-border terrorism and instead should "cross the border''. The Congress supported the Government's efforts to stop terrorism and infiltration, but was not in favour of crossing the Line of Control, nor did it favour the "hot pursuit'' idea, the party spokesperson, Jaipal Reddy, said.

Party sources suggested that the Gujarat unit's call for `bandh' had not found favour with the high command, but it was too late to call it off last night. The State unit was then told not to mobilise people for the `bandh' but to use it to mourn for the dead and protest against the attack. The attack was a "national calamity'' and should not be used for partisan politics or to foment sectarian discord.

For the moment, the Congress is wary of criticising the Government's handling of the situation and the BJP is fearful of the situation going back to what it was in March.

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