Attacks could have been prevented: NCM

The commission, soon after its fact-finding committee toured Gujarat in August last year, quot;had warned that Gujarat incidents could be re-enacted elsewhere and suggested remedial steps,quot; he said.

Mahmood, who handed over an exhaustive report on the recent attacks on Christians in Gujarat to President K R Narayanan on Monday, said, 8220;Though the Gujarat Government was receptive to the commission8217;s suggestions, there were no visible resultsquot;.

He said the 125-page report has elaborately dealt with the recoversionissue8217; and also those groups involved in the violence in the State.

Declining to divulge details on the contents of the report, he said among other things, the report contains a list of individuals and families affected in the incidents and recommendations for adequate compensation to the victims.

The report is based on the findings of the commission8217;s two-member special bench which toured Gujarat and examined the statements made by senior State Government officials as well as the Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Hindu Jagran Manch, he said.

The written statements by the state chief secretary, director general of police, the district collectors quot;on oathquot; and the submissions of various organisations were also annexed in the report, the NCM chairman said.

Besides, the report contains two previous 8216;Gujarat reports8217; sent to Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel in September and December last year.

He said the report had two lists of victims and loss of property, one verified by the StateGovernment and the other submitted by non-governmental agencies.

First-hand reports of quot;independent watchersquot; outside the commission based in the State had also been attached in the document submitted to the President without divulging their names, he added.

On the brutal killing of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his sons Philip and Timothy in Orissa and the communal flare-ups in Mangalore and Surathkal in Karnataka, Mahmood said separate reports of the two-member team 8211; K Neminath and Dr James Massay 8211; have been submitted to him and quot;the final report will be submitted to the government soonquot;.

India facing bigger threat from inside: Nagaland CM

KOHIMA: Nagaland Chief Minister S C Jamir has said the country was currently facing quot;a bigger threat from inside than outsidequot; and apprehended that the 8220;edifice of secularism was gradually being dismantled by communal forces.8221;

The attacks on minorities and the killing of Australian missionary Graham Stewart Steines were indications of aneventual breakdown of secularism, Jamir told reporters yesterday.

The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee also recommended strong action against organisations or individuals destroying the spirit of secularism with a view to imposing quot;fundamentalist and communal regimequot; in the country.

In a meeting here yesterday, the NPCC resolved that the BJP-led coaltion at the Centre had failed to protect minorities due to their quot;lack of perception of secularismquot;.

quot;The emergence of fundamentalist organisations like VHP, RSS and Bajrang Dal are the limbs of the ruling BJP and pose serious threat to the unity and integrity of the country,quot; the NPCC resolution alleged.

Meanwhile in Dimapur, a memorandum adopted at a rally organised by the Joint Christian Forum, expressed concern at the attacks on Christians and their institutions in the country.

The memorandum will be submitted to the President and Prime Minister demanding Justice and protection to minorities.