The Hindu : Front Page : “Urge PM to help clear bill on organised crimes”

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 01, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

“Urge PM to help clear bill on organised crimes”

Manas Dasgupta

Narendra Modi

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the Gujaratis all over the world to send e-mails to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately clear the passage of the State bill to combat organised crimes.

Addressing the World Gujarati Conference now in progress in New Jersey, United States, through video conferencing from his official residence in Gandhinagar, Mr. Modi said he had called on Dr. Singh in Delhi on Friday and explained to him in detail about the needs for Central approval for the GUJCOC bill to fight against the organised crime like terrorist attack.

He said he hoped that the Prime Minister would appreciate the urgency of sanctioning the bill passed by the State Assembly twice. He said the State government was doing its best to secure the Centre’s approval for the bill but the Gujaratis all over the world too could play their bit in getting the measure approved. “You can at least send e-mails to the Prime Minister, urging him to ensure the passage of the bill,” he said.

Following the denial of visa by the U.S. government to inaugurate a similar international conference in 2005, Mr. Modi this time did not apply for the visa, particularly in view of the anti-Modi stance adopted by various human rights organisations there, and instead preferred to address the World Gujarati Conference through video conferencing.

Since the July 26 serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad and similar futile attempts to blow up Surat, the State government had been making all out efforts to secure the Central approval for the bill. The bill on the similar pattern of the Maharashtra bill against organised crimes, was pending for the Presidential assent for over four years.

Enumerating the developments achieved by the State during the last few years, Mr. Modi appealed to the Gujarati investors to attend the Vibrant Gujarat conference to be held in January and invest in the State.

Judicial custody

Meanwhile, at the end of the 14-day police remand, the Ahmedabad metropolitan court on Sunday sent all the 10 earlier arrested in connection with the Ahmedabad bomb blasts, including Mufti Abdus Bashar Kasmi and Sajid Mansuri, to judicial custody.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page