Javed Akhtar conferred with Indira Gandhi Award

New Delhi, Oct 31: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi today called for a resolute fight against terrorism and communalism to preserve national integration.

Addressing a function at Jawahar Bhavan where they presented the 21st Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration to noted lyricist Javed Akhtar, Dr Singh and Ms Gandhi identified the twin evils as the main threat to the development of the nation.

Ms Gandhi said history would not pardon the people if they failed to rise to the occasion at this crucial juncture and defeat such divisive forces.

Both the leaders complimented Mr Akhtar on receiving the award, which carries a citation and a cash prize of Rs 1.5 lakh, with Dr Singh acknowledging that the film personality ''richly deserves'' the prize and expressing the hope that it would help ''impart more power to his pen.'' Mr Akhtar said secularism was like oxygen for the people of the nation where democracy, freedom of expression, liberty, equality and justice were a great tool for warding off any danger to integration.

Without naming Pakistan, he said its intelligence agencies were involved in stoking communal passion in India as Islamabad was acutely embarassed by the secular values of our country.

Mr Akhtar called for close monitoring of education being imparted in Madrasas as well as institutions run by fascists who claimed to represent the majority community.

There was also a need for going into custodial deaths and fake encounters which would in fact impede the fight against terror, he said.

UNI