No two yardsticks to deal with terror:
Minister
Says Malegaon and
Samjhauta blasts proved beyond doubt terrorists can be from any
community
Friday February 15, 2013 05:51:32 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi: In a sharp
attack on rightwing "terror", India's Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat Friday said the "law of the land" could not have two
yardsticks to deal with terror groups as this may cause divisions
in India's secular society.
"We must act with neutrality if we want to clean our society. If
we condemn Indian Mujahideen (Indian militant group accused of
some terror attacks in the country in the past), we must also
condemn those groups and organisations involved in the Malegaon
and Samjhauta Express bomb blasts (that killed a lot of Muslims),"
the minister said.
Rightwing activists are alleged to have been involved in the
blasts in Maharashtra's Malegaon town and on the Samjhauta
Express, carrying passengers from India to Pakistan, that killed
scores of people.
Rawat was addressing a gathering on the first day of a two-day
international conference on 'India and the Muslim World in the
21st Century' organised by the Institute of Objective Studies at
the Constitution Club here.
He congratulated Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde for his plain
speaking at the Congress' Jaipur conclave on terrorism, stating
that "evil is an evil" and "we cannot call it by any other name".
Lambasting Hindu fundamentalist groups for their "halla gulla"
(hue and cry) on his remarks, Rawat said Shinde had not spoken
anything but the truth.
The minister said the Malegaon and the Samjhauta Express blasts
had proved beyond doubt that terrorists could be from any
community.
Rawat said communal conflicts had reduced considerably in the past
few years. Indian society had matured and rejected communal
politics.
"Now building temple is not a slogan, which created waves in the
past. People are not entertaining such slogans anymore. Realising
change, champions of hatred now talk of development and sadbhavana
(communal amity)" he said, alluding to the policies of Gujarat
Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The conference was inaugurated by Minority Affairs Minister K.
Rehman Khan while Deputy Minister of Saudi Arabia Abdul Rehman
Ghaman delivered the keynote address in which he stressed on
developing strong bonds of friendship between India and the Muslim
world.
Rawat admitted that the Muslim community was lagging behind other
in education and social and economic fields. The government must
take steps to remove all bottlenecks in the way of development.
He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had appointed the Sachar
Committee to examine the reasons for economic and social
backwardness of the minorities and its recommendations are being
implemented.
Though the government had taken many initiatives, core steps were
still required for their economic uplift, he stated. Many Muslims,
he added, were languishing in jails without trial for years and
the government needed to address this issue seriously.
Of India's 1.2 billion population, about 12 percent are Muslims,
the third large Muslim population in any country after Indonesia
and Pakistan.
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