Bhubaneswar: The Orissa government was today urged to restore peace in violence-hit Kandhamal district, where the situation remained tense in the aftermath of attacks on Christians, and to ensure that a bandh was not held on Christmas.

"We have requested the chief minister (Naveen Patnaik) to make efforts to stop such a bandh on December 25,a major festival day," leader of a central ministerial team and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told reporters here after meeting Patnaik. On Pawar s suggestion, Patnaik said "there should not be a bandh on December 25." Patnaik, however, did not make any appeal to the Sangh Parivar which has called the statewide bandh on the day to refrain from it.

Pawar said, "While the minority community is afraid of returning to their villages, tribals have left their villages for jungles out of fear of the police." He suggested that village heads along with police and block level officials should be made members of the peace committees, which would help in restoring peace at the grass- roots level. "We need to provide just the confidence," Pawar said, adding that the people should feel that their life and property was fully protected.

The central team also comprised Tribal Affairs Minister P R Kyndiah and Social Justice Minister Meira Kumar. Disapproving of the December 15 deadline given by the Sangh Parivar to nab the killers of VHP leader Laxamanananda Saraswati, which led to the outbreak of the violence, the Pawar urged the state government to gear up the investigation.

Source : PTI