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Sonia slams government inertia on J&K, nukes

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday made a scathing attack on the government, charging it with having no clear policy on Jammu & Kashmir or the nuclear doctrine and said its policies were worsening the plight of farmers as also labourers and the weaker sections.

Participating in the resumed discussion in the Lok Sabha on the motion of thanks to the President for his address, the leader of the Opposition said the country's patience was wearing thin on Jammu & Kashmir as the peace initiative had not led to any meaningful dialogue.

"The political will of the government appears paralysed on J&K... We are extremely concerned. We fear that the government does not have a clear... policy," she said, and asked how the Opposition could remain a silent spectator in such a situation.

Recalling that the prime minister had some time back sought to score debating points by demanding to know from her the Congress stand on the country's nuclear deterrent, she asked what the National Democratic Alliance government's nuclear doctrine was.

Stating that the report of the National Security Advisory Board's report had been gathering dust for the past 18 months, she said merely having a minimum credible deterrent did not amount to a nuclear policy.

Though the Congress would have liked to lend support to the government's stand on the crucial issue, she remarked, "How can we endorse a policy... that does not exist?"

Expressing concern at the deepening economic crisis in the country, Gandhi said that instead of acknowledging the reduction in growth in the last three years, the government was doling out "wild promises" of nine per cent growth in the next plan period.

Referring to farmers, she expressed apprehension that their plight could worsen due to the "tardy manner" of raising tariffs by the government in the face of an imminent threat of unchecked imports of farm commodities from countries that are heavily subsidising their farmers.

Gandhi accused the government of targeting organised and unorganised labour through its proposed labour reforms. She warned that the Opposition would not remain idle if the job security of labour was threatened.

Charging the government with "callousness" as regards the right of the weaker sections like tribals, she said the reservations for scheduled castes and tribes were under threat, and the Opposition would remain vigilant against any attempts to "demolish affirmative action".

On Ayodhya, she sought to know the government's stand as some organisations had taken "extreme positions" and were "scoffing at law and threaten to take the law into their hands as had happened in 1992".

Gandhi also wanted to know the government's position as regards three Union ministers whose trial was set aside on technical grounds in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

PTI

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