National Herald’s Qaumi Awaz on January 10 writes that “whenever she has faced a crisis, Mayawati has taken shelter with the Congress. But whenever she battles the

Congress electorally, she gives be-dhanga and bhonda (unbecoming and ugly) statements which nobody who believes in democracy would ever take seriously.”

Delhi’s Jadeed Khabar of January 12 writes, “Mayawati controls the entire administrative set up of UP, and if she herself publicly declares the threat to her life, it can be imagined how unsafe the common people in the state must be feeling.”

However, Delhi’s Sahafat on January 10 says, “she should be provided with all the necessary safety in view of the situation in the sub-continent. Even the SPG act must be amended if it is necessary to do so.”

It’s not cricket

Hyderabad-based Rahnuma e Deccan on January 9 while tracing the history of aggression on the cricket field blames England and Australia for beginning this trend. It has also condemned the Australian cricket team’s recent behaviour. But it has said that “India should not leave the series and return. They should win the last two tests and level the series.” The paper says there should be pressure on the ICC to ‘annul’ the Sydney test.

Rashtriya Sahara of January 9 has termed the “actions taken by the ICC after the failure of umpires was pointed out” as ‘cricket ki fatah’ (victory of cricket). The paper has pleaded for thinking “beyond the removal of umpire Bucknor and the deferral of Bhajji’s punishment” and says the matter should be seen in a “wider perspective because if the ICC shows any sign of partisanship and takes a weak decision, it will raise many problems for the organisation itself, other than harming Indo-Australian cricket relations, because after all, nobody can deny the importance of India in the realm of cricket.”

Sahafat on January 12, though says, “it would be wrong to blame the umpires for helping Australia defeat India”. The paper also says that the “The Bhajji affair should not be linked with the issue of bad umpiring. And as Symonds has raised the matter of racial abuse, it’s a very serious issue, deserving a serious probe.”

Taslima’s troubles

The Taslima Nasreen issue is again under discussion in the context of the Information and Broadcasting Minister’s statement of January 6 that Taslima should apologise to Muslims with “folded hands” for “hurting the sentiments of the community”. This has been highlighted by Rashtriya Sahara and Qaumi Khabrein (Lucknow -based daily) on January 7. Interestingly, Dasmunshi’s statement of January 6 followed a late night conclave of Muslim religious leaders in Delhi (reported by Delhi-based Hindustan Express on January 8) where they decided to launch a joint campaign to “corner and isolate” the writer, and put pressure on the government to “throw her out” as “Taslima is dangerous for all”.

It is believed that the Muslim leaders lamented that nothing has been done regarding the offer of removal of “objectionable portions” from Dwikhandita.

Jadeed Khabar in an editorial on January 11 writes that, “Taslima Nasreen has attacked not only the Koran, the Prophet and Islam, but also targetted the Hindu religion and scriptures. It writes that in her book entitled Aurat Ke Haq Mein (currently in its 17th edition in Hindi) she writes “greater injustice was done by Ramchandraji to Sita than by Ravana”. The paper writes that it is Taslima’s view that “the message of Ramayana and the Mahabharata is that the woman has no right to remain free.”

Compiled by Anees Chishti, senior journalist and editor of ‘Alpjan Quarterly’