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A feather in the cap of Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Oct. 5. The Marad pact comes as a feather in the cap for Gandhian, P. Gopinathan Nair, and the Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi.

It was under Mr. Gopinathan Nair's initiative that the Marad talks between Hindu and Muslim organisations became possible.

And as chairman of the core committee, which was set up at the first phase of the dialogues in Kozhikode on October 2, Mr. Nair's presence proved to be a great help at times when the discussions appeared to be heading nowhere.

Mr. Nair emerged on the scene when the State Government was at the end of its tether. It had announced those dislocated following the Marad violence would be rehabilitated by October 2.

Yet, when the date approached, it was not too sure about the fallout of the process, which was still a point of objection for several Hindu organisations.

Mr. Nair's offer to mediate was gratefully accepted, and the stage was set for dialogues. Being the chairman of the Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi, the Government found it much easier to accept his services. The main point of dispute was in relation to ordering a CBI inquiry into the Marad incident. The proposal for a CBI inquiry had its own political hurdles, which appeared to become insurmountable in the context of the Ernakulam by-election defeat.

According to reliable sources, the dialogues went through some excruciating moments, when the inclusion of even a word was disputed and seemed to be a hurdle. But through a policy of give and take, the two sides worked out the modalities of the pact.

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