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Isn the public entitled to know the names of six suspected
militants who were killed while trying to throw bombs at a police
party? Who is hiding the truth and to what purpose?
When Muslim revanchists sought to reduce Mumbai to ashes and dust
apologists attributed this as a reaction-presumably pardonable-to
the demolition of the Babri structure and the accusing finger was
pointed at the Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP was a convenient
scapegoat. But what masjid did the BJP demolish for another set
of Islamic revanchists to set off bombs in the southern city of
Coimbatore that resulted in the death of 81 innocent people and
grave injuries to several scores? We are informed that two
fundamentalist outfits, the Al-Umma and the Jihad Committee have
been declared unlawful organisations; it is also said that. some
32 people belonging to these organisations have been held. This
time the blame cannot be laid at the doors of the BJP which has
shown by word and deed that minorities are safe in BJP-ruled
States. There has not been a single instance of communal rioting
whether it be in Rajasthan, Maharashtra or elsewhere. The BJP
election manifesto specifically mentions the party's aim which is
to 44 provide all minority communities with equal opportunity for
prosperity". As the manifesto rightly notes, it has proved in the
States where it is in power that it can maintain communal peace
and harmony, ensure security of life and property and "protect
the honour and dignity of the minority communities=94. Can the
Congress-supported DMK say that in Tamil Nadu?
This is not a rhetorical question. The DMK is answerable to the
country. it was by sheer luck that L.K. Advani was spared. Had
his plane arrived in time, had he been at the spot where he was
scheduled to give a speech, he would have been a dead man. The
many bombs that were exploded were timed for his arrival. That
was no coincidence. The bombs were aimed not only at Advani
personally, but were meant to set in motion nation-wide riots.
Sonia Gandhi's silence on this matter does credit to a sphinx. It
shows how shallow is her commitment to secularism and other
virtues that in recent days she has been ceaselessly preaching.
What is even more shocking is Shri Sitaram Kesri's supercilious
charge that the bombs were set off by the RSS. This is a mentally
sick man whose growing senility is painfully showing.
It is against this background that one must examine the record of
the Congress in the last fifty years. Was it the BJP which
encouraged Bbindranwale to thumb his ,nose at the forces of law
and order? Was it a BJP government which was responsible for the
Golden Temple Fiasco? Was it the BJP which massacred scores of
Sikhs following the assassination of Indira Gandhi?
Again, was it the BJP which encouraged the infiltration into
Assam of Muslims from Bangladesh? Under whose regime is it that
ULFA has flourished: the BJP's? Where has Sonia Gandhi been all
this time when frustration was rising in the north-cast? Who, it
may be asked, is responsible for the long neglect of Assam? The
BJP? If any party has to be named for all that is now happening
in Assam it is-the Congress alone.
Consider these facts: According to Lok Sabha Speaker P.A. Sangma,
40.86 per cent of the total population of Assam lives below the
poverty line. Assam's per capita income is the lowest in the
country. And, even more shocking, 1.2 million of the nation's 3.3
million registered unemployed persons belong to Assam. Who is
responsible for this state of affairs: the BJP?
ULFA has threatened violence against citizens should they vote in
the elections. And who is going to be the beneficiary of this
'ban'? The Guwahati-based The Sentinel while strongly-and bravely-
opposing, the 'ban', recently raised the issue. It said:
"Political parties that depend' largely on the illegal votebanks,
tribal votes and the votes of the tea garden workers will be the
greatest beneficiaries if most people stay away from the polls.
In that sense, the Congress stands to be a clear beneficiary if
fewer people choose to exercise their franchise in a first-past-
the-post electoral system." From this, can it be argued that ULFA
has the backing of the Congress in its murderous activities? As
for stability which Sonia Gandhi says only the Congress can
provide- it is. clear that she has no sense of humour- The
Sentinel which for long has watched Congress shenanigans in Assam
with growing despair has even more biting things to say. As it
said in an editorial: "If stability could be measured only by the
ability to last out full five-year terms, why should the
electorate have, chosen to vote such a stable p" out of
power in the first place? But has the Congress not also
stabilised corruption, made our polity increasingly centrist,
fomented communal strife and stoked militancy of all kinds? And
even talking of stability, has the Congress not destabilised
other governments at the Centre every time it had to sit in the
Opposition benches?" Perhaps Sonia Gandhi's speech-writers will
provide her some ready excuses.
It is not the BJP which has been dividing the people but the
Congress which has been doing so without the slightest pangs of
conscience in State after State-either to stay in power or to
wrest it from other parties. After what happened on February 22
in Coimbatore, the DMK should have been sacked; but it continues
to rule, hand-in-glove with Islamic terrorists. The Congress has
no say in, the matter. It will go to any length to demean itself
and destroy the country so long as it feels it necessary to keep
the BJP out. The DMK certainly cannot plead innocence or
ignorance. The BJP had warned the Karunanidhi government that
mischief was afoot. That warning was ignored. Four days before
the Coimbatore blast that took a heavy toll of innocent lives,
police had seized-and this according to The Hindustan Times-
"huge quantities of explosives" from a rice mill-' near
Thanjavur, after four people had been killed in an explosion
while assembling. bombs. Surely the police could have traced who
were behind these terrorists? According to Shri Karunanidhi, a
"foreign hand" is behind the blasts. "His statement", The
Hindustan Times correspondent noted, "has virtually vindicated
the BJP allegation that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) has been instigating communal violence in Coimbatore and
other parts of Tamil Nadu". Sitaram Kesri's observation that the
blasts- are the work of the RSS merely shows how mentally sick
Congress leaders can be. At the same time, isn't the public
entitled to know the names of six suspected militants who were
killed while trying to throw bombs at a police party? .Who is
hiding the truth and to what purpose? Can it be argued that
Karunanidhi and the Congress have something to hide from the
public? Can it be said that they have a vested interest in
eliminating BJP leadership? Is this how they propose to bring
stability in the country? In their saner moments Sonia Gandhi and
Sitaram Kesri must mull over Congress role in Assam and Tamil
Nadu-for a start. If they are capable of it, that is.
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