India should sign no-war pact with Pak : Agnivesh

He said that India must not sign the CTBT in its present form. He said India would have to spend Rs 20,000 crore annually to maintain its nuclear power status. “It should spend this amount on uplift of labour class and removal of illiteracy in the country,” he added. He regretted that about 30 crore labourers in the country were not even getting minimum wages.

Similarly, he highlighted, about 13 crore children of 6-14 year age group were not going to school, though as per the Constitution of India, it was the responsibility of the government to provide free education to children up to 14 years of age. Agnivesh said that India had now become the sixth- most powerful country in the world, it ranked 138th on the Human Development Report, which is prepared by the UN by taking into account education, health and general well-being of the people.

Talking about the Ayodhya issue, he said that any attempt at building a temple at the disputed site would create divisions in the Indian society and also destabilise the government and such a development could be disastrous for the country at a time when it was facing the challenge of tough economic sanctions.

The noted labour rights activist said the RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad should categorically declare that Ram temple would not be built at the dispute site. He criticised the Bansi Lal government for lifting prohibition. He said that in the wake of this decision, the state government should resign and seek a fresh mandate from the people.

“It was the lack of political will to enforce prohibition by the Bansi Lal regime that led to the prohibition fiasco,” he added.Agnivesh said he along with several other religious leaders were now striving for enforcement of prohibition at the national level.