Press Release
The People’s Front met today (March 4, 2002) at the residence of Harkishan Singh Surjeet, General Secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist). The meeting was attended by Jyoti Basu, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Harkishan Singh Surjeet, A.B. Bardhan, Deve Gowda, Abani Roy, Devarajan and Sitaram Yechury. V.P. Singh could not attend physically as he was undergoing dialysis. He was, however, in constant touch during the meeting with the leaders.
The meeting adopted the following resolutions:
Condolence
The meeting expressed its profound grief at the sudden and untimely death of the Lok Sabha Speaker, G.M.C. Balayogi.
The meeting mourned the death of hundreds of innocent people who lost their lives in the communal carnage currently on in Gujarat.
On Ayodhya
The meeting strongly denounced the double-speak being indulged in by Mr. Vajpayee and his government on this issue. The Prime Minister, in order to maintain the NDA and its government, states that the verdict of the court is the only way to resolve the issue. However, no firm action is taken against the VHP and no attempt is made to stop its illegal activities. The Prime Minister and his government, thus, appears to be actively patronising these forces whose declared objective is to violate the law of the land. No other `solution’, or `compromise’ other than the judicial verdict would be acceptable to Indian people. No portion of the land acquired by the government and endorsed by the Supreme Court can be parted with. The People’s Front demands that the Vajpayee government immediately take decisive action to stop the activities of the VHP which is posing grave dangers to the unity and integrity of India.
Gujarat: State-sponsored Terrorism
The People’s Front expressed its shock and distress at the continuing communal carnage in Gujarat. It is clear that the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat has not merely failed to maintain law and order but according to many reports has been actively colluding with the arsonists and looters.
The People’s Front demands that the entire state of Gujarat be immediately handed over to the army. With Mr. Narendra Modi remaining as the Chief Minister, no normalcy can be restored in the state.
National Unity Day
The People’s Front decided to observe 6th March all over the country as `National Unity Day’. The units of all constituent parties will organise protest actions on the VHP’s activities regarding Ayodhya, the Godhra incident and the ongoing communal carnage in Gujarat.
UP situation
The People’s Front demanded that according to law and tradition, the single largest party, the Samajwadi Party, must immediately be called to assume office and prove its majority on the floor of the UP Assembly. The delay in doing so by the Governor of the state only confirms the suspicions that the BJP is trying to impose its rule somehow or the other. This would be a mockery of democracy as a party loosing people’s mandate seeks to maneouvre itself into office. People’s Front warns that the Indian people will not tolerate such a rape of democracy.