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| Let leadership of all parties campaign against growing intolerance | | | Hitherto, India has cultivated an im age of being the most liberal country where many ideologies, religions and communities live peacefully. And gradually this liberal image is facing threat from those political parties that have been thriving on extremism and fundamentalism.Earlier,these very extremists staged protest demonstrations forcing the Mumbai Government to call of the concert of Pakistani Ghazal singer, Ghulam Ali.
Yes, Shiv sena activists are right if they had staged protest demonstrations against Pakistan Government,the Army and the ISI for fomenting conflict on the LOC and on the IB in Jammu and Kashmir by resorting to repeated ceasefire violations.These activists can be right if they oppose any bilateral talks between India and Pakistan.But forcing the authorities to call off the concert of noted Ghazal singer,Ghulam Ali,lacks sense the way some of the activists smeared ink on the face of Sudheendra Kulkarni when he had refused to cancel a function being held in connection with the launch of a book written by former Pakistan Foreign Minister, K.M. Kasuri. And if the Congress and other opposition parties have condemned the incident it was expected but the critical remarks over the incident from the BJP patriarch, L.K. Advani, has attracted appreciation from various political quarters.
Shiv Sena activists on Monday smeared black paint on Observer and Research Foundation (ORF) chairman Sudheendra Kulkarni's face for refusing to cancel former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's book launch here. "When I got out of my home this morning, a group of Shiv Sainiks stopped my car. When I came out, they smeared me with black paint. They abused me," Kulkarni alleged and said that his ORF, a foreign policy think tank, will go ahead with the planned book launch by Kasuri later today despite the attack. Expectedly the attack drew sharp condemnation from parties, with the Congress saying that "the idea of India as the most liberal democratic country, despite all our neighbours having gone the other way, is being destroyed in the root". However, senior Shiv Sena Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has defended ink smearing incident when he said, "Smearing ink is a very mild form of democratic protest. They are so upset about ink. Imagine when our soldiers are killed and their blood is spilled. It is not ink; it is the blood of our soldiers. Nobody can foretell how public anger will explode. People in the country are angry over the violence and bloodshed by Pakistan. We do not have anything personal against Kasuri or anyone else.
That the BJP,which shares power with Shiv Sena,in Maharashtra is not happy either over the cancellation of Ghulam Ali's concert or over smearing ink on Kulkarni.As far as cancellation of the concert of Pakistani Ghazal singer, Ghulam Ali,is concerned the Maharasthra chief Minister,Devendra Fadnavis, had supported the concert and had assured the orgnisers of Government's support to it. This indicates that the BJP has not been in favour of the Shiv Senaiks protest forcing the organizers to cancel the concert.
In the same way the BJP patriarch, L.K.Advani, has been critical of the incident of ink smearing on Kulkarani's face. Condemning the paint smearing attack on his one-time aide Sudheendra Kulkarni by Shiv Sena activists, BJP patriarch L.K. Advani has voiced concern over "growing intolerance" in the country towards any counter viewpoint."I strongly condemn whosoever has done it.... In the last few days, there are these signs...where any person or any point of view is not acceptable, then you resort to violence or turn intolerant towards them.
"This is a matter of concern for the nation. Democracy must ensure tolerance for a different point of view," Advani said This way those criticizing the BJP for watching these incidents including Bisada lynching, cancellation of Ghulam Ali's concert and smearing of ink on Kulkarani's face, are wrong.The BJP would support those forces that promote communal amity and bilateral relations.It is time for India and Pakistan to develop sincere bods of friendship which alone could ensure peace in the south Asian region.
Hence the top leaders of all political parties,including the Congress,the BJP and the Shiv Sena, should initiate measures for preventing some unruly elements in their orgnisation from kicking up communal and regional tension and conflict. |
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