National

States Of The Nation

Another Night Of Knives? in Gujarat, Blasted Reminder in Guwahati, At The Fag End in Cal, The Headmistress Calls in Bangalore and The Art Of Equivocal Portraiture in Mumbai.

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States Of The Nation
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GANDHINAGAR, GUJARAT
Another Night Of Knives?

And now the farce. The state police have allegedly initiated a survey of Christians. "There’s nothing to fear and everyone in the 5-crore population is safe," Gujarat minister of state for home Amit Shah told the assembly last Tuesday, trying to allay fears. The minister admitted the cops had been knocking on Christian doors "but it was only a harmless inquiry to gather information about conversion sought by Ram Vilas Paswan in Parliament".

Most Christians and Christian organisations are being posed uncomfortable questions about the time of their conversion, whether force was used or not, the strength of their families and, in case of organisations, the source of foreign funds. A tribal Christian in north Gujarat’s Sabarkantha, for instance, was interrogated for two hours in a police station.

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Father Cedric Prakash of the United Christian Forum for Human Rights told Outlook: "The families and some of the priests were so scared they asked me not to tell anyone that the police came to their houses." He fears "the government wants to build a case to introduce its anti-conversion bill". The Christians also fear a post-Godhra-like situation.Home secretary K. Nityanandam is perfunctory, though: "The minister has already made the statement in the assembly." The All-India Christian Council has moved the Gujarat High Court against the survey.

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GUWAHATI, ASSAM
Blasted Reminder
The ULFA needed to do something spectacular in the wake of reports that the militant outfit had lost its former menace. So it chose to target Asia’s oldest oil refinery at Digboi, plus a vital gas pipeline, a police housing colony and a basti of Bihari labourers, all within 24 hours on March 8-9. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi told the assembly that his government won’t sit idle in the face of such provocative attacks. Even the bjp-led central government is outraged. Deputy prime minister L.K. Advani, making a statement in Parliament in the aftermath of the attacks, rejected outright any talks with the ULFA until it formally accepts the Indian Constitution.

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CALCUTTA, WB
At The Fag End
The Union government’s decision to introduce a bill to ban tobacco ads is a welcome step. But industry watchers feel it’ll only hit the cigarettes market, as the other segments don’t depend much on ads to sell their products. Interestingly, while the government is trying to curb tobacco use by banning tobacco ads, Doordarshan has obtained the live telecast rights for the 2003 fia Formula One World Championship. Even Star Sports and espn will telecast the event. Since the event prominently displays foreign brands, the industry complains it’ll shift attention from domestic to foreign brands—that is, if domestic cigarette advertising is banned.

BANGALORE, KARMATAKA
The Headmistress Calls
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This experiment has been initiated by AICC general secretary Vayalar Ravi to enforce accountability and help draw up a tentative list of candidates for next year’s assembly polls. Even S.M. Krishna has been asked to hand in these forms.

HYDERABAD, ANDHRA PRADESH
Age Of Cyber Devotion
Darshan at Tirupati—the busiest temple in the country—could soon become less time-consuming, thanks to an online booking system the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) will introduce by June. These online booking counters, being installed in ttd centres and nationalised banks in all the metros, will also record the devotees’ fingerprints so that touts can’t misuse this facility.

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About one lakh of people visit the temple every day and pilgrims sometimes have to wait for 12 hours, cooped up in wire cages, for a darshan. According to the ttd, an Indian corporate major is offering its services, free of cost, to Lord Balaji.

MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA
The Art Of Equivocal Portraiture
By PRIYANKA KAKODKAR

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The Congress is tying itself up in knots on the Savarkar portrait controversy with each passing day. After sleeping through the decision to instal the Hindutva ideologue’s portrait in Parliament, the party suddenly woke up to his credentials and protested vociferously. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi insisted that a man who had sought clemency from the British and was named as a co-conspirator in Gandhi’s assassination didn’t deserve space next to freedom fighters in the Central Hall.

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But when the portrait controversy travelled to Maharashtra—Savarkar’s native place where he also co-founded the rss—the party developed cold feet. Far from opposing the Shiv Sena’s recent demand for a similar portrait in the assembly, CM Sushilkumar Shinde lavished praise on the Hindutva icon. As the demand gathered momentum, he told a Marathi paper: "Social reform and the freedom struggle were one part of Savarkar’s life. The Gandhi assassination conspiracy was another issue." Shinde had also reportedly referred to Savarkar as a "great patriot" at a ceremony in 1983.

The CM has, however, fought shy of taking a definite stand on the issue and has passed the buck to an advisory committee that "will take a decision". And so far the Congress high command hasn’t breathed a word.

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