Author: Tribune News Service
Publication: The Tribune
Date: April 1, 2003
Ms Mayawati, Chief Minister of Uttar
Pradesh, today justified the detention of some Kashmiri students by the
police in Meerut on the charges of being involved in terrorist activities
and accused the Jammu and Kashmir Government of baselessly claiming that
"innocent" Muslim students were being harassed in her state.
Ms Mayawati, who was talking to
mediapersons during her one-day visit here, said these students were arrested
on the basis of intelligence reports and the evidence which the police
had against them, she said no innocent person would be harassed, but at
the same time she would not allow the terrorists to make bases in Uttar
Pradesh as she believed that the terrorists had no religion and were out
to massacre innocent people.
She said she was not in favour of
the healing touch policy of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed as it
aimed at encouraging terrorist. The policy of the government should be
for the good of the common people and not for those who were sent here
by Pakistan. The government should strongly tackle terrorists instead of
adopting a soft approach.
Ms Mayawati condemned the massacre
of innocent people in the Kashmir valley and said this sort of proxy war
by Pakistan showed their utter lack of courage and morality in tackling
a political situation which should be resolved through peaceful means.
She said there was no place for
violence in a civilised world and it was a sheer cowardice on the part
of terrorists to shed the blood of innocent people.
Ms Mayawati said she had directed
the police to launch an effective campaign against mafias, anti-social
elements and criminals without fear or prejudice in her state. The campaign
would focus on criminals to create an atmosphere of deterrence rather than
wasting energies on petty offenders.
Ms Mayawati, who had come here to
address a state-level cadre camp of the BSP, said the party would have
no alliance with any national or regional party outside Uttar Pradesh in
the coming elections for the Lok Sabha.
She said her government would implement
the judgement of the court on the Ram temple issue. She said in Uttar Pradesh
she had successfully demonstrated that strong political will and focused
leadership could reverse worst trends in law and order situation.
She claimed that during her third
tenure of 11 months due to her strong and imaginative management Uttar
Pradesh has recovered from economic stagnation and deterioration in law
and order.
The Chief Minister said for the
first time, the state had witnessed a decline of 47 per cent in crimes.
A special police force had been set up to look after the protection of
VIPs and sensitive installations.
She claimed that the government
had also successfully tackle the incipient Naxalite problem in some pockets
of eastern Uttar Pradesh by pursuing a dual policy of development and superior
policing. At least 297 Naxalite-affected villages had been selected to
be developed under the prestigious Ambedkar Gram Vikas scheme.
She said she was paying a high priority
to the development of tourism in the state. Her government has planned
to set up a Taj international airport and Hub in the Taj economic zone
in the private sector. Approval from the Centre is awaited for this ambitious
project worth about Rs 50,000 crore.
There are plans to set up an international
Gautam Buddha Airport at Kushinagar, the place where Lord Budha breathed
his last.
