BJP TODAY

September 16--30, 2004 - Vol. 13, No. 18

Let Manmohan Singh demonstrate he is in charge
Venkaiah Naidu's statement at Chennai on Sept. 5

At the outset, on the occasion of Teachers' Day, I convey my greetings to all the teachers in our country. They are the real sculptors of every new generation.

Dr. Manmohan Singh, in his first press conference after completing 100 days in office, has claimed that he is "in charge". The BJP would like him to demonstrate that he can discharge his responsibilities as Prime Minister without interference. So far, there is evidence contrary to this.

One would have thought that he would use the occasion of his first press conference to tell the nation the initiatives and achievements of his government so far. We heard nothing from him on this count. Inflation has crossed 8 percent - that is, more than 100% increase in 100 days. The common man is being robbed every day at the market place in the form of steep rise in the prices of all the essential commodities. The government has failed to live up to an important promise contained in the CMP - namely, that it would introduce a legislation in the very first session of Parliament on "100 days of guaranteed employment for at least one person in every poor and lower-middle class household in rural and urban areas." Manipur is on the boil, but it has taken the Union Home Minister fully two months to pay his first visit to that state.

The CMP had promised a clean government with high standards of accountability. However, Dr. Manmohan Singh's government has failed this test by its continued refusal to drop tainted ministers. On the one hand, the Congress government in Karnataka, in collusion with the Congress-led government at the Centre, has got Sushri Uma Bharati in a false and politically motivated case, in which her only "crime" is that she defended the citizens' right to unfurl the national flag at a public place on August 15. Although she had secured a popular mandate last year to become the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, she voluntarily stepped down from her office and went to Hubli to surrender herself before the judiciary. In contrast, Dr. Manmohan Singh has retained nearly half a dozen ministers in his government who are facing charges in heinous crimes.

If Dr. Manmohan Singh wants the country to believe that he is in charge, let him prove it by giving the quit order to the tainted ministers.

Dr. Manmohan Singh's other claim is that there are no two power centers. In the same breath, however, he has also admitted that, as chairperson of the UPA, Smt. Sonia Gandhi has a right to guide his government. As a matter of fact, nothing in the first 100 days of the government supports this claim. Indeed, his claim begs many questions.

Never in the history of independent India has there been an institution like the National Advisory Council, and a position like the Chairperson of the NAC with a cabinet rank. And white even the Prime Minister is accountable to NAC but the NAC is not accountable to Parliament.

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PM claims that what Aiyar said about Savarkar are his "personal views", and not the governmnt's. Would he say that what Smt. Sonia Gandhi said about Savarkar are also her "personal views", and not the Congress party's?

Though belated, the BJP welcomes Dr. Manmohan Singh's statement that he considers Veer Savarkar to be a "patriot and a freedom fighter". However, the Prime Minister remained silent on two obvious questions that follow from his statement.

1) What is the UPA government's hesitation now to restore the Savarkar plaque at the Cellular Jail?

2) If Dr. Manmohan Singh says that whatever Shri Aiyar has said or did was in his "personal capacity" and that he does not agree with him, is he ready to declare that he does not agree with Smt. Sonia Gandhi, too, in this matter? After all, insult to Savarkar began with the Congress president. Smt. Sonia Gandhi wrote to President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on February 24, 2003 opposing his decision to attend the unveiling of Veer Savarkar in the Central Hall of Parliament and urging him to "reconsider" it. Earlier she wrote a similar letter to the then Lok Sabha Speaker Shri Manohar Joshi against the unveiling of Savarkar's portrait. Why did Smt. Sonia Gandhi say in her letter that the Central Hall function, if graced by the President, would "give credibility" to the activities and "divisive policies" of Savarkar, and that "it will be a great tragedy if the Central Hall is utilised for installing the portrait of Savarkar"?

3) How is Smt. Sonia's stand on Savarkar different from Aiyar's?

4) Hasn't Shri Aiyar merely followed the example set by his party president?

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BJP strongly condemns the barbarism of jehadi terrorists in Russia

The killing of nearly 350 innocent persons, many of them children, in a terrorist act in a school building in Beslan in southern Russia is yet another grim reminder that the barbarism of jehadi terrorists knows no bounds. It has come to light that many terrorists who took part in hostage-taking in Beslan were Arab jehadis, who have gone to Chechnya to support the cause of separatism there. It is a phenomenon similar to the one we have witnessed in Jammu & Kashmir, where many infiltrators from across the border are mercenaries from other countries inspired by the ideology of jehad.

The BJP strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Russia. We also condemn the recent killing of 11 Nepali hostages by terrorists in Iraq. We reiterate our oft-repeated stand that the international community must unite in this fight against the enemies of human civilization.