M A I N   N E W S

Sonia leads peace march, rally

Porbandar, May 1
Charging the BJP with “behaving as traders of power”, the Congress President Sonia Gandhi today alleged that the government machinery in Gujarat had failed to do enough to control violence with an eye on the forthcoming Assembly elections.

“If the government wanted, post-Godhra violence could have been controlled. But they did not do anything as they had their eyes on the elections”, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said in her address at a peace rally attended by a large crowd drawn from across the Saurashtra region.

“It’s a matter of tragedy that some people are bent upon turning Gandhi’s Gujarat to Godse’s Gujarat,” she said in her first public speech after the defeat of the Opposition’s censure motion on Gujarat situation in the Lok Sabha.

She said her visit to Keerti Mandir, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, always gave her inspiration to fight for the downtrodden, adding that the visit was also significant as Gujarat got full-fledged statehood on this day 42 years ago.

The Congress President vowed to take up the issue of local fishermen imprisoned in Pakistani jails. She said: “I have all sympathy for the families of those fishermen who are held in custody in Pakistan. I will raise the issue at an appropriate forum”.

AICC General Secretary Kamal Nath said: “The overwhelming turnout in the rally showed that people of Gujarat wanted an immediate change”.

AHMEDABAD : Congress President Sonia Gandhi led a march here for restoring peace and communal harmony in violence-ravaged Gujarat.

A large number of women, carrying placards appealing for communal harmony, joined Mr Gandhi in the peace march from the Vivekanand Statue in the Ellis Bridge area to Sardar Gardan in the Lal Darwaja area. PTI

Four injured in Vadodara

Vadodara, May 1
At least four persons, including a woman, were injured as incidents of violence and arson continued unabated in the curfew-bound Vadodara City since last night.

While two persons were seriously wounded in separate incidents of bomb blast at Saraswati Apartments and Sulemanichawl in the Panigate area late last night, a 35-year-old youth was brutally stabbed at Nagarwad in the Karelibaug area during curfew relaxation in the area this afternoon.

The victim had been admitted to SSG Hospital in an unconscious state. The police had launched a manhunt to arrest the two culprits allegedly involved in the incident.

In another incident, a 28-year-old woman was injured when a tear gas shell hit her during mob violence at Mehboobpura under Navapura police station in the wee hours today. The police lobbed several teargas shells after an unruly mob pelted policemen with stones and set a house on fire in the locality. All the injured were removed to SSG Hospital.

The Raopura police also arrested two youths for moving in a suspicious manner in the sensitive Machipith area of the city.

According to fire brigade sources, an export-oriented optical company was set on fire by a group of miscreants at the Makarpura GIDC. Fire tenders had rushed to the spot to put out the blaze. Reports said at least half-a-dozen houses, shops and kiosks were set ablaze mainly in the Karelibaug, Ajwa Road and M G Road areas of the city since last night.

Curfew was relaxed for all for four hours from 9 a.m. under the Karelibaug, Raopura and Navapura police station areas, while the Panigate, Wadi and City police station areas had a relaxation for three hours from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. today. UNI

NHRC gives Gujarat 2 weeks to reply
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 1
The National Human Rights Commission today gave the Gujarat government another two weeks to reply to the contents of the confidential report of the Commission’s team. The Commission has also extended by two weeks the deadline of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

A full bench of the Commission presided by NHRC Chairperson, Justice J.S. Verma has said that the the Gujarat government’s interim reply of April 13 “does not respond to the contents of the NHRC team.” It has pointed out that the Ministry of Home Affairs had not kept its word on sending a detailed reply to the Commission by April 30.