The Hindu : Left parties demand Modi's ouster

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 09, 2002

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Left parties demand Modi's ouster

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI APRIL 8. Condemning the attack by BJP youth volunteers on peace activists and the police lathicharge on journalists covering the peace meeting at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on Sunday as an attempt to prevent the restoration of peace and amity in Gujarat, the Left parties today reiterated their demand for the removal of the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi.

The CPI general secretary, A.B. Bardhan, said that to point out the presence of Medha Patkar at the meeting "is a thin excuse" because her views on the Narmada dam have nothing to do with her urge for peace and unity in the State.

He said the real reason was obvious and the Sangh Parivar's open threat was that "they did not want peace to be restored in the State till the minorities were driven out''. He said the vicious attack on journalists was yet another instance of the BJP's desperate effort to hide the truth from the public eye and carry on with its mission of hate and annihilation directed against the minorities.

It was now "more clear than ever'' that the rampaging hate mobs in Ahmedabad and elsewhere in Gujarat were emboldened to carry on with violence, arson, intimidation etc. because "they were sure of immunity, full support from the Modi administration, and assistance from the police who lend a helping hand in bashing up their victims", he charged.

Mr. Bardhan said the Prime Minister had done nothing to put a stop to the violence and "all his homily on Rajdharma while allowing the prime culprit in this long-drawn horror action of murder and pillage to carry on with his `Raj', has been a well-enacted farce''. It was for the BJP's allies in the NDA to act before it was too late, he added.

The CPI(M) politburo member, Prakash Karat, said Sunday's incident "graphically illustrated the ground reality" in Gujarat where even a peace meeting could not be conducted, and demanded Mr. Modi's dismissal.

The CPI-ML (Liberation) charged that Mr. Modi did not want peace to prevail in the State and sent his "goons" to scuttle peace efforts. The party politburo member, Swadesh Bhattacharya, said in a statement that the incident further substantiated the popular demand for the removal of "this enemy of peace''.

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