Mulayam gets `right’ number of SP workers to court arrest

For the time being, however, Mulayam decided to play along with the administration, acceding to the city administration’s request and asking only 1,500 of his party workers too court arrest. The reason being that the administration had said that it couldn’t accommodate any more people in the city’s jails.

Continuing the spirit of co-operation, the police made elaborate security arrangements and the party workers refrained from indulging in unruly behaviour, ensuring that the march passed off peacefully.

The government-bashing continued at the Collectorate where Mulayam Singh lambasted the BJP-led governments whose policies had angered every community and section of society. Its foreign policy too had failed, he added.

“Atal Behari Vajpayee went to the US as the Prime Minister but returned asa Swayamsevak,” he charged and said that the Prime Minister’s visit was a failure. He could neither get Pakistan declared a terrorist state nor could he get sanctions imposed on the country lifted, Mulayam said. He also condemned the lathi-charge on advocates at Etah, pointing out that the state government’s insensitive could be gauged from the fact that instead of accepting their demands for the transfer of the ADM, it had ordered a lathi-charge.

Further down on his list was the harassment of minorities. “I am not against the arrest of Muslims who are really ISI agents but (I am) against dubbing the entire Muslim community as ISI agents,” he said, adding: “My party still favours a mahasangh of Pakistan and India as with this, peacecan return to the region.” But in the same breath, Mulayam said he considered Pakistan an enemy because it was supporting terrorists. Eliminating terrorists and their bases, and not the division of Jammu and Kashmir into three parts, can bring peace to the state, he added.

Next it was time to sympathise with the farmers, who, Mulayam said, were virtually crying as there were no buyers for their paddy even for Rs 300 per quintal. Government agencies were not purchasing paddy by describing it inferior.

“Farmers of the country can produce more than 50 crore tonnes of grain butthe Government’s policy is coming in the way,” he said. Edible oilproduction in the country had come down to 60 per cent because of theGovernment’s import policies.