Despite being flayed by his own party, home minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday stood by his remarks on “saffron terror’’ arguing that the phrase had served the purpose of sending a message to religious fundamentalist groups who were suspected to be behind some of the recent bomb blasts in the country. However, when asked about Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi’s statement that terror has no colour, Mr Chidambaram said, “The party is supreme.” He maintained that there are no differences between him and the party on any issue including naxalism, though there might be speculation over it.
“These are religious fundamentalist groups. The message ought not to be lost in phrases and perhaps the use of that phrase has brought the message home. So, the purpose, in a way, has been served,” he said. While the minister avoided using the “saffron terror’’ phrase again, he said that his remarks made earlier were not his coinage. He said he had no patent on the phrase “saffron terrorism”. Addressing a press conference, Mr Chidambaram said the phrase was used by a number of people in the past, including a few members of the UPA and there was a debate on “saffronisation of education” in Parliament in 2001. “A number of others have used the phrase. I have been told that a number of my colleagues in the UPA have used the phrase in the past. So, I can’t claim patent over that phrase,” he said.
On UPA ally Trinamul Congress’ allegation about armed camps in West Bengal being operated by the Marxists, a charge vehemently denied by the CPI(M), the home minister said that the Centre has information about the existence of several “armed camps’’ in West Bengal and hoped that the state government will take action. “I think generally it is agreed that there are some camps in some parts of West Bengal and there are cadres on these camps who carry arms,” he said.
Mr Chidambaram said law and order was a state subject and the Central government’s duty was to bring into the notice of the West Bengal government. “I hope the government of West Bengal will look into the matter of these armed camps in West Bengal,” he said.
On the demand of conducting investigation into the killing of Maoist leader Azad, Chidambaram said as the Central government could not order a probe into such an incident, he had asked two delegations of Trinamul, that met him, to approach Andhra Pradesh government with the request.
The home minister maintained that there has not been any progress on talks with the Maoists so there is no question of a setback. “Our offer remains. It remains on the table. If the CPI(Maoist) abjure violence, we are prepared to hold talks with them. But we have not received any credible response to that offer,” he said adding that a “dialogue’’ is the only solution.