PM pats Modi: State must forgive, forget

‘‘I appeal to you all to let bygones be bygones…forgive and forget…till how long will this bitterness continue and sparks fly…those less in numbers must be protected.’’ He also referred to the three pavilions depicting the minority communities of Khojas, Dawoodi Bohras and Parsis in the university grounds. “Yeh khoon ka khel band hona chahiye…aag jale to chulhe mein jalni chahiye, gharon mein nahin (This bloodshed must stop, the hearths must burn, not houses).’’

Echoing Modi’s slogan ‘Gujarat can, Gujaratis will’, Vajpayee asked the CM and the people to show the same determination in ending communal hatred. ‘‘I am sure Ahmedabad can show that it can…let us show that Gujarat won’t have any violence in future and not only that, guilty will be punished…but let me also say that the one who forgives is greater,’’ Vajpayee said.

The Prime Minister assured Modi that the state government’s request for concessions on the Rs 3,000-crore interest cost in the Rs 13,000-crore Narmada project would be taken up. ‘‘I want to assure Modiji that I will consider the issue with sympathy but the ultimate decision will rest with the Finance Minister.’’ The state should trust him in increasing the height of the dam because even the Supreme Court had reposed trust in him, he said.

Vajpayee also began a campaign of sorts, listing his government’s achievements in dealing with Pakistan and making a ceasefire effective across the border. ‘‘We want peace but this should not mean it will be at the cost of our honour. Cordiality cannot be with preconditions…we can’t barter peace, we will defend it,’’ he said.

He conferred the first Gujarat Garima Awards instituted by the state on Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani, renowned orthopaedic surgeon and chairman of Massachusetts General Hospital Dr Dinesh Patel, economist Dr Jagdish Bhagwati and Anand Shah, co-founder of Indicorp, an American organisation that sends volunteers to India for social service.

Modi announced two new investment funds and a Gujarat Wisdom Bank to open up avenues for intellectual partnership. He said the state would cross its double digit growth rate in a year instead of the five years given by the Planning Commission. He had a word for the kite industry too. The sector where more than 95 per cent of the workers were Muslims, had great scope for growing from Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore, he said.