The Hindu : House condemns Kashmir killings, attack on Iraq

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 27, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

House condemns Kashmir killings, attack on Iraq

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI March 26. The Assembly today unanimously condemned the massacre of 24 innocent Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir by terrorists and the United States - led attack on Iraq "despite stiff opposition by various nations and disregarding the United Nations."

The Speaker, K.Kalimuthu, moved the resolutions, immediately after question hour.

The resolution on Monday's attack on Kashmir Hindus said the incident had shown how brutal extremists and terrorists could be and that they had no respect for human values. The incident created doubts among people whether "we are living in a civilised country or in a stone age". Any issue, the resolution said, could be settled through talks. Unfortunately, extremism did not believe in either democracy or negotiation, but banks heavily on terrorism. Those who believed in human values would definitely condemn the incident.

Expressing its condolences to the bereaved families, the House urged the Centre to take necessary steps to put an end to terrorist activities.

On Iraq, the resolution said the arbitrary attack by the U.S. and its allied forces without any provocation and in violation of the U.N. should be condemned. It urged the Indian Government to bring pressure with the help of other nations to force the withdrawal of the U.S. and its allied forces, besides ensuring peace in Iraq.

`Protect minorities'

The massacre of Hindus in Kashmir evoked sharp reaction from organisations in Tamil Nadu, which demanded immediate action against the culprits and called for steps to protect the lives of the minorities in the troubled State.

In a statement, A.M.Abdul Kader, State president, Indian National League, described the killings as an act against humanity and said those responsible should be tried as per the law and given even capital punishment.

The Hindu Munnani faulted the Jammu and Kashmir Government's "healing touch" policy for the massacre.

Mere issuance of statements of condemnation and condolence would not suffice and the Deputy Prime Minister should come out with a firm action plan to put down terrorism, the general secretary, J.Nagendran, said.

Calling for restraint on the part of parties, the Thamizhnadu Brahmin Association's president, N. Narayanan, said they should not blame one another for such heinous crimes. He appealed to the Centre and State Governments to work out measures to prevent such killings from recurring.

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House condemns Kashmir killings, attack on Iraq