BJP tries to encash war fears EC seizes video on Gujarat carnage in Goa By Devika Sequeira/ DH News Service
The Election Commission has seized video cassette of a documentary on the Gujarat riots that was being shown in many parts of Goa, and has ordered all copies to be withdrawn from circulation here. Joint Chief Electoral Officer R P Pal told Deccan Herald that the cassette had the "potential to do damage" and the state police had been instructed to seize copies wherever they were in circulation in the state. Also seized were copies of the latest issue of Communalism Combat which features the Gujarat clashes on the cover describing it as "genocide". Mr Pal said the matter had been referred to the Chief Election Commission's office in Delhi, for a final decision. But local non-governmental organisations here, responsible for screening the video, said they were "deeply distressed" by the police action. The Forum for Communal Harmony said it had viewed the documentary Hey Ram, directed by Gopal Menon, and was "convinced that it is a very human account". It said, "What has happened in Gujarat are acts of planned genocide and the people of India have a right to know the truth". It described the police action as "patently illegal and high-handed". "This is a matter of serious concern, because it is part of a series of actions by BJP-led governments, at the Centre and the State, against freedom of expression," said the forum's spokesman and former MP Amrut Kansar. The police action comes at the peak of the election campaign here, with the Congress and the BJP locked in a war of words. On the defensive over its performance in Gujarat, the BJP has been struggling to counter the anti-communalism campaign. Some officials in the Election Commission's office here complained that the government was misusing the police machinery to do this.They pointed out that the first copy of the video cassette had been seized not under the instructions of the Election Commission, but of the state government. Bent on shifting the focus away from Gujarat, BJP leaders have of late begun to use the war slogan. Both Mr Pramod Mahajan and Mr Rajnath Singh, said in rallies that "a vote for the BJP would be a vote to strengthen the prime minister at this crucial time when we face the threat of war".
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