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PM refuses to sack Gujarat govt

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has termed the communal tension in Gujarat as ''internal disputes'' and said that the tribals should amicably resolve them.

Vajpayee was speaking to the media at the Ojhar airport near Nashik after returning from Ahwa in Dangs district of Gujarat. The area has witnessed communal violence recently.

The prime minister assured that the situation in Dangs was calm. He said that both Hindus and Christians had expressed a sense of insecurity to him and added that their fears were baseless.

Vajpayee said a national debate should be held on the issue of conversion from one religion to another, although Gandhians have demanded a total ban on it.

Addressing the media at the end of his day-long tour of Dangs on Sunday, he, however, rejected the idea that the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state should be dismissed for ''failure'' to prevent the recent communal incidents or that organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad or Bajrang Dal should be banned.

UNI

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