Report

Congress Not Soft on Terrorism
Smt. Sonia Gandhi visits Raghunath Temple

Best Citizen Award for Debora C. Marak Smt. Debora C. Marak, Minister of State for Mining and Geology and assisting the minister in-charge of Soil Conservation, Meghalaya, is the recipient of the ‘Best Citizen of India’ Award, instituted by the International Publishing House, New Delhi. The award has been bestowed upon her for her achievements that she has made possible, as a result of her acumen and hard work which have put her on the top of the political spectrum. Smt. Debora C. Marak is also the president of the Meghalaya Pradesh Mahila Congress and a member of the AICC. - Smt. Wansuk Syiem, General Secretary, Meghalaya PCC

JAMMU: The Congress president, Smt. Sonia Gandhi arrived here in the wake of the terrorist attack on two temple and visited the Raghunath Temple which was attacked by the militants of the Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba on Sunday. Smt. Gandhi expressed her heartfelt condolences for the bereaved families and reiterated that the Congress, both at the Centre and the state levels, was squarely opposed to terrorism.

Smt. Gandhi defended the Jammu and Kashmir government policies and said that the Congress was not soft on terrorism. Smt. Gandhi was accompanied by the PCC president, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, and her political secretary, Smt. Ambika Soni.

The Congress president, after visiting the Raghunath temple, said she understood militancy well as two members of her family died at the hands of ultras. "Terrorism is a challege for all of us. I had also visited Jammu immediately after the Kaluchak massacre. Such incidents are tragic." When asked to comment on the state government’s step to release militants, Smt. Gandhi said only those ultras were being let off against whom there were no serious charge.

Smt. Gandhi said that misunderstanding had been created on the release of 26 detenus by the J&K government. "They were released after clearance by the Central intelligence agencies, that is what everyone has to know," Smt. Gandhi said. The Congress President described the attack as barbaric and denied that the Congress was soft on terrorism. "Don’t dare accuse the Congress of being soft on terrorism. I have lost two of my family members to terrorism."

The J&K Pradesh Congress chief, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, accused the Deputy Prime Minister, Shri L.K. Advani, of ‘misleading’ Parliament when he said that the Central Government had written to the Jammu and Kashmir Government against "acting in haste" while releasing the militants.

In an impromptu debate in Parliament on November 27, Mr. Advani, also the Union Home Minister, said the State Government had not consulted the Centre before releasing the militants and called it a State Government decision. Also, the Centre had written to the State Government cautioning it against ‘acting in haste’ and that it would be better if the Centre was consulted on such issues.

Talking to The Hindu newspaper, Mr. Azad said Mr. Advani had "totally misled" Parliament and also the entire country by claiming that his department had written to the State Government. "I would like to ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he sent the letter and to whom," he asked.

Asking the Centre not to make the fight against terror a mere issue of political blame game, Mr. Azad said the fight against terror could succeed only if the State as well as the Centre coordinated efforts and avoided uttering words which went against national interests.

He said the statements of BJP functionaries criticising the Congress president, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, on the terrorist attack in Jammu was most unfortunate. "I am sorry that such a human tragedy is being seen with a political motive and hope these things will be avoided in the future." The Congress wanted political unity as far as the fight against terror was concerned and it believed that every political setup should get together on thwarting such terrorists attacks.

Blaming Pakistan for trying to create disaffection among communities, Mr. Azad praised the people of Jammu for maintaining communal harmony. They had suffered a lot in the last one decade and yet were never provoked by such heinous crimes.

The Congress leader said the police force should not be discouraged. "We should not try to blame the police for what has happened. They are working in a hostile environment and we have to understand that we are helpless vis-a-vis ‘fidayeen’ (suicide) attacks as every country in the world is.

But the Congress-PDP State Government had taken the attack seriously and initiated adequate preventive steps."

 

Farmers Rally against BJP-BJD Government

Bhubaneshwar : The Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee took out a farmers rally in Sambalpur on 8 October to protest against the BJP-BJD government in the state for ignoring the problems of the farmers who were hit by the severe drought.

The huge rally of the farmers were addressed by the AICC general secretary, Shri Kamal Nath, the AICC secretary, Shri Chandan Bagchi, the Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee president, Shri Sarat Patnaik and others. After prolonged demand of the CPCC, the state government at last declared that 312 out of 314 blocks are drought hit.

Shri Sarat Patnaik said that the state level natural calamities relief committee of the OPCC made an intensive tour of the state and studied the plight of the farmers. He said that the miseries of the farmers was manifold. He brought out important facts on the situation and has made an appeal to the state and the Centre for immediate relief. In the study made he says, More than five lakhs of marginal farmers and agricultural labourers have already fled from their homes as migrant labourers; At present most of the farmers families have no earning male member, after their migration, which has been the primary reason for rampant starvation deaths in the remote rural areas of the state; The farmers, who have some stock of last year’s paddy, are now distress-selling it as they have no other income for their livelihood; The state government has stopped since long the subsidised sale of rice at the rate of rupees two per kilogram in the 142 tribal dominated blocks of the state which has accentuated the starvation crises among people living below poverty line; The mid-day meals scheme for the primary school children has also been discontinued by the state government since two years which has led to the alarming rise in the rate of school drop-outs and malnutrition among children.