NGOs appeal to Prez on Orissa
A few NGOs appealed to President Pratibha Patil to ask the Orissa Government to take immediate steps to end violence in the state.
By PTI |
NEW DELHI: A few NGOs on Monday appealed to President Pratibha Patil to ask the Orissa Government to take immediate steps to end violence in the state.
A two-member delegation led by filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt submitted a memorandum to Patil asking her to invoke the rarely used Article 355 of the Constitution by which the President can ask any state government to take steps in case of a crisis.
"We have knocked many doors including of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil. We just got empty words, empty phrases and empty assurances. So we approached the President as a last resort," Bhatt told reporters after the meeting.
He said the delegation tried to impress upon Patil to invoke Article 355. "We asked her whether she will remain silent," Bhatt added.
Alleging that the political leadership was "dilly dallying" in taking steps to contain violence, the filmmaker said the parties appeared more concerned with the coming elections and did not want to disturb votebank.
John Dayal, member of the National Integration of India, said the President was within her power to invoke Article 355.
A two-member delegation led by filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt submitted a memorandum to Patil asking her to invoke the rarely used Article 355 of the Constitution by which the President can ask any state government to take steps in case of a crisis.
"We have knocked many doors including of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil. We just got empty words, empty phrases and empty assurances. So we approached the President as a last resort," Bhatt told reporters after the meeting.
He said the delegation tried to impress upon Patil to invoke Article 355. "We asked her whether she will remain silent," Bhatt added.
Alleging that the political leadership was "dilly dallying" in taking steps to contain violence, the filmmaker said the parties appeared more concerned with the coming elections and did not want to disturb votebank.
John Dayal, member of the National Integration of India, said the President was within her power to invoke Article 355.
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Dayal also demanded a ban on organisations like VHP and Bajrang Dal.Download
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