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Sir - The gathering to felicitate Gopal Godse on June 1
would have gone unnoticed had not a mob of 400
Congressmen tried to disturb it. Perhaps they were not
aware Calcutta had witnessed a far greater blow to
secularism during Muharram. They also forgot that making
capital out of M.K. Gandffi's martyrdom is subject to the
law of diminish@ returns. Flogging a dead horse will not
compensate for Congressmen's genuflection before
Mayawati who attempted to assassinate Gandhi's character.
Focussing on Nathuram Godse's notoriety could be
counterproductive, evident in Phoolan Devi's new status
in Parliament.

The minority community's insistence upon taking a
Muharram procession through a particular route in
defiance of police orders and consequent violence are
nothing new. That it should happen in jyoti Basus secular
realm is unusual. That Muslims targetted the lower
castes, disregarding the much trumpeted Dalit-Muslim
unity, is also unexpected. Muslims reportedly attacked
police residential quarters and provoked the police.
'The police minister was abused for not adopting
stringent measures and policemen are said to have raised
communal slogans. One shudders to think how much
worse
things could have got had the location been Mumbai.

Some have blamed the lower castes for provoking Muslims
with a procession celebrating Atal Behari Vajpayee's
appointment as prime minister. Had the riots been in
Mumbai, the reactions would have been the same: a human

chain by "secularists", a conunittee for investigation, a
dhama, and a rally by film stars all reprimanding
Hindus.

Yours faithfully,

Makarand Mulay, Thane

Sir - It was in the Communist Party of India (Mrxist)
ruled West Bengal that riots occurred during and after
Muharram. They reached alarming proportions and could be
quelled only by the army. It is in this state that a
special department for the welfare of minorities has been
set up, headed by a minister. It seems tazia organisers
were determined to take a particular route in violation
of police orders and were initially made to feel they
were above the law. This is "secularism", since the
CPI(M) depends on Muslim votes. The party now shares a
conunon "secular" front with the Congress at the Centre,
while at the grassroots level the rank and file are
fighting among themselves. After Charan Singh and
Chandra Shekhar, H.D. Deve Gowda is doomed to be the
third victim of treacherous partners in a coalition
government. Deve Gowda is already dancing to P.V
Narasiniha Rao's tune. This became evident when, asked
about Rao's involvement in scandals, he retorted with
"Who is not corrupt?" He has also inducted a hawala
tainted leader, S.R. Bommai, in his cabinet. The
ostensible reason the United

Front partners ousted the Bharatiya janata Party is the
latter's Hindutva. The real reason is their fear of
prosecution. So much for the "secularism" of the CPI(M)
and its allies.
Yours faithfully,

Dasgupta, Kharagpur

Sir -The Samata Party leader, Syed Shahabuddin, is under
the impression that he is the sole champion of the cause
of Indian Muslims ("Probe sought on city violence", June
6). I-Es letter to the state police minister, Buddhadev
Bhattacharya, has blamed police inaction for the violence
during Muharram. He has stated the police did not
consider on time the written request for the Muharram-am
procession to be allowed passage along a particu-
lar route.

What he did not mention is that 13 tazia processions were
granted licences and only the right of passage through a
Hindu dominated dompatti was turned down by the
Ekbalpore
police station. A tazia procession through the area was
intended as a retaliation to an earner procession by doms
through minority dominated areas to celebrate electoral
results. The police denied permission since the dompatti
is a sensitive locality and Muslim crin-dnals in the area
were deliberately creating tension.

Shahabuddin should know the police fired only under
provocation. Local Muslim youths had already generated
tension and seeking permisnon for a tazia procession was
just a play to trigger off trouble. The refusal to grant
such permission was rooted in concern for law and order.

Yours faithfully,

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