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| Wednesday, 17 March 2004 |
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Gujarat riots won't happen again: Indian PM NEW DELHI, Tuesday (AFP) Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, whose Hindu nationalist party was accused of turning a blind eye to deadly religious riots in India two years ago, has vowed similar bloodshed will not happen again. At least 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, died in western Gujarat state in 2002 in riots triggered by the burning to death of 59 Hindus, allegedly by a Muslim mob. "Gujarat cannot and will not happen again," Vajpayee told The Hindu newspaper in an interview published Monday ahead of national elections to be held in five stages starting April 20. His statements followed recent comments by Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani that the Gujarat riots were a "blot" on the BJP's track record. Vajpayee also expressed hope the thorny issue of Ayodhya, where Hindus want to build a temple on the ruins of a mosque razed by Hindu zealots in 1992, could be resolved through a "consensus" that would address "Hindu sentiments." Hindu and Muslim leaders have been holding talks over the past year to find a solution. Meanwhile, Congress head Sonia Gandhi told the same paper the party would press ahead with economic liberalisation but would also focus on easing poverty if it wins power. The Congress, says the BJP's campaign belies the true economic welfare of the country's population of more than one billion. "Can you have a country with a small island of prosperity and a huge mass down there?" Gandhi asked. "If we continue like this, it will pave the way for social discontent and conflict." "We will certainly continue with the reforms process but our focus will also be on the poor and on poverty alleviation," Gandhi said. On India's recent peace moves with nuclear rival Pakistan, she said Congress would "take the policy of the present government forward." |
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