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BJP criticises Cong. demand for white paper

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI DEC. 30. The Bharatiya Janata Party today criticised the Congress demand for a "white paper" on terrorism, and said that if indeed such a white paper had to be issued, it must relate to three decades of terrorism, including the period when Punjab was in the grip of separatist forces.

Although only two days ago the Deputy Prime Minister and Union Home Minister, L.K. Advani, had said that terrorism had increased, the party spokesperson, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, claimed today that the Centre's policies had weakened Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.

The Government had also been able to place India's views before the international community and make them accepted.

The roots of terrorism had weakened as a result of the Centre's firm policies and in the coming days the last nail in the coffin of terrorism would be driven in. The Prevention of Terrorism Act had also become a useful tool to fight terrorism — in the Parliament attack case of last year sentences were given in a matter of months instead of years as in the past.

Mr. Naqvi's point was that it was the policies of the Congress government in the past that had encouraged terrorism, and that they now had the "temerity" to ask for a white paper. Let a white paper bring out the facts of the rise of terrorism in Punjab and the North-East, let it detail facts about terrorism spread over three decades, he added.

The party refused to comment on the statement of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader, Ashok Singhal, that the BJP had harmed the cause of the Ram temple instead of helping it in any way. "We do not agree with that statement,'' was all that Mr. Naqvi was prepared to say.

As for the RSS criticism of the decision of the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, to inaugurate a conference of Jesuits, Mr. Naqvi said "the President is wise enough to take his own decisions and it is not for us to comment on this. We would not like to create any controversy.''

Separately, a BJP delegation led by V.K. Malhotra, met the Election Commission today to point out "anomalies" in the voters' lists for Nagaland. It wanted a fact-finding team of the Commission to visit the State and ensure deletion of bogus and under-aged voters and multiple entries for the same voter.

The BJP delegation also pleaded that voter identity cards issued by the Commission be made inapplicable for the coming Assembly polls early next year as these had been "widely manipulated and were mostly bogus.''

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