‘It is cheap politics to demand the resignations of Advani, Joshi and Bharti’

The allies have put pressure on the PM to clarify his statement.
THAT’S because they haven’t thought out their policy on Ayodhya through. What the PM has said, we have also stated in our manifesto: that a solution can be found through the court or through talks between leaders of both communities. That is why it does not trouble us. However, if it has caused confusion in anyone’s mind, the PM should clarify.

But the TDP and Trinamool leaders stopped short of accusing the PM of communalising the issue.
Unfortunately, leaders fall into the trap of secular and communal politics. If we hear something, we feel obliged to immediately react to keep our grip on the Muslim community. This secular-communalism issue has created a false divide and false debate in the country. If you are secular, then anything you do is okay the classic case being Bihar. But once a person is branded a communalist, he is always looked at with suspicion.

What has the BJP-led government done to remove those fears?
The BJP is not a communal party. In fact, this government has taken two major steps which has sent the right message to Muslims here the Lahore bus ride and the Kashmir ceasefire.

But international concerns like Pakistan and Kashmir have as much interest for Muslims here as they do for the rest of Indians.
No, it has made the community feel more secure. Anyway, while the Opposition supported both moves, it cannot see the Muslims content. So, it has used the Ayodhya issue to rock and block discussions in Parliament. Also, RSS chief Sudarshan has distanced himself from the demolition of the mosque.

Do you support the Opposition call for the resignation of chargesheeted ministers, LK Advani, Uma Bharati and Joshi?
This is cheap politics. How does the Congress justify its defence of supporting Laloo and Rabri in Bihar? No chargesheeted minister should remain in power then. Also, Advani’s crime was not economic but political. For instance, after the Emergency, the Government withdrew all cases against George Fernandes because he was fighting a dictatorship.

But the CBI has chargesheeted all of them…
We have to check the veracity of the CBI… after all, what it alleges has to be verified in court.

What about the unabated attacks on the Christian community?
A lot of it is manufactured, if you count the number of attacks on churches. I would say only 1/100th of it is true. We have Christian members in our party like George Fernandes… their extended families do not feel insecure.

But the Church has come out strongly against the attacks.
Churches are being wrongly motivated to politicise the issue. If the sole responsibility of the Church is to look after the Christian community, I would be distinctly uncomfortable. The same goes for the Muslim clergy…because for the Hindus, we have no real clergy.

Fernandes was part of the three-member fact finding team which actually declared that Graham Staines’ murder had a foreign hand in it.
What Fernandes said was the projection of the Staines’ murder as minority bashing in India would suit foreign interests. After talking to people in Orissa, he was convinced there was no evidence of a fundamentalist organisation behind the crime. Even today, Dara Singh has said he does not belong to the Bajrang Dal.

As an activist for the development of Indian craft, how do you accept your government opening the floodgates to foreign goods?
The government needs to facilitate the production and marketing process of the handicraft sector. But I don’t think the government believes in this sector’s potential. Overnight, we are buying something cheaper but by doing so, we are killing opportunities for livelihood.

We’ve been committed to the WTO regime against our will. The government has also not been quick enough to put anti-dumping laws in place. However, we should not behave like the Opposition within a coalition but steer the government on the right path. So, we will have 20 more crafts bazaars like Dilli Haat in the country funded in the Ninth Five-Year Plan.

On cricket, would you say Ajay Jadeja has been framed?
I think those who need to are speaking for themselves, I don’t need to say anything.

But you did put up a spirited defence against the income tax raid on Jadeja?
That was because the IT had arrived at my house for searches and before I knew, officials were liberally commenting about the event. There were selective leaks in the press and rumours floated that my house being benami. And that I had run to the Prime Minister to save Jadeja, I had secret defence papers etc. My reputation was being damaged, that’s why I spoke out.

You have also publicly issued a denial that your daughter is going to marry Jadeja?
I said that because a newspaper reported that she had already married him. Any mother is going to get upset when she reads such a thing.

So, is she going to marry the cricketer?
She probably will marry him , but that’s her business.