9/11 attacks catchword of international terrorism: Pranab

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday warned against the danger of fundamentalism and said what Swami Vivekananda had said on this evil during his famous speech at Chicago in 1893 was still relevant across the world. Referring to Vivekananda's speech at Parliament of World Religions at Chicago on September 11,1893, Mukherjee said 108 years before the 9/11 attacks in New York City and Washington, "Swamiji had spoken of the dangers of fundamentalism and bigotry which encourage violence".

"The 9/11 terrorist attacks has become a catchword of international terrorism", Mukherjee said.

The finance minister, who was a releasing a special edition of the English translation of Gitanjali based on Tagore and another book called Nameless Recognition -The Impact of Rabindranath Tagore on other Indian Literature at a programme of the Asiatic Society here, described Tagore and Swami Vivekananda as great sons of India. He said the the Centre and state governments had undertaken a series of programmes, both in India and abroad, to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore and Vivekananda.

To commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore, the Union Ministry of Culture, under the guidance of National Implementation Committee chaired by Mukherjee, has undertaken several projects, schemes and events.

Elsewhere, when asked about his meeting with Army chief Gen V K Singh on Thursday evening, he said, "I am not going to discuss this with the media. He met me as the chief of army staff," he said.

The government's chief troubleshooter said several persons had met him and what transpired in those discussions is confidential.

He also declined to comment on the recent controversy centring British-Indian novelist Salman Rushdie's India visit and exiled Bangladeshi author Tasleema Nasrin.