UPA and Taliban

An editorial of the Organiser accuses the UPA government of ‘Talibanising development’. The reference is to projects and schemes focusing on Muslims.

An editorial of the Organiser accuses the UPA government of ‘Talibanising development’. The reference is to projects and schemes focusing on Muslims. The magazine is particularly annoyed by the Andhra Pradesh government’s introduction of four per cent reservations for Muslims.

Other examples include the UPA’s decision to select 90 Muslim majority districts for focused development— these will all lead to Talibanisation, according to the RSS organ. “In future these districts will turn out to be hotbeds of mafia and terror. Does the Congress also plan to put up only minority candidates from these districts to Lok Sabha and state assemblies? The move is dangerous and divisive…”

On reservations

Columnist M.V. Kamath is angry over the recurring demands from caste groups for lower caste status. The immediate provocations are the proposed reservation for Dalit Christians at St. Stephen’s College and the Gurjjar agitation in Rajasthan. Kamath is convinced that the entire basis of the demand for reservations is shaky. “Usual criticism charged by the so-called lower castes is that for centuries upper castes led by Brahmins have enjoyed the monopoly of higher education. This lie has long been exploded and shown to be a myth. We have the testimony of Brigadier General Alexander Walker who served in India between 1780 and 1810. He praised Indians by saying that ‘no people probably appreciate more justly the importance of instruction than the Hindus’ but he also found — no doubt to his surprise — that the love of learning was no exclusive characteristic of the Brahmins ‘but this desire is strongly impressed on the minds of all the Hindus…”’

US and NAM

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Shyam Khosla is outraged over the Left’s opposition to the visit of the US carrier Nimitz to India. “Left parties’ outrage over the visit of Nimitz is yet another example of their commitment to stale and out-of-date ideology and a closed mindset.” However, he does not approve of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s piece of advice to India on non-alignment. “It is right that New Delhi needs to look afresh at its foreign policy by rising over perceived commitments. Where she went wrong was her unsolicited advice. No

self-respecting nation, least of all India, can take sermons lying down. Washington needs to appreciate Indian sensitivities and the fact that it needs India no less than New Delhi needs the super power. Conducting diplomacy through media is counter-productive. Let it not repeat mistakes like connecting Indo-US nuclear deal with Iran gas pipe project.”

Compiled by Varghese K. George