PM146;s remark 145;outrageous146;

The editorial in this week8217;s Organiser targets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his 8220;outrageous8221; assertion that minorities, particularly Muslims, must have the first claim on resources.

The editorial in this week8217;s Organiser targets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his 8220;outrageous8221; assertion that minorities, particularly Muslims, must have the first claim on resources. Ignoring the subsequent clarifications on the PM8217;s speech at the National Development Council, the editorial says in any other country Manmohan Singh8217;s remark 8220;would have cost him his job8221; but in India 8220;political hyperbole and bravado on commitment to sectarian identities are taken as passe.8221;

The editorial says that 8220;even by Congress standards Manmohan Singh8217;s prime ministership has touched a new low. Earlier our prime ministers used to exhort the countrymen to rise above caste, region and religion and be Indians first and everything else afterwards8230; Here is a prime minister who works overtime to violate the letter and spirit of the Constitution to divide and discriminate against countrymen on communal lines.8221;

Raja Rajnath

That BJP president Rajnath Singh is in the Sangh Parivar8217;s good books is evident from the display given to a lengthy interview with him. A front page write-up and a two-page centre-spread are devoted to Singh8217;s words of wisdom to mark his anointment as the BJP8217;s president for a full three year term. Singh is described as 8220;clear, committed and uncompromising on principles8221;; a 8220;mass leader and orator with a tab on the pulse of the people8221;.

Singh echoes the Organiser8217;s editorial and slams the PM8217;s statement on Muslims and claims that 8220;a communal mania8221; has gripped the UPA government. 8220;This government is playing the role of pre-partition Muslim League of dividing the country. This government is divisive and the BJP will never accept this.8221;

He also flays the Indo-US nuclear deal and insists that 8220;the BJP cannot accept this deal in this form at any cost8221;; attacks China8217;s claim on Arunachal Pradesh and says India should have insisted on the recall of the Chinese ambassador; and insists that Singur has exposed the 8220;bourgeois face of the communist government8221; in West Bengal.

Musharraf8217;s Kashmir trap

Former J038;K governor Jagmohan warns that with his latest proposals, Musharraf is 8220;laying a trap for India and attempting to attain his objective that he could not attain by way of8230; proxy war.8221;

On the issue of autonomy, Jagmohan says that those who advocate the pre-1953 status or talk of maximum autonomy 8220;remain conveniently vague and show little respect to the practical implications of their stand.8221; For instance, without full financial integration with the union, J038;K would have no resource at all for development.8221;

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Arguing that J038;K enjoys workable self-governance at the moment, the writer concludes that 8220;to tamper with the present structure, either at the instance of President Musharraf or on the demand of some politically ambitious local leaders, would amount to nothing but fanning further the forces of subversion and secession and pushing the state in the lap of Pakistan.8221;

Sachin and Bachchan

Moving away from the usual staple against the Congress and Left, veteran Organiser columnist M.V. Kamath focuses on cricket and Bollywood instead. It is time, he suggests, for super hero Sachin Tendulkar 8220;to graciously retire from the field as did Sunil Gavaskar when the latter was at the height of his glory.8221;

Kamath advises Tendulkar to quit before the demanding public asks why he doesn8217;t. Pointing out that 8220;cricket is not Bollywood,8221; Kamath says that a film star like Amitabh Bachchan can age gracefully 8212; and still be in demand and still demand a price.

8220;Such things, alas, cannot be said of sportsmen,8221; he laments, adding that 8220;time takes a cruel toll of them and the wiser among them take 8216;retirement8217; in their stride.8221;

Compiled by Manini Chatterjee