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New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said the most disturbing and dangerous aspect today was the assault on India's composite culture and appealed to the political leadership to preserve the pluralistic framework of the country.
"Perhaps, the most disturbing and dangerous aspect today is the assault on our composite culture," Singh said in his opening remarks at the National Integration Council (NIC) here.
"Those who threaten our communal harmony, integrity and peaceful coexistence deserve very deterrent punishment. We should not be provoked to suspend or subvert a democratic process in the search for solutions," he said.
"In the recent past, we are witnessing signs of increasing fissiparous tendencies specially in areas like the northeast, in Jammu and Kashmir, in Orissa and Karnataka, in Assam and some other parts of our country. Sometimes the situation is aggravated by external interests that wish to derail the essential unity of India.
"Further, as witnessed recently in Orissa, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Assam, we see ethnicity and religion being used as arguments to stir divisions," the PM added.
Violence continues to erupt sporadically in Orissa after the August killing of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati.
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