Author: Times News Network
Publication: The Times of India
Date: November 28, 2006
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/629661.cms
Dubbing the Centre's decision to give Rs 7 lakh as compensation to victims of post-Godhra communal riots as "discriminatory", chief minister Narendra Modi has demanded that victims of all communal riots that took place in Gujarat after 1984 and terrorist attacks across the country since '84 also be considered for compensation.
In a statement Modi said, "Similar compensation should be given to the kin of the those who died in the September 2002 attack on Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar. How can you be so discriminatory?"
Modi reportedly told sadhus gathered at the Pramukhsawmi's office for the centenary function of the Swaminarayan sect on Monday that such an unequal policy would push the country towards disintegration.
"How can you weigh those who died in communal riots differently? Why doesn't the Prime Minister have time to even remember the victims of the terrorist attack at Akshardham?"
Calling the 1984 conflagration as "not Hindu-Sikh but anti-Sikh riots in which the attack on Sikhs was one-sided", Modi said, "Despite the well known fact, the Central government is spreading lies. If the Centre's intention is clear, why does it not declare a similar package for all those who had died after the 1984 communal riots, including the ones that died during the riots when Madhavsinh Solanki was chief minister? Humanitarian consideration demands a similar treatment to all."
Rejecting reports that 5,000 riot victims were internally displaced in Gujarat, Modi insisted, "The government of India should come up with a list of the 5,000 riot victims in public interest. If the Centre continues to adopt such an unjust attitude, it will have to face the consequences. The Prime Minister should remember that his announcement is a threat to India's unity."
Officials in the chief minister's office said the Centre was still to inform Modi of the compensation package being offered to the Gujarat riot victims. "Whatever he knows is from newspaper reports," a source said.