Author: KR Phanda
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: July 7, 2006
Mr KPS Gill in his article, "Misadventures
will fire back" (June 24) blames the Congress for the rise of a communal
organisation like the Assam United Democratic Front. He goes on to say that
"the transient success of communal formations in India has historically
not been a consequence of factors integral to their own nature, profile or
agenda, but rather arises essentially from the failures, miscalculations,
and rank and habitual folly of secular formations".
However, Mr Gill's assertion has no historical
basis. Anyone conversant with the rise of Muslim League since its inception
in 1906 till the partition of India on religious basis in 1947 would at once
recognise the fact that Muslims have again started playing communal politics
which they used to practise between 1888 and 1946. During the period, Muslims
extracted concessions from the Congress on the ground that they were a suppressed
and backward minority. This in itself was a farce as the same minority had
ruled ruthlessly over the Hindu majority for 600 years till the battle of
Plassey in 1757.
Mr Gill should know that for a Muslim, religion
comes first and everything else is secondary. The minority jargon has come
full circle in India. They have now started exploiting Hindus by playing the
Muslim minority card. The Congress-led UPA Government is conniving with the
anti-democratic demands of the Muslims. There is, however, a huge difference
between what Gandhi did in pre-independent India and what the Congress leadership
is doing now.
The Congress has now launched a full-scale
programme to meet the demands of Muslims in order to garner their votes. Given
the Muslim mindset, the UPA policies will lead to the Balkanisation of India.
The Congress deserves to be criticised on three counts.
First, there was no need to set up the wholly
unnecessary National Minorities Commission. Second, instead of abolishing
it, the Congress, in the last two years, has set up four more commissions/committees
to look into the demands of the minority community. Third, by these acts,
the UPA Government has proved that Hindus are second class citizens and can't
look up to the Government to solve their grievances.
