Small is beautiful

The lead article in the latest issue of Organiser sharply attacks the entry of big business in retail and flays the Left for opposing FDI but welcoming Indian corporates into the sector.

The lead article in the latest issue of Organiser sharply attacks the entry of big business in retail and flays the Left for opposing FDI but welcoming Indian corporates into the sector. Writer Geeta asserts that the entry of players like Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Mittal and the Rahejas would push millions of small shopkeepers out of business8212;the reason why the NDA government had resisted foreign investment in this 8220;sensitive sector8221;.

But to draw a distinction between FDI and Indian corporates makes little difference on the ground. 8220;For the Moradabad trader, the threat perception from Wal-Mart or Reliance or the Rahejas is the same,8221; says the article. It goes on to accuse the Left of double standards for resisting FDI in retail but welcoming Mukesh Ambani to open 8220;agro-retail8221; stores in every district of West Bengal.

Destination Amarnath

Inspired, perhaps, by the title of V P Singh8217;s new biography Manzil Se Zyada Safar, this week8217;s editorial asserts the 8220;yatra8221; to Amarnath is more important than the provenance of the ice lingam at jounrey8217;s end. 8220;Are we losing the true meaning of the Amarnath Yatra in the brouhaha of controversy over the Himalingam?8221; asks the editorial. And goes on to blame not just the 8220;jehadi8221; politics of J038;K, but also the UPA government8217;s 8220;anti-Hindu8221; mindset for raising an 8220;orchestrated frenzy8221; in order to question the authenticity of the shrine and the pilgrimage.

8220;UPA-ruled state governments trample on Hindu rights in state after state, as if being Hindu in India is a crime8230; The Amarnath Ice Lingam conspiracy has to be seen in this light. Yet another Indian icon of faith is under a planned attack,8221; it says.

But the yatra is not only about the ice shivalingam. Neither is it just about the 8220;individual8217;s urge to take his soul to soaring heights8230;8221; It is about the 8220;larger issue of cultural unity and vision of India from Kashmir to Kanyakumari from Kathiawar to Kamrup8221; that has existed 8220;for thousands of years in the mind and soul of the people that shaped India8217;s intellect and emotion, life, literature and philosophy,8221; asserts the editorial.

Revisiting history textbooks

An entire section is devoted to the theme 8220;Save Education, Save India8221;8212;a part of the RSS-backed campaign against the UPA government8217;s efforts to 8220;detoxify8221; NCERT8217;s history textbooks that had been imbued with the saffron hue during NDA rule. A 8220;grand convention8221; of the Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti SBAS will be held in Delhi on July 9 to protest the 8220;distortion8221; in the current lot of textbooks. The articles in the Organiser focus on the alleged distortions.

Former NCERT director J S Rajput says the 8220;hidden agenda8221; of the HRD ministry is: 8220;Education for Vote, Vote and Vote! Education in India now faces a disastrous syndrome under the cover of de-saffronisation, de-toxification, minorityism and finally, casteism, which appear to be the most 8216;productive8217; of the ingredients towards educational progress in India!8221;

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Meenakshi Jain says, 8220;the antipathy to indigenous culture and traditions remain strong8221; in Prof. Satish Chandra8217;s Medieval India textbook for Class XI. And Devendra Swaroop slams Bipan Chandra8217;s Modern India for describing freedom fighters as 8220;terrorists8221;. In an interview, SBAS convenor Dinanath Batra says the NCERT was forced to delete 37 objectionable passages from textbooks following petitions filed in the Delhi High Court and asserts that their movement is gathering strength.

Compiled by Manini Chatterjee