The Times of India News Service

LUCKNOW: The all-India confederation of SC/ST organisations on Thursday lambasted the Union government for its inability to stop the Taliban government in Afghanistan from destroying ancient and priceless statues of Buddha.

The government which painted the town red with slogans like "The Buddha has smiled" after the Pokhran II blasts, "in times of crisis had preferred to keep quiet and indulge in muted rhetoric" alleged the national general secretary of the organisation, Jagjivan Prasad.

Talking to reporters in the state capital, office bearers of the organisation said the attack on the Buddha statues by tanks and rocket propellers had proved that "claims of the Union government that India was a superpower, were a sham".

At best it showed the inability of the diplomatic channels to tell the ruling Taliban militia in Afghanistan that India would react sharply to any attempts to denegrade Buddha, they said. The organisation has also decided to air its protest against the move at a protest rally at the Vidhan Sabha on March 20.

Prasad said that a brainstorming session with all SC\ST legislators in the state would be held on March 19, to discuss their next move in this regard.