6 May 2002

DIVIDED THEY STAND UNITED ON GUJARAT ISSUE

From Jal Khambata

NEW DELHI: Removal of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the commual riots continuing past two months was once again empathatically ruled out on Monday by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani in the Rajya Sabha that passed a motion on the violence by a voice vote after a fierce verbal battle for three days dividing the House vertically.

Vajpayee made a disclosure that the Bhartiya Janata Party had made up its mind for change of leadership in the state before going to Goa for its national executive, but the decision was dropped following an indepth assessment that the situation would only worsen if Modi were changed.

Advani also endorsed Vajpayee's disclosure, stressing that removal of Modi demanded by the Opposition vehemently was no solution to restoring peace in Gujarat. He, however, added a new element by revealing intercepts of messages from across the border to certain terrorist outfits to give financial and other help for continuence of violence in the state.

Even without the House passing a motion to implore the Centre to take steps under Article 355 with regard to the Gujarat violence, Advani said Article 355 already puts the onus of responsibility on the Centre.

He also refuted Opposition leader Manmohan Singh's plea to "decommunalise" Gujarat's police force and cleanse the Home Guards of Bajrang Dal activists, affirming that there may be weakenesses in handling the violence but it will be "improper to make such sweeping condemnation" of the whole police force.

Advani also sought to distance away the Government from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad supremo Ashok Singhal justifying the Gujarat carnage as "manifestation of the awakening of Hindu society", stressing that "whosoever says anything which is against the law, the government condemns it and disassociates from it." As regards some pamphlets in circulation calling upon the Hindus to boycott Muslims, Advani said the Government condemns such leaflets and those persons behind these cannot get any support from any quarter.

The Rajya Sabha also witnessed a strange and unprecedented phenomenon of the Opposition and the ruling benches remaining sharply divided on the Gujarat issue during 19 hours of heated debate spread over three days and yet passing by a voice vote the Congress-sponsored motion on Gujarat on Monday.

The motion expressed 'deep sense of anguish at the persistence of violence in Gujarat", urged the Centre "to intervene effectively under Article 355 of the Constitution to protect the lives and properties of the citizens and to provide effective relief and rehabilitaion of the victims of violence."

Vajpayee had to defend himself once again for his utterances in Gwalior on Sunday, explaining that he had not ruled out action under Article 355 but all that he had said was that the discussion in the House itself was a notice to the state government.

Moreover, once the Rajya Sabha passed the motion, the Government is bound to implement it fully in letter and spirit, he said, adding that there may not be any need of directives if the State Government acts as per the Centre's advice.

In his intervention, Vajpayee said some elements on both sides (meaning Hindus and Muslims) were not allowing the situation in Gujarat to become normal and as such he invited the Opposition to sit together to work out a "ranniti" (strategy) to defeat these forces.

A straight question from Vajpayee to the Opposition to let him know "what do you expect from us through the motion" brought retort from Congress member Arjun Singh, in his reply, that the Indian Constitution stands there to take the guidance in dealing with the situation.

Arjun Singh wanted the Government to itself initiate before the Supreme Court through a petition or in response to pending Gujarat petitions to let a sitting Supreme Court judge conduct the probe instead of the "futile drama" of an inquiry by a retired High Court judge as ordered by the Modi Government. He said the Government can also offer to the Supreme Court to let all main cases of violence be probed by the CBI.

Outside Parliament, Congress spokesman Jaipal Reddy said the Government's unprecedented step of backing the Opposition's motion for its unanimous passage has its "unavoidable consequences" of acting under Article 355 as otherwise any attempt of "white-washing" will expose it as "a passive partner to capital crimes committed by the Modi Government."

What Congress expects the Government to do in the light of the passage of the motion urging it to act under Article 355 is to (a) remove Narendra Modi, (b) appoint a Supreme Court judge for a probe into violence as recommended by the National Minority Commission, (c) order CBI inquiry as suggested by the National Human Rights Commission and (d) put the Government of Gujarat formally on notice under Article 355.

Defending the Government in the Rajya Sabha, Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani asserted that the Centre was already performing the "duty" cast upon it under Article 355 to protect the State.

He contested contention of Congress member Kapil Sibal and nominated member Fali Nariman that the Centre is duty-bound to act under Article 356 once the situation described under Article 355 exists. Article 355 does not mean action by way of dismissal of the state government under Article 366, he affirmed, pointing out that Article 355 imposes on the Centre "not the adversial role but assisting role."

Even if the State Government does not ask for Army, the Centre is duty-bound under Article 355 to rush Army and para-military forces if it finds the situation so bad and a notice become essential only if the State Government refuses to use these forces in quelling violence. Article 355 implores the Centre to provide assistance "in men, material and finance" and that the Centre is already doing through Army deployment and providing money for relief and rehabilitation,

Categorically once again denying that he had criticised Islam and attacked Muslims in his recent speech at Goa, the Prime Minister said equal respect for all religions has been the credo of India since time immemorial and pointed out that he had only expressed concern over the rise of religious fundamentalism in various countries, including India.

Pointing out that he was being attacked for a reference to militant Islam and not militant Hinduism, Vajpayee said he had asserted at a function for release of a book by veteran K R Malkani's book that he disapproves the wrong face of Hinduism seen everywhere today but he certainly accepts the Hindutva of Swami Vivekananda.

A militant ideology cannot succeed any where and if some Hindu Organisations become a danger to the country, the laws will catch up with them, he said but quickly added that it was his trust that they will never become danger to the country. He was responding to the Opposition demanding ban on the militant organisations like VHP and Bajrang Dal.

Vajpayee had a dig at the Opposition' hue and cry over the Gujarat issue as eagerness to assume early power even before the Lok Sabha completed its term, but Arjun Singh aptly that the Congress was not in a hurry but it will certainly tell the people whenever polls are held that the Government did not use the Constitutional provisions to stop the Gujarat carnage.

The Prime Minister sought to ridicule Arjun Singh who had initiated the debate last Thursday that instead of dealing with the present situation in Gujarat and discussing what can be done in future, he had gone back to decades past to dig out a book by then RSS chief Guru Golwalkar (praising Hitler) which were his personal views and not of the organisation and moreover the book itself had been subsequently withdrawn.

Arjun Singh, however, justified his reference to Golwalkar, pointing out that what is happening in Gujarat did not begin on February 27 but it was the result of the philosophy of racism propounded by the then RSS chief and carried on to this day by his followers.

While re-describing the Gujarat incidents as "nindajanak, lajjajanak aur mathe par ek kalank" (condemnable, shameful and a blot on head), the Prime Minister cited a report of the minorities commission on the riots during the Congress government in Gujarat led by Madhavsinh Solanki and claimed its conclusions were the same that have come from the commission on the recent violence.

Advani said had anybody attacked those responsible for the Godhra train burning, he would be violating the law of the land and dealt with accordingly while what happened in Gujarat subsequently was violence against the civilisation and such a revenge has to be condemned at barbaric.

Referring to Congress member Ahmed Patel on Thursday pointing out during the debate that a woman passenger had told him that a Police constable present on the spot at Godhra had refused to open fire to frighten the mob, Advani said he had asked the Chief Minister to probe into this angle. Modi had told him that it was not correct that the Police was silent spectator to the burning of train as two persons were killed in its firing on that very day. END