A risky proposition

Citing the May 30 Thiriat village Rajouri incident, in which five Hindus were segregated from Muslims and shot, Jagmohan says the demand for demilitarisation of the state 8220;is not tenable.8221; He writes, 8220;The sizeable presence of the Indian army is primarily to deal with the deadly forces of subversion and terrorism that have been let loose in the state by Pakistan8217;s ISI and its outfits 8212; the forces that have been equipped with and trained in the most lethal modern weapons designed for carrying out guerilla warfare.8221;

According to Jagmohan, 8220;The network of terror and subversion has to be removed first.8221; He says, 8220;The cart cannot be put before the horse. Mufti8217;s idea of securing demilitarisation with creation of conditions that make the presence of army unnecessary is risky.8221;

In Jagmohan8217;s view, 8220;An intriguing question is why a leader of Mufti8217;s standing, who has played a significant role in strengthening the bonds of Kashmir with the rest of India and who has held the high office of the Union home minister, would be exposing the state of Jammu and Kashmir to new dangers?8221; Having posed this question, he provides the answer too. He says the state has a 8220;destructive8221; tradition of leadership, with a few notable exceptions, of 8220;placing personal and party interests above those of the country in general and state in particular.8221; In the end comes a poser to both the Mufti and the Centre. 8220;Is it not the time for Mufti to rise above this unfortunate tradition and to rethink his stand and also for the Union government not to vacillate or yield to unjustified pressure?8221;

8216;Assault on Hinduism8217;

A special report by Jagran Kaul and Krishan Bhatnagar 8212; 8216;State control on temples, funds siphoned off, no preservation8217; 8212; attacks the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala for the manner in which they are managing Hindu temples. The writers have singled out south Indian states, but have left out Karnataka. The reason is obvious 8212; the BJP rules over Karnataka in alliance with the Janata DalS.

The Andhra government has been targeted by the Sangh Parivar for quite some time for sale of temple lands. This time round, the attack is on account of an announcement by State Endowment Minister Diwakar Reddy for his March 12 announcement that the Andhra government will take over all temples, mutts and religious trusts in the state. Andhra, according to the Organiser, has 1,84,000 temples under government control. The government, according to the weekly, is taking away all donations given by devotees including cash, clothes and jewellery, and is recycling only 18 per cent of the revenue back into the temples. The priests get below Rs 500 per month. The major chunk of the money, the weekly says, is used for funding various state government schemes.

Tamil Nadu is criticised for the erection of a Periyar statue in front of the Rajagopuram of Srirangam temple. The Kerala government comes in for criticism for the dissolution of the Travancore and Cochin autonomous Dewaswom Boards.

Parivar celebrates

When everybody in the Parivar is celebrating the BJP victory in Delhi Municipal Corporation polls, the Organiser is no exception. The BJP victory attracts an editorial comment: 8220;These wins have a meaning and message for the future. Rajnath Singh8217;s leadership has jacked up BJP8217;s fortunes. The party is upbeat, cadre is rejuvenated.8221; The editorial hits out at the Congress. It does not mention Rahul Gandhi8217;s name, but the reference is obvious. 8220;Trumpeted by a sycophantic media, every member of the Congress first family exudes the arrogance of born-to-rule and this was on brazen display in the UP road shows. The mismatch of these dynastic pretensions with the 21st century dreams of a youthful resurgent India is the tragic epitaph of the Congress megalomania.8221;

Compiled by Pradeep Kaushal

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