The importance of the third front in getting rid of the communal party of India
Elections 2009 May 8th. 2009, 7:39pmUpdate: Expressbuzz.com has a related op-ed piece.
The communal political party of India which still is not apologetic about its role in Gujarat in 2002 and in Kandhamala in 2008 can be made to drastically lose its importance (or forced to abandon its communal elements) if in more and more states the main contenders are among Congress and regional parties. I have a feeling that come May 16th this communal party will become irrelevant in Orissa. If more and more people see the third front as a viable alternative then it will automatically become the main competitor to Congress nationally and in the states many regional parties will choose the third front instead of the communal party for their partnership. This would then force the communal party to either become irrelevant or reinvent itself. This communal party has some very good people. Perhaps these people will come to senses and push to throw out the communal elements; otherwise the party will sink.
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May 9th, 2009 at 8:43 am
BJP is not a short term project to get a shot at power in centre by hook or by crook. BJP carries the burden of hopes of millions of Indians, for whom, this party is the only bright spot in the otherwise completely gloomy scenario of dynastic politics.
If on May 16th BJD fails to get a majority on its own, all these talk about secularism will evaporate. So, it is too early to say that whether BJD has chosen secularism as a policy or just to cover its own face after failing to clinch a seat sharing deal with its former alliance partner. So far, secularism has only been used to suit the interests of the Parties, had it not been so, the Muslim literacy would not have been below 50% in a country ruled for 50 years by the so called secular parties. People like Narayan Rane, Chagan Bhujbal, Sankarsingh Vaghela, Sanjay Nirupam and Kalyan Singh etc. form the gropu of secular leaders in India and this is how secularsim is defined.
May 9th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Are you saying that because of the above (the issues mentioned by you) you are ok with parties that are not hesitant to let their cadres loose to kill people just because they are of a different religion?
May 10th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
I completely agree with Biswanath. Naveen Pattnaik should stop blaming others for his weak governance. He is the CM and Home Minister of Orissa but still he let the maoist to wreak havoc in Kandhamal which resulted in communal violence. Graham Staines was murdered when neither the BJP nor the BJD was in power. Do you blame the BJP for this also? What Naveen does not recognize is the boiling caste cauldron in Southern Orissa, if he does not handle or address the root cause by development, employment and banning forced conversions no one knows how many more Kandhamals could happen during his future tenure. Whom will he blame then? There are no indications that any BJP leader was directly or indirectly involved in the Kandhamal violence. Then why blame the BJP? If Naveen was so confident of their involvement why didn’t he get anyone arrested? So, Naveen should stop playing the blame game and his reasons for going alone in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are completely irrational and black-mailed by Left.
This is why I still believe that BJD should rejoin the NDA.
1. BJD will never go with the congress because Congress is a major player in the state and once they are in power they will try to weaken the BJD and its cadre base in Orissa.
2. After May 16th, if Congress is 10-12 seats short of the half-way mark to form the next govt, then it would pressurize the left, JMM and NCP (who have a alliance at the central level) to ditch BJD and support it to form the next govt. BJD does not look like touching the half-way mark on its own. So, with its allies poached by Congress, BJD can form the next government with the support of BJP only.
3. BJP has some good leaders in its fold both at the central and state level, who have a vision for the country which I don’t see in today’s Congress.
4. BJP or its allies are in power in most states of India. These states have witnessed highest development in the last decade.
5. Ground reports suggest that NDA could reach the magic number to form the next central government, so Naveen should not risk of not being part of the central govt.
6. I would prefer Orissa not to follow West Bengal as there is no returning back from hell even if it wants to. The minority appeasement and anti-development policies of the Left has pushed West Bengal to the bottom of Human, Agriculture and Industrial Development Index.
7. I think Naveen was blackmailed by the Left in return for allowing industrialization of the state. If this is true then I am sorry to state that BJD could be rooted out in a few years by the Left who will then try to build their cadre base in Orissa.
8. Left was the only party in India which supported China during the Indo-China war.
9. West Bengal is the only state in India which witnesses highest poll-related violence all supported and instigated by the Left. Do you want Orissa to become another Bengal?
May 11th, 2009 at 2:06 am
On killing people of other religion, let me tell you sir, India is inherently secular, ofcourse, the intrinsic meaning of it is different for the Indians. Have you seen any temple or any priest issuing a religious decree or Fatwa against any other religion in India’s History? Even though some people knowingly offend Hindu Gods today like Karunadhi or by painting them nude in stark contrast to the world wide outrage against the Danish Cartoonist. How much more patience and tolerance somebody would demand to prove that Indians are secular by blood. Todays secularism as professed by the left parties is very peculiar, in which the CPM cadres murder,loot and rape in Nandigram, WB and Kerala is secular in nature. If you say Modi is accountable for killing of 700 Muslims in Gujarat, why can’t I say that Rajiv Gandhi is responsible for killing of 3000 sikhs, Vilasrao Deshmukh and YS Reddy are responsible for killing 50,000 farmers etc. Lalu and Shibu Soren etc. are secular corrupt people. Indian psychie doesn’t support violence. Even if someone throws a stone on a street dog, few people would be there to say no. Unless the Minority (which is a term coined by the secularists as nationalists see everyone as a proud citizen of India) refuses to be treated as a votebank this problem will persist. So, good people and politics, ofcourse are in few, should not remain hostage to these issues. Otherwise, Pandit Nehru would not have asked RSS to march with the Indian Army on 26th january. Some differences have to be shed to drop this hatred to become perennial.
May 11th, 2009 at 4:21 am
BJP is here for the long haul.It might lose seats in Orissa but that won’t make it irrelevant at the national level. BJP is going to get more seats than Congress (both without allies). It is a different matter that they will find it difficult to come to power. I won’t be surprised if Naveen rediscovers the virtues of the so called communal party after 16th May.The real communal party is Congress not BJP. And by the way there is no such thing like ‘Third Front’.
May 11th, 2009 at 5:01 am
If the BJP is against muslims then why did they support and make possible victory of Sh.APJ Abul Kalam for presedential post and why top BJP leaders greeted A.R. Rahman on winning Oscar why RSS leaders say Dharmo Rakshit Rakshitah they must say Hindu Rakshit Rakhsitah.
May 11th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Most murderers have done some good things too.
So as I have said there are many good things that the communal party of India has done. It has many good people. But as long as it does not apologize for its role in post-Godhra and Kandhamal and mend its ways, throw away its leaders that participated in the above, it will keep becoming untouchable to more and more parties.
(Note: In the past Congress leaders are alleged to have participated in the killing of the sikhs in 1984. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Anti-Sikh_Riots The difference is they have apologized for it and this year they listened to the people’s outcry and Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar were forced not to run.)
On the other hand the communal party’s projected future top leader’s role in post-Godhra happenings is well documented. He is not at all apologetic.
Are you guys really supporting such a party because of its other good attributes?
Some of you seem to be blinded by hatred. All the grievances that you have can be addressed. They don’t have to result in mass murder and support of a party unashamed about its role in that.
May 11th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Chitta Babu none of us are blinded by hatred. No matter what the English language press and electronic media are trying to project, it BJP which rules the heart of younf Indians.Most of the media houses are funded by foreign agencies and most of the media men are from JNU.Hence this bias. The scene at the ground level is very different.If BJP had projected its future leader as it PM candidate,it would have swept the polls.Well,who knows pseudo- secularists might get a nasty surprise on 16th May 09.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:42 am
If none of you are blinded by hatred how do you accept what happened post-Godhra and are so high on the future leader?
May 11th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
When Hindu Mahasabha contested in the first general election held in India,it faced outright rejection by voters.Then why did BJP succeeds? It is only because of vacuum created by Congress for its appeasement policies.If you don’t know the history of BJS & BJP,then I will ask you to please go through it.It doesn’t have any towering leaders like INC but gained popularity through its organization skills.It differentiated from HMS only to induct Muslims in to it.If INC wouldn’t have taken Indian polity casually BJP wouldn’t have seen the light of day.
Secondly the word political untouchabilty is as hollow as BJD’s sudden discovery of its secular credentials.If it really felt embarrassed,it would have relinquished the support of BJP as soon as Kandhmal & aftermaths happened.It is all about numbers.
Can we concluded that chief minister is feckless under who the Maoist havoc increased so much that people feel Few Districs are not part of democratic republic of India.If he can not protect a 80 year old man despite repeated warning and can not capture the culprits it shows his potential as home minister of the State.
No body accepts what happened post Godhra or Post killing of Indira Gandhi.But why somebody should apologize and then roam freely.If somebody is culprit then punish him.
By the way,how did you reach to the conclusion that Modi was responsible for Post Godhra riots?If you are a staunch congress supporter then you have every right to.But if you really think on placing thoughts based on facts,then nothing has been proven against him.Modi became popular more for his honesty & integrity & Organizational skill than his communal agenda & firebrand oratory. Now tell me who is blind?One who bases his argument on facts or one who bases it on assumptions.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
If you read my various writings in http://orissa2009.org/ and http://iiser.blogspot.com you will realize that I am no Congress supporter. I like many of the things that BJP and its earlier version did including BJP’s role to oppose Indira Gandhi’s emergency and the aftermath of that. However the current BJP with the taint associated with its #1 (see the pointer in the update of this article) and future #1 (see linsk at http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/2040 ) needs to be shunned like Taliban needs to be shunned.
In regards to Post-Godhra you can take your pick. Either it had a completely incompetent CM and administration or the CM and the administration played some role in what happened. What happened post-Godhra in Ahmedabad, the heart of the state, is completely inexcusable. In case of Kandhamala at least there is the excuse that it was a remote place.
You can read about your esteemed leader in http://tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107gujrat_sec.asp . More pointers in my earlier article http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/2040
My point is that there is a need for a good national opposition to Congress. If BJP throws away its tainted people and leads with people like Jaitely, Shourie, Swain, etc. then that would be a good alternative. For that to happen, members/supporters need to say clearly that, while appeasement of minorities is wrong, murdering people is not a solution and anyone tainted with that must become history like Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler dropping out of the race this year. If that means dumping the future #1 of BJP, then that needs to be done.
Mark my word. Either BJP sincerely apologizes for whatever it or its cadres/fringes did or did not do post-Godhra (eg. either apologizes for its incompetence in protecting its citizens Post-Godhra or its possible involvement in it) and Kandhamala, reins in its fringe and dumps the people tainted by it and starts fresh or it slowly goes downhill as less and less parties will ally with it and on its own it will not get to power. Unfortunately it is standing behind Varun Gandhi and Ashok Sahu.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Guys:
I am hoping your above view points are because you have not read the pieces in http://tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107What_They_Said.asp
Please read
BABU BAJRANGI
‘To Get Me Out On Bail, Narendrabhai Changed Judges Thrice’
http://tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107To_Get.asp
RAMESH DAVE
‘His Rage Was Great’
http://tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107His_Rage.asp
HARESH BHATT
‘He Has Done What No CM Ever Has’
http://tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107He_Has.asp
SURESH RICHARD
‘We Were Blessed, He
Told Us’
http://tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107We_Were.asp
ARVIND PANDYA
‘Were Modi Not A Minister, He Would Have Burst Bombs’
http://tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107Were_Modi.asp
RAJENDRA VYAS
‘Revenge Was His Promise’
http://tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107Revenge.asp
=======================
The above is not tenable in court, but why should a country and its people take the risk and support such a person and a party that calls this person its future #1.
May 12th, 2009 at 1:46 am
All the links provided by you belong to tehelka.com which is a very well known BJP baiter.Therefore, it’s credibility is doubtful.The question is no more whether the future #1 is going to become the PM, the question is when.He has huge supporters across the country including states like TN and Kerala.
Please refer to following article why India needs him..
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/why-india-needs-narendra-modi/375103/
May 12th, 2009 at 2:05 am
India definitely needs more doers. But that man needs to first atone for what he has done before it is too late. Sooner or later justice will catch up with him.
May 12th, 2009 at 2:52 am
If apology after committing a crime means delivery of justice then we would not have needed all these judiciary. Did anyone ask for an apology from Rajiv Gandhi, when 3500 sikhs were killed in an one sided genocide. Now no one has been punished for it and whatever little hope was there from CBI, it has managed to dilute them. If after all these you think an apology is just fine then I am surprised. Even for killing a black deer or tiger India penal code argues for 7 years impriosenment. So, for killing 3500 human beings just an apology!!! In Gujarat violence, as per Ministry of Home affairs data, 950 people were killed which included 700 Muslims and 250 Hindus. So, it was never an one-sided violence. Second more than 150 Hindus were killed due to police firing, which is aginst the media created impression that State Govt. of Gujarat didn’t do anything during that time? For that matter why a secular Naveen didn’t contain the violence even in one months time? When the communities are deeply hurt for some incident, the State Police is just not enough to conatin it. If Modi is involved in the crime punish him, no need of showing any leaniency, no body would say anything, but if he is not involved, because media runs a paralel trial, he need not apologize. If the Congress Govt. was so sure about Modi’s involvement, why didn’t it file a case against him and conduct a judicial enquiry? In the mean time, people of Gujarat have overwhelmingly supported him in last two elections. With no one being punished for communal violences under Congress regime in Delhi, Meerut and Bhaglpur till now shall we conclude that all these people committed mass suicide??
May 12th, 2009 at 5:54 am
On Kandhamal violence, I came across an interesting article in the Times of India, which goes like this: ‘Many Kandhmal victims alive’,Link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Many-Kandhmal-victims-alive/articleshow/4511671.cms. The story substantiates the fact that at times the issue of victimhood is overplayed by some vested interest to malign an entire State and take mileages from it. Those people who belive in converting innocent tribals to their own religion by paying a 500 Rupee note and barter on their faith have not much credibilty left in them. In the aftermath of Kandhmal, by showing this forged figures they have been able to get donation of few hundred crores from across the Globe in the name of Missionaries in the guise of NGOs. Infact, last week I read a story in an Italian News Website which claims that 500 Christians have been killed in Orissa province of India. If a person outside Orissa, would call Naveen Patnaik a killer and murderer, will we and people of Orissa accept the language? As we know the truth that Naveen can be everything but a violence minded person. Any intellectual worth its salt would find that Kandhamal was more a caste conflict than a religious conflict, ofcourse it took a religious turn as the two main castes SCs and STs, belong to two different religions. So, lets be proud as before about our State, and no need to buy the argument of others, who have hardly any knowledge about the culture of Orissa. Others can’t make us feel ashamed, unless we submit ourselves to their argument. How many people in India recall the fact that the Gurjar-Meena conflict in rajasthan has taken double the number of lifes than Kandhamal. But many of our intellectuals have made it their fashion to sensationalise issues related to religion. See the Ram Sena issue, how much attention did it draw even though no body even received a scratch, though what happened was wrong, but 50 Biharis were killed in Assam and hardly anyone reported it. So, it is we who have made religion a political issue.
May 12th, 2009 at 7:12 am
The PTI news makes it clear that Kandhamal violence was mainly because of caste conflict. Here you go….
SC NOTICE TO ORISSA ON KANDHs PLEA
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from Orissa government on the allegation that it has left the ethnic tribal Kandhs at disadvantage over the Panas more than 60 per cent of whom are Christians in communally sensitive Kandhamal district hit by riots last year.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan issued notice to the state government on the charge that Panas, who are Scheduled Castes and well organised, have over a period of time mannipulated the Kandhs to usurp their land.
However, before the Bench, also comprising Justices P Sathasivam and BS Chauhan, sought a reply from Orissa government, senior counsel Collin Gonsalves, who was representing the Christian community in the Kandhamal riot matter, opposed the application filed by Padmanav Pradhan, President of the Kui Sanskritik Parishad (KSP), alleging it was politically-instigated.
“It is a politically insitigated (petition),” he said about the application which alleged a large number of Panas have become involved with local Maoists who operate around Kandhamal district. The KSP, representing the tribals, said organisations of Pana and Christians have allegedly grabbed Kandh land and churches have been illegally built on them in some blocks in Kandhamal district.
May 12th, 2009 at 7:49 am
The issues of caste and religious conversion was there in Kandhamala. But various reports mention that Sangha Parivaar did play a role in the killings that happened. Following paragraphs are from one such report that appeared in Telegraph. I am copying it from http://www.sacw.net/article322.html :
India: A pogrom is the first step in the Gujarat model
by Mukul Kesavan, 11 April 2009
The Gujarat Model
Why the last week in Orissa was historic
In retrospect, the violence in Kandhamal in Orissa last year seems like the first step in an electoral strategy, a strategy that can be broadly described as the Gujarat model. For those who don’t remember those events, starting in the last week of August, Christians in the Kandhamal district suffered a month and a half of systematic intimidation, killing and displacement. Figures released by the Orissa government put the figure at over 12,000 refugees, fed and sheltered in government camps. This doesn’t account for those Christians who fled their homes and sought refuge in places other than these refugee camps, so the overall figure for the displaced is higher.
The troubles began after Swami Laxmananda Saraswati, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader, was murdered by ‘Maoists’. The sangh parivar alleged that his murder had been organized by Christians and used his funeral procession to stoke murderous violence against Christians in the area. Having ‘cleansed’ Christians from their homes, Hindutva militants declared with impunity that they wouldn’t be allowed back till they re-converted to their ‘parent’ faith, Hinduism. There were reports of groups of Christians submitting to ritual ‘shuddhi’ ceremonies organized by these custodians of Hinduism’s integrity, to purge them of Christianity, that alien contagion.
The main accused in this campaign of carnage and killing was Manoj Pradhan. Charged with more than a dozen cases of murder and arson, Manoj Pradhan is currently lodged in jail in G. Udayagiri, a town in Kandhamal. The not-so-subtle irony is that Pradhan is also the Bharatiya Janata Party’s official candidate for the G. Udayagiri assembly seat in the approaching elections. B.B. Ramachandran, the BJP’s leader in the state’s legislative assembly, offered a familiar defence: “he has been arrested under false charges. In any case, he is not yet proved guilty in the court of law. Let the people decide his fateâ€.
The BJP’s nominee for the newly delimited Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat is a former IPS officer, Ashok Sahu, currently the state president of the Hindu Jagaran Samukhya, who is notable for having declared without the inconvenience of evidence that Christian terrorists had killed Laxmananda Saraswati.
A pogrom is the first step in the Gujarat model. The object of the pogrom is polarization, specifically the consolidation of a Hindu majority. The third ‘P’ in this grim sequence is political victory at the polls. What we’ve seen in the last week in Orissa is the BJP’s political establishment explicitly owning this strategy. The long history of rivalry and tension between the largely Hindu Kandhas and the largely Christian Panos has been brought to fever pitch by the violence. Apart from possibly firming up a Hindu vote bloc, the Kandhamal carnage led to the large-scale dispersal of Christian voters (thousands of whom never returned to the villages where they’re registered to vote) and the large-scale loss of identity cards of those who remained in Kandhamal whether in refugee camps or outside them.
May 12th, 2009 at 7:56 am
The party and especially its #1 and projected future #1 should at least apologize for not being able to protect the lives of people in the big cities like Vadodara and Ahmedabad. That would be a start. (Instead NM says … in http://www.zeenews.com/news526380.html ) In any case justice will catch up. SIT is after him http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/Modi-under-SIT-scanner/articleshow/4465857.cms .
His then health minister is already charged with murder. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=indiasectionpage&id=580d14e6-4d6f-4e2c-a5a4-c3202deeabdd&Headline=Maya+Kodnani+charged+with+murder
May 12th, 2009 at 8:24 am
I am going to temporarily close this discussion for now. Will come back to it when I have more time.