Friday, September 2 2005 15:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Ahmedabad: Gujarat government today (Sept 2, 2005) claimed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had praised Chief Minister Narendra Modi during the National Integration council (NIC) meeting in Delhi for his "development work done after the post-godhra communal riots".

According to a government release here tonight, the Prime Minister had praised the development work undertaken by Modi for rehabilitation of the riot victims of Gujarat after the matter was raised by CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat.

The release said that during his speech the Prime Minister said in connection with Karat's queries that "the Council will be pleased to know that the rehabilition work in Gujarat is going on well".

In Delhi, some members of NIC today wrote to the Prime Minister saying Modi has sent out SMS messages using his name to endorse his government's work in the post-riot relief work in the state. "It is a matter of grave concern that the Chief Minister of Gujarat has sent our SMS messages today using your name to endorse his government's action on Gujarat relief work," NIC members Shabnam Hashmi, John Dayal and Naved Hamid wrote in the letter to Singh.

They further termed the statements made by Chief Ministers at the NIC meeting yesterday as 'outrageous' and 'anti-minority'. "Several of them (Chief Ministers) got away with outrageous statements against minorities particularly Muslims, Christians and Dalits without being challanged by government members," Hashmi, a civil society member of the NIC, said on behalf of Dayal and Habib.