Maha govt ready to take more action: Alva

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Senior Congress leader Margaret Alva said today the Maharashtra government is ready to take action against those indicted by Justice Srikrishna Commission report on 1993 Mumbai riots if the court tells it to do so amidst reports that Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is seeking legal opinions to reopen the riot cases against politicians.

However, Shiv Sena reacted angrily to any move to reopen the cases saying it amounts to saying "hang the Hindus" with an eye on Muslim votes.

Pointing out that Congress was "satisfied" about the action taken report on the basis of the Commission report, she said "if more is to be done, we are prepared to do it. Let the court tell us where the matter has to be carried out further".

Alva said she had gone through the action taken report and "we are satisfied that whatever could be done has been done".

However, there was no official confirmation that Deshmukh is seeking the views of legal experts.

The Commission's report blames among others Sena supremo Bal Thackeray for instigating attacks on Muslims. The report was rejected by the Sena-BJP combine for being "one-sided" but it has again come to haunt the saffron parties following conclusion of Mumbai serial blasts trial.

A report in yesterday's 'Saamna', Sena's mouthpiece, on this issue, says the demand for implementation of Justice Srikrishna's report is tanatamount to saying "hang the Hindus".