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Writers Condemn Gujarat Violence
Writers Condemn Gujarat Violence
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New Delhi, March 4: Eminent writers and artists today cautioned Indian Prime Minister
Atal Behari Vajpayee on the danger of the violence in Gujarat spreading to other areas
and demanded an immediate ban on the VHP and Bajrang Dal. A delegation of five noted
personalities today met Vajpayee and asked him to dismiss Gujarat Chief Minister
Narendra Modi "who has forfeited the confidence of large sections of the Indian
population."
We have been taking great pride in our being the largest democracy in the world, in our
pluralism and secular credentials. These claims now stand tattered in the streets and by-
lanes of Ahmedabad and on other cities, towns and villages. Urging the Prime Minister to
take immediate action and act in a "statesman like manner in the larger interest of the
nation", they said the VHP-inspired campaigns tarnished the country's image and posed a
serious threat to the nation's democratic and secular polity.
The delegation, was comprised of movie actor and Rajya Sabha member Shabana Azmi,
noted writer Bhisham Sahni, poet and Urdu writer Javed Akhtar, Hindi writer Namwar
Singh, and historian Mushirul Hasan. They condemned the attack on the Sabarmati
Express in Godhra and called for a time-bound high-level judicial inquiry into the
incident and the violence in other parts of Gujarat. They also demanded that victims be
provided relief, immediately and that a meeting of the National Integration Council be
convened at once.[PTI]
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