The Organiser editorial targets the Congress for making baseless allegations in Gujarat this election cycle, “and pretending that exhuming the ghost of 2002 riots will make up for a cohesive poll strategy.” Sonia Gandhi, it says, “has no real idea of the issues involved and like a loose cannon is hurling the wildest possible vituperations on her political adversary.” Reacting to her “merchants of death” comment, the editorial continues: “There was not a single instance of terror attack in Gujarat, yes, because of the fear of Modi; that he will nab and punish the guilty. A government is mandated to protect the life and property of the people of the state, not the terrorists, as the Congress believes, from across the border or their harbingers in India.” It concludes: “As the campaign picked up momentum, Sonia spewed more venom into her charge accusing the entire party that Modi leads in the state as a merchant of death. This is the new low Congress strategists have taken their fight to to retrieve their brand of politics in Gujarat.” Malaysian crisisColumnist Shyam Khosla looks at the problems faced by people of Indian origin in Malaysia. He feels the minority has been victimised due to an “institutionalised policy of discrimination. (the) ‘Bhoomiputra’ policy of positive discrimination in favour of majority Muslim Malays.” When the unskilled workers of Indian origin discovered that their visas were not going to be extended, massive protests were organised. But, riot police used “tear gas and water cannons to disperse the demonstrators. Their grievances include plans to demolish a large number of Hindu temples, denial of jobs, fair wages and educational facilities. Rising influence of Islamic fundamentalism has further accentuated a sense of insecurity among minorities.”US the destroyerMaking a scathing attack on the US policy in Iraq, Gautam Sen writes, “The moment the Americans destroyed Iraq’s museums and libraries it was clear that the contemporary descendants of the Mongol scourge, Hulegu (destroyer of Baghdad in 1251 AD), had arrived.” This destruction of Iraqi civilisation has been completed “by erasing its historical records and cultural artefacts, the conduits of collective historic memory. The Anglo-American mass murderers are also slaughtering the best and brightest of Iraq to ensure that any basis for future national recovery is wiped out. This is why doctors, engineers, scientists and the educated, that Saddam’s cruel modernisation of Iraq had created, are being systematically murdered.”
