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Journalism of Courage
All major political parties today called for the resignation of Advani and Joshi.
All India Congress Committee general secretary Mukul Wasnik had said earlier in the day that all Union ministers, including Advani, chargesheeted in the case should resign. He was talking to reporters at the Chennai Airport after attending a meet of Pondicherry unit of Mahila Congress workers.
The Lok Janashakti Party also called for the immediate resignations of Advani and Human Resource Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi. Party president Ram Vilas Paswan said that the statements by kar sevaks proved beyond doubt that Advani, Joshi and other BJP leaders had instigated them to demolish the structure in Ayodhya.
‘‘These people should resign from their ministerial posts since they no longer have a moral ground to continue,’’ Paswan said, adding that it was wrong to maintain that the demolition of the Masjid was not a criminal act as ‘‘thousands of lives have been lost because of the Ramjanambhoomi issue’’.
Urging President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to advise Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee to remove Advani and Joshi, the CPI (M-L), in a letter to Kalam, said: ‘‘In view of the specific allegations, the status of the two Union ministers has become untenable.’’
Alleging that the BJP’s agenda was only to spread communalism and hatred, he said ‘‘innocent people in Gujarat are being framed under false cases while riot-damaged temples and mosques are not being repaired’’.
‘‘The PM should call for the resignation of his two Cabinet colleagues to uphold the principles of democracy,’’ Nationalist Congress Party general secretary Tariq Anwar said in a release. He added ‘‘inclusion of the duo in the Union Cabinet was a mockery of the rule of law and amounted to an insult to India’s Constitution.’’
NDA ally DMK, however, steered clear of such demand. ‘‘It is an issue between the Congress and BJP’’, party chief M. Karunanidhi said in Chennai.
