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Peaceniks rap Centre, Gujarat government

Basharat Peer in New Delhi.

Criticism against the Centre and Gujarat government were heard on Tuesday at a communal harmony and peace convocation in New Delhi, which was attended by secularists and leaders of minority communities.

Speaking on the occasion, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader and Member of Parliament Somnath Chaterjee said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had turned insensitive and Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani was almost exalting the communal frenzy that hit Gujarat.

"L K Advani is almost exalting and (Gujarat Chief Minister) Narendra Modi is very happy that he was able to control the riots in four to five days, while the earlier governments had taken five to six days to do so," Chaterjee said.

Since the riots did not spare even the judges of the Gujarat high court, it would have implications for the judicial process in the country, Christian leader and journalist John Dayal said.

Two judges belonging to the minority community had to flee Gujarat after they were threatened by the mobs and the government failed to ensure their safety.

"What would be the implications on the Babri Masjid case that is going on in the Allahabad high court? Is the judicial process in this country going to be at the mercy of lumpens," Dayal said.

The 'insensitivity' and 'partisan' role of the Gujarat police also came under criticism, as speaker after speaker ridiculed the policemen for being spectators.

Nandita Manjrekar, a human rights activist and a teacher at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, who reached Delhi after escaping from a murderous mob, said that the police was not doing anything.

Manjrekar and some other teachers saved a Muslim colleague, Professor J S Bandookwala, from a mob while his house was completely burned down.

"The local corporator, in fact, stopped the firemen from dousing the flames of his house," Manjerekar said.

Having lost his home, Bandookwala left Baroda for Bombay along with his family, she added.

Actress Nandita Das emphasised on the need for a strong and organised secular movement. "We should learn it from the fanatics. They are so organised, so disciplined in organisational matters. It is time for a organised secular movement, even on a political level," she said.

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