Date:04/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/04/stories/2008120455271000.htm

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India will not be cowed down: Sonia

Shujaat Bukhari

URI: Congress president and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi asserted on Wednesday that India would not be cowed down by acts of terror.

“We are ready to give a fitting reply to terrorists,” she said at an election rally in this border town of Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir.

For friendly ties

India was a peace-loving nation and peace was a pre-requisite for the development of any nation. Without naming Pakistan, she said India always wanted friendly relations with its neighbours.

Ms. Gandhi said:

“We have made progress in this direction with this spirit. But if anyone considers it our weakness, they are mistaken.

“I want to make it clear that India would never be cowed down by these acts of terror which claim innocent lives. Our history is one of sacrifices. So we are ready to give a befitting reply to the terrorists.

“Terrorism had no religion. Terrorists worked against democratic principles. But we want to fight terrorism with the power of democracy.”

Reiterating her party’s commitment to take the State to new heights of development, she said, “While we are for strengthening democratic institutions, we are ready to hold talks with every type of people. But those who work against the basic principles of humanity would never be invited for talks.”

Ms. Gandhi lauded the State people for actively participating in the ongoing Assembly elections. “People have shown that they believe in the democratic process. I hope that this has sent out a message to those who believe in boycott politics. They should come forward to participate in the electoral process.”

Highlighting the achievements of the coalition government, she said they had changed the course of the State’s development.

Ms. Gandhi, who was accompanied by PCC chief Saifuddin Soz, the former Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Prithvi Raj Chauhan, assured the people that her party would work for giving Scheduled Tribe status to the Pahari community.

Ms. Gandhi was campaigning for her party nominee Taj Mohiuddin.