Congress lexicon secularism is a stratagem, a simple tool, meant to hoodwink minorities into voting for it by raising the bogey of communal ism of its main rivals.Antony for seeking a re-definition of the Congress variety of secularism. Since the mere evoking of the fear of the BJP has thus far kept the minorities in the Congress camp, the party leadership is loath to review its version of secularism. Restoring to secularism its true meaning would oblige the party to work hard for the socio-economic welfare of the minorities, which it reckons is unnecessary when it can net the minority vote by merely playing on their fears and anxieties. This time it is A K Antony, who is neither known for his leadership nor for his ministerial competence, owing his position of pre-eminence only to his proximity to the Gandhis. He stirred the proverbial hornet’s nest by publicly admitting that the Congress’s widely perceived pro-minorities tilt might be the reason for the alienation of the majority community from the party. Though his remarks were made in the context of his home state, where the Muslims and Christians number 26 percent and 20 percent respectively, these could well be true of the country as a whole.Antony for speaking up, reiterating his stand that ‘secularism should mean justice for all, appeasement of none, discrimination against none…’Congress chief minister in Maharashtra was unveiling his neat little scheme for ensnaring the Muslim voters by dangling the carrot of reservations in view of the coming assembly polls in the state.Even though the promise of five percent reservations in government jobs and educational institutions might remain unfulfilled, since it is certain to be voided by the higher courts, the secularist warriors of the Congress suffer from such poverty of ideas that they can think of nothing else to woo the Muslim voters. If there was a genuine re-think of the way the Congress practiced its secularism it would not have dangled the carrot of reservations before the Muslims in Maharashtra.Congress party clearly has no intention to move away from its self-serving tokenism towards the minority communities.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 14:40:35 +0000
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