The Hindu : National : Centre ready to provide all help to Gujarat: Jaiswal

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Friday, May 05, 2006

National

National

Centre ready to provide all help to Gujarat: Jaiswal

New Delhi: The Vadodara administration could have avoided the demolition of the dargah in view of the people's sentiments, Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal is understood to have said in a report to the Government.

Mr. Jaiswal, who visited the violence-torn Vadodara on Monday, is believed to have also said that while a district administration had the right to launch drives to demolish illegal structures, decisions to raze religious places, which were centuries old, should be taken after due deliberations.

The subsequent firing by police to contain the mob violence following the demolition could also have been avoided, the Minister is understood to have said.

"I have nothing to say on the report. The foremost need is to contain the violence in Vadodara and bring peace and normality there. The Centre is willing to provide all necessary assistance to the Gujarat authorities to deal with the situation," Mr. Jaiswal said here on Thursday.

Asked if the steps taken by the Centre to curb the violence came in the backdrop of the post-Godhra riots in 2002, he said, "The Government always goes by past experience. ... I have full confidence that the State authorities will take all measures to quell the violence and restore peace."

Mr. Jaiswal submitted his report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Tuesday, informed sources said.

Curfew relaxed: Duggal

The Centre moved the Supreme Court against the Gujarat High Court order in view of the "law and order situation" in Vadodara and the "potential" it had, Home Secretary V.K. Duggal said on Thursday.

"The Home Ministry consulted the Law Ministry on the issue and decided to move the Supreme Court in view of the law and order situation and the potential it had," he told reporters here.

The Supreme Court, earlier in the day, stayed the Gujarat High Court order directing authorities to remove all religious structures that were encroaching upon public spaces across the State without any discrimination.

On the situation in Vadodra, he said it was quite normal as per the reports received from the State authorities.

"They [the State authorities] are doing their job," he said. The curfew had been relaxed, and there was no law and order problem during that period.

PTI

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