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MR. SPEAKER: Shri Panja please take your seat. I have called the hon. Minister of Home Affairs.

THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI L.K. ADVANI): Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would request Shri Ajit Panja to first withdraw the word that he has used. After all, every Party - whether it is my Party or Shri Somnath Chatterjee's Party -

has a sense of pride in itself and it is this that makes for Parliamentary culture. Therefore, I can understand their anger and I would request him to please withdraw this particular word that he has used. (Interruptions)

I am sorry to say that day before yesterday, when Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi went to West Bengal, he said that the Government of that State was not cooperating. I do not know what was the basis of Dr. Joshi's saying that. If there were any such reference, our Minister of Home Affairs could very well have taken it up with the Government of that State. Ours is a federal polity. There is the Central Government. There are also State Governments. So, there must be proper coordination amongst them. Despite that, in this volatile situation, was it correct for Dr. Joshi to go to West Bengal and make this unfounded statement? If he had something, he could very well ask Shri L.K. Advani: "This is what I have heard. You get it checked up." But that was not done. These things do create a great agitation and unnecessary ill feeling and insecurity. This has definitely to be avoided. I would also like to tell something about my experience. When Shri Ajit Kumar Panja was speaking, he was narrating his experience. Since I did not go to Mumbai with a political mission, my experience is a little different one. I would narrate what I had seen at that time. My brother lives in Mumbai. Whenever I go there, I see him. At that time, their Government had just started functioning. I asked my brother, "What is the situation?" My brother is not a politician. Let it be very clear that he does not belong to my party or any other party. He is just an ordinary respected citizen. That is why I asked him, "What is the position?" He told me, "My dear elder sister, the position is very complicated." I said, "Why?" He said, "About Bengalis, I can say that at many places, they are being threatened regularly. Secondly, the money is being extracted from them. Without paying money, they are not being allowed to stay on."