Opinion From the Urdu Press: Modi’s Month
'Modi has been so preoccupied with ensuring his dominance that he did not get the time to give a thought to price rise'
Sahafat, in its June 28 editorial, writes: “During the last one month, Prime Minister Modi has concentrated on presenting a positive image of himself at the international level… extending invitations to heads of SAARC countries, especially Pakistan, for his swearing-in ceremony. Modi has made… efforts to establish a strong grip over all his ministers, senior bureaucrats and the entire governmental machinery… He did not consider even L.K. Advani worthy of being the chairman of the NDA… Modi has been so preoccupied with ensuring his dominance that he did not get the time to give a thought to price rise.”
Siasat writes on June 23: “Modi himself had said that the people had great expectations from him. But it seems that instead of fulfilling these expectations the Modi government has decided to consistently put economic burden on the people. Railway passenger fares were raised… If there is any strengthening of the economy, it is not going to have any effect on the aam aadmi. Its effects would be felt only on the business and the capitalist class…”
Maharashtra Quotas
Rashtriya Sahara, in its June 27 editorial, writes: “The state government has tried to prepare the ground for its victory… by taking a decision to accord reservation to Marathas (16 per cent) and backward Muslims (5 per cent)… if after this decision… Muslims and Marathas get reservation and they benefit… conditions of these two sections can change in Maharashtra. From this point of view, this decision… is a positive step.”
Inquilab, on June 28, mentions the Sachar Committee and Ranganath Mishra Commission’s recommendations for reservations for the entire country, and the Mahmood-ur-Rehman Committee and Narayan Rai Committee’s for the state. It also draws attention to the fate of the Andhra government’s decision to accord 4 per cent reservations to backward Muslims still pending before the Supreme Court, and an application filed by UPA 2 at the beginning of this year for reserving 4.5 per cent positions for backward Muslims from the OBC quota.
Calling the Maharashtra government’s decision deception, Masoom Moradabadi, in Jadeed Khabar (June 29) writes: “The biggest hurdle… is a presidential order of 1950… that led to a restriction in Article 341… to the effect that no community except Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs can be categorised as Scheduled Castes. Those who raise objections to giving reservations to Muslims on the basis of religion… try to mislead… because discrimination on the basis of religion exists in the Constitution itself…”
Iraq Mayhem
Nai Duniya, edited by former SP leader Shahid Siddiqui, writes: “The civil war in Iraq has blinded the Islamic world, on a sectarian basis… so nobody is willing to understand that the entire Islamic world has been reduced to puppets of the US and Israel… This global Shia-Sunni war is meant to destroy the Islamic
world completely.”
Hamara Samaj, in its June 29 editorial, highlights the demand of Iraq’s deputy PM, Saleh al-Mutlaq, for “a non-controversial person… acceptable to the entire nation to take over the reins from PM Nouri al-Maliki…” The paper quotes Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani favouring the replacement of Maliki and the formation of an interim government.
Compiled by Seema Chishti
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