From the Urdu Press: ‘Congress needs Rahul purge of betrayers’, ‘SC order on use of Pakistani as slur a travesty’

“During his Gujarat visit, Rahul took stock of the affairs of the state Congress and sought to galvanise party leaders and workers to take on the BJP in the 2027 Assembly polls,” the edit says. Noting that the BJP has been in power in Gujarat for the seventh consecutive term, it says that the Congress came close to getting the better of the BJP in the 2017 elections but stalled in the face of “the BJP’s play, backed by its friends and instruments”. In the 2022 polls, it says, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) forayed into Gujarat, which led to the decimation of the Congress due to a split in the Opposition vote.

“It seems Rahul and some other Congress leaders have realised that they will have to purge the party of BJP-friendly elements before locking horns with the ruling party. Rahul’s admission was startling but brutally honest. This was also unprecedented, marking a rare occasion when a top national leader made such a critique of his own party,” the editorial says. “And this is the harsh reality of the Congress, that it has a plethora of BJP sympathisers who seem to be bent on hurting its prospects in order to fulfill the BJP’s designs.”

“It is also true that several state Congress units have such pro-BJP elements,” the edit states. “One of the key reasons for the Congress’s defeat in election after election has been its internal rebels. It is imperative for the Congress to get rid of them. The grand old party needs to do its reality check before taking corrective measures,” it says, adding that Rahul has started diagnosing the factors that ail the party.

The key point at stake is the Congress’s ideology, says the daily. “Those leaders, whether from the state units or at the central level, who do not subscribe to the Congress’s ideology should not be entertained. Instead, committed Congress faces, engaged in relentless struggle for the sake of the party, must get their rightful place in its ranks.”

ROZNAMA RASHTRIYA SAHARA

Commenting on the Supreme Court’s recent order in a case that using terms such as “miyan-tiyan” and “Pakistani” was in poor taste but not an offence of hurting religious sentiments, the New Delhi edition of Roznama Rashtriya Sahara, in its March 7 editorial, writes that the ruling was a “travesty of justice”. “This is disappointing that the apex court could not see the bias, insult and hate behind the use of these terms,” it says, adding that such a decision would give a shot in the arm to bigoted elements.

An apex court Bench quashed the case against Hari Nandan Singh, who was accused of hurting the religious sentiments of government official Md Shamim Uddin, an Urdu translator and acting clerk in the Right to Information (RTI) section in a sub-divisional office in Jharkhand, by allegedly referring to him as “miyan-tiyan” and “Pakistani”, the daily noted. “Undoubtedly, the statements made are in poor taste. However, it does not amount to hurting the religious sentiments of the informant. Hence, we are of the opinion that the appellant shall be discharged under Section 298 IPC,” the top court, in its February 11 order, said. Section 298 IPC deals with words or gestures with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings.

The editorial pointed out that the accused had approached the Supreme Court after the Jharkhand High Court refused to quash the criminal proceedings he was facing in a lower court.

Criticising the apex court’s order, the daily says it did not take into account the larger social and political context amid the prevailing divisive atmosphere. “Words like ‘miyan-tiyan’ and ‘Pakistani’ are not a slip of tongue but used as communal slurs against the Muslim community. This is not merely a semantic row. This is a part of hate speech which seeks to project the Muslim identity in a negative light, notwithstanding the government’s claim of ensuring equality for people from all religions in the country,” it says. It is imperative for all quarters to be more sensitive to the cause of religious tolerance and minority rights, the edit adds.

ROZNAMA RASHTRIYA SAHARA

In its March 10 editorial, the New Delhi edition of the Roznama Rashtriya Sahara writes that the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf Bill had already cleared the deck for its passage by approving it with changes suggested by NDA members in the teeth of the Opposition members’ protests. The Modi Cabinet recently cleared these amendments proposed by the parliamentary panel.

The daily points out that several leading Muslim organisations led by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind are going to hold a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on March 13 against the Waqf Bill which, they allege, would target Muslim assets and institutions in contravention of the minority community’s rights granted by the Constitution.

The government would not have much of a problem pushing the Bill through the Lok Sabha, given that the BJP has got all its NDA allies on board, the edit says, adding that it would however face resistance in the Rajya Sabha. “It is to be seen what the Opposition does to block the Bill. If they just walk out of the House in the name of registering their protest, it would only facilitate the government’s task.”

Among other issues expected to generate heat in Parliament are alleged manipulation of electoral rolls, the US offensive on trade tariffs, and the fresh bout of violence in Manipur amid the Centre’s bid to enforce free movement through the strife-torn state’s highways, the editorial states. The Election Commission (EC) has issued a clarification to defuse the controversy over the duplication of the EPIC (Elector Photo Identity Card) numbers in different states — flagged first by West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee — but the Opposition parties continue to be up in arms over it. The Opposition would also raise the heat over the US tariff row, with a flurry of remarks made by President Donald Trump queering the pitch for the government, the edit adds.