CM: AP can tackle communal tensions

• CM briefs NIC on security scenario
• Standard procedures put in place
• No major disturbances in last 2 years

Venkat Parsa

New Delhi: Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday announced that the State Government has put in place a mechanism to tackle communal disturbances. It has evolved Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for maintenance of communal harmony, preventive actions to be taken, tackling communal disturbances and rehabilitation of victims of communal violence.

“The State government has ensured tackling of emergent situations with objectivity, impartiality and quick response,” he said during the deliberations in the National Integration Council (NIC). He said: “The causative factors triggering communal disturbance may lie in the immediate past but underlying factors emerge from an emotional pile-up, which were not taken cognizance of by the administration and the political set-up. Therefore, the efforts to maintain communal harmony must be on a continuous basis, encompassing socio-political factors.”

The measures taken by the government are showing dividends and there have been no major incidents in the past two years, he said. Kiran Reddy elaborated on the theme of national integration and communal harmony by invoking Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

In 1940, Maulana Azad stated that 1100 years of common history of Islam and Hinduism have enriched India with common achievements. The Indian languages, poetry, literature, culture, art, manners, customs and the innumerable happenings bear the stamp of joint endeavour. “These thousand years of our joint life have moulded us to a common nationality and we have become an Indian nation, united and indivisible. This is the bedrock of the Indian thought process and if a few want to destabilise the nation they will fail miserably,” he said.

In an eloquent description of democracy, he said the first law of decency is to preserve the liberty of others. Kiran Reddy quoted Indira Gandhi as saying, “Not every individual or party is always disposed to use our democratic framework to further constructive purposes. It seems that the exercise of the democratic right sometimes takes the form of freedom even to destroy.” He said some separatist groups in the guise of democratic rights are resorting to acts that have the potential to destroy the communal fabric of the great nation. “We must all stand united to fight the evil design of such separatist forces,” he said.

Referring to the ghastly and horrendous gangrape and inflicting of brutal injuries on the paramedical student on December 16, 2012 in the national capital, who later died while undergoing treatment in Singapore, he said the infliction of a wound on the collective feelings of a society gives birth to national sentiment. After the dastardly incident that shook the collective conscience, the nation rose as one to express its anguish against the crimes against women and the need for more stringent laws to check the menace. Kiran Reddy also listed the schemes he has introduced like Bangaru Talli for the girl child. He also referred to Rajiv Yuva Kiranalu, which is a unique placements-linked skill training programme for the youth.

On the measures for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Kiran Reddy showcased the Sub-Plan, which has been accorded statutory status. Indiramma Kalalu is an awareness-generation programme on the statutory status accorded to the SC/ST Sub-Plan.