On UP poll-eve

Fears of a potential 8216;split8217; in Muslim votes in the forthcoming UP polls haunt the Urdu papers this fortnight.

Fears of a potential 8216;split8217; in Muslim votes in the forthcoming UP polls haunt the Urdu papers this fortnight. Jamaat-e-Islami8217;s mouthpiece, the bi-weekly Daawat writes on Sunday, 8220;unity is essential, to repeat the experiments of Assam and Kerala in UP.8221; It laments the 8220;confusion created by the various Muslim 8216;fronts8217; now existing in UP, that may ultimately divide the minority votes.8221; Mumbai-based Inquilab on the same Sunday March 11 warns of the 8220;danger of the division of the Muslim votes in UP, because of the existence of the various Muslim fronts.8221; It says 8220;some political parties use persons like Shahi Imam Maulana Ahmed Bukhari as their pawns to divide the community8217;s vote8221;. The paper criticises the emergence of the Jamaat-e-Islami, saying 8220;that too, would perform the same role of dividing Muslim votes.8221;

CPM8217;s plan

The CPM Minority Charter whose demands include reservation for Dalit Muslims has been praised by almost all mainstream Urdu papers 8212; including Siasat, which in an editorial on March 7, has 8220;welcomed8221; it. The paper makes particular mention of the party8217;s demand for 8220;prompt action8221; on perpetrators of violence against minorities.

Nandigram

But the CPM has been strongly criticised on Nandigram. Rashtriya Sahara writes, in an editorial entitled, 8216;Kya baayabazoo bhi ab sarmaayadaar-haami hai?8217; or 8216;Are the Leftists now pro-capitalist too?8217; that 8220;the Left-Front government in West Bengal should realise that it is considered the messiah of the poor, workers and farmers. If they, in the name of development and industrialisation of the state, would mete out this treatment to poor farmers, then, what would be the difference between them and pro-capitalist political parties?8221; Delhi-based Hindustan Express reflects the views of other political parties, some of whom described the incident as 8220;worse than Jalianwala Bagh8221;.

Naxalites

Urdu papers devote considerable space to Naxalite violence. In an editorial dated March 6, Hyderabad daily Siasat criticises the government for 8220;not tackling the Naxalite issue in a serious manner.8221; It says, 8220;the government is involved in serious dialogue with dissenting groups from J038;K to the north-east, in an effort to deal with the problems in those regions. The same resolve is not seen with regard to problems arising out of Naxalite violence, which too can be resolved through a serious dialogue with various groups.8221; Kolkata and Delhi based Akhbar-e-Mashriq in an editorial on March 7 concedes 8220;The police has got considerable success in meeting the challenge of Naxalism in AP, and if dealt with an iron hand, peace can be established even in Jharkhand, Bihar8230; Laaton ke bhoot, baaton se nahin bhagte those accustomed to force, won8217;t come around by words alone8221;.

SRK ko Urdu aati hai?

Delhi-based Hindustan Express in an editorial on March 6, writes on comments made by Shah Rukh Khan on Amar Singh at a film function he used a deprecatory Urdu term for Singh. The paper 8220;wonders whether to laugh or weep at the pitiable situation of young people like Shah Rukh Khan. They want to use beautiful Urdu words, but are ignorant of the spirit and idiom of these words.8221; The paper asserts that 8220;Shah Rukh even on KBC, makes a fool of himself, as Woh Urdu ke alfaaz ki taangein todte rehte hain8221; 8212;uses Urdu phrases inappropriately.

Compiled by Seema Chishti