On U.C. Banerjee Comm. Report

Date: 
Saturday, March 4, 2006

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

The final report of the Justice U.C.Banerjee Commission nails the false propaganda of the BJP-RSS combine and the Modi Government about the reasons for the Godhra fire which had claimed 59 lives and which was used to organize the worst pogroms the country has witnessed. In all these years neither the then Home Minister Advani nor the Modi Government have been able to provide a shred of evidence to back their theory of a pre-planned conspiracy against the kar sevaks. The Banerjee report now clearly shows that indeed there was no such conspiracy. Coming as it does in the wake of the court verdict in the Best Bakery case which was a strong indictment of the Modi Government, it is clear that Modi has no moral right to continue in office. The CPI(M) demands that he resign.

The CPI(M) also draws attention to the plight of 84 persons, including two minors as well as several old and ailing people who are incarcerated under POTA in the Sabarmati train fire case. In spite of the recommendations of the POTA Review Committee that there was no evidence against those being held and that they should be released, the Modi Government has refused to release them. The indifference of the Central Government and its counsels in the cases pending in the Supreme Court has further delayed the judicial process. It is essential for the Government to be proactive in the case and ensure that the recommendations of the POTA Review Committee are implemented without delay.