Commending the people of Gujarat for “the resilience” shown by them in the wake of the terror strikes, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said such attempts to destroy the social fabric and demoralise people would not succeed.Accompanied by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Singh met Chief Minister Narendra Modi and visited the injured at the Civil Hospital and LG Hospital. He said he had come to express “our solidarity with the people of Gujarat in their hour of crisis”.“I commend the people of Gujarat for the resilience they have shown. These terrorist acts are aimed at destroying our social fabric, undermining communal harmony and demoralising our people,” he said.Singh announced enhancement of ex-gratia payment from Rs one lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh each to next of kin of those killed in the terror attacks.“In this hour of tragedy, my heart goes of to those who have lost their near and dear ones and my deepest prayers for the departed souls. I offer my sympathy to those injured. As the people of Gujarat have shown so admirably, we will rise to the challenge and I am confident we will be able to defeat these forces,” the Prime Minister said.While Sonia Gandhi and Modi kept their distance — state Congress president Siddharth Patel claimed they did not exchange a single word (both were involved in bitter exchanges during last year`s Assembly elections) — the Chief Minister told the PM that the blasts in Ahmedabad should not be viewed as a terrorist act in isolation.The masterminds of the terrorist attacks are not within the boundaries of the country. Therefore, it is for theGovernment of India to take up the responsibility to trace and apprehend them,¿ Modi said.Requesting the Prime Minister to strengthen the security and intelligence network across the country, Modi advocated formation of an All India Intelligence Service on the lines of the IAS and IPS to ¿bring professionalism¿ in the intelligence wing.He said that Central intelligence agencies should not behave in a casual and routine manner¿ and merely pass on intelligence inputs to the states. ¿There has to be proactive, sincere, organised and continuous efforts to unearth terrorist activities, networks and their designs by intelligence agencies¿, he said.According to Modi, there is a need to modernise the police force and intelligence machinery and states have to be assisted adequately by the Centre.
