Conversions, all

The recent abduction and subsequent release of South Koreans in Afghanistan has strategic implications for India, writes Sandhya Jain. South Koreans were actually evangelists trying to convert Muslims, she says, which is why the Americans pushed for their release. She claims that the West (dominated by the US) is committed to converting the world to Christianity and that Indians are ignorant of this fact.

Media myths

Two pages have been devoted to counter the ‘media myths’ on the Srikrishna Commission in the Organiser. “At the outset it must be said the eminent judge has done a great job in digging into facts far and wide to put the chronology of events into perspective. However, the judge’s personal opinions make their way into the report. On a subject as sensitive as this, one would have expected the report to withhold personal opinion while drawing conclusions,” it says.

It adds that the media clamour was of two kinds — the first was for equity; Hindus had been allowed to go scot free while Muslims have been sentenced for the Mumbai blasts. The second was because no action has been taken against certain individuals against whom a case was made out by the Commission. It goes on to argue that the Commission report in no way implicates the BJP-Shiv Sena or its leaders. “Manohar Joshi’s name appears only twice. The first time in reference to the 13-day Vajpayee government asking him to revive the Commission. The second time in ascribing blame for the January 1993 phase. Here too, there is no specific incident or riot that is called out but only a ‘doctrine of retaliation’ is mentioned.” The report continues, “there is no reference to Gopinath Munde in the conclusions, in fact, no BJP leader is mentioned by name in the report for any of the violence.”

Hindutva for all

Writes P.C. Dogra on Hindu identity: “We have to ensure that all segments of Hindu society come under one umbrella,” which he admits is “easier said than done.” He believes that “Hindus will have to vote strategically as do Muslims, to see that only that particular candidate who has a strong Hindutva ethos wins.” He believes the RSS should become a catalytic agent for the transformation of Hindu society from a decaying and divided samaj into a vibrant progressive and egalitarian social set-up firmly rooted in the Vedanta.

Compiled by Varghese K. George