M A I N   N E W S

VHP says action belated, flays Centre

Jamshedpur, September 28
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today termed the Centre’s ban on the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), a radical Islamic outfit, as a belated action.

Talking to reporters here, senior VHP patron Acharya Swami Dharmendra Maharaj blamed the Centre for dilly-dallying in thwarting the country-wide movement of Islamic fundamentalists.

He pointed out that the eruption of violence in Lucknow to protest against the ban and the subsequent provocative statements made by SIMI leaders exposed the volatile nature of the situation.

He opined that the Centre should have banned SIMI soon after the Kanpur riots and alleged that it remained a mute spectator, helping the outfit flourish, despite its anti-national activities.

Further, he said the ban should not be only on paper and demanded that the outfit should no longer be spared. The Acharya expressed concern over Islamic jehad and the spread of international terrorism in the name of jehad.

Lambasting the Vajpayee government, the Acharya said it had become directionless and aimless, adding that its only goal was to remain in power at any cost. UNI

Ban will sharpen divide
Satish Misra
Tribune News Service

Lucknow, September 28
The two-year ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and resultant violence in UP is not only going to further sharpen the existing communal divide at large but will also decide the political destiny of the biggest state in the coming Assembly elections.

While the Samajwadi Party, sensing an opportunity, came out on streets protesting against the ban, BJP leaders though initially restrained in their comments are hoping that the Centre’s move will benefit their party politically.

A glimpse of the sharp political divide was seen today during the Assembly session when the proceedings during question hour were adjourned amid uproarious scenes on the issue of violence following the ban on SIMI.

The SP, which had asked its MLAs in the UP Assembly to tender their resignations on September 11, has been on the backfoot since it failed to take advantage of its move. Terrorist attacks on the US targets on September 11 did not give the expected media publicity which the SP leadership was expecting from the move.

Surprisingly, the SP has been maintaining silence on the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington in a hope that a condemnation on their part might alienate the Muslim electorate from the party which it has been carefully nursing for many years now.

Observers said here that the SP’s attempt to politically derive an advantage from the ban might prove counter-productive as a ban on SIMI was demanded by the Congress ruled states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra also.

Today, a Congress delegation led by AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad was not allowed by the district administration to visit the injured in the hospital. Mr Azad and the leader of the Congress Legislature Party Pramod Tewari were arrested and later released by the police, a spokesman of the UPCC said.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav not only came out strongly against the ban on SIMI but accused the Centre of taking the step to divert people’s attention from “failure” of the BJP-led central and state governments on all fronts.

The SP leader also challenged the district administration’s contention that his local leaders had instigated people to take law into their own hands after trouble broke out in the old city areas here yesterday. He said these charges were baseless and unfounded.