by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
By Amulya Ganguli,
There will probably be a mixed reaction in the secular camp to Rahul Gandhi’s temple-hopping in Gujarat.
To some, it may seem to be a negation of the Congress’s vaunted secular credentials and that, too, by the great grandson of the man who championed the concept of keeping the state separate from religion in independent India.
To others, it was probably a tactical move to deprive the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of an opportunity to project the Nehru-Gandhis, and their party, as anti-Hindu, a propaganda ploy which the saffron brotherhood has been using for many years along with the depiction of “Raul Maino” as someone who is not an Indian at all.
If BJP MP Subramanian Swamy is to be believed, Rahul is a Catholic and a UK citizen. It was perhaps necessary, therefore, for the Congress president to counter such charges from a party which can apparently go to any lengths to tarnish an opponent. Hence Rahul’s assertion that he is a devotee of Lord Shiva and does not need anyone’s permission to visit temples.
That may not have stopped one BJP Chief Minister, Gujarat’s Vijay Rupani, from asking why doesn’t Rahul go to the Akshardham temple in Delhi which is not far from his house and another, Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath, to say that his posture in the temple precincts was like someone offering namaz, the Muslim form of prayer.
However, whatever his tireless critics may say, the BJP may be compelled to be somewhat more careful in future in its endeavours at character assassination.
It is possible that Rahul’s temple visits, along with his silence on the condition of the Muslims in Gujarat, have been in response to senior Congress leader A.K. Antony’s observation in his report on the 2014 election results that the perception of minority appeasement continues to hobble the Congress.
At the same time, Rahul has to realise that his visits to temples cannot be a one-time affair. He will have to continue with these excursions irrespective of whether elections are being held or not. Otherwise, he will expose himself to the politically damaging conclusion that his visits were indeed no more than tactical manoeuvres intended to rob the BJP of a political point during a crucial battle.
Rahul’s trips to temples cannot be like his earlier practice of slumming when he used to spend a night in a Dalit hut with a bottle of mineral water.
Arguably, it may be advisable for him to change tack by visiting the places of worship of other religions as well. That will be in sync with Mahatma Gandhi’s preference for readings from the scriptures of all religions at his prayer meetings to underline India’s composite culture.
Visits to mosques, churches, gurdwaras and synagogues, along with going to temples, may be interpreted as too palpably showy and pretentious, especially by a person who has not been noticeably religious-minded till the Gujarat elections.
But it has to be remembered that the Congress is up against a party which regards itself as a monopolistic wholesaler in the business of projecting Hinduism and, therefore, the latter’s ploys can only be countered by taking the matter of flaunting faith to a different and higher level.
It is possible that the BJP will be flummoxed by its adversary visiting the shrines of all religions because it is something which the party of cultural nationalism — one nation, one people, one culture — will never be able to do lest it should undermine its Hindu supremacist agenda.
However, demonstrating devotion to all religions will be widely recognised as typical of non-communal Hindus who have always regarded secularism as a celebration of all faiths, attending midnight mass on Christmas eve and visiting dargahs as that of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer in large numbers.
As the Antony report pointed out, the Congress’s mistake was that it deviated from the country’s long-standing syncretism and focussed on pandering to Muslim sentiments. This approach may have been understandable in the aftermath of partition when the Muslims felt lost because of the departure for Pakistan of the community’s tall leaders like Mohammed Ali Jinnah and the collapse of organisations like the Unionist Party in Punjab and Krishak Praja Party in Bengal which were based on Hindu-Muslim amity.
Since the Muslims consequently turned to the Congress as their only hope, the party apparently decided to treat them as its special responsibility. That this policy worked satisfactorily is evident from the BJP remaining in the margins of national politics till the early 1990s.
However, it was the Congress’s inability to counter the whipping up of communal sentiments by the Hindutva lobby over the Ram temple issue from the 1990s which helped the BJP to make political gains.
Arguably, Rahul’s temple trips are a belated exercise to blunt the BJP’s tactic of pretending to be the sole custodian of Hinduism. But this opportunistic “soft” Hindutva line doesn’t seem to have worked in Gujarat if the exit polls are to be believed. It is time, therefore, for him to change tack and embrace other religions as well.
(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA)
Mumbai : The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) on Friday urged all opposition leaders, including Congress President-elect Rahul Gandhi, to extend their support for the proposed Muslim family law.
In a letter to Gandhi and other major Opposition parties, the BMMA founders – Zakia Soman and Noorjehan Niaz – said that although the Supreme Court has struck down ‘Triple Talaq’ in its judgement last August, other issues like ‘nikah halala’, polygamy, age of marriage, custody of children, etc, remain unaddressed.
The BMMA has been actively raising these issues to end the legal discrimination and demanding justice and equality in family matters which are orthodox, patriarchical and male-dominated, they said.
The males have stonewalled all attempts towards reforms in the Muslim Personal Law and Muslim women have been denied their Quranic rights as as well as their rights as equal Indian citizens.
“Among all Muslim countries in the world, such as Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and even Bangladesh and Pakistan in our neighbourhood have codified personal laws governing marriage and family matters. But Indian Muslim women have been denied protection of law,” said Soman and Niaz.
They pointed out a 2015 research study where 92.1 percent of all Muslim women sought a total ban on oral/unilateral divorce and 91.7 percent opposed polygamy, while 83.3 percent felt that codification of Muslim family law would help Muslim women get justice.
In its grassroots work in different parts of India, the BMMA has found that just as Hindus, Christians and Parsis have their own personal laws and Muslims must also have a similar personal law ensuring equality and dignity to their womenfolk.
The two activists said that this can be achieved either through amendments to the Shariat Application Act, 1937 and Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, or by enacting a completely new Muslim Personal Law with the desired reforms.
The BMMA has already prepared a draft on this based on Quranic tenets concerning age of marriage, mehr, talaq, polygamy, maintenance, custody of children, etc, which in consonance with the Constitution.
The draft suggests that the minimum marriage age for girls and boys be 18 and 21 respectively, consent of both sides without force or fraud for marriage, minimum ‘mehr’ to be equivalent to one full annual income of the groom to be paid at the time of solemnising ‘nikaah’.
Besides, the BMMA draft says talaq’should precede a mandatory arbitration over a 90-day period and polygamy should be declared as illegal, while ‘halala’ and ‘muta marriage’ should be made punishable offences.
On children, it seeks that both the mother and father be declared as natural guardians of the child, and custody of children be based on the best interests and decision of the child.
Similarly in property matters, the Quranic shares to be applied while making will or clearing debts for ensuring justice to the women.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi : Stressing that Adivasis in Gujarat were in bad condition, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Friday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi “where did Rs 55,000 crore meant for Vanbandhu scheme go?”.
This was Gandhi’s 10th question as part of a Congress strategy wherein he would put one question daily to Modi ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls.
“Grabbed the land of the Adivasis, their right over the forest was denied. Lakhs of legal documents for land ownership are stuck (have not been issued),” Gandhi tweeted.
“Neither schools are functional, nor do they have access to hospitals. Neither homeless has been provided a house, nor youth have jobs.
“Neglect left Adivasi society in tatters, Modiji where did Rs 55,000 crore for Vanbandhu scheme go?” asked Gandhi.
The scheme was launched in 2014 by the Centre for holistic development and welfare of the tribal population in India.
Gandhi has been putting one question every day in a bid to take on the Vijay Rupani-led government in Gujarat, where polling will take place on Saturday and December 14.
He previously put posers on unemployment among youth, women safety, education, health, “undue benefit” to power selling companies, state debt and the Prime Minister’s flagship ‘Housing for All’ scheme.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi : Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “step-motherly treatment to farmers” saying that he has not waived off farm loans and not given proper market price for their produce.
This was Gandhi’s ninth question as part of a strategy wherein the Congress Vice President would put up one question daily to Modi ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls.
In a tweet, the Congress leader said: “Neither have you waived off farm loans, nor have you given the proper price of the crops. Farmers didn’t get the crop insurance amount and nor you arranged the tubewells for water.
“The ‘Gabbar Singh’ (Goods and Services Tax reference) whammy on farming. By snatching their lands you made the farmers workless. PM saheb please tell why step motherly treatment with farmers?” the Congress leader asked.
Gandhi has been putting one question every day in a bid to take on the Vijay Rupani-led government in Gujarat, where polling will take place on Saturday and December 14.
He previously put out posers on unemployment among youths, malnutrition in children, education, women safety, “undue benefit” to power selling companies, state debt and the Prime Minister’s flagship ‘Housing for All’ scheme.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
Ashok Gehlot
By Brajendra Nath Singh,
Ahmedabad : Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot, who played a major role in social engineering by roping in Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakore and Jignesh Mewani on the side of Congress in Gujarat, wants Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attack the party and Rahul Gandhi even more so that it will “ensure a Congress victory”.
As the campaign in the state reaches feverish pitch, Gehlot accused Modi of speaking “only untruths” and making “false promises”. Modi has now been “exposed” and people are not going to believe him or come under his “illusion”, says the former Rajasthan Chief Minister.
He maintains the Prime Minister is becoming “furious” as he senses defeat in the Assembly polls, which is the reason for his “disgraceful” attacks on Congress and its legends like Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
“We want him to attack us more. We want him to abuse our legendary leaders. We will be benefiting as much as he attacks us,” Gehlot told IANS in an interview.
Claiming that the party will win the Gujarat polls with a clear majority, he also attacked the Prime Minister for describing Rahul Gandhi’s impending elevation as party chief as “Aurangzeb raj”.
“We will win this election with a comfortable majority. There is an undercurrent in favour of Congress. See how Modiji is attacking Congress and even its internal elections. A figure like the Prime Minister is attacking Rahul’s elevation, and that too by taking the name of a person who is not a Congress member,” Gehlot said, referring to Shehzad Poonawala. He said it goes to show how the Prime Minister and the entire BJP is “scared”.
“In fear of defeat he is saying anything in order to get the election agenda diverted from his model of development. He is mocking Congress’ internal democracy, but everyone knows that in the BJP the RSS decides who will be Prime Minister, President and Chief Minister. And you are talking about Congress,” he said.
Gehlot was referring to Modi’s charge that Nehru was not in favour of reconstructing the Somnath temple and his accusation that Indira Gandhi covered her nose with a handkerchief to avoid the stench when she visited Morbi in 1979 after the Machhu dam flood tragedy.
“It was under Indira Gandhi’s leadership that Pakistan was divided. It was one of the world’s historic events. There are many more such events with which the new generation is not familiar. They (BJP) are in the habit of misguiding people,” he said.
“They (PM and BJP) are raising these issues as they have become furious (baukhla gaye hai). Who cares about all this? They may hatch conspiracies to win elections but we don’t care. This is all because defeat is at their doorsteps. People of Gujarat are with us. Rahulji (Gandhi) is getting people’s love, affection and blessings.”
Continuing his attack on Modi, he said the Prime Minister has “lost his charisma” and this is seen during his election rallies too.
“Modiji has fooled people in the name of Vibrant Gujarat. Go to the villages of Gujarat and you will find the reality of development called ‘Modi model’. He has been exposed. Which class of society is happy with him? From farmers to labourers and from youths to business class, all are unhappy. Now people of Gujarat are not going to believe him. They are not going to come under his fake claims.
“You can see this on the ground. Earlier crowds used to chant ‘Modi, Modi’ in his rallies. Now what is happening? Chairs remain vacant. Where have they gone – those who used to chant his name?” he asked.
“His graph is shrinking. Now people have acknowledged their (BJP) lie. They speak only untruth and make false promises. People still remember the promises of bringing back black money, two crore employment every year and getting Rs 15 lakh into their bank accounts.”
The Congress General Secretary in charge of Gujarat said that Rahul Gandhi’s elevation to the party President’s post will impact the country’s politics a lot and youth would come forward under his leadership.
“I believe the young generation will come forward under his leadership. We were also youth. I became MP at an age of 28 and then became PCC President, General Secretary, Union Minister and Chief Minister. Today there are four General Secretaries in AICC, who were youths during Indira Gandhi’s regime. This is the speciality of the Congress that it gives opportunities to the new generation.
“Rahulji will do the same. He will take benefit from the experience of senior leaders and will move ahead with the youth,” he said.
Describing BJP as a party of “hypocrites” he said that they are “embracing Gandhiji, whom they killed”.
“Sardar Patel banned RSS and now they are claiming their birth right on him. After being humiliated by public throughout their journey from Jan Sangh to Janata Party and now BJP, they are doing divisive politics in the name of Congress.
“In the early years they did politics in the name of cow and its protection. They then raked up the issue of Ram temple. And now when they are in power they are again doing politics in the name of cow and trying to divide the country,” he said.
On Rahul Gandhi’s temple visits, he said that there was nothing new in this as Sonia Gandhi also began her election campaign in 2007 from Ambaji temple.
“She used to campaign by helicopter and temples don’t exist in air. Rahulji is travelling through roads and he goes to temples on the way,” he said.
(Brajendra Nath Singh can be contacted at brajendra.n@ians.in)
—IANS
