Common cause

Columnist Shyam Khosla suggests that the BJP and Congress should come together to counter the Left.

Columnist Shyam Khosla suggests that the BJP and Congress should come together to counter the Left. He suggests not 8220;an alliance or coalition between the two parties 8212; that, in any case, is not possible at this juncture 8212; but a common understanding on a broad framework of foreign policy and security concerns so that India can maintain continuity in policies on sensitive and crucial issues8221;. He continues, 8220;what appears to have provoked several well meaning intellectuals to make almost identical proposals at different forums is the disillusionment with the Left parties8217; all-out efforts to derail the process of building Indo-US strategic partnership8230; This alliance is most unlikely to happen not because there are fundamental differences on the issue between these parties but because of the Congress party8217;s inherent fear of losing Muslim support if it were seen close to the BJP on any major issue. That partly explains why the Congress never tried to seek BJP support on its policy of liberalisation. The result is a major setback to economic reforms that is perceived to be Manmohan Singh8217;s primary concern.8221;

Some reservations

Organiser reproduces copies of the RSS resolutions on Ram Setu, and on reservation for SCs and STs converted to other religions, saying, 8220;the Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal takes strong exception to the recommendation of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities NCRLM popularly known as Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission that the scheduled Caste status must be 8216;completely delinked from religion8217; and 8216;all those groups and classes among the Muslims and Christians should also be covered by the scheduled castes net.8217; What is more intriguing is the commission8217;s effort to project its recommendations as consistent with the 8216;letter and spirit of the constitutional provisions8217;8221;.

It continues, 8220;the ABKM is of the view that, in reality, these recommendations are against the basic spirit of the Constitution and in negation of all the efforts of B.R. Ambedkar who struggled relentlessly in his personal and public life to reform the Hindu society. Besides, these recommendations are also an aggression on the welfare of the scheduled castes and a major impediment to their upliftment8230; The ABKM appeals to the countrymen in general and the scheduled caste brethren in particular to resist any move by the vote-hungry politicians in that direction which is going to be detrimental to the welfare of the scheduled castes. The ABKM calls upon all the swayamsevaks to work shoulder-to-shoulder with our scheduled caste brethren in their efforts to safeguard the interests of the community.8221;

On national interest

The Organiser praises Manmohan Singh8217;s recent comments on regional parties and national interest. It says, 8220;his comment on regional parties in his government is more significant and for that reason valuable than his frustrated outburst against the Left on the nuclear deal8230; It is not that we agree entirely with his prognosis on regional parties and their political priorities. Because though the NDA under Atal Bihari Vajpayee had 22 parties and many of them regional, the question of 8216;their narrow considerations distorting national vision,8217; as Singh said, did not ever come to the fore8230;8217;

8220;8230;CPM, a regional formation for all political considerations does not make any secret of its loyalty to Chinese interests. Now, it says, more than the ideological antipathy for the US, it is opposing the nuclear deal because it will hurt and become a threat to China8230; They, however, have the veto in this government,8221; it laments, continuing, 8220;but there are instances which hurt national sentiments and undermine national interests as in the case of M. Karunanidhi8217;s repeated blasphemous outbursts on Ram and his odes to LTTE in the form of elegy for Tamilselvan, the slain terrorist leader of the banned outfit8230;8221; It says that the prime minister can still retrieve the situation, now that he has identified the problem, provided he has the required authority and political courage.