Dhanbad: Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee today (Apr 12, 2004), without naming Congress president Sonia Gandhi, said that certain Opposition leaders were defaming the country at home and abroad.

Addressing a public meeting at the Randhir Verma stadium in Dhanbad, the Prime Minister said he had been in the Opposition for 40 years, but had always highlighted the country's achievements, yet some Opposition leaders now were defaming India at home and abroad.

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The Congress, he said, was also insulting Jharkhandis by questioning the wisdom of carving out a separate State for them.

He assured the State Government that the Centre would extend full cooperation to it in combating and eliminating the naxal menace in Jharkhand.

"Extremism and murder are not the solution to any problem and naxals will never achieve their goal by the gun as the State Government and Central security forces are well equipped to crush them," Vajpayee said.

He expressed anguish over the killing of 29 policemen in landmine blasts at Baliba in Jharkhand last week and announced that the Centre would soon enact a law to take care of the wards of security personnel who were killed in action.