Advani lashes out at PM for playing terror card in Punjab

Chandigarh, Feb 7 (UNI) Making a scathing attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, senior BJP leader L K Advani today said that it was extremely irresponsible on the part of the Prime Minister to infer that if the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP alliance came to power, terror will return to Punjab.

''The people of Punjab cannot forget the fact that it was the Congress party that first brought terrorism to the state mainly to contain the influence of the Akali Dal in the early eighties'', the former Deputy PM said in a statement released here.

Refering to Dr Singh's speeches in election rallies in the border state yesterday, Mr Advani said in the specific context of Punjab, the Prime Minister had alleged that SAD and the BJP had divided the community on religious lines. ''Can anything be farther from the truth?'' he asked in the statement.

''Everybody in Punjab knows which political party encouraged terrorism in its infancy and thus allowed it to become a 'Bhasmasur' (demon)'', he said and added that everyone in Punjab knew the proud contribution that the SAD-BJP had together made to preserve Hindu-Sikh amity and national unity.

Refering to the PM's election speech at Patiala yesterday that ''communal forces'' were trying to divide the people on the basis of religion and caste, Mr Advani said it was obvious that the Prime Minister's attack was aimed at the SAD-BJP alliance, although he did not name the two parties directly.

The BJP leader challenged the Prime Minister for a debate on the subject of 'communal ideology' and what the 'Congress ideology' had actually been in practice.

Making a counter-attack on the PM, Mr Advani said it was Dr Singh who had sought to divide the people on the basis of religion when he made the 'shocking' statement at the meeting of the National Development Council that ''Muslims should have the first claim on the nation's resources''.

He also accused Dr Singh's government of practising ''crass communal politics'' by refusing to carry out the Supreme Court's verdict on the IMDT Act to stop the influx of Bangadeshis infiltration in the north east. He also castigated the UPA-government for failing to carry out the apex court's death sentence awarded to Kashmiri militant Mohammed Afzal.

Mr Advani appealed to the voters of Punjab to treat ''the PM's allegation with the contempt it deserves'' and elect the SAD-BJP alliance with absolute majority.

UNI