Sonia hits out at Modi govt for spurt in communal violence

Attacking the Narendra Modi Government over communal violence, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today claimed there has been an increase in such incidents in parts of the country since it came to power and charged this was part of a "deliberate attempt" to divide the people on religious line.
Speaking at a party forum outside Delhi for the first time after the Congress' debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi said recurrence of communal violence in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and some other parts of the country was a "matter of grave concern for all".
Her attack on the BJP-led NDA Government came days after her son and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi alleged that communal conflicts in Uttar Pradesh have been "deliberately engineered" and stormed into the well of Lok Sabha demanding a discussion on the situation.

"There has been an increase in communal violence in the country, especially in the northern states, since 11 weeks of the new Government came to power... This is something which is of grave concern for all of us... And we believe these were incidents that were deliberately created to divide the people on religious lines," she said, addressing a special convention organised by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) here.
"More than 600 incidents of communal violence happened in Uttar Pradesh and, perhaps, as many in Maharashtra," she said, adding that "during the UPA I and II rule hardly any such incident had happened".

Gandhi also criticised the Centre for its failure to come out in expressing solidarity with people of Palestine over Israel's assault on Gaza, abandoning the policy followed by the country through decades.

Alluding to the reluctance of the government to adopt a resolution on the issue in the Lok Sabha, she said, "This has muted the country's response to the suffering people and betrayed its long tradition of solidarity with the people in Palestine and the vision of two states existing side-by-side in peace and harmony."
Lauding the Kerala unit of the Congress for observing the "quit violence week" for social harmony and peace from August 9, Gandhi exhorted the party functionaries and workers to organise more such "positive campaigns" to strengthen secularism for which the party "has always stood".

Gandhi also lavished praises on the KPCC for embarking on "a democratic revamp" of the organisation starting with booth level elections earlier this week.
Later, inaugurating the 16th anniversary celebrations of women empowerment initiative "Kudumbashree" at a public function in the city, Gandhi expressed concern over violence against women.
She regretted that the Women Reservation Bill, envisaging 33 per cent quota for them in Parliament and legislatures, could not be passed when her party was in power but said Congress would continue to press for its enactment as the opposition party.