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SHRI CHANDRA SHEKHAR (Ballia, U.P.) : Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not want to deliver any speech. But it is with a very heavy heart that I rise to speak. Some 10-20 Members from the Opposition insisted me to say something on Godhra incident. I had prepared a resolution of four lines and had shown it to the then hon. Speaker, Shri Balayogiji. You were also present at that time. I was of the opinion that all the people should collectively condemn the Godhra incident and appear the countrymen to maintain peace. However, with due apology I would like to reply as to why no one rose to speak on Godhra. It was because the time was not given to speak. You were in majority and made a hue and cry from this side. Despite my best efforts, even my best of friends did not exercise any restraint so as to allow some other to speak on the Godhra. Perhaps you were of the opinion that you alone are responsible for protecting the lives be it Hindu, Muslim or other religions. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, through you, I would like to submit to our friend Vijay Kumar Malhotra who is a very learned and thoughtful person. I would like to cite a story from our scriptures before him. It goes like it that once upon a time a carpenter daily used to visit the forest with an axes without butt. The oldest tree in the forest used to encourage other trees by saying that there is no need to be afraid because nothing untoward is going to happen. After sometimes when the carpenter came with an axe" with butt, the oldest tree warned his fellow trees that the forest is soon to meet its doom now because someone from their own community has aligned with the carpenter. It is against this background to understand that the Orissa incident is more dangerous. Do not take it as if comparison is being made. We can certainly accuse the foreign powers of conspiring in whatever happened in Srinagar and in Delhi at the Parliament but we do not take the support of such pretext in case of Orissa incident. It is a dangerous game. You should ponder over it and feel its gravity and inherent danger. Another ill-omen indication has been received from Orissa that the personnels of armed forces and police have been suspended there. Such conviction is sitting deep inside the psyche of the people that those who are responsible for protecting them and upholding the Constitution are themselves turning into aggressors and are evading to fulfil their responsibility and are transgressing their limits. The danger of disintegration is looming over us.

I do not know that encouragement they would have got but the aged persons of 83, 85 or 90 years, who had formed the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Gujarat, are making statements and saying that the killings, which took place there, are retaliatory acts to Godhra incident. Here also some Members were saying why they did not speak over Godhra incident. The Godhra incident was an inhuman act and killing hundreds of people in retaliation cannot be a sacred act. As far as my knowledge about Indian Culture and Hindutva is concerned, we do not find an example of such a brutal act. I would request the hon’ble Home Minister to pay attention to this aspect so that our security forces and armed forces do not take it otherwise. You have seen how much hesitant our people are, who are responsible for maintaining security. I don’t want to give rise to controversy by saying all those things here. But hon’ble Home Minister, Sir, it is your and the Prime Minister’s responsibility to check all these things which Shri Mulayam Singhji has mentioned. At Bangalore, a responsible person, who is a spokesman of a big organisation, has said that the security of a person belonging to a particular class or religion depends on how much respect he shows to the sentiments of the majority people. Atleast one should respect sentiments but if anyone don’t respect sentiments then the Ministry of Home Affairs has the right to give punishment. However, his protection, is also the responsibility of Ministry of Home Affairs. Both the things are not interrelated.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would humbly request my friends, who are in power today, that Orissa like danger is also looming large on them. The speech by Shri Yerrannaidu may look to you as the expression of sentiments alone but you must remember that if a person among you persists with the same sentiment then N.D.A. may collapse. He is raising the voice and his voice is becoming the voice of the people. I don’t want that this country should move towards disintegration, violence and mutual hatred among the people. Hence, by taking these things into consideration, I would like to request the Minister of Home Affairs to take some steps so as to ensure feeling of mutual trust among various sections of society. I would further submit that the Government should perform its duty.