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Author: Express News Service
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: February 13, 2006
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=87818
Reacting to The Sunday Express exclusive about the Government ordering a Muslim-specific survey of the armed forces, BJP president Rajnath Singh and former Defence Minister George Fernandes today slammed the Government, saying the exercise was a "seditious act" and amounted to "communalising" the forces.
Fernandes, who's also NDA convener, told The Indian Express that he would be meeting President A P J Abdul Kalam, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, to demand that the exercise be stopped immediately as "it is anti-national".
At a public meeting in New Delhi, BJP's Rajnath Singh said: "I was shocked, outraged when I read the report that the Prime Minister's Office has ordered a count of Muslims in the three wings of the armed forces. What is the meaning of this count? It shows the Government now wants to communalise the armed forces."
Citing the report, the BJP chief attacked the Congress, saying it was playing "divisive politics" and was "responsible for the country's partition".
Fernandes described the survey as "anti-national". "Whoever took such a decision is not just an enemy of the nation but is also wholly ignorant of India's security concerns. It is my conviction that the exercise could turn out to be a seditious act," he said.
He said the armed forces were professional and secular. "Secular not in the sense the Marxists and the Congress divide people for their political purposes. It is secular in the sense that in war and peace, without asking who is who and whose religion is what, the armed forces fight and lay down their lives for the nation. The patriotism of our forces can never be questioned," he said, adding: "There can be no minority and majority in armed forces. Whoever is floating these ideas is working to weaken the forces and break their morale."
BJP leader Arun Jaitley said The Sunday Express report, which points out that the survey is in progress despite objections from the Army, gave rise to a very disturbing concern.
"To start analysing the Army structure on the basis of religious representation throws up an extremely disturbing trend. We hope the Government steps in to prevent the Sachar committee from proceeding further."
The Congress defended the Government's decision to have the survey. "The allegations by the Opposition are baseless and seek to communalise and sensationalise the issue. It (the survey) is purely a data gathering and fact-finding exercise. No decision, no action, no alternative has taken place and, therefore, the attribution of motive and innuendo is completely misplaced," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.
According to him, any department or public entity was entitled to do data collection and it was irresponsible to attribute motives to it, he said.
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