Pawar, Jaya seek Keshubhai Govt’s dismissal

Both Pawar and Jayalalitha were of the view that though the BJP leaders L K Advani and Vajpayee had distanced themselves from the VHP and the Bajrang Dal after the violence against the minorities, they could not fool the people with these steps. The present attacks on the minorities stemmed from the frustration within the BJP after the recent defeats it suffered at the hustings. Following the election debacles, many BJP leaders were of the view that only an aggressive Hindu line couldhelp them. Pawar also charged the BJP with attempting to consolidate the Hindu votes by attacking the minorities. BJP’s gameplan was to divide the minorities in the country including Christians, Muslims and tribals. “But I am confident that these plans will not work and the BJP is sure to receive a jolt,” Pawar said.

Senior Congress leaders would visit Gujarat and talk to the minority communities, including Muslims. They would also interact with the majority community to instill confidence among the masses, he said.

When his attention was drawn to the allegations that the violence was a fall-out of the conversions that took place, Pawar said his party had not come across a single instance of forcible conversion.

Taking cue from Pawar, the Congress strongly condemned the attacks on minorities in various parts of the country.

“The Constitution guarantees equal fundamental rights to every citizen and nobody has the right to suppress the voice of minority communities in the country,” Congress generalsecretary Meira Kumar told reporters here.

The Congress will not have alliance with any political party in the coming elections, she said. However, the party would not ignore the like-minded parties, Kumar added.

She also termed Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee as the “most inefficient Premier” and claimed that “progress of the country had almost stopped” during his regime.

Kumar said the victory of Congress in recent assembly elections had proved that the party had got a fresh boost under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi. “The recent elections were not a vote against the BJP, but a statement of support of the Congress,” she claimed.

Earlier, in a statement Jayalalitha said the Centre should either make the Gujarat ministry live up to its constitutional commitment to ensure the security of minorities or dismiss it. Gujarat has become a blot on the fair name of India, provoking international attention and condemnation. Referring to the statements made by the Prime Minister and Union HomeMinister L K Advani on the attacks on Christians, she said “there have been a lot of words. Now it is time for action that will preserve and protect the rights of the minorities in the home state of Mahatma Gandhi.”

Whether a Government is run by one’s own party or an opposition party, the same yardstick should be applied, Jayalalitha said. While the Centre recommended President’s rule in Bihar, it had not done so in Tamil Nadu, where “terrorists are openly operating under the tacit protection of the authorities,” she alleged.

Attacks politically motivated: Naidu

HYDERABAD: Obviously referring to the recent attacks on minorities in Gujarat, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today cautioned people against “vested interests” which were trying to divide them in the name of caste and religion, to derive political mileage.

The Chief Minister termed the recent attacks on religious places as “politically motivated” and aimed at wooing the voters. He, of course, did not refer to any politicalparty or group. However, he said that the people would not encourage such heinous acts, as they were a hindrance to development.