Lok Morcha on Friday demanded concrete evidence from the Centre about SIMI's anti-national activities that led to its ban and accused BJP of attempting to divide people on communal lines with an eye on the coming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. “BJP knows that it has lost ground in UP and that is why they imposed the ban on SIMI as its reservation card did not click... Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and home minister L K Advani should come out with concrete evidence against SIMI's anti-national activities, Lok Morcha leaders told reporters after a 90-minute meeting of the front in New Delhi.
Former prime ministers V P Singh and Deve Gowda, Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh, Left Front leaders Jyoti Basu, H S Surjeet, A B Bardhan, Sitaram Yechury, Abani Roy were among those who attended the meeting. Assailing the government for arrest of SIMI activists without evidence, CPM leader Jyoti Basu asked, “What evidence have they found against SIMI. Except for some video tapes, no arms or weapons were recovered.”
“We are against detention without trial. If there is any allegation or evidence it should be placed before the court, the former West Bengal chief minister told reporters.
He also demanded that assembly elections in the state should be held immediately and cannot be extended till February or March next year. The Samajwadi Party leaders assailed the police raid on the party's office in Lucknow on Friday and dismissed as baseless the state government's charges that SP was instigating tension in the state. Bureau Report