The Hindu : Cong. criticises Vajpayee's 'anti-Muslim' innuendoes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003

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Cong. criticises Vajpayee's 'anti-Muslim' innuendoes

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JAN. 6. The Congress today criticised the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, for his negative references to the colour green, at the birthday function of the Human Resources Development Minister, M.M. Joshi. "We deplore his tendency to indulge in anti-Muslim innuendoes gratuitously,' said the party spokesperson, Jaipal Reddy.

The party described as unfortunate the Prime Minister's inability to resist making such insinuations. "It does not behove anybody occupying the august office of the Prime Minister,'' said Mr. Reddy.

He criticised the selection of M.V. Kamath as chairman of Prasar Bharti. "We are shocked and dismayed at the selection.'' His main objection was Mr. Kamath's perceived tilt towards the BJP. "The Prasar Bharti was conceived as a public broadcasting corporation and the idea was to have people of independent understanding,'' he said. The Congress also accused Mr. Kamath, a former journalist, of a "brazen pro-BJP bias in his writings''. Since the Government was unable to undo the freedom and autonomy guaranteed to AIR and Doordarshan through Prasar Bharti, "it is trying to capture these institutions from inside and subvert their functioning''.

CPI deplores remark

The CPI deplored Mr. Vajpayee's remark lauding Mr. Joshi's campaign to review school curriculum and text-books.

Referring to Mr. Vajpayee's remark on Sunday that "Joshi bhagva rang nahin denge to kya hara rang denge? '' (If he is not going to give a saffron colour, should he give it a green colour?), the CPI said it revealed the Prime Minister's penchant for looking at everything in communal idioms and symbolism — either saffron or green.

"Is there no other way the curriculum should be looked at viz., secular, democratic, forward looking, objective and scientific,'' it asked.

The CPI is likely to work out a plan to undertake a `Bharat yatra' to highlight the shortcomings of the Vajpayee Government's policies — especially those resulting in poverty, unemployment and hunger.

The party is expected to finalise the plan at the four-day meeting of its national council and executive to be held at Hyderabad between January 10 and 13.

With the earlier plan to undertake the yatra in coordination with other Left parties not coming through, the party would now try to re-work it. The idea is to begin the yatra from three or four places from each direction to culminate at one place.

The national executive would also decide the strategy for the Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura.

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