Opinion View from the right

“The Aam Aadmi Party believes that it cannot attract the dedicated pro-BJP voter. Thus, logically, it has positioned itself as a substitute for the Congress. There are people who simply cannot bring themselves to vote for the BJP, but are equally dismayed by the Congress, or the Left Front or the Samajwadi Party,” contends the article, adding that the AAP seems to be “swallowing the Congress”, which means that “rather than split the anti-Congress vote the Aam Aadmi Party could end up splitting the anti-BJP vote”. But the accompanying reports, targeting the AAP, betray the unease in the saffron camp. A short report highlights a PIL against AAP leader Kumar Vishwas for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Lord Valmiki. Another focuses on Somnath Bharti’s vigilantism and allegedly racist remarks made by Vishwas.

The Organiser has also published a poem called “Crazy Mobocracy” that looks sarcastically at “the agitators of the land” who, like “ostriches”, had hid their heads in the sand till they became king. But their “psyche remained the same”, consequently “perpetrating ‘mob-o-cracy’” in the name of bestowing “real democracy”.

BLOOD KHAADI

The special edition of Panchjanya on national security focuses on challenges from across the border and in Kashmir, illegal infiltration in the Northeast, and Naxalism and terrorism among other issues. It also puts the spotlight on the current state of politics, particularly its criminalisation and the nexus between the moneyed and the musclemen: “A whole syndicate helps political parties contest elections by cobbling together funds and musclemen. In return, politicians offer them protection and other benefits,” says an article. Another article, titled  “Khaadi par khoon”, highlights serious criminal charges pending against legislators: “There is a collusion between power and property. The rising influence of capitalistic power has deviated those in power from their original paths that have agitated public…”

TIPU’S TERROR

Although the Sangh had taken strong objection to the Union home minister’s allegations of saffron terror last year, it doesn’t find anything amiss in the uage of the term “Islamic terror”. The Organiser cover highlights the same as one of six national security issues. The corresponding article looks at the problem of “Islamic fundamentalism” in southern India. It blames Islam’s “monotheism” as the “root cause of Islamic fundamentalism”, asserting that Islamist fanatics spread their wings in Kerala after Tipu Sultan’s march into the state.

Accusing minority vote-bank politics of being the culprit, the article advocates Hindu vote banks to defeat the alleged political support to Islamic fundamentalism. “Hindu vote bank is the need of the hour. That is the only language our politicians understand. If Hindu vote bank is a reality, political outfits will forget the minority votes and support the anti-fundamentalist forces,” the article argues.

Compiled by Ravish Tiwari.