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Journalism of Courage
Seeking to hit the Muslim psyche, the Congress and Left are gearing up to lock horns over too more issues in Parliament in addition to the India-US nuclear deal.
CPI M leader Sitaram Yechury has made the Left8217;s intention clear by undertaking to raise the issue of implementation of the Sachar Committee and Srikrishna Commission reports.
Sources in the Government said they would use the twin-issues to reach out to the Muslims and try repairing whatever damage it may have suffered due to the minority community antipathy for the US.
The Left temptation for the Muslim vote is understandable. Muslims constitute one-fourth of West Bengal8217;s population. In the case of Kerala, it is higher by another two per cent. No wonder then that the comrades have had no problem sharing the stage with mullahs and maulvis while participating in anti-US demonstrations.
The Sachar report, tabled in Parliament last November, was accepted by the Cabinet on May 17 this year. The Cabinet has since directed the Planning Commission to provide an adequate financial backup for the implementation of various measures. It has approved the identification of 90 Muslim-dominated districts for implementation of special development programmes. Sources said they would field the most articulate MPs during the debate. The Government is also likely to make some announcements at the end of the discussion.
Though the course of UPA-Left talks would determine the timing for the parliamentary debate on the nuclear deal, there are indications that it may take place on September 5 and 6, the assumption being that both sides would know by then where they stand vis-agrave;-vis each other.
The optimism in the Government stems from the fact that finally the CPIM has not demanded a cancellation of the deal. The party only insists that the Government must halt the operationalisation and address its concerns. Regarding the composition of the mechanism suggested by the Left to examine the issue, sources said, 8220;In all likelihood, it would be headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Pranab Mukherjee.8221; They pointed out that it has to be a senior political leader and not a former bureaucrat like Shyam Saran.
Irrespective of what the Left decides, the Government is inclined to speak with restraint. 8220;We would not antagonise Left leaders because we would need them in future too,8221; sources said. Regarding the near-silence of the Congress in contrast to criticism from the BJP and the Left, they said, 8220;It is a Government issue, not a party issue.8221; However, they made it clear that once the UPA is done with the discussions with the Left, the Government would speak up. The Prime Minister, according to them, is convinced that it is a landmark, a paradigm-shift in the same way as the liberalisation of the economy was in 1991.
