A news item,titled Mohan Bhagwat terms Sharm el-Sheikh a diplomatic faux pas,in the latest issue of the Organiser,quotes the RSS chief as saying Inclusion of the reference to Balochistan and dropping of action against terrorism as a precondition to resuming the dialogue with Pakistan was a serious blunder. It exposed the chinks in diplomacy of the government of India. This has not only brought the issue of happenings in Balochistan to the notice of the global community,but has also created confusion within the country vis-à-vis our foreign policy and transparency therein. The piece adds: These views were expressed by RSS Sarsanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat at the Meet the Press programme organised by the Nagpur Union of Working Journalists (NUWJ) at Tilak Patrakar Bhavan in Nagpur on August 3,2009. Shri Bhagwat is the second Sarsanghachalak to participate in this programme after his predecessor the late Balasaheb Deoras,who had interacted with the scribes 38 years ago. Criticising the prime minister for his diplomatic failure at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt in issuing the joint statement with his Pakistani counterpart,Shri Bhagwat said that the reference to problems of Balochistan included for the first time in any dialogue between the two neighbouring countries is not a good omen for India. The UPA government has not bothered to take the Opposition into confidence on matters of such diplomatic importance and thereby failed to maintain transparency in such sensitive matters.
The news item adds: In reply to a question on Chinas expansionist attitude,the RSS chief cautioned the countrymen and the government to maintain a strict vigil to thwart any such evil move by the Chinese dragon. He referred to the warnings issued by great visionaries like Swami Vivekananda 110 years ago,Shri Rash Behari Bose and the second Sarsanghachalak of RSS Shri Guruji Golwalkar,about Chinese expansionist designs. Now the Chinese dragon has almost spread its tentacles to encircle India. It has established a good foothold in Nepal,Pakistan and Myanmar (Burma) and is even helping Sri Lanka in restricting Indias strategic and diplomatic movements. Shri Bhagwat stated that China always considered India a major rival in its international designs and as such it is trying to spread its influence in the neighbouring nations to squeeze India diplomatically. China had earlier attacked India in 1962. Now also it has staked claim over Indian territories of Arunachal Pradesh,he said and urged the countrymen,government and political parties to understand this serious threat emanating from the recent Chinese movements along the bordering regions in the Indian subcontinent.
Feet of clay
An editorial titled Statues script different stories: Of unity and pride,discord and vanity,says: Installation of statues and naming of public utilities and establishments after politicians have a long and controversial history in India. Last month,the naming of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai after Rajiv Gandhi became controversial after the BJP and Shiv Sena demanded the bridge to be named after Chhatrapati Shivaji. Then,the Congress did not agree,but with assembly elections a few months away,the state government has come up with an ambitious proposal to install a grand Shivaji statue,taller than the Statue of Liberty,on an island off Marine Drive. The proposal to erect the 159-feet statue of Shivaji on horse back mounted on a 150 -feet-high Shivling-shaped pedestal is a fitting tribute to the great national hero of Hindu revival and all Indians will welcome the move. But it is hardly a compensation for the earlier faux pas. There is no dearth of establishments and projects named after members of the Nehru-Gandhi family. A recent study showed that thousands of national and state-level welfare schemes,institutions and public sector undertakings,bridges,roads,hospitals,awards and even parks are named after the Congress first family members. This is ridiculous. One family cannot have a monopoly on public-funded initiatives. But the Congress has a penchant for such brazenness. A report last week said that since the opposition-ruled states are more successful in implementing the NREGS,the credit for the same is going to them and the Congress is now thinking of adding the name of Rajiv Gandhi along with NREGS.
It adds: The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawatis statue politics has become equally reprehensible,if not shocking. No public good is achieved by such shameless misuse of public funds. The matter has now become an obnoxious symbol of corruption and consuming megalomania of a political upstart. It is in this context that the Karnataka BJP governments success in installing a statue of saint-poet Thiruvalluvar in Bengaluru ending an 18-year-old dispute becomes a commendable feat of patriotism and national integration. Reciprocating the Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappas gesture,Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi unveiled a statue of Kannada saint-poet Sarvajna in Chennai on August 13. They are our national icons. There is no need for making a dispute out of the consecration of a national hero anywhere in the country. Saints and poets like Thiruvalluvar and Sarvajna are the common heritage of every Indian and they are revered in the collective national psyche. Few misguided and outrageous outfits try to incite sectarian feelings in the name of these national icons as if they belong to a particular language or sect. If these people try to understand the philosophy or inspiration behind works like Thirukkural,they will realise that it was the oneness of India and the harmonious culture of this land that they represented. In the first-ever act of its kind in contemporary politics,Yeddyurappa scripted a new chapter in the history of Karnataka-Tamil Nadu relations by highlighting this aspect.
Compiled by Suman K. Jha
