The Hindu : Maintaining peace imperative: BJP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 27, 2002

National

National

Maintaining peace imperative: BJP

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI SEPT. 26. In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar, the Bharatiya Janata Party has come to the conclusion that maintaining unity and peace within the country is imperative, no matter what the provocation. And, there is also the view that the Government must intensify its efforts to "totally eliminate" and "wipe out the terrorist menace" from the country.

The party's two-hour emergency national executive committee here this afternoon was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, and chaired by the party president, Venkaiah Naidu. The Prime Minister was expected but his chair remained vacant.

The party felt that something more needed to be done by the Government, that it could not depend on the United States for applying enough pressure on Pakistan to stop the proxy war against India, that increasingly the situation was becoming "intolerable" for citizens who were not willing to take terrorist barbarity lying down. This view was expressed in a two-page resolution adopted at the meeting which politely told the Government that "it was time now to take further steps to totally eliminate and wipe out the terrorist menace".

This bitter truth was made easier to swallow by complimenting the Government and the security agencies for the manner in which they handled the Akshardham attack, for its success in creating international awareness of Pakistan's nefarious designs, but clearly the view was that this was not enough. Much more needed to be done.

Mr. Advani, who briefed the meeting on the Gandhinagar incident, said the Government had been able to win many battles against terrorism, but the ongoing Pakistan-sponsored proxy war was yet to be won.

One suggestion was the creation of a national register of citizens through the issue of multi-purpose identity cards. It was also stated that the problem of infiltration be taken seriously and internal security arrangements reviewed.

But above all, as Mr. Naidu said, "the BJP is realising that allowing terrorist acts to result in rioting against the minority community can only fulfil Pakistani designs which have the larger aim of disrupting the country's social fabric and deflecting national energy away from issues of development". This was also reflected in the resolution which said the "need of the hour is for a change in the mindset (of people) for promoting solidarity". To this end, it was decided that October 1 would be observed as anti-terrorism day by the BJP.

There was relief in the party that the all-India "bandh" called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad today passed off peacefully.

The party congratulated the people of India, "particularly the people of Gujarat" for the calm and peaceful manner in which they reacted to this "grave provocation".

The party said Pakistan launched the Gujarat attack because it had not been able to disrupt Jammu and Kashmir elections.

Condolences were offered to the families of victims, complements to security personnel. The meeting was attended by nearly 50 members, including three former party presidents, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kushabhau Thakre and Bangaru Laxman and Arun Shourie, Cabinet Minister.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National