Date:03/07/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/07/03/stories/2002070304180100.htm

Front Page

PM's intervention worked

By Harish Khare

New Delhi July 2. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, is reported to have impressed upon the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, to make the State BJP reconsider its decision to take out a `gaurav rath yatra'. Later, Mr. Vajpayee informed a delegation of NGOs and concerned citizens, led by the former Prime Minister, Inder Kumar Gujral, that the `yatra' was off.

The proposed `yatra' was scheduled to begin on July 4 in various parts of Gujarat. The idea was to celebrate the ``new mood of assertiveness'' in the majority community after the recent communal carnage. The Chief Minister himself was to lead one of the `yatras'. Critics of the State Government and the BJP were apprehensive that the `yatra' would needlessly vitiate the atmosphere.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday warned the State Government against the `yatra'. The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, also wrote to the Prime Minister last week, drawing his attention to the `incendiary potential' of these `yatras' all over Gujarat. Today the former Cabinet Minister, Ram Vilas Paswan, staged a dharna in Ahmedabad against the `yatras'. On the other hand, the State Government was so far maintaining that these `yatras' were intended to inculcate a `mood of peace' in the minds of the people of riot-torn Gujarat.

It appears that this morning Mr. Vajpayee called up the Union Home Minister, Lal Kishen Advani (who was, according to one report, scheduled to flag-off the Modi `yatra'), and indicated to him that the `yatra' was, after all, not such a good idea. This view was immediately conveyed to Mr. Modi who, in turn, rang up the Prime Minister to inform him that the programme was being cancelled. Mr. Vajpayee made the intervention after presiding over a meeting of senior officials from Gujarat, where he was informed of the nature of the relief and rehabilitation efforts undertaken so far. Besides the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Secretary and senior officials from the Prime Minister's Office attended the meeting, while Gujarat was represented by the Chief Secretary, Subba Rao, the Relief Commissioner and the Collectors concerned. The Prime Minister wanted to be briefed on the State Government's relief measures before the Gujral-led delegation came.

However, it was during this meeting that the Prime Minister could infer from the State officials' remarks the intended mischief in these `gaurav yatras'. The implications of the Chief Minister's association with the exercise were also perhaps obvious. Mr. Modi and his colleagues continue to show no remorse over the unprecedented communal violence that engulfed the State after the Godhra incident on February 28.

In the evening the Gujral delegation included, among others, prominent citizens such as Muckund Dubey, B.G.Verghese, Rajinder Sachar and Harsh Mander. The delegation came with a specific request that the relief camps should not be closed down and that the riot-victims should not be forced to go back to their homes as they still felt insecure.

It was pointed out to the delegation that the State Government was apprehensive that some of these camps were likely to get inundated in the ensuing monsoon season and therefore it had made an offer that the riot-victims could move to other camps. However, the delegation voiced the victims' preference to stay in camps closer to their homes. Eventually, it was agreed that no one would be forced to move out of the relief camps against his/her wish, but it was decided that the some of the NGOs involved in the relief work would associate themselves with the State Government's efforts to see which of the camps would be feasibly sustained.

However, the traditional Jagannath Yatra, which takes place every year in Ahmedabad, remains unchanged and, as of now, is scheduled for July 12. This `yatra' had often in the past become an occasion for communal clashes.