ROUND THE STATES

New Delhi, 1 October 2008

 Islamic Fundamentalism

DANGEROUS THRUST IN SOUTH INDIA 

By Insaf

A dangerous thrust to Islamic fundamentalism is on the cards in south India.  A rightwing Muslim organization, the Popular Front of India, (PFI), founded in 2006 and based in Kerala, is planning a pan-India outfit for plunging into the country’s electoral politics.  The PFI is an umbrella body of Kerala’s National Development Front (NDF), Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD) and Tamil Nadu’s Manitha Neethi Pasaria (MMP).  A final decision on the establishment of the Front as a political party will be taken at a national political conference slated for February in Kozhikode.  The PFI and its state-level organizations have so far been indulging in “negative politics”, ensuring the defeat of candidates belonging to right-wing Hindu organizations.  Now the PFI wants to play “positive politics” aimed at empowering the community.  Muslim voters of the south have so far generally voted for the CPM, Congress or Indian Union Muslim League.

What has made the PFI’s political plans dangerous is the record of the NDF in Kerala as a key constituent.  The NDF has been involved in political clashes with the CPM and RSS.  Two NDF men lost their lives in the recent violence.  Many NDF activists were allegedly involved in the recent political murders in Thalassery and Thrissur.  According to the Home Department, the NDF was involved in 101 cases of attempts to murder in the State in 2007.  As many as 40 cases had been registered against NDF at Iritty police station in Kannur district.  The NDF, a regrouping of mainly SIMI activists, was formed in 1993 to capitalize on the anger generated within the Muslim community over the demolition of Babri Masjid.  Interestingly, the PFI has already made its first move for testing the electoral waters.  It fielded an independent candidate from Mysore during the last Assembly election in Karnataka.  Its candidate bagged 10,000 even though the party finished fourth in the race.

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BJP Picks Its CM For Delhi

Dame Fortune has smiled on 77-year-old Vijay Kumar Malhotra – at long last.  The BJP High Command has named the veteran party leader, who is presently its Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, as its candidate for the Chief Ministership of Delhi.  The party had two names to start with: former Delhi Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj and party general secretary Arun Jaitely.  Everyone was agreed that either would do well. But both declined in view of their interest in national affairs. Vijay Malhotra’s sights are clear thanks to his long association with Delhi.  He was a member of the first Metropolitan Council in Delhi in 1967 and what is more, also served as the Chief Executive Councillor of Delhi between 1967 and 1972. Combatting terrorism is “top priority” for Malhotra.”  He believes it can be fought only by creating terror in the minds of potential terrorists.  Consequently, he will give top priority to completing all procedures to hang Afzal Guru, the man convicted for the December 2001 attack on Indian’s sovereign Parliament.

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Reign of Terror in Darjeeling

Central intervention has been strongly demanded in the Darjeeling hill areas to end what has been described as a “reign of terror” and to restore the people’s confidence in democracy and the rule of law by the leaders and workers of the G.N.L.F, who supported Subash Ghisingh and the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).  The demand has, for instance, been made in letters to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, the UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi, and the Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, by Dava Pakhrin, President of the GNLF Kalimpong, and erstwhile Executive Councillor of the DGHC. The Jan Mukti Morcha led by Bimal Gurung has been accused of indulging in violent activities and having vandalized, damaged and burnt the houses of various GNLF leaders and workers.  What has made the incidents scandalous is the astonishing attitude of the local police, which remained a mute witness to loot, arson and destruction of the property of these leaders. Pakhrin’s house, for instance, was first forcibly occupied by the activists of the Morcha and then set on fire. Shockingly, the body of the late Dhan Maya Ghisingh, wife of Subash Ghisingh, was not allowed to be taken from Siliguri, where she died, to her home town in Darjeeling for performance of the last funeral rites and rituals.             

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SP-Cong Fight Over Seats In UP

Mistrust and unease appears to be brewing between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress over seat-sharing in Uttar Pradesh. In its preparations for the ensuing General elections the SP is clearly in a quandary over whether it can stitch an alliance with the Congress. The latter has handed over a list of 34 seats it wants to contest in the State. Worse, the Congress has not only sought seats which are being held by the SP, but is adamant and unwilling to part with its own. SP Chief Mulayam Singh has instructed his General Secretary Amar Singh to concede only 15 seats to the Congress, and at best another half a dozen, if necessary. Interestingly, it has also taken the opportunity to make certain demands, including allotment of land for a party office in Delhi, to the Congress. While the SP-Congress coordination committee is trying to sort out the problems, how far the alliance will work will be known only in the coming weeks.       

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Tragedy In Jodhpur Temple

The callousness of district administration and security agencies in regulating pilgrimage traffic has tragically come to the fore again. About 147 devotees were crushed to death and another 60 injured in a stampede at the Chamunda Devi temple in Jodhpur, Rajasthan on the first day of navratras, Tuesday last. While the administration claimed that the stampede followed a youth slipping in a narrow passage that led down to the temple, the security personnel say it was due to an unruly mob of 50 youth breaking the queue which triggered the mad rush. Whatever may be the reason cited, an important fact is that this year alone 360 people have died in similar stampedes in the country, including the one at Naina Devi temple in Shimla, which took a toll of 167 lives just last month. Clearly, it stands to reason that both the State and district administration must take special measures and issue guidelines to prevent such tragedies. Let it not leave everything to God.  

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Kerala Dist First To Ban Smoking

Kottayam, a small district in Kerala has taken the lead in implementing the ban on smoking in public places, well before the Union Health Ministry’s deadline of October 2. The district with a population of 30 lakhs has prohibited smoking in all its restaurants, hotels, Municipal Corporation and 75 of the villages. To ensure it means business, its health teams have reported 6,048 violations in just three days. This apart, the teams have visited 20,000 points of sale of smokeless tobacco products and banned the same. The fact that the people have taken the initiative and done it on their own, even before the country implements the ban will be truly encouraging, at least for Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss.  ---INFA

 (Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)