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Do not look at Muslims suspiciously: Mayawati

Photo: Subir Roy

U.P Chief Minister Mayawati addressing a press conference in Lucknow on Sunday.

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Sunday derided the attempts to target Muslims in the name of terrorism.

The community should not be held responsible for the recent terrors acts in Delhi and elsewhere, she said at a press conference.

The Muslims in the State were being looked upon with suspicion. The community should not be harassed on the basis of a dubious (intelligence) report.

While reiterating her resolve to end terrorism in the State, if full cooperation was extended to the State government by the Centre, she warned the officials that strict action would be taken if she received complaints of harassment of innocent persons belonging to the minority community or any other caste.

Ms. Mayawati also took up the cause of Christians. They were feeling insecure in the BJP-ruled States, she alleged. Referring to the incidents in Orissa, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, she said it showed that the communal forces had become strong.

Accusing the Centre of playing politics on the issue, Ms. Mayawati demanded the UPA government to exercise a tight leash on the activities of the outfits aligned with the BJP, as well as other organisations, in a bid to maintain communal harmony.

The Chief Minister, who has called a meeting here on Monday for discussing the law and order scenario in the background of the recent incidents and terror-links with U.P., said the Samajwadi Party regime had brought disrepute to the State, vis-À-vis terrorist activities.

Terrorist activities in U.P. started with the Sankat Mochan bomb blast followed by the Ayodhya incident and the blast in the Shramjeevi Express, all under the SP regime. Ms. Mayawati was of the view that had the SP government crushed terrorism, U.P. would not have earned a bad name.

Compared to the previous regime, priority was accorded to the rule of law, she said and lauded the police for nabbing the accused named in the attack on the Rampur Group Centre of CRPF and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The Anti-Terrorist Squad recently arrested an ISI agent in Bahraich.

The Chief Minister further referred to the arrest of Abu Bashar, main suspect in the Ahmedabad serial blasts, on August 16, 2008 and Shahbaz Husain, suspect in the Jaipur serial bomb blasts here on August 25, 2008, by the State police. On July 25, 2008, the Special Task Force took the lid off the fake currency racket in the State.

Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari, SP leader Abu Aasim Azmi, Tariq Bukhari and Teesta Setalvad visited Azamgarh and protested against the arrest of Abu Bashar, she pointed out.

Extending cooperation to the Union government in fighting terror, she said that stern directives had been issued to the police officers against staging fake encounters.

At the same time, no leniency would be shown to the terrorist elements, she added.

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