Defence Minister A K Antony on Friday said religious fundamentalism is gaining strength and urged Congress workers to create awareness among people about the dangers it poses to the society.


Inaugurating the new building of the Ernakulam District Congress Committee in Kochi on Friday, Antony said the concept of secularism is under threat and is facing challenges from various quarters.


He said Stalinist style of functioning prevailing in parts of Kerala, has resulted in brutal incidents. He was indirectly referring to the killing of Revolutionary Marxist Party leader T P Chandrasekharan, who was hacked to death allegedly by CPI-M activists in Kozhikode early this month.

Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Sri Lanka, Mohammad Nabi Hassani Pour has written to the Sri Lankan Prime Minister D M Jayaratne to amicably resolve the mosque issue to further strengthen the existing communal harmony in the country. The Iranian envoy in a letter expressed concern about the welfare of all the communities in Sri Lanka with respect for each other’s religion. He expressed the hope that the Sri Lankan Prime Minister in his capacity as the Religious Minister, will find an amicable solution to the problem.

Last week, Sri Lankan officials said that they may have to demolish a mosque and a Hindu temple under pressure from Buddhist monks who demanded their removal from a Buddhist sacred area. Thousands of Buddhist monks and their supporterstormed the mosque  sin the central Sri Lankan town of Dambulla on Friday, saying it was constructed illegally. The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, an umbrella group of Muslim organizations, said the mosque was duly registered and that the radical Buddhists are trying to damage peaceful co-existence between the country's main ethnic communities.
 . In Sri lanka , Buddhism is the state religion and about 74 per cent are Sinhalese . About seven per cent of Sri Lanka's 20 million people are Muslims , while about 18 per cent are Tamils .

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today favoured joint and coordinated efforts to deal with challenges of terrorism whatever its origin, whether internal or external. Inaugurating the annual conference of Chief Ministers on internal security in New Delhi, Dr. Singh said there is no question that the burden of the fight against terrorism falls largely on the states machinery. He said the Centre is ready to work with the states to put in place strong and effective institutional mechanisms to tackle this problem. The Prime Minister said proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre will be discussed on May 5th in a separate meeting as suggested by some Chief Ministers. Dr. Singh said in the last two years, the Integrated Action Plan has brought development to villages in the most backward and violence affected districts in the country. The Prime Minister warned that threats from terrorism, left wing extremism, religious fundamentalism and ethnic violence persist in the country. The Prime Minister described the internal security situation in the country has by and large been satisfactory since February last year for which the efforts of the states and the Centre need to be commended. Terming the task of dealing with the security challenges as a complex and onerous, Dr. Singh said it is an endeavour that requires the united effort of everyone. Talking about Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime minister said there has been a perceptible improvement in the security and law and order situation. Dr. Singh said the state witnessed the highest inflow of tourists and pilgrims during 2011. He said the Panchayat elections were successful and were more proof of the people’s desire to be able to lead normal lives free from the shadow of violence and terrorism. On left wing extremism, Dr. Singh said 2011 was better as compared to 2010 in terms of the number of deaths caused by Naxal violence. He said the situation in some of the North-Eastern states have remained complex. Dr. Singh said the pilferage of development funds by militant groups is hurting our efforts to improve the lives of the people of the region.