Rooting for ramdev
The RSS has come out in strong support of yoga guru Swami Ramdev and has strongly criticised the Congress for attacking him. It says Ramdevs call to fight corruption could not have come at a more appropriate time as it coincided with the Supreme Court quashing the appointment of P.J. Thomas as CVC. The Organiser gladly notes that Ramdev had at a recent rally in Delhi called the Congress the fountainhead of corruption in India and accused it of not taking any corrective measures to identify,catch and punish the guilty.
India,it argues,has a rich history of religious leaders stepping in when social and political life goes awry or when the rulers forget their duty. It notes that Buddhist monks took to the streets to safeguard the interest of the people of Myanmar. For some time,monks were involved in politics in Sri Lanka as well,while the church spearheaded the freedom movement in South Africa. But under the Congress,religious leaders interfere at the party level. In Kerala the party candidates are decided in consultation with the church,which in turn instructs the followers which candidate to vote for… In Assam,the dirty game it is playing for decades,at the cost of the nation,with the illegal Bangladesh immigrants issue is there for all to see, it says.
WHy Jamia?
An article in the Organiser calls the recent decision to grant minority status to Delhis Jamia Millia Islamia unfortunate. The decision satisfies only the fissiparous and secessionist elements of India,it curiously notes. Granting minority status will mean just converting this Central university into another pocket of Islamic politics,at the cost of the Hindu majority,like the Aligarh Muslim University. Already,the Jamia Millia Islamia is wholly funded by the Government of India. It notes that the order argues that Jamia was established by the Muslims in 1920 for the benefit of the Muslims and it has only been given its due as a minority institution. If this is true,why should the Central government of India finance it?
It further argues that if a minority educational institution receives state aid,then it comes under the purview of Article 29(2) of the Constitution which mandates no discrimination in admission on the basis of religion,race,caste or language. Besides,Article 28 (1) states that no religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of state funds. In all probability,it is under this article that the Central and state government do not allow religious instruction in aided educational institutions under Hindu management. Strangely enough,but aided or even wholly financed minority institutions,especially the madrasas,seem to be exempt from it, it argues.
Congress arrogance
In the context of the Supreme Courts quashing of the appointment of P.J. Thomas as CVC,an editorial in Panchjanya says that his appointment was an example of how a government drunk on the arrogance of power tried to play with democracy. This judgement,it argues,is not just an attack on the arrogance of the Manmohan Singh government but also exposes how morality in politics has been torn to shreds.
Having overruled the objections raised by the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha,Sushma Swaraj,the editorial says the government told one lie after another in justification,even going to the extent of saying that impeccable integrity was not a condition for the appointment of the head of the countrys anti-corruption watchdog. When there is a scam in the appointment of the top anti-corruption officer,it asks,how can corruption be reined in?
It argues that this shows that the intentions of the government were wrong,and it wanted as CVC a person who would dance to its tune,and turn a blind eye to the menace of corruption. Another article in the edition argues that the quashed appointment is the only the latest example of how the Congress has,for 63 years,sown the seeds of corruption everywhere and misused constitutional offices.
