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Journalism of Courage
The BJP is going full steam ahead with its effort to project its new, secular face in Jammu and Kashmir. And to this end, the party has got some special posters printed with a smiling Vajpayee in a Muslim cap (Karakuli) and posters written in Urdu for Rajouri, Poonch and Doda districts. Learning from the 1996 Assembly elections when the BJP won eight seats but not even one in Muslim majority constituencies in J-K, the party wants to project Vajpayee as a secular politician among the Muslims.
‘‘See the national scene. Muslims are joining BJP. They know that the party does not want to use Muslims as a votebank. Muslims now feel that BJP is not their enemy. This is a great achievement for us,’’ says BJP general secretary, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
This time, the state BJP unit is concentrating on Muslim areas so much so that the BJP candidate for Jammu Lok Sabha seat Nirmal Singh — also the state unit chief — kicked off his election campaign from the Muslim-dominated Rajouri district.
Party leaders feel that Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee’s peace initiative with Pakistan has changed the party’s image among the Muslims of the state too.
‘‘Vajpayee announced the peace initiative from Srinagar. This has changed the minds of the Muslims in the state. We have fielded strong candidates in Srinagar too. Koi hairani nahin agar hum vahan seat nikal lein (Don’t be surprised if we win the seat from there),’’ says state BJP vice-president Hari Om.
