Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai and Dehradun-based Sahafat has described (April 18) Arjun Singh’s chant about Rahul as ‘Raag Darbari’. It recollects how Singh could not stomach P.V. Narasimha Rao’s elevation to the PM’s job and launched a new party, Congress (Tiwari), along with some others, while maintaining his loyalty to Sonia Gandhi even then.

Delhi-based Jadeed Khabar (April 17) recalls former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi’s earlier signature campaign for Rahul as PM. The Congress High Command had expressed its anger at that campaign. This time the disapproval of the campaign is not that intense, the paper has noted.

Delhi’s daily Milaap (April 20) writes, “if new names are brought up to prove that Manmohan Singh is not worthy of the post, it would be shameful for the Congress party. The whole country knows that no decision of the government is possible without Sonia Gandhi’s approval. Then how can Manmohan Singh be deemed to be separate from the Gandhis?”

Rahul’s sibling Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra’s meeting with Nalini, in Vellore jail after being convicted for Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, too has been the subject of comment. Akhbar-e-Mashriq has described it (April 19) as an example of “decent behaviour” of a mother and daughter that is worth emulation. Nalini’s death sentence was converted into life imprisonment at Sonia Gandhi’s instance, and the latter has been keeping herself informed about Nalini’s welfare all these days, the paper notes.

Maoist win

Rashtriya Sahara, in its editorial entitled, ‘Maoists’ victory’ (April 15) writes that the people of Nepal have rejected outright all political forces linked with the king and have demonstrated that they are not prepared to maintain ‘Raj Shahi’ even in a symbolic manner. Their attitude to the Koirala family has been the same. Delhi-based Hindustan Express in its editorial on April 15 writes that the success of the Maoists in the election for the Constituent Assembly in Nepal gives the message that the people are willing to support them in their new peaceful political role as they had done in their armed campaign earlier. “The Maoists (there) had taken to arms to provide the people with the right to equality. Indian Maoists too make a similar claim. Can the Indian Maoists too not follow the path shown by their Nepalese counterparts and join the mainstream of politics?” the paper asks.

Jamaat-e-Islami’s organ, biweekly Daawat, in a front-page piece notes Maoist leader Prachanda’s clarification that equidistance would be maintained with India and China. But there is little chance that they would not tilt towards China or China would not make efforts in this direction, it says. The paper also says there was little hope of Maoists giving up the path of violence and has warned India about the need for greater caution.

Akhbaar-e-Mashriq has described the Maoist victory as a red dawn (surkh sawera). “The road to solid and active democracy would be long, after 240 years of king’s rule and all sections would have to be taken along”, the paper says.

OBC judgment

The Supreme Court’s judgment about reservations for Other Backward Classes in admission to Central educational institutions has invited comment. Hyderabad-based Rahnuma-e-Deccan in its editorial (April 13) has described it as expected but belated (Mutawaqqa faisla lekin badbakhtana taakhir ke saath). It has emphasised that Muslim backward classes too can gain from the judgment if, following the Andhra example, they are classified as Backward Classes and provided reservation. But this would depend on what the court decides in this respect, the paper says.

P.S.: Mussalman ke liye thodi si sharaab jaayez (a little alcohol is permitted for Muslims). This is the fatwa of a “world renowned scholar of Islam” of Egypt, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qarzawi, as reported by Sahafat (April 13) in a front-page report from Qatar. According to the scholar, use of 0.5 per cent quantity of alcohol (sharaab) is not against the tenets of Islam. His fatwa has given rise to a controversy as many Muslims consider alcohol haram in any quantity. According to the report, Al-Qarzawi had tried to visit Britain recently but he was denied entry.