Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday condemned a khap panchayat in Baghpat (Uttar Pradesh) for issuing a “diktat’’ against women and hoped that the State government would take action against such elements which tried to impose “undemocratic firmans like dress codes and so on.”
Talking to mediapersons here, he asserted that there was no place for such “illegal orders” in a democratic society.
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Replying to another question on terrorism, he said the Centre was maintaining a tight vigil to ensure that no untoward incident occurred. Even though no terrorist acts had taken place recently, especially in Punjab, reports of “groups or individuals trying to revive terrorism and recovery of RDX from Ambala” were a matter of concern.
A watch was also being kept in Punjab in the context of the “move to set up a memorial in the Golden Temple for those killed during Operation Blue Star.”
Reiterating that the government was fully vigilant at the national level regarding the terrorist threat, he exuded confidence that it would be “contained.” If anyone tried to foment any trouble, strong action would be taken.
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Stating that 2012 had been the most peaceful year in the north-east, he asserted that peace and normality were returning to Jammu and Kashmir as the number of violent incidents this year had gone down to single digit. Nine lakh tourists and 3.75 lakh Amarnath pilgrims had already visited the State.
On the Maoist issue, he said there had been a palpable improvement in States such as West Bengal, while efforts were on to tackle the problem in other States, including Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.