Author: Sudhanshu Mishra
Publication: The Observer
of Business and Politics
Date: September 5, 2000
THE Rajasthan BJP has
called for resignation of state agriculture minister Chawdhary Tayyab Hussain
and demanded a probe into his alleged links with the ISI. They also pleaded
that the case to be referred to the CBI in stead of the state police as
had been ordered by chief minister Ashok Gehlot last week.
Following a memorandum
by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on August 30, chief minister Ashok Gehlot
ordered an enquiry by an officer of the DIG rank into the allegation against
the minister as well as the activities of the 151 in the Mewat region.
The chief minister had
also ordered transfer of deputy superintendent of police of Kaman Prahlad
Singh Meena against whom allegations were levelled for harbouring anti-Hindu
sentiments.
Later it was explained
by the government that the minister himself had met the chief minister
and requested for an enquiry to clear him of all the allegations.
Meanwhile, the move has
provoked the Meo community of which Chawdhary Tayyab Hussain is a religious
leader and is highly respected. At a meeting of the Rajasthan Meo Panchayat
in Jaipur on last Sunday the community leaders saw in the wild allegations'
an attempt to tarnish the image of not only their leader Tayyab Hussain,
but the community as a whole.
"It was an attempt to
disturb the communal harmony in the entire Mewat region," they said.
The VHP joining hand
with the BJP, has mounted pressure on the government for getting rid of
the minister and set up a CBI enquiry to probe into the case.
For quite some time reports
about increasing ISI activities in the Mewat region covering Alwar and
Bharatpur districts of Rajasthan have been highlighted by the local as
well as national media.
The reported arrest of
couple of alleged ISI agents in connection with the recent fire in the
Bharatpur ordnance factory highlighted the gravity of the situation.
Significantly, Chawdhary
Tayyab Hussain has the distinction of remaining minister in different capacities
in three states including Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan for years.
He was twice elected
to the Lok Sabha, in 1971 and 1980, as Congress candidate from Gurgaon
and Faridabad constituencies in Haryana.
