Manmohan Singh asks states to curb communal riots

While speaking at the National Integration Council (NIC) meet, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said states should deal with communal riots strongly without seeing  political influence and colours.

NIC meet took place in the capital on backdrop of recent Muzaffarnagar riots in which 50 people were killed and over 100 injured.

“Some communal disturbances have been reported lately. This year riots were reported from Kishtwar in J&K and Nawada in Bihar, while Hyderabad has seen intermittent communal trouble in the last couple of years. UP has reported many such incidents in the recent months,” Prime Minister said.

“It seems anti-national forces are succeeding in deepening the communal divide by taking advantage of small misunderstandings. These forces are inimical to our democratic institutions. We are determined to fight them firmly,” Dr. Singh added.

“Communal enmity does not benefit anyone but could threaten our national identity as a civilised society,” he added.

NIC meet was attended by most chief ministers, Cabinet ministers, members of various political parties including leaders of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Prime Minister also addressed the role of social media in influencing public opinions.

“While it is imperative to maintain freedom of expression on social media, we must prevent mischievous elements from misusing this platform”, Singh said.

Incidentally most BJP Chief Ministers skip the meet. Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parikh did not attend the meet.  

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