‘Every step is fair to douse communal fire’

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has, for the first time, openly directed party CMs to use adminstrative measures to counter communalism ‘&#...

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has, for the first time, openly directed party CMs to use adminstrative measures to counter communalism ‘‘of all varieties’’. At the concluding session of the two-day Congress CMs’ conclave here, the party also discussed ways to deal with police and administrative officials who fail to prevent communal situations, policies on transfer and posting of officials to sensitive areas.

While pointing out that there would soon be another ‘‘brain-storming’’ session ahead of the forthcoming elections in four Congress-ruled states, Sonia spelt out a series of measures designed to check communalism.

Speaking about the RSS-run Saraswati Shishu Mandirs, she said: ‘‘Many of our chief ministers have spoken of the need to have an effective ideological counter to these, where seeds of bigotry are first planted in young and impressionable minds. Some of our states have taken initiatives but these have to go well beyond government-run programmes,’’ she said, adding: ‘‘This has to become a movement, a people’s campaign.’’

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She also stressed on the need for each of the state governments to use their administrative powers to check communalism while saying that she was confident that the states could deal with ‘‘fundamentalism of all kinds.’’

‘‘At the same time, there is an urgent need to amend existing laws like the Indian Penal Code and enforce some of them, like the Representation of People’s Act, effectively to deal with the growing menace of communalism of all varieties,’’ she said.