Opinion 1993 Blasts

A special report in the Organiser describes the verdict as “some justice” after 20 years and adds that “Sanjay Dutt gets his just desserts”. The report alleges that the ruling Congress in the past had tried to influence the investigation to shield Dutt,given his family’s connections to the party.

DMK DRAMA

DMK’s pulling out of the UPA also attracts the attention of both weeklies. The Organiser cover story asserts that the CBI is the Congress’s “only steadfast ally” after the “UPA [slipped into paralysis” with the DMK pull-out. It dismisses the CBI’s and government’s public posturing to allay apprehensions about a political hand behind the raid on M.K. Stalin. The report claims that the raids were ordered “after getting a green signal from the top”. The Panchjanya has carried an editorial highlighting that the “raids followed the pull-out” by the DMK. It also mentions the cases of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati to claim that the government has been using the CBI to muster numerical strength in Parliament.

LEADERSHIP DROUGHT

Highlighting the issue of drought in parts of Maharashtra,the Organiser editorial blames the “callous attitude and bad policies” of Maharashtra’s political leadership. The editorial cites what “Modi (has) achieved in Saurashtra” to make its point.

The editorial contends that “mushrooming water fun and theme parks”,“golf course”,“diversion of water to industries”,particularly the sugar industry,and the “lack of irrigation” despite spending “huge sums of money on small and local irrigation projects” — which have gone into “the pockets of various sections of society” — are major reasons for the drought. In contrast,“ proper policies,planning,implementation and the involvement of the farmers and workers at the grassroot level” by the Narendra Modi administration in neighbouring Gujarat have ensured that “the perennially dry stretches of Saurashtra and Kutch today are green belts”.

RSS MEET

The Organiser carried a report on the recent three-day RSS conclave in Jaipur. While publishing the speech of Bhaiyaji Joshi,the article has published the resolution passed at the meet,demanding that the government “address the concern of persecuted Hindus of Bangladesh and Pakistan”. The resolution demands UNHCR and UNHRC to “play a role” in ensuring the safety of Hindus in these countries.

However,Joshi’s published statement doesn’t refer to the Tamil parties’ demand for UNHRC condemnation of Sri Lanka. It only demands the rehabilitation of Tamils and the protection of their “civil and political rights” in Sri Lanka,but it cautions the government against becoming a “pawn in the great geostrategic power game” in the Indian ocean.

Compiled by Ravish Tiwari