Organiser’s contempt for Sonia Gandhi this week matches its admiration for outgoing president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. M.D. Nalapat asks “why is Sonia against Kalam,” and offers answers in the form of more questions. He suspects the UPA government has formulated a “Maino Doctrine” in foreign policy, aimed to emasculate India’s military march. Missile man Kalam is opposed to this doctrine. “Manmohan Singh has reportedly agreed to the US demand that India cap the Agni-III programme to a 5000-kilometre range. This would mean the end of this country’s hopes of becoming a competitor to Europe in the satellite launch market,” he writes and asks “is his defence of Indian interests the reason why the UPA has been prevented from backing a second term in office for President Kalam?”

The writer suspects another reason why Kalam was avoided is his “simplicity” and honesty which are not liked by the UPA and chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The author discovers that “if there is a greater admirer of the daughter of Stefano Maino than Lalu Prasad Yadav, it is Muthuvel Karunanidhi, whose face reveals the extremes of joy that he experiences in the clearly delightful company of the UPA chief.” He thinks Kalam is the odd person in the gathering of politicians.

On being Hindu

An editorial laments than being a Hindu is such a disqualification in India that the Congress rejected two of its presidential aspirants for their Hindu credentials and forced the presidential candidate Pratibha Patil to retract her statement on the veil. “Political parties in India are particularly allergic to the Hindu tag. It is fine to be Muslim, Christian, Bengali, Maharashtrian or woman,” the editorial surmises. Karan Singh was rejected by the Left because “he is a practicing Hindu,” and Shivraj Patil was rejected because “he was soft towards the BJP.” The magazine juxtaposes this with the attempt by all political parties — except the BJP, which is the only party “not ashamed of being Hindu” — to assuage Muslim sentiments following Pratibha Patil’s veil statement. “Why is it that the Indian politician is so single mindedly anti-Hindu? Why is it that Hindu sentiments are routinely trampled upon in the public space though Hindus constitute more than 85 per cent of the population in the country? It is often the Hindu politicians who systematically undermine Hindu interests in the name of secular politics.”

... contd.