Modi comes under fire in LS

New Delhi, May 18 (UNI) The Narendra Modi government in Gujarat today came under sharp attack in the Lok Sabha from the Congress, Left and other parties on its record of handling communal violence even as the BJP put up a stout defence of the party stalwart.

The scathing criticism from member after member came during the discussion on communal riots in various parts of the country under Rule 193.

A common thread of the criticism mounted by the members from the Congress, the SP, the RJD and the Left parties was that the state machinery in Gujarat had been communalised and sometimes targeted the minority community in a ruthless manner.

The wrath of the members was brought to focus in the wake of the recent communal violence in Vadodara, which claimed six lives.

The post-Godhra incidents added to the anger of the attacking MPs who demanded a law to contain communal violence and a constitutional amendment to enable the Centre to intervene in the event of a state government failing to effectively curb communal violence.

The BJP, led by its Gujarat MP Hiren Pathak, accused the Congress and the Left of drawing political mileage from the issue.

Initiating the debate, CPI (M) Lok Sabha leader Basudeb Achariya charged that the 2002 riots in Gujarat were ''state-sponsored ''.

Mr Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) said communalism has taken deep roots in the country and cited several incidents to prove his point. He desired a fair and effective state machinery to tackle the the growing incidents in this regard and decried fundamentalism of both the Hindu and Muslim varieties.

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