'Unholy Altar Of Vote Bank And Appeasement Politics'

The BJP charges the Congress Party of seeking to cause damage to India’ssecular and social unity at the unholy altar of vote bank and appeasementpolitics. A party whose political progression over six decades has been litteredby numerous such short sighted misadventures that the future generations of thecountry have had to pay a heavy price for, should, at this critical juncture,desist from undertaking such steps that might cause further damage to India’ssocial fabric and harmony.

The Congress party, which has openly patronized and encouraged elements whichbred and spread terrorism, certainly has no moral right whatsoever to criticizethe BJP for an action that does not have any direct or indirect support from theparty or its affiliates. Right from the manner in which the Congress encouragedBhindranwale which led to the burning of Punjab; to overt and covert support toseparatist and terrorist organizations like the ULFA in Assam and other statesof the north east; to lifting the ban on SIMI after coming to power in 2004;then re-imposing the ban under the pressure and protests by security forces andother nationalist elements; by deliberately not producing relevant documentsbefore the tribunal considering the ban on SIMI; conspicuous silence by thePrime Minister and Sonia Gandhi when so called stalwarts of the UPA cabinet arecontinuing to describe SIMI as a cultural organization; using governmentalauthority to promote the interests of Bangladeshi infiltrators to undo thedirective of the Supreme Court judgement wherein infiltration was described asamounting to aggression on the nation; and to top it all, clouding the sacrificeof a heroic police officer in the Jamia shootout case which is a clearmanifestation of the worst symptom of vote bank and appeasement politics; thehistory of the Congress party is but a progression of such activities that havehad a direct and detrimental impact on the country’s security and socialharmony.

Given this background, the BJP is amazed at the sheer hypocrisy of theCongress party over the manner in which it has sought to attack the BJP on theissue of arrests of the certain persons in Madhya Pradesh in context of Malegaonblasts particularly when the party’s position on the issue of terrorism isunambiguous i.e. that terrorists have no religion and must be punished. The BJPdemands a proper, fair and professional investigation against all those who arealleged to be involved. Let evidence be produced and law take its own course.

The Party does not approve of violence at all. The BJP also seriouslycondemns the reported comments like "Hindu Terrorism" and SaffronTerrorism". Those who mindlessly use such terms have never used termslike "Muslim Terrorists" when many Muslims were found involved in terrorismand killing of people in various parts of the country. Some of the elements wereonly called "jihadis". The BJP strongly deprecates Hindu bashing by socalled pseudo secularists and some segments of the media. This is again actuatedonly by vote bank and appeasement politics.

The nation needs to ponder a larger question. Should we condemn an entirereligion or way of life for the alleged indiscretions or misguided actions ofbut a few? Will our Hon’ble Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh like to lose somesleep over this new pernicious tendency as he lost some when an alleged innocentdoctor was arrested in Australia?

Before making any other charges against any party, the Congress party woulddo well to seriously introspect and answer to the nation about the recentconviction of Mohammed Surti for twenty years, who was a Congress Minister inthe year 1991-1993 in the then Gujarat government, on the serious charge oftransporting AK 47s, hand grenades in his official vehicle in the year 1992-93as also involvement in the bomb blasts. Need we remind the Congress party aboutthe conviction of another congress office bearer, Sushil Sharma, the thenPresident of the Delhi Youth Congress in the infamous tandoor murder case or thedirect involvement of Bhola Pandey in hijacking an aeroplane? Did anyone everinfer that such elements represented the entire Congress Party? The nationrequires a much more seasoned and nationalistic approach to such criticalissues.

Sensitive Issue of Maharashtra

The BJP strongly condemns the merciless and brutal killing of yet anothernorth Indian near Thane in Maharashtra when he was seeking to board a train forhis hometown. Given the lack of any effective action against elements like theMNS and its leader Raj Thackrey, it is becoming increasingly clear that theruling Congress-NCP dispensation in the state is definitely -- overtly orcovertly -- encouraging or supporting such elements for extraneous politicalconsiderations. The BJP strongly believes that India is one country and anyoneand everyone has a complete right to go and settle in any part of the country,this being a Fundamental Right enshrined in the Constitution.

When Constitutional norms are being blatantly flouted repeatedly for the lastso many months, why has the government of India not yet issued any directive tothe Maharashtra Government under Article 355? Even the much vocal Mr Lalu PrasadYadav and Ram Vilas Paswan whose demand for issuing a Directive to Karnataka andOrissa government under Article 355 came up almost immediately after theunfortunate incidents in those states, are now conspicuously silent. The rankdouble standards of this UPA government is clearly evident.

The BJP demands proper protection for every Indian in any part of the countryfrom such parochial elements who do not understand the identity of India. TheBJP also demands a proper and fair investigation into these incidents andCentral Government issuing a directive to the Maharashtra Government underArticle 355.

Based on the media briefing by the BJP national spokesperson on October 29