Opinion Collective solution
The idea of a political package for Jammu and Kashmir,as some sort of a solution to the current crisis,has been taking hold ever since Chief Minister Omar Abdullah floated it....
The idea of a political package for Jammu and Kashmir,as some sort of a solution to the current crisis,has been taking hold ever since Chief Minister Omar Abdullah floated it. The Left thinks that the Centre should take the nation into confidence for a political initiative. A front-page article in the latest issue of CPI mouthpiece New Age says there was an impression that UPA-II is more inclined towards taking cues from forces outside the country on Kashmir and dialogue with Pakistan. We must be very clear about attempts by foreign forces,particularly the US imperialists to acquire the status of an arbitrator, it says. Although the CPI broadly supported Abdullah juniors demand for a political package,the article nevertheless says the young chief ministers inexperience affects the administration,which is virtually divided. It points out that the bureaucracy and the paramilitary forces are clearly in conflict with the states elected government and its police.
It feels that a game of passing the buck has started and this is further complicating the situation. The need of the hour,the CPI feels,is to evolve a national consensus to formulate a comprehensive approach on Kashmir and it has pitched for an all-party meet in this regard.
The power of naming
An article in New Age claims that the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh was trying to Hinduise the state. The argument is that the Shivraj Singh Chauhan government is naming government schemes and programmes after the names of Hindu gods and rituals. The states water conservation scheme is named Jalabhishek,the programme for the welfare of the girl-child is christened Laadli Laxmi,a rural development project is Gokul Gram,a scheme meant for providing aid to poor families to marry off their daughters is Kanyadaan. Besides,the governments irrigation department has an entire section devoted to kheti-sambandhi shubh muhurat,with a suggestion to farmers that if they stick to the auspicious time to start any agriculture-related activity,they would get excellent results.
Saffron has no shades
With assembly elections nearing in West Bengal,the CPM has consciously stepped up its campaign against saffron terror,with its eye trained on the sizeable Muslim vote bank. The lead editorial in the latest edition of party organ Peoples Democracy says that the net of terror spread by Hindutva terrorist groups continues to widen,posing a very serious threat.
The CPM takes on the RSS,pointing out that its reaction that those arrested in connection with terror cases might have drawn their inspiration from the Sangh ideology but they were not active Sangh members was akin to what was said about Nathuram Godse following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Some RSS leaders have claimed that a few deviant elements might have turned to violence and terror,but the organisation as a whole cannot be dubbed terrorist again,a replication of the RSS stand during the trial of Gandhis murder, says the editorial.
However,the history of the RSS and its methodology of functioning belies such theories of a differentiation between the core and the fringe. The issue of imparting militant training to the Hindus and using violence as a political weapon by the RSS has a long history. It was Savarkar who gave the slogan Hinduise all politics and militarise Hindudom,it says.
Compiled by Manoj C.G.
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