RSS Whore Rotten to the Core
Sid Harth
Don't push it: Mamata, Desam tell BJP
The Times of India News Service & Agencies
NEW DELHI: Fresh tensions surfaced within the ruling National
Democratic Alliance on the Ayodhya issue, with the key allies -- the
Telugu Desam Party and the Trinamul Congress -- mounting an attack on
the Bharatiya Janata Party's alleged attempts to push the Mandir
agenda. BJP President Bangaru Laxman raised the new controversy on
Friday when he said courts could not "ignore the reality" of a Ram
temple at the disputed site.
Railway Minister and Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee spoke out against
the BJP stand at an Iftar party in Calcutta, saying she would not
tolerate anyone trying to deviate from the NDA agenda.
"If anyone tries to deviate from the NDA agenda, we will be the last to
tolerate it," she said, adding her party favoured a status quo on the
Masjid issue. She also disagreed with the prime minister's statement
that temple construction was an expression of national sentiment.
K Yerran Naidu, leader of another major ally, the TDP, which supports
the government from outside, sharply attacked the BJP chief for his
remarks in interviews to newspapers that the Lok Sabha's rejection of
the censure motion was an endorsement of the Ram temple movement and
even if the courts decided in favour of a Masjid, the Ram temple there
could not be disturbed.
He said the TDP would act as a "watchdog" and would not "spare" the
government if it deviated from the secular agenda.
However, Laxman, the man at the centre of the controversy on Saturday
sought to play down his reported controversial remarks, saying he was
being "quoted out of context in the media".
Naidu said it was "highly improper" for Laxman to interpret the verdict
on the censure motion, which related to the demand for dismissal of the
chargesheeted ministers as an endorsement of the temple agenda.
Both the leaders demanded that the prime minister's assurance in
Parliament that the government would abide by the court verdict on the
issue should be respected.
Naidu said Laxman should not have made such controversial remarks. He
was supported by JD(U) MP Devendra Prasad Yadav who said Laxman should
not have made such a statement.
But, Laxman said on Saturday: "I totally deny what has been quoted to
me. I only said that ground reality is that there exists a temple today
and Parliament also during its debate on this issue echoed the same
thing and certainly the court would take cognisance of this ground
reality."
Referring to the allies' anger over his statements, he said, "I will
only request NDA partners not to get perturbed over what is being
quoted out of context in a section of the press."
Laxman said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has clearly stated that
the party was committed to abide by the court decision and "this should
remove all doubts".
"This overrides all other comments and statements," he said, adding
that the BJP's relations with allies were "good and there is no room
for stress or strain".
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/17home1.htm
Forget Ayodhya, talk development: PM
The Times of India News Service & Agencies
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Saturday sought to
refocus the nation's attention on development, away from the
controversy raised by his remarks on the Ayodhya issue. To this end, he
announced the government's intention to prune the bureaucracy by 10 per
cent in the next three years and recast the Railways' management to
separate operations from policy-making, which could mean
corporatisation of rail services.
"I hope the unnecessary political controversy of the week gone by is
behind us. It is time now for all of us to refocus our attention on the
most important agenda before the nation -- namely, development," the
prime minister told the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry's (FICCI) annual general meeting here.
Declaring that the government does not lack the "political will" to
carry forward the reforms, Vajpayee said he was, however, disheartened
that the government machinery was slow in implementation. All
governments in the last decade which pushed reforms have been
disappointed at the slow pace with which decisions got translated into
actions.
"Reform of the implementation system must be made an integral part of
the reforms process itself," Vajpayee emphasised. This, he said, is an
enormous task, but pointed out that a beginning had been made to
address this by setting up the Strategic Management Group in his
office.
He said the government was committed to carrying forward the next and
more difficult phase of reforms, which includes removing the remaining
bottlenecks for the growth of infrastructure.
In the power sector, Vajpayee said he would convene a special meeting
of chief ministers to finalise an agreed programme for reforms. In
civil aviation, there will be "some important reforms" in the coming
months. The government will also take further measures to speed up the
National Highway Development Project. The prime minister indicated that
steps to quickly increase the number of trained infotech professionals
and to promote pharmaceutical and biotech industries are on the cards
as well.
Vajpayee described the downsizing of the government and labour laws
reforms as two important issues. He said everybody in his government
agreed that the size of the bureaucracy is bigger than it should be,
but very little has been done to reduce its size.
"We need to announce a timetable and set milestones for each department
to reduce the sanctioned strength of their staff at least by 10 per
cent by 2004," he said citing the suggestions of the Expenditure
Reforms Commission to cut staff size through attrition. He also
underlined the need for an attractive voluntary retirement scheme for
government staff.
The existing labour laws, the prime minister said, may be providing
protection to those already employed but are hindering creation of
employment. Labour laws must promote efficiency and productivity.
Interests of the nation as a whole, and not of any section, should be
the prime consideration in redrafting labour laws, he said.
The Railways as a key infrastructure need urgent reforms, Vajpayee
said. The management of the Railways needs radical restructuring to
separate rail operations from planning and policy-making. Large
investments in renovation and modernisation are required to improve
safety standards.
The prime minister's statement suggests that rail operation may be
corporatised, as has been done in the case of telecom services, leaving
the railway board to concentrate on railway planning and policy-making.
Vajpayee also said the government was awaiting the comprehensive
recommendations of the Rakesh Mohan Committee and would quickly
implement those found acceptable.
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/17mcal2.htm
RSS makes inroads into state's education
The Times of India News Service
CALCUTTA: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh claims to have made inroads
into areas such as education in Left Front-ruled West Bengal. The Sangh
has launched a month-long nationwide Rashtriya Jagaran Abhiyan or
national awakening campaign this month.
It coincided with the Prime Minister's controversial statement on the
temple-mosque issue as well as renewed activity of the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad. With Assembly elections round the corner, the West Bengal
chapter has gained added significance. The RSS is also educating people
in rural Bengal about the Ram temple controversy at Ayodhya, said Sangh
leader Bansilal Soni on Wednesday.
Armed with promotional Bengali literature, the campaigners are going
all out to revive Hindu sentiments in the red citadel, too. Arguing
that 'decrease' in Hindu population is linked with 'increase' in
missionary activity and separatism, the RSS pamphlet raises the war cry
in Bengali: "Garber Sange Baloon Amra Hindu (Be proud to be a Hindu)."
While there were around 750 RSS shakhas in the state in 1997, Soni said
today the number has gone up to 975 while the number Sangh-related
organisations stand at 1400. The number of sangh pracharak or main
organisers have gone up to 187.
"The enthusiasm among the rural people during the month-long public
contact campaign is so encouraging that we have decided to reach more
villages," said Soni. He also spelt out plans to catch young boys,
getting attracted to the Sangh, to instil "nationalist and moral
values".
"That's why eduaction is our major area of activity," he said.
According to him, while the Sangh runs 1900 schools, mostly at the
primary level, there are two higher secondary schools at Howrah and
Raiganj. Further, Saraswati Shishu Mandir and Sarada Shishutirtha are
run by Sangh-promoted organisations like Vidyabharati and Vivekananda
Vidya Parishad. "Even local CPM leaders are sending their children to
the RSS schools," Soni claimed. He accused the state government of not
helping these schools.
EOM
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/17mcal3.htm
Mamata warns BJP on Ram Mandir issue
The Times of India News Service
CALCUTTA: Mamata Banerjee finally broke her silence on Saturday and
declared that her party would not 'tolerate it' if the BJP continued to
push the Ram Mandir issue too hard or deviated from the declared agenda
of the National Democratic Alliance. Speaking at an Iftar party, she
did not mince her words and said, " we shall be the last ones to
tolerate it".
A visibly agitated Banerjee added, "if the Mandir is an expression of
national sentiment, then mosques, churches and gurudwaras are also
expressions of national sentiment." At the Iftaar party organised by
TMC leader Sultan Ahmed, the TMC chief advised the BJP to remember that
India was a secular country.
Earlier, the Trinamul Congress chief paid a visit to her party activist
Gour Khara, recuperating in a city nursing home after CPM supporters
allegedly slashed off his tongue in Midnapore. Alleging that the CPM
was trying to stifle voice of the Opposition by cutting off tongues,
Banerjee said that she expected the Centre to act against the state
government within the frame of the constitution.
She claimed that over 36,000 people have been killed during the 23 year
rule of the Left Front government.
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/17mlkn2.htm
Mayawati warns BJP on temple
The Times of India News Service
LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party vice-president Mayawati on Saturday warned
the BJP not to attempt to build the Ramjnambhoomi temple in Ayodhya by
ignoring the court's verdict.
Talking to reporters here, Mayawati, who has twice headed the
government in Uttar Pradesh with the help of BJP, said she no longer
could be taken for a ride. She said she would not tie-up with it to
form a government in future.
Tracing the political trajectory of BJP since the temple movement
gained fresh impetus in 1989, Mayawati accused the likes of VP Singh,
Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Congress party and the Left of helping BJP in
one way or the other. If these parties had not helped BJP in the past,
this party would have remained in the backwaters of UP politics. But,
she felt, the popularity graph of the ruling party had reached its
nadir now and it was again raking up the temple issue in sheer
desperation.
Explaining the rationale of BSP's boycott of Parliament when the voting
on the demand for the resignation of three chargesheeted ministers took
place, Mayawati said since it was introduced by a party which was hand-
in-glove with the destroyers of Babri Masjid in 1992, she did not want
to vote with them. She said Mulayam Singh Yadav had also walked away
from Parliament but was later pursuaded by Samajwadi MPs, mostly
Muslims, to stay back.
The statement of the prime minister in Parliament as well as outside
was a shining example of "political opportunism." She said when the
court was seized with the matter, the PM had no business to say that
the construction of the Ram temple was consistent with the aspirations
of the people. "If that is so, then was the destruction of Babri Masjid
also a reflection of peoples' aspirations?" she asked.
If the BJP tried to construct the temple ingnoring the court's order,
BSP would not tolerate it, said Mayawati.
On a different note, she criticised chief minister Rajnath Singh for
banning beauty contests in UP and said it was nothing but a Manuvadi
trait.
http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/20001217/ina17038.html
Indian discovered America -- RSS
R.B. SINGH
LUCKNOW, DEC 16: It was an Indian, and not Christopher Columbus, who
discovered America. Indians Aryabhatta and Bhaskaracharya, and not
Newton, who first came to know about the gravitational force. Sanskrit
is the mother language of all European languages.
World history has been rewritten in this manner in one of the half-a-
dozen booklets titled Hamein Hindu Hone Ka Garv Hai being distributed
door-to door by RSS activists.
In order to refurbish its image, the RSS today launched a state-
wide ‘‘Rashtriya Jagran Abhiyan’’ to mark the 75th anniversary of the
organisation. Its members will go on a door-to-door campaign to
dispel ‘‘misconceptions’’ about the Sangh Parivar.
Thousands of teams consisting of two or more activists will also hand
over a portrait of ‘‘Bharat Mata’’ to each family, including those of
political leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati, besides apprising
them about the good work being done by RSS.
They will endeavour to expose those who were trying to divide Hindus on
caste lines for their vested political interests. The campaign will
culminate on January 14 with a ‘sahbhoj’ for the new activists.
According to Vijay Aggarwal, UP in-charge of RSS, 1,124 teams had been
constituted for Lucknow itself.
Aggarwal said ‘‘a conspiracy” was on to ‘‘denigrate the
RSS’’. ‘‘Whenever a Muslim or a Christian is beaten up or killed, the
RSS is blamed,’’ he said.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
http://www.the-hindu.com/stories/05171343.htm
Inquisition in Gujarat
Chhindia can hardly be viewed as an isolated incident as several such
``minor'' cases of intimidation of Christians have come to light in the
south Gujarat districts in recent months, writes MANAS DASGUPTA.
THE BJP Government in Gujarat has once again proved that it cannot
function impartially outside the influence of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
or other constituents of the Sangh Parivar. With the personal
popularity of the Chief Minister, Mr. Keshubhai Patel, on the wane as
reflected from the drubbing it got in the recent local bodies'
elections, the party is increasingly depending on the Parivar to fight
the Assembly elections 26 months away.
Any softening towards the minorities by the Keshubhai administration,
despite strong objections from the militants in the Parivar, seems to
have disappeared after the party's defeat in the local elections.
The deft handling of the volatile situation in the Dangs district
during Christmas last year, though it failed to please either the
Christian leaders or the VHP and the Bajrang Dal, at least helped to
avoid a confrontation between the two communities. Though described as
a ``Christmas in graveyard'' by the Christian leaders, as a large posse
of policemen was posted in the Dangs district headquarters of Ahwa in
the face of the Sangh Parivar threat to disrupt the celebrations, at
least peace prevailed then all over south Gujarat.
But Christians in the State may not have a peaceful Christmas this year
if the handling of the recent Chhindia village incident - where a
church was attacked and desecrated - is an indication of the State
Government's attitude. While the Christian leaders claim the attack was
``planned and engineered'' by a group of about 400 local VHP activists,
the Keshubhai administration has denied knowledge of any involvement of
Parivar activists and maintains that it is a ``simple case of dispute
over property rights''.
What the Minister of State for Home, Mr. Haren Pandya, described as a
``room in his personal residence'' which the ``owner'' of the land, Mr.
Punyabhai Kotwalia, a tribal, allowed the local Christians to use as a
``prayer hall'', is actually a permanent structure with all signs of a
church till it was attacked on November 26 - the cross at the pinnacle
and at the altar were removed and a picture of a Hindu deity worshipped
by the tribals installed instead.
According to a spokesman of the All India Christian Council, the church
was consecrated on October 29, 1996, and used ever since exclusively as
a place of worship by the local Christians who constitute about 25 per
cent of the 1,500-odd population of the village in remote Vyara taluk.
He also maintained that the land on which the church stood was jointly
owned by seven villagers who inherited it from a local Parsi and that
no individual had any right to change the status of the structure.
Mr. Pandya, apparently holding the VHP's brief, claims that in
Government records, Punyabhai was the sole owner of the land which he
had inherited from his father. The State Revenue Department records
this as happening in June, 1992, much before he converted to
Christianity.The title of the land was with his father since 1948 and
Punyabhai himself was cultivating the land since 1975.
Since under the law no sale or transfer of land is allowed in tribal
areas without Government permission, Mr. Pandya maintained that there
was no question of any Parsi owner transferring the ownership to the
seven persons as claimed by the Christians. He denied the allegation
that the ruling party had tampered with the Government records to erase
involvement of VHP activists in the attack.
``If Punyabhai as a Christian allowed his fellow Christians to use his
property as a prayer hall for sometime, what can the Government do if
now as a re-converted Hindu he refuses to permit the Christians to
trespass into his personal property,'' Mr. Pandya argued. He also
disagreed that the basic issue in the Chhindia case was the
``constitutional right of worship'', but claimed that the problem was
of ``conversion and re-conversion'', an issue being highlighted by the
VHP.
Judging the mood of the party in power in Gandhinagar, the local
administration has refused to come to the aid of the Christians and the
police played a dubious role in helping the local VHP overnight change
the church into a temple.
Besides the sub-judice dispute over the ownership of the land, which is
pending in the Vyara civil court and the Gujarat High Court, the State
administration is silent on the question whether a property once used
as a church becomes a public place and no individual has any right to
change its status overnight. Mr. Pandya also uncomfortably shrugged off
a question whether the VHP will accept it without protest if Punyabhai,
or any other Hindu, turned a Muslim and wanted to convert a temple into
a mosque.
But even while leaving aside the sub-judice matter, the Chief Minister
or Mr. Pandya could have tried to assuage the feelings of the
Christians by granting an audience to the head of the Evangelical
Church of India, Bishop Ezra Sargunam, who is also chairman of the
Tamil Nadu Minorities Commission, who had launched an fast in front of
the Chhindia church in protest against the attack.
Mr. Patel had all the more reasons to invite the Bishop for at least a
courtesy call because a request to this effect had come from his Tamil
Nadu counterpart, Mr. M. Karunanidhi. But apparently the ``Parivar
bond'' is stronger than that with allies of the BJP-led National
Democratic Alliance.
Now, the Christians are being viewed as a potential threat to the law
and order situation and have been repeatedly warned by the Government
against any attempt to disrupt peace and create communal tension
particularly on the eve of Christmas to ``defame'' the BJP at national
and international levels.
The one-sided warning impliedly gives a clean chit to the VHP and the
Bajrang Dal which have again planned a rally in Dangs district ahead of
Christmas.
Chhindia can hardly be viewed as an incident in isolation as several
such ``minor'' cases of intimidation of Christians have come to light
in the south Gujarat districts in recent months.
A Christian family of seven was thrashed in Raigad village, two
Christians were attacked in Vanjkatamba village, the paddy crop of a
Christian farmer was destroyed in Cuelipada village, two Christian
women were attacked and allegedly raped in Murambi village, a church
was converted into a temple in Halmodi village, all in the southern
districts of Surat and Dangs.
http://www.the-hindu.com/stories/05171344.htm
Targets of hate
The attack on a mosque in Palayamkottai, which resulted in the killing
of one person, has caused a sense of insecurity among the minorities in
Tamil Nadu. SYED MUTHAHAR reports.
THE BOMB attack and the cold-blooded murder of Abdul Rasheed (50), a
member of the Tableeg Jamath (group preaching the principles and
practices of Islam among the Muslims), inside the premises of the
Masjid Mariam Alfeel at Palayamkottai, in Tirunelveli district, on
December 9 have caused a sense of insecurity among the minorities in
Tamil Nadu.
The culprits are yet to be identified and some parties such as the INL
have called for a CBI probe. The attack on the place of worship, that
too in the holy month of Ramzan, has definitely made a dent in the
secular image of the State Government. This was evident from the
spontaneous response from the minorities to the call given by outfits
such as the TMMK and the IUML for demonstrations, hartals and silent
marches in various parts of the State.
It was clear that apprehensions had crept into the minds of the
minorities about the ruling DMK's claim that it would continue to be
their saviour, despite being a constituent of the BJP-led NDA
Government at the Centre.
As the crime had been perpetrated close on the heels of the Prime
Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee's controversial remarks on the Ayodhya
issue, some Opposition parties - the TMC, the CPI, the CPI(M) and the
INL - linked the two. They alleged that the incident was not an
isolated one but was the result of the DMK Government's failure to curb
communal forces which were trying to strike roots in the State ``using
their political ties''.
Though thoroughly shaken by the incident, the State Government, without
losing much time, resorted to damage-control measures. Even while
deputing the senior Minister, Mr. A. Rehman Khan, to Tirunelveli to
assuage the feelings of the affected community, the Chief Minister, Mr.
M. Karunanidhi, sanctioned relief to the tune of Rs. 2 lakhs to the kin
of the deceased, besides offering a Government job to a legal heir.
But what is worrying peace-loving people of all communities is that the
violence at the mosque could affect the communal amity achieved in
Tamil Nadu's southern districts, thanks to the administrative measures
with public cooperation. These fears are not baseless, considering the
caste and communal upheavels in the region, particularly Tirunelveli
district, in the past.
Though the communal clashes witnessed at Seethaikurichi village way
back in 1944 and the unprecedented tension at Meenakshipuram in 1981 in
the wake of large scale conversions of Dalits to Islam left indelible
scars in the minds of the people, different sections lived in absolute
harmony even in ``Muslim pockets'' such as Melapalayam, Kadayanallur,
Tenkasi, Eruwadi, Pottalpudur, Vadakarai and Panpozhi.
However, the communal amity suffered a rude shock when minorities in
some parts of the district, including those who lived in abject poverty
in Melapalayam, became the targets of the Sangh Parivar in the wake of
the serial bomb blasts in Coimbatore and also the murder of some
leaders of the Hindu Munnani and the BJP in Tiruchi and Madurai.
Muslim fundamentalism also reared its head in Tirunelveli in the late
1990s. Five Hindus were murdered in Melapalayam town in August 1997. A
local Hindu Munnani activist was done to death at Pattamadai a year
later. The Hindu fundamentalists retaliated by killing a Muslim trader
in December 1997 at Melapalayam. The ``Muslim-pockets'', more
particularly Melapalayam, were categorised as ``sensitive areas'' in
the wake of these killings and counter-killings.
Apart from this, the district was also not spared when the places of
worship belonging to the minorities were ransacked allegedly by
``Hindutva forces'' in different parts of the country in the recent
past. Makeshift churches at Reddiarpatti, Santhinagar and Rahmathnagar
were set on fire during the last year and a half.
As if to keep the communal fire smouldering, some outfits such as the
Hindu Munnani only last week launched a virulent campaign opposing the
Tirunelveli Corporation's unanimous decision to name the new bus
terminus after the late IUML leader, Qaid-e-Millath.
--
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