The Hindu : National : An ill-conceived conspiracy, says Gujarat Government

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Friday, Jul 16, 2004

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National

An ill-conceived conspiracy, says Gujarat Government

By Our Special Correspondent

GANDHINAGAR, JULY 15. A day after the Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad, announced a fresh probe into the Godhra train carnage, the Gujarat Government said today that it would "fight" the "ill-conceived conspiracy" both constitutionally and politically.

While the State unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad staged demonstrations against the fresh probe, the Law Minister, Ashok Bhatt, described the move as "politically motivated" and an "ill-conceived conspiracy" by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre to get the "sinners of the Godhra carnage" released.

In an apparent reference to the memorandum submitted to the President, A.P. J. Abdul Kalam, by a Congress delegation led by the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, Amarsinh Chaudhary, demanding the setting up of a new inquiry commission to look into the post-Godhra riots, he said the Congress party's open support to the terrorists was aimed at vote bank politics.

The Congress had not only initiated the move to abolish POTA to help the terrorist elements, it was also now trying to get the State Act against organised crime, GUJCOC, rejected, he added.

The Health Minister and Cabinet spokesman, Indravijaysinh Jadeja, demanded legal action against all those who had initially supported Ishrat Jahan and her family members after she was killed in a police encounter along with three other alleged terrorists on the outskirts of Ahmedabad about a month ago.

With the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation, the Lashkar-e-Toiba, admitting that Ishrat was one of its members, all the critics of the police encounter stood "exposed" before the people, he said.

The VHP State general secretary, Dillip Trivedi, said a fresh inquiry was uncalled for when a judicial commission was already probing the matter and the Special Courts under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) were holding trial against the accused.

The "Muslim League-supported" UPA Government's move was not only "politically-motivated" and part of its "vote bank politics," such an inquiry would also be "unconstitutional." The move was apparently aimed at pressuring both the judicial inquiry commission and the special POTA courts to shun investigation against those held as accused, he added.

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