It is matter of great concern for minorities in india -sikh , christian , muslims
The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Opinions
EDITORIALS
BJP’s doublespeak
BJP chief Rajnath Singh has not done his party proud by attacking the government for arresting some suspects in the Malegaon blast case. Until the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Mumbai Police zeroed in on Sadhvi Pragya Singh, the party’s pet theme had been that the Congress-led government had been soft towards terrorists. In the meantime, the ATS has arrested a few suspects, including a serving Lieutenant-Colonel and the head of a Jammu Peeth. Initially, the BJP leadership took the right stand that terror did not have any religion and no leniency should be shown to the suspects. As investigations throw up evidence that some of them had links with other terrorist incidents like the one on the Samjhautha Express at Panipat, some BJP leaders like Mr Rajnath Singh have come up with the argument that the government was denigrating the Hindu community and the Army. This only betrays their warped thinking.
If anything, the Malegaon blast shows that bigots are not confined to any particular religion. To see some terrorists as “our terrorists” and others as “their terrorists”, as some political leaders do, is to give a new dimension to the whole debate on terror. Terrorists are first and foremost enemies of the people and they deserve no mercy. If proper investigations into the blasts at Ajmer and Hyderabad are carried out, they will expose the double standards employed by the investigating agencies and some political leaders. Nobody doubts the integrity of the Army just because a black sheep in uniform was caught masterminding a terrorist attack. Similarly, the arrest of a Sadhvi or a Swami does not mean Hinduism is under attack. To make such a claim is to draw political mileage out of it.
The BJP’s commitment to fight terror will remain compromised if its leaders like Mr Rajnath Singh indulge in doublespeak. Early this week, two RSS workers were blown to pieces while they were making bombs on the premises of a temple in Kannur district in Kerala. A day later, the police recovered 18 bombs from another worker’s house in the same area. Furtherance of cultural nationalism that the BJP chief is fond of talking does not require illegal bombs. Parties like the BJP and the Shiv Sena will do well to allow the ATS to investigate the Malegaon case, rather than put a spoke in its wheel.
The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Opinions
EDITORIALS
BJP’s doublespeak
BJP chief Rajnath Singh has not done his party proud by attacking the government for arresting some suspects in the Malegaon blast case. Until the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Mumbai Police zeroed in on Sadhvi Pragya Singh, the party’s pet theme had been that the Congress-led government had been soft towards terrorists. In the meantime, the ATS has arrested a few suspects, including a serving Lieutenant-Colonel and the head of a Jammu Peeth. Initially, the BJP leadership took the right stand that terror did not have any religion and no leniency should be shown to the suspects. As investigations throw up evidence that some of them had links with other terrorist incidents like the one on the Samjhautha Express at Panipat, some BJP leaders like Mr Rajnath Singh have come up with the argument that the government was denigrating the Hindu community and the Army. This only betrays their warped thinking.
If anything, the Malegaon blast shows that bigots are not confined to any particular religion. To see some terrorists as “our terrorists” and others as “their terrorists”, as some political leaders do, is to give a new dimension to the whole debate on terror. Terrorists are first and foremost enemies of the people and they deserve no mercy. If proper investigations into the blasts at Ajmer and Hyderabad are carried out, they will expose the double standards employed by the investigating agencies and some political leaders. Nobody doubts the integrity of the Army just because a black sheep in uniform was caught masterminding a terrorist attack. Similarly, the arrest of a Sadhvi or a Swami does not mean Hinduism is under attack. To make such a claim is to draw political mileage out of it.
The BJP’s commitment to fight terror will remain compromised if its leaders like Mr Rajnath Singh indulge in doublespeak. Early this week, two RSS workers were blown to pieces while they were making bombs on the premises of a temple in Kannur district in Kerala. A day later, the police recovered 18 bombs from another worker’s house in the same area. Furtherance of cultural nationalism that the BJP chief is fond of talking does not require illegal bombs. Parties like the BJP and the Shiv Sena will do well to allow the ATS to investigate the Malegaon case, rather than put a spoke in its wheel.
