Kudos for Karat

A rather unexpected recipient of some praise 8212; albeit left-handed 8212; in the pages of Organiser is CPM general secretary Prakash Kar...

A rather unexpected recipient of some praise 8212; albeit left-handed 8212; in the pages of Organiser is CPM general secretary Prakash Karat. It appears in a long article on the government8217;s 8220;total isolation8221; over the nuclear deal issue. Exulting over the new partnerships being forged to bring about a resolution on the n-deal, the article notes that after the last politburo meeting, Karat 8220;even asked the government to consult the BJP on the deal as the issue was of 8216;vital national interest and not a matter of a single party.8221;8217;

It says that 8220;the least the CPM can do to restore an iota of credibility would be to overcome its 8216;holier than thou8217; attitude, join hands with nationalist forces and take a pro-India stand on issues confronting the nation, whether terrorism or the Indo-US nuclear deal.8221;

Culture wars

After the HRD ministry, it8217;s the ministry of culture8217;s turn to come under the Sangh Parivar8217;s gaze. In a lengthy editorial, 8220;The Culture Butchers8221;, Organiser slams the UPA government for 8220;attempting to undo8221; all the good work done by the NDA in the cultural field. Some of the NDA8217;s achievements include underwater exploration at Dwarka, launching a search for the 8220;lost8221; river Saraswati and mapping pilgrimage tourism. The UPA, it says, has gone about 8220;killing each of these initiatives8221;, reducing the National Museum, the National Archives, state archives and museums into 8220;routine, file-pushing government offices8221;, and culture minister Ambika Soni 8220;has been sent to safeguard the interests of the Gandhi family in all the cultural institutions.8221;

It8217;s biggest complaint, though, is that 8220;political interference is harming the culture ministry.8221; Hindutva politics may have informed the previous government8217;s cultural policy but the editorial insists that 8220;Art is an area that needs government patronage sans politics.8221;

PM8217;s 8216;sellout8217;

Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh are lambasted by turn in M D Nalapat8217;s 8216;Worldwatch8217; column and the axe this week falls on the PM and his alleged anti-national instincts. The Indo-US nuclear deal, says Nalapat, is not the first time Manmohan has favoured foreign countries over his own. More than 15 years ago, as Co-Chairperson of the India-Russian Joint Commission, he 8220;got New Delhi to agree to the rupee-rouble deal, which cost his poor country to effectively lose more than 15 billion to Russia.8221;

If the rupee-rouble deal led to a loss of at least 15 billion the 8220;cost of Dr Manmohan Singh8217;s second sellout8221;, the nuclear deal, will be to the tune of 40 billion, adds Nalapat.

Plea for Nepal

The RSS and VHP have made no secret of their distress that the world8217;s only Hindu kingdom has now declared itself secular. According to a report, 8220;thousands of saints8221; assembled in Nepal last month demanded the government there declare the country 8220;an independent, self-reliant, sovereign and democratic Hindu nation.8221; Ramvilas Vedanti 8212; the senior Peethadhishwar of Ayodhya 8212; asked them to be 8220;ready to sacrifice like Dadhichi for restoring the status of Hindu nation to Nepal8221; while another 8216;sant8217; emphasised the need 8220;for awakening the people of Nepal to achieve this objective.8221;

8212; Compiled by Manini Chatterjee