MINORITIES - 2002 - Indian Social Institute

12 th April
Trinamool men burn PM’s effigy, chief disowns them (7)
KOLKATA, APRIL 11: TRINAMOOL Congress chief Mamata Banerjee found herself in a spot today when
two of her partyMLAs held a snap demonstration in the city burning an effigy of Prime Minister-AJB.
Vajpayee and demanding his resignation over the Gujarat riots.Banerjee quickly disowned the
demonstration as a party programme — the Trinamool is a partner of the NDA coalition at the Centre. "It
was definitely against party rules and the Trinamool Legislature party will decide on the disciplinary steps
to be taken against the MLAs," she said.
The two MLAs — Paresh Paul and Tarak Banerjee — are already under the Trinamool chief's scanner for
sus: pected floor-crossing and voting in favour of the Congress nominee in the recent Rajya Sabha.
elections. (Indian Exp 12.4.02)
12 th April
Cong launches high-voltage campaign for Modi ouster (7)
New Delhi: 11 APRIL: THE Congress today launched a high-voltage campaign across the country to press
for the dismissal of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his "failure" to contain communal violence
which claimed over 800 lives in the state. Senior Congress leaders and workers wore black badges, sat
on dhar-na and took out processions as part of their agitational programme to mobilise public opinion
against the Modi government.
In Gujarat, Pradesh Congress Committee President Amarsinh Chaudhary and leader of the opposition in
the assembly Naresh Raval joined hundreds of Congress workers at a dhama in Gandhinagar. (Economic
Times 12.4.02)
12th April
Naidu calls for Modi’s ouster (7)
Hyderabad, April 11: TELUGU DESAM (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday responded to
increasing pressures from within his party and the opinion of his sizeable Muslim constituency to demand
the removal of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Naidu, who had on Tuesday disagreed with the Samata Party's demand for Modi's resignation saying
"resignation is not the solution", changed tack when the party's 11-member politburo unanimously
favoured sending out the message that TDP would not tolerate any attack on the country's secular ethos.
The members pointed to findings that have indicted the Gujarat Government. After listening to the
members for nearly three hours, Naidu made up his mind. A press note was issued by the party late in the
evening demanding Modi's immediate ouster, (HT 12.4.02)
12 th April
Time for NDA allies to act (7)
K.G. Kannabiran, national president of the People's Union for Civil Liberties, has written an open letter to
the BJP's coalition partners on Gujarat: It says:
The events in Gujarat are not just a crisis for that State alone. Everyday several lives are lost, almost
always from the minority community. Everyday more people are injured and more families flee into the
hellholes that we euphemistically call 'relief camps'. Everyday there is more grief, more suffering and more
hatred in Gandhi's State. What we are witnessing in Gujarat is not an aberration, an isolated incident, or
any kind of 'spontaneous reaction.' Rather, it is the calculated slaughter of thousands of people and
constitutional, democratic and human norms. In sum, the demolition of everything moral or legal about our
country.
At a time when the country should be blanketed in grief, when communities should be joining hands to
heal one another, we see nothing except continued political support for the violence. The Gujarat Chief
Minister, Narendra Modi, remains in his seat. As a Government, the Gujarat administration has lost all
moral authority to rule. Given that all this is occurring, one question comes to the fore: what are you
doing? You are the BJP's alliance partners in Government. As partners, you were elected on the basis of
the avowedly secular national agenda for governance and given a mandate under the Constitution. Both
are being ripped to shreds in the flames of Gujarat. As you yourselves have pointed out, the BJP has
made it clear that it will not be bound by the niceties of alliance manifestoes. And yet, apart from harsh
rhetoric and internal meetings, you have essentially done nothing. When the Government tried to rewrite