NEW DELHI, March 26: The National Human Rights Commission has unequivocally indicted the Gujarat government for its “inaction” during the recent communal violence in the state, and has maintained that the situation is “still far from control”.

This condemnation of the state government was made by the chairperson of the NHRC, Justice J.S Verma after a visit to the state last week.

Verma said that he had made his views known to the state chief minister, Narendra Modi. He also said that a detailed report of his observations would be submitted later this week.

Verma was non-committal on suggestions that there had been a collusion between the government officials and rioters, but said, “things would have been better and all that has happened could have been averted.”

Following Verma’s news conference, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K Advani have asked the Gujarat chief minister to ensure peace in his state during Muharram and Holi.

In a message to Modi, Vajpayee said, “the Gujarat incidents have tarnished the image of the country and the violence in the state must stop.”

These developments have triggered a great deal of speculation over the continuation of Modi as chief minister. The opposition has been demanding that he should be replaced and presidential rule imposed in the state.

For the time being, Vajpayee has said that a judicial inquiry would be instituted in the Godhra incidents and the people who had instigated the incidents would be dealt with according to the law.

The initial reaction of Modi, however, has been rather equivocal. He continues to blame the opposition for keeping the issue alive.

In a stinging criticism of Modi, the Congress and some of the other opposition parties have accused him of ‘contempt of the parliament’, when he said that V.P Singh, Dewe Gowda and some of the other former prime ministers were “talking nonsense”, and vowed that he would not tolerate “any attack on the Hindutwa by hypocrites.”