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Rope in people to fight terror: Kalam

Special Correspondent

AHMEDABAD: The former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on Saturday advocated a stringent law to fight terrorism.

Answering questions at a media conference at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, he called for developing a “national consensus,” involving the people at large, for the eradication of terrorism.

Commending a four-pronged attack, he said when “evil minds” combined to unleash terror, “good minds” could not simply watch.

People in general should be made a willing partner in the fight against terrorism. If the people were involved, it would not be difficult to monitor terrorists’ activities. They should be told to inform the law enforcing agencies of any doubtful activity or peculiar incident in their neighbourhood.

National identity cards

Economic development of all sections should be ensured and national identity cards issued as part of the fight against terrorism.

Mr. Kalam was here to address a seminar for students of the IIM-A as part of a course in “Globalising and Resurgent India Through Innovative Transformation.

Singur issue

Asked about the controversy over land acquisition at Singur in West Bengal, the former President said if any industrial house required thousands of hectares of land, farmers owning it should be made equity partners in the planned industrial project and the company should meet the cost of education of their children.

“Unique experiment”

Mr. Kalam described as “unique” the Big Bang experiment in Geneva.

Allaying fears of anything untoward happening to the mankind because of the experiment in an underground tunnel on the borders of Switzerland and France, he said posterity could expect some “very important discoveries” about the creation of the universe.

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