BJP Express Concerns Over Narendra Modi’s Assassination Plan Leaked By Wikileaks

BJP Express Concerns Over Narendra Modi’s Assassination Plan Leaked By Wikileaks

In the wake of WikiLeaks report that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was planned to be assassinated by LeT, BJP expressed concerns over the issue.

Balbir Punj, BJP leader said, "It is a matter of serious concern. He (Modi) is the target of both - those who call themselves secular in this country and also from Pakistan agencies."

According to a US diplomatic cable leak by website WikiLeaks, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), terror outfit based in Pakistan had plans to kill Narendra Modi, Gujarat Chief Minister. The confidential cable is dated on June 19, 2009.

He added, "The US should have convened it (information) to India. There was total inaction on the part of the US even after having the information,"

Punj further questioned the government’s take on the issue, he said, "Government has not taken any tangible steps even after this has come to light. We will like to know from the Prime Minister that how we intend to take up the issue with the USA.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Approached to Resolve Udvada Land Issue

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Approached to Resolve Udvada Land Issue

Parsis to approach Modi to save their first settlement Community fears non-agricultural status of holy land in Udvada may herald industrialisation The threat of industrialisation of Udvada, considered a heritage site by the Parsis, has worried the community members. It was at Udvada that the Parsis first settled down permanently — around 500 years ago — following a truce with the local king of Sanjan, Jadav Rana, after they fled from Iran.

The bone of contention is the transfer of an agricultural land situated behind the fire temple Shreeji Pak Iranshah Atashbehram, into a non-agricultural plot. The land contains sweet water wells, which serve the daily requirements and the religious purposes of the 168 Parsi households in the area. Dasturji Khurshed K Dastur, High Priest of Udvada Samast Anjuman, said: “We consider the well water holy as it is used for rituals. Our daily lives depend on these wells despite the panchayat building an overhead tank in the area. The tank water is available for only 20 minutes daily.” He added: “If an industrial estate comes up or Udvada is expanded, the wells will get contaminated. We will not be able to use the water for our rituals and our daily requirements.” Earlier on October 18,

Dastur had met Valsad Collector Nalin Thakkar after which the construction of a proposed residential colony was stopped. But with the status on the land remaining unchanged, Dastur filed an online petition on October 21, signed by 2,800 Parsis across the world. Now, all the six high priests of the community from across the world will write to Chief Minister Narendra Modi and seek his intervention. Thakkar confirmed that construction activity has been stopped in the area till the issue is resolved. “The Deputy Collector had passed the order for transfer of land as he was heading the Revenue Department.

After we received a representation from the community, I asked the transfer order to be reviewed. But some of the buyers of the land have gone against my order to review the transfer in the Revenue Tribunal. The matter has been stayed and construction has been halted,” said Thakkar. Dastur said, “We want to have a meeting with the Chief Minister so that he can declare the area a heritage site and stop the transfer of land into a non-agricultural one.” It may be noted that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has lifted the moratorium on new projects in five industrial sites, including Vapi in the state.

Fire Temple Shreeji Pak Iranshah Atashbehram is loosely translated as the First Fire Temple of the Highest Graded Order. The fire was called Iranshah, giving it a kingly status, and was dedicated to Iran, the country of Prophet Zarathustra’s birth, which was earlier known as Persia. The fire so consecrated is kept burning and alive even to this day. It was located at Udvada in 1742 AD, and is the oldest existing fire temple in the world. The fire was also shifted to Barot Hills from where it travelled to various parts of south Gujarat including Navsari

Panel slams Narendra Modi over Gujarat riots

NEW DELHI: A panel probing anti-Muslim riots in India’s Gujarat state in 2002 has criticised the partisan handling of the unrest by the state’s Hindu nationalist chief minister, Narendra Modi. The panel, set up by Supreme Court, concluded that Modi - a senior Hindu nationalist leader touted as a future prime minister - had sought to play down the seriousness of the violence that claimed 2,000 lives.

However, according to its report, the panel felt it had not uncovered enough material to justify criminal prosecution. The Gujarat riots were one of the bloodiest incidents of sectarian violence in India since independence in 1949. Mainly Hindu mobs rampaged through Muslim neighbourhoods for three days, hacking, burning, shooting and beating at least 2,000 Muslims to death.

The unrest was triggered by the death of 59 Hindu pilgrims in a train fire. The cause of the blaze was never clearly established. Modi, who has been the state’s chief minister since 2001, has long been accused by human rights groups of turning a blind eye to the violence, with some suggesting he actively encouraged it.

The findings of the panel only appear to substantiate some of the lesser allegations made against Modi and his government, and stop well short of confirming any criminal negligence. “In spite of the fact that ghastly and violent attacks had taken place on Muslims... the reaction of the government was not the type that would have been expected by anyone,” it said. “The chief minister had tried to water down the seriousness of the situation,” it said, while describing as “sweeping and offensive” Modi’s identification of a criminal tendency within Gujarat’s Muslim community.

“His implied justification of the killings of innocent members of the minority community, read together with an absence of a strong condemnation of the violence... suggest a partisan stance at a critical juncture,” the panel said. It also noted Modi’s “discriminatory attitude” in visiting the scene of the train fire, but not the riot-affected areas in Gujarat’s largest city, Ahmedabad.

Modi was personally summoned and quizzed in March last year by the panel which had been ordered to investigate more than 30 allegations made against members of the state government, including the chief minister.

“A few of these alone were in fact substantiated,” panel chairman R K Raghavan wrote in his concluding statement. Previous investigations into the riots commissioned by the Gujarat government have absolved the state police and government of any collusion in the violence. AFP

Time for strict action against terrorism: Narendra Modi

Time for strict action against terrorism: Narendra Modi

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said it's high time for the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre to take 'strict action' against terrorism and Naxalism.

"It seems the Centre has no will to tackle terrorism and Naxalism. They are mere 'serious issues' to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," said Modi while delivering his Independence Day speech at Rajkot Municipal Corporation cricket ground.

"It's a demand of time that it takes strict action like the United States did after 9/11 and since then terrorists didn't dare to target the country," he said.

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also criticized PM's Independence Day speech for not mentioning the issue of rotting of food grains in government granaries.

"The PM said a lot about enhancing agricultural production. But why did he remain silent on the issue of rotting of food grains. His silence is like rubbing salt on the wounds of farmers and poor people of the country,"