NEW DELHI, 13 June 2004 — Former Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday conceded that deadly sectarian riots in western Gujarat state in 2002 contributed to his Hindu fundamentalist party’s defeat in recent national elections.

The ousted premier’s comments mark the first time that a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has acknowledged the unrest played a role in the party’s surprise loss in the April-May election.

“It is very difficult to say what are all the reasons for the defeat in the elections ... but one impact of the violence was we lost the elections,” he told reporters on arriving in the northern Himalayan resort of Manali.

“The riots were an emotional issue that people could take advantage of. That is what our opponents did, they took advantage of it, but I don’t blame them. This is politics,” Vajpayee said.

More than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, died in the February 2002 riots, with human rights groups accusing the BJP-led Gujarat state government of turning a blind eye to the violence.

The unrest was triggered by the burning of a train compartment in which 59 Hindu activists and pilgrims were killed.

Vajpayee added: “We have all agreed, and I am sure the nation will also agree, that such an incident like the Gujarat riots should not be allowed to happen anywhere else.”

Last month, Soli Sorabjee, who was attorney general during Vajpayee’s government, said the ex-premier was “anguished” over the Hindu-Muslim bloodshed but indecisive due to political compulsions from his right-wing base.

Vajpayee had been under pressure to dismiss Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his inaction over the rioting but the state leader was supported by hard-liners within the BJP.

Manmohan Seeks to Win Back Support of Sikh, Muslim Communities

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attempted yesterday to reduce lingering anger against his Congress party in the Sikh and Muslim communities, urging peace and harmony across the country, a news report said.

Congress has lost support from both minority groups in recent years, although the Sikh community has largely welcomed the appointment of Manmohan, who is a Sikh, as India’s new prime minister.

On June 6, 1984, then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Congress party ordered an army raid on the Sikh community’s holiest shrine, the Golden Temple complex in the northern city of Amritsar.

About 1,200 Sikhs were reportedly killed in the raid.

Months later, Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh guards, allegedly in response to the Golden Temple operation, which sparked weeks of Hindu-Sikh riots. Congress has since apologized for storming the temple.

However, resentment over the incident lingers.

At a ceremony last week, where thousands of Sikhs gathered at the Golden Temple to honor those who died there 20 years earlier, the Congress party was squarely blamed not only for the deaths at the besieged temple, but also for those who died in a decade-long Sikh rebellion in Punjab that claimed 15,000 lives before being crushed in 1994.

“So many of our boys were killed in this movement,” said Parkash Singh Badal, leader of Punjab state’s main opposition party, Akali Dal, and a powerful Sikh figure. “This is all the doing of the Congress.”

Manmohan Singh yesterday described the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the 2002 Gujarat communal carnage as “unfortunate” and said an atmosphere had to be created in the country to ensure that such events do not occur again.

Manmohan made the comments at a Sikh temple in the Indian capital.

Manmohan’s ruling Congress Party is leading the coalition government United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and has pledged to build a secular India free of sectarian violence that has left thousands dead.

Manmohan Singh, leader of the Congress party, became prime minister last month after the party chief Sonia Gandhi, daughter-in- law of Indira Gandhi, declined the post.

The prime minister said all sections of society should work to help maintain peace and harmony in the country.