Hindustan Express in its editorial on January 22 entitled, ‘The truth about Bilkis’ writes, “all wounds of Bilkis cannot be healed, nor is it possible to compensate the damage suffered by the family of Bilkis, alongwith the motherland. If, despite this, she is saying that she is grateful to the court, it is necessary to understand the truth that is speaking, disguised in Bilkis’s purdah.” The paper says, “the truth is such that it provokes introspection by everyone, especially those in power.” Lucknow’s Qaumi Khabrein in an editorial on the same day says, “The Indian judiciary’s head is held high again”. The paper has also praised “those social organisations who provided legal, emotional and moral support at every step.” National Herald’s Qaumi Awaaz says, “Bilkis has held a mirror to us, do we have the courage to face the truth?” The paper also brings in the proposal to give the Bharat Ratna to A.B. Vajpayee: “it is being discussed in civilised societies whether the Bharat Ratna should be awarded to a mahapurush who behind closed doors and openly in the political arena has supported those who enabled atrocities to be perpetrated against innocents in Gujarat.”Kolkata and Delhi-based Akhbar-e-Mashriq on January 20 says, “Bilkis’s case demonstrates that Gujarati Muslims should not look behind, but try hard to make conditions favourable to them instead of running away from there. They must try to learn how to stay as the tongue does with 32 teeth. India is a secular and friendly country that has welcomed with open arms, people from all religions and communities. We have to live with them, cordially.” Reservation carrotHome Minister Shivraj Patil’s statement that the government is considering ways of providing reservation for minorities in educational institutions and jobs has been taken with a pinch of salt by Urdu papers. Rahnuma-e-Deccan in an editorial on January 18 writes that “if the national leadership was serious about reservation to Muslims and had given priority to realism, and the need to provide justice, it would have given reservation to the community, straightaway after independence, like it was done for SCs and STs.” The paper asserts that “Nehru and Maulana Azad were of the view that reservation must be given to Muslims, as they were the biggest sufferers of the times then.” Hyderabad’s Munsif on January 18 writes, “the government has not indicated in what way are ways being found to enable reservation for Muslims in jobs . will a special team be formed for the purpose? And how much time might be taken before a decision is arrived at.?”Delhi, Lucknow, Dehradun and Mumbai-based Sahafat seems angrier than other papers. It says, “despite repeated pleas, not to add to the miseries of minorities especially Muslims by making false promises, they refuse to give up. perhaps they are working on a mission with the objective of fanning communal ill-will. and if they are not working on any such mission, they should do as they have said. the home minister must come out with facts on how long a decision would take?” Test this FrontQaumi Awaaz on January 15 has an editorial entitled, ‘Sarmaayadaar Congress ke khilaaf, Prakash Karat ka Teesra Front’. The paper writes, “Karat in Kolkata did not use the whip of the Indo-US nuclear deal, instead he extended threats of the Third Front”. The paper goes on to say, “the CPM has never launched any aggressive political campaign against a fascist party like the BJP. they did nothing in the Gujarat elections. they call the Congress capitalist, but what did their senior leader Jyoti Basu say? He accepted that the CPM is striving for a capitalist system.” The paper however says, “it is important for the welfare of Communists too, to collaborate with the Congress, and other secular and regional parties to keep the BJP out.”Hindustan Express on January 21 writes, “if CPM takes the initiative, the ground is ready for the Third Front. It has so far not come into being, as the Left does not want to end its collaboration with the Congress.” But, the paper wants to know, “will the people be willing to try this Front, which has been already tested?” Et tu PM? In an editorial on January 22, Rahnuma-e-Deccan has criticised the prime minister for accepting the ‘Best Politician’ award by ‘a media group’. It calls the acceptance of the award “both, surprising and shocking. the person occupying the PM’s post should be above this”. It calls for a ‘debate’ on whether PMs should accept such awards at all. Compiled by Anees Chishti, senior journalist and editor of the ‘Alpjan Quarterly’
