Opinion Siachen Deal

Basing its allegations on recent reports suggesting that the next army chief,Bikram Singh,favoured a deal on Siachen,the Organiser claims that Singh is putting in place people who will go along with such a plan. It also alleges that the refusal to extend outgoing army chief V.K. Singh’s tenure by a year should be seen in this context.

The Organiser also tries to link rumours that General Bikram Singh’s daughter-in-law is a Pakistani with Siachen. “The PM… insisted that V.K. Singh should go. The government took an adamant stand on it… V.K. Singh is being replaced with Bikram Singh. A fine soldier he is [sic. But he has a Pakistani daughter-in-law. Hence,it is believed that he would be more amenable to a give-and-take deal with Pakistan. Only,it is India giving and Pakistan taking. Army chiefs till now have been unwilling to even discuss the possibility of troop withdrawal from Siachen. India’s foreign secretary,Ranjan Mathai,and Sonia (Gandhi)’s handpicked Pulok Chatterjee (principal secretary to the PM) are all eager on the plan,” it claims.

“If reports in the media are to be believed,the Indian side is already working out the details of the proposed deal,’’it says.

Persecuted Hindus

The latest issue of the Panchjanya claims that Hindus are being persecuted in Pakistan. According to an editorial,from 15 per cent in 1947,the number of Hindus in Pakistan has come down to a mere 2 per cent. The editorial argues that by raising the issue in Parliament recently,the BJP has compelled the country to ponder as to why the Congress has chosen to remain silent when Hindus are repeatedly being targeted in Pakistan.

“Hindus are not only being looted,murdered and accused of heresy,but their temples are being destroyed,” the Panchjanya alleges. The article also says that Hindu girls are compelled to undergo conversion by forcibly marrying them to Muslim youth. “Almost 90 per cent of Pakistan’s Hindu population resides in Sindh province,and statistics show that every month,25 Hindu girls are abducted,raped or forcibly undergo conversion,” it adds.

Next President

Signalling its endorsement for former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for that office once again,an article in the Panchjanya alleges that the UPA has an aversion to Kalam,who it says was an apolitical president. Claiming that the Congress is stuck with votebank calculations vis-a-vis presidential elections,the article maintains that only if the party rises above votebank politics will a unanimous choice for the president emerge. The article says that although this is difficult in today’s divisive politics,it is not impossible.

The article also claims that the NDA had,in 2007,extended a hand of cooperation to the UPA when it put up Bhairon Singh Shekhawat as candidate for the vice presidential post.

Compiled by Swaraj Thapa