M A I N   N E W S

4 killed, 23 injured in Gujarat violence

Fire brigade personnel douse the fire which was broke out by miscreants during the fresh communal violence in the Sahibaug area of Ahmedabad on Saturday. A BSF jawan keeps a vigil at the curfew-bound Vejalpur road of Ahmedabad on Saturday. — PTI photo

Ahmedabad, April 27
At least four more persons were killed and 23 injured in Baroda and Ahmedabad cities as the communal riots continued unabated in Gujarat today, taking the toll in the state to 48 since Sunday.

Two persons were killed — one in police firing — in Baroda city since late last night, the police said.

One person was killed in police firing and eight were injured as violence rocked the Wadi and Panigate areas of Baroda last night, the police said.

One person was stabbed to death and 15 were injured, nine of them in police firing, as violence rocked the Baroda, Panigate, Raopura and Fatehpura areas this afternoon.

An Indefinite curfew was reimposed in six police station areas of city, Wadi, Panigate, Raopura, Karelibaug, Nagarwada from 1.45 pm, police sources told PTI.

The police fired 128 rounds and burst 60 tear gas shells to contain violence in parts of Baroda city in which six persons were injured in stabbing incidents, which left one dead.

Two persons, including a woman injured in the violence succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Ahmedabad today.

In the worst-hit Ahmedabad city, though the situation remained by and large peaceful, incidents of arson were reported from three city areas during the day.

At least five huts were set ablaze by an unruly mob in the Madhupura police station area, while the house of a retired minority officer was set ablaze in the Shahbaug area this afternoon. Mobs set on fire a house in the Majur Gaon locality of the Shaherkotda police station area.

An indefinite curfew continued to remain in force in the Vejalpur police station areas. PTI

Carnage victims meet President
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 27
The Communalism Combat, which has been working among victims of communal riots in Gujarat, today said two months after the Godhra killings, the situation in the state of Gujarat remained desperate with hapless citizens continuing to be victims of “state-sponsored terrorism and genocide.”

In a representation to President K.R. Narayanan, members of the Communalism Combat and Sahmat including Teesta Setalvad and Ram Rahman, said at least 1,50,000 survivors of the Gujarat carnage and the rest of the minority population in the state were living in a state of dread and terror.

A nine-member delegation of the two organisations besides some of the victims of violence met the President today. The victims, at least 40 of whom are in Delhi, also met Congress president Sonia Gandhi later in the evening.

“A complete sense of lawlessness prevails in Gujarat. The state police has been infiltrated by elements from the organisations that back the ruling dispensation who are wedded to an ideology that militates against the basic constitutional principles of equality, non-discrimination and fundamental freedoms,’’ they said in the representation.

Demanding the imposition of the President’s rule for at least a year in Gujarat, handing over of the state’s law and order machinery to the Army, the change of the Governor and a cleaning up of the state administration, Sahmat members demanded setting up of a President’s relief, rehabilitation and legal aid fund for the victims.

Meanwhile, responding to the call given by survivors of the Gujarat violence for security, relief and rehabilitation, opposition leaders today assured that an all-party relief fund would be set up in the state immediately.

The leaders, who listened to the accounts of violence by the victims now in the capital, said there was an urgent need for the people to rally in support of the survivors of violence.

According to a Communalism Combat spokesman, the victims recounted tales about the complicity of state machinery, even naming policemen, MLAs and state ministers for their role in violence.

Among those who spoke were former Prime Ministers Deva Gowda and V P Singh, general secretary of the CPM Harkishen Singh Surjeet, Mr Madhu Dandwate, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, Mr Arif Mohammed Khan, Samajwadi Party MPs Raj Babbar and Ramji Lal Suman. Others present included Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, Mr Ezhumalai of AIADMK, Nilotpal Basu, MP, socialist leader Surendra Mohan and noted Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande.

Sonia vows to ‘teach lesson to communal forces’

Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, April 27
Congress President Sonia Gandhi today charged the Centre with protecting Gujarat Chief Minister Narender Modi and vowed that her party would once again return to power to “teach the communal forces a lesson”.

Instead of removing the Gujarat Chief Minister for his culpability in communal holocaust in the state, the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was bent on protecting his government, she said addressing a public meeting here.

Calling upon the people of Andhra Pradesh to preserve communal amity, she said “We are a complex society which can survive only when there is harmony and brotherhood.” UNI

BJP, RSS discuss Gujarat

New Delhi, April 27
In the first such interaction after the outbreak of communal violence in Gujarat, a meeting of the top brass of the BJP and RSS was held at Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s residence this morning to review the prevailing political and economic situation in the country.

The meeting comes amid mounting criticism of the role of Sangh Parivar outfits in Gujarat violence and in the wake of the BJP’s moves to form a coalition government in Uttar Pradesh with the BSP.

“There was a general discussion on many matters and a free exchange of views. This type of meeting could not be held earlier as all of us were busy in one way or another,” BJP President Jana Krishnamurthi told reporters after the meeting which lasted about two hours.

Asked whether these two issues were discussed, Mr Krishnamurthi said, “Neither Gujarat nor Uttar Pradesh was discussed. It was a general discussion.”

He said the meeting between BJP and RSS leaders was to “have a better understanding among ourselves and we would be having these meetings more often so that we can place our point of view and resolve any shortcomings that maybe there.”

The RSS was represented by its Sarsanghchalak K.S. Sudarshan, H.V. Seshadri and Madan Das Devi while the BJP was represented by the Atal Behari Vajpayee, Home Minister L.K. Advani, HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, BJP President Jana KrishnamurthI and former BJP President Kushabhau Thakre.

The meeting discussed how to have better coordination among the government, party and the Sangh Parivar, specially in the wake of the recent statements by the parivar which had been damaging, party sources said.

It was felt that such meetings at a regular frequency would help in the convergence of views and smoother functioning of the three, sources said.

The rollback by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha on income tax and removal of service tax on insurance as also other economic measures by the government were also discussed at the meeting, they said.

The criticism from abroad on the ongoing violence in Gujarat and the growing Opposition demand for the removal of Chief Minister Narendra Modi also figured at the meeting.

The move by the BJP to form a government in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the BSP was also discussed, they said. PTI