Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Vasan for uniting secular forces

CHENNAI: Union Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation G.K.Vasan has said the recent communal violence in Orissa and Karnataka had strengthened the need for unity of all secular forces and to support various measures being taken by the Central Government.

In a statement here on Monday, Mr.Vasan said the “planned violence” against a minority community in these two states only showed that communal forces were trying to gain political mileage by exploiting the people’s sentiment. It was unfortunate that the Orissa Government had failed to utilise the services of paramilitary forces sent by the Central Government to contain the violence.

He wanted all criminal cases filed in connection with recent incidents should be handed over to the CBI for fair trial.