Modi report cleared by SIT 'most heartening'

New Delhi: Senior BJP leader L.K. Advani today described as 'most heartening', the reports that SIT has not found any substantial evidence against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the post- Godhra riots.

Putting up a strong defence of the Gujarat Chief Minister, Advani said in his 60 years of political life he has not known any of his colleague 'so consistently, so viciously maligned by opponents as Narendra Modi'.

Writing in his blog, the former Deputy Prime Minister said people, who are part of the 'demonising campaign' against Modi, have based their attack on one allegation that Modi did not stop the riots in Gujarat after the Godhra carnage.

"The most heartening news I have read in a long, long time" is a report that Special Investigation Team clears Modi of willfully allowing post-Godhra riots, Advani said.

"The country is eagerly awaiting the full text of the SIT report to the Supreme Court," he said.

According to a media report, the SIT has cleared Modi of the charge that he failed to discharge his constitutional duty to intervene swiftly and stop the communal riots.

When the 'calumny campaign' against Modi was at its peak, Modi was receiving kudos from within India and abroad for making Gujarat a role mode state for the country 'so far as good and honest governance is concerned'.

Advani also said the allegation against Modi was that after the brutal attack at Godhra on a train returning from Ayodhya in which 58 kar sewaks were burned to death and riots broke out in some parts of Gujarat, Modi deliberately allowed the rioters to run rampage.

He also recalled that the Supreme Court appointed the SIT headed by former CBI director R K Raghavan to investigate a petition filed by Zakia Jafri, wife of former Congress MP Ahsan Jafri, that Modi failed to stop riots.

"The Raghavan team investigated the allegations for nearly twenty months. In the course of their investigations the SIT interrogated Narendra Modi personally, and early last week submitted its report to the apex court," Advani noted.

BJP seeks action on WikiLeaks report on Modi

Dec 6: Expressing concern over a WikiLeaks report that Lashkar-e-Toiba had planned to assassinate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, BJP today accused the US of "inaction on the issue" and wanted to know how the government intends to handle it।
"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," BJP leader Balbir Punj told reporters outside Parliament. According to Information coming out of a secret State Department cable dated June 19, 2009, Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba had planned to assassinate Modi.
"The US should have convened it (information) to India. There was total inaction on the part of the US even after having the information," he charged. Seeking a response from the government over the issue Punj 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."

BJP seeks action on WikiLeaks report on Modi

Expressing concern over a WikiLeaks report that Lashkar-e-Tayyaba had planned to assassinate Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, the BJP on Monday accused the US of "inaction on the issue" and wanted to know how the government intends to handle it.

"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," BJP leader Balbir Punj told reporters outside Parliament.

According to information coming out of a secret state department cable dated June 19, 2009, Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyaba had planned to assassinate Mr Modi.

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

Seeking a response from the government over the issue Punj said, "The 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 US."

LeT planned to kill Modi

Washington, Dec. 5: Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayabba had planned to assassinate the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, and use Kerala and Tamil Nadu as base for carrying out strikes in southern India, according to a secret US diplomatic cable.

Information coming out of a secret state department cable dated June 19, 2009, released by WikiLeaks indicates that LeT has established a facilitation centre in Sri Lanka and was looking at setting up a base of operations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

It also reveals the dangerously expanding Lashkar network in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The United States, which has charged the Wikileaks of indulging in a criminal act by stealing and releasing these cables, has neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of these documents.

Lashkar planned training centres in South India

Washington, Dec. 5: The secret US state department cable on Lashkar-e-Tayabba planning to assassinate the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, is based on various intelligence inputs received by it, the source of which is not mentioned in the cable.

The cable notes that the network of Shafiq Khafa, a Lashkar leader, is “striving to stand up two teams in southern India that rely on the support of LeT members based in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal”.

Although specific details of planned Lashkar-e-Tayabba attacks remain unknown, late-May 2009 intelligence indicates that Khafa’s cells were engaged in surveillance activities of potential targets, likely in southern India.

“Early-May reporting further suggests Kerala or Tamil Nadu may be used as a base of operations following the establishment of a facilitation team in Sri Lanka, with the estimated time of completion for setting up the facilitation route and camps to be two to three months,” the cable said.

It is understood that the specific intelligence information was passed on to India.

“Separate tearline indicates, & Pakistan-based Shafiq Khafa prepared in mid-June with India-based associate SJ for possible operations in India.

“Khafa was looking for information on possible training sites in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala,” the cable said.

The cable says that Lashkar-e-Tayabba ’s Shafiq Khafa was preparing for operations in India including the assassination of Mr Modi.

“Tearline reports, & Hussein, an India-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) member, continued operational planning on three tasks in early June.

“The tasks were associated with a possible operation against the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, the establishment of a training camp, and unspecified work involving a car,” the cable said.