by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Pervez Bari, Maeeshat.in,
Bhopal: In the context of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Popular Front of India, (PFI), will convene a “Muslim Political Conclave” in the national capital on 6th March 2019 to submit a “People’s Charter of Demands” on behalf of the minority community before the contesting political parties.
Muslim scholars, activists and leaders have been invited from different states, which will discuss the current national and state situations and prepare a charter reflecting the concerns of the community for the interested political parties to include in their election manifesto. This decision was taken in the National Executive Council meeting of PFI held at Malappuram in Kerala.
M. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, General Secretary PFI, in a statement said that the meeting observed that, though 2019 Lok Sabha election is being viewed as of paramount importance in the history of the country, the existential and developmental issues of minorities have been largely sidelined in the political discourse of the major political parties who have traditionally used the community as their vote banks. The present Central government is characterised by its extreme anti-minority nature and the resultant rise of violence against Muslims in particular. In lynching incidents, mostly Muslims were killed in the name of beef consumption and the cattle trade.
According to one survey, it is found that hate speeches by elected leaders increased by five times since BJP came to power in 2014. A report of Human Rights Watch says that in most of the mob lynching cases culprits remain unpunished.
Jinnah sad that in Babri Masjid case, the Central government is opposed to justice for the illegally demolished Masjid, rather they are doing everything to prevent justice and ensure Ram Mandir construction on the Babri land. The non-BJP Opposition has relegated Babri Masjid case into a non-issue and has forgotten the promise of reconstruction, made to the nation when it was demolished in 1992. Through the introduction of 10 per cent quota in government jobs on economic grounds, when the Central government tried to destroy the constitutional foundation of reservation, both Congress and Left parties supported this upper caste agenda. And they keep silence over the recommendation of Justice Ranganath Misra Commission to provide 15 per cent reservation for religious minorities.
He pointed out it is to be remembered that it was UPA government which introduced the draconian UAPA, now widely being misused by the Modi Government against minorities and for silencing voices of dissent. The constitution of NIA, another agency which is misused against Muslims, is also a Congress government contribution. No previous secular government at the Centre bothered to remove the oppressive sedition clause from our penal laws.
There is a visible reluctance on the part of major parties even to address Muslims in these changed political circumstances. They often distance themselves from core questions of Muslims and backward minority sections and at times even compete with BJP by championing Hindutva politics even openly. In short, these parties have proved them incapable of standing by the aspirations of the minorities and marginalized sections of this country. The situation demands realistic evaluation of the present situation in the country and effective strategizing on the part of Muslim community for its own future and the future of the country as a secular democratic nation. The proposed Muslim Political Conclave is an attempt at enabling the opposition parties to address the Lok Sabha election on the basis of core secular values enshrined in the Indian constitution.
Chairman E. Abubacker presided over the meeting, which was attended by, General Secretary M. Muhammed Ali Jinnah, Vice Chairman O. M. A. Salam, Secretaries Abdul Wahid Sait, Anis Ahmed and other members of the National Executive Council.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Harish Rawat
Dehradun : Congress General Secretary Harish Rawat on Friday said the party will launch sincere efforts to build a grand Ram Temple at Ayodhya if it comes to power after the Lok Sabha elections.
“On two previous occasions, the Congress made sincere attempts to build the Ram temple when it was in power. We will sincerely launch efforts to build the Ram temple if we come to power,” Rawat told reporters here.
Asked whether this the party’s official stand, Rawat quipped: “My statement regarding the Ram temple was widely reported in the media. There is no denial from the Congress.”
He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of being insincere on the issue. “BJP is only doing politics on the Ram temple issue,” said Rawat. The government must work as a facilitator for building the temple, he said.
On the Pulwama suicide bombing, Rawat accused the BJP of projecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the only nationalist in the country.
“I have strong objections on the projection of Modi as the only nationalist in India. We all are nationalists. Everybody in the country is a nationalist,” Rawat said.
Criticizing the Uttarakhand BJP government on its budget presented this week, Rawat said the declining agriculture and manufacturing growth in the state was a matter of grave concern.
He said nearly a dozen factories had been closed in the state after the November 7 investors meet. He also claimed that of the nine lakh farmers in the state, 50,000 have quit farming in the past two years.
Rawat said the government’s decision to relax the stringent land laws would force the people to migrate to other states.
“Top industrialists like Adani and Ramdev would buy all the land. There will be no land left for living,” said Rawat.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
Ram Vilas Paswan
By V.S. Chandrasekar and Brajendra Nath Singh,
New Delhi : There is no possibility of any new political realignments ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year, says Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who has also ruled out his quitting the NDA to join an opposition front.
He says there is no alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the opposition, which is disunited and the much-touted SP-BSP unity would not be there in the general elections. While UPA Chaiperson Sonia Gandhi is in the background, Congress President Rahul Gandhi has no Charisma, Paswan feels.
Paswan, who heads Bihar’s Lok Janshakti Party, concedes that in an election year, even “small” issues get magnified which is dubbed as anti-incumbency and the government needs to change the “perception” at the ground level.
“No. Earlier it used to happen. There was a time when realignments used to happen. Now the people have tested all the political parties.
“People like me do politics of self-respect. Those who have self-respect can never stay with (RJD chief) Lalu Prasad. In Congress if somebody wants to meet Rahul Gandhi it will take three months. Even then, the meeting is not sure,” Paswan told IANS in an interview.
Asked about the possibility of a realignment of political parties ahead of next year’s elections, especially after the coming together of SP-BSP in the recent Lok Sabha bye elctions in Uttar Pradesh.
Paswan also ruled out the possibility of quitting the NDA and join an anti-BJP, anti-Congress front.
“There is no dilemma. It’s unthinkable to leave NDA. The question does not arise,” he asserted.
In Uttar Pradesh, the minister said, the SP-BSP alliance is not going to happen.
In the last parliamentary polls they contested in all the 80 seats in the state on their own but in case of an alliance each of the two parties would have to contest in 40 seats each.
In this case, Paswan asked “what will happen to those who would not get a ticket despite spending their life for tickets in a particular seat? They are not going to remain silent. Obviously they will spoil the chances of others.”
He said some 25 per cent of voters who swing before elections will vote in favour of NDA because they will see Narendra Modi as the candidate for the Prime Minister’s post as there are half a dozen leaders in opposition for the post.
“The voters will see that here is Modi and on the other side are are Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Chandrababu Naidu and many more in opposition. In such circumstances the voters would never think of spoiling his vote and would go for Modiji,” he asserted.
On Sonia Gandhi’s allegation that Modi’s call for “New India” is going to prove to be a mere slogan like the “India Shining and “Feel Good” campaigns during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government (1998-2004), Paswan said: “The situation during Vajpayee-ji’s time was different. He was running a coalition government. Modiji is running a government of a single party majority.
“That time (Vajpayee) the government used to move ahead after taking political allies into confidence while this government takes risks. Did any government have the courage to take decisions like demonetisation and the GST?
“When there was India Shining under Vajpayee, there was only one big face in opposition and she was Sonia Gandhi. Now, she has receded into background. There is no charisma in Rahul Gandhi. There are many regional satraps who have emerged as leaders. These things count in elections. In fact, the opposition is not united and will not unite in future.”
Asked about Modi’s “ache din” promise in the 2014 election campaign, Paswan said:
“For those who are angry with Narendra Modi, what are options for them? Who are they going to support? Had Rajiv Gandhi fulfilled the promises he had made? Will people now vote for Rahul Gandhi…There is no alternative to Modi. There is no vacancy for the Prime Minister’s post.”
Talking about four years of theModi government, Paswan said when the government enters into election year, even small issues are given the shape of national concern and thisis dubbed as an anti-incumbency against the government.
“What needs to done by the government is to propagate properly the development work done at the ground level. The perception needs to be changed. This government has done noting against the interest of the Muslims but there is a perception about the government that it is anti-muslim.
“Similarly, the government has done a lot for the SCs and STs but the perception about the government is of being anti-Dalit. The Prime Minister never spoke a word on controversial issues like construction of Ram temple, Article 370 or any Hindutava issue.”
Asked about the Prime Minister not speaking on issues in time when controversies rage, Paswan said: “It is not that the Prime Minister remains silent on every issue. He never spoke on Hindutva. After becoming Prime Minister when he first went to the Parliament he had said that the our constitution is our religion.”
Queried about the accusation that the Prime Minister does not take any action against fringe elements who give a bad name to the government, Paswan said: “Its an internal matter of the BJP and I am only an alliance partner. But I can say he is taking steps to control the hardcore Hindutva line of the some the leaders.”
In this context, he referred to former VHP working President Pravin Togadia as an example in the wake of his being sidelined in the organisation during the recent election.
On the defeat of BJP-JD(U) in the Lok Sabha and Assembly by-polls in Bihar recently, Paswan said it was on expected lines.
“The sympathy wave played a major role in win of the candidates. “MY” (Muslim+Yadav) equation of RJD chief Lalu Prasad is not new for the state. It’s an old practice of the RJD. Besides this, Lalu has no support of any other caste group. Lalu Prasad is in jail and facing corruption charges. People will soon forget him.”
When it was suggested that Lalu Prasad may get the sympathy of the people of Bihar, Paswan said: “After some days, the people will forget him. In India, people forgot the emergency. What happened in Haryana when Om Prakash Chautala was jailed? People forgot him. New leadership will emerge in Bihar.”
As far as NDA is concerned, he said “we are intact. Nitish has his own vote bank.”
In Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the minister said, the biggest issue is of caste. “In Bihar, if Scheduled Caste does not support the RJD, it can’t do anything. But there will be problem if the SCs join him. The issue of development is secondary in Bihar. Social issues like caste remain on top.”
(V.S. Chandrasekar can be contacted at chandru.vs; Brajendra Nath Singh can be contacted at brajednra.s@ians.in)
—IANS
