Is the aged Congress bidding goodbye to the Minorities?

Vartha Bharati | 04-04-2019 | 14:49:00 IST

"We don't give tickets to Muslims" said K.S. Eeshwarappa, a veteran BJP leader of Karnataka recently. That blunt statement was discussed in a few circles but did not surprise anybody as people were accustomed to more uncharitable remarks from this leader and others in his Party. Muslims of Karnataka were however shocked when their own favorite Congress party conveyed them the same message without using so many words.

The party has asked the Community in Karnataka to be content with a mere single seat, while the Community wasexpecting at least 4 of its members to be fielded as Congress candidates in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2019. As the contributions of the Community and its long standing loyalty to the Congress party is well acknowledged, it was natural for the Muslim Community to look forward to some reciprocation and rewards from the Party. Its demand forfielding its members as Congress Candidates in at least 4 Lok Sabha constituencies was justified considering both the demography and the history of those constituencies. With some persuasion, the Community would have accepted 3 seats. But no serious negotiation was held in this regard with the leaders of the Community. In fact the Community lostits innocent hope of getting 4 seats, only when the Party announced the names of the candidates for the first phase of polling in the state and only one Muslim candidate found a place in that list. It was really a frustrating experience for the Community. Now inevitably, they were preparing themselves to be content with mere 2 seats. They had no doubt that a Muslim candidate will be fielded from Dharwad. But alas, the party refused to show even a minimum level of sensitivity towards the Community and totally disappointed them by depriving them of the Dharwad seat too. The message was quite loud and clear. The Congress party indirectly told them almost the same thing that Eeshwarappa had stated directly - of course, with the narrow margin of mere one seat.

Then came the most awaited Election Manifesto 2019, with the most unforeseen pack of shocks. The new Manifesto in fact delivered the final blow to all the bond that the Community had with the age old Party. Leaders of the Community who in the past used to complain that their trusted Party has consistently failed to deliver on its promises were now shocked to see the Party refusing even to make the basic promises. Leaders of the various sects and organisations of the Community had met the Central leaders of the Party long before this Manifesto was launched and had complained to them that the Party Manifesto of 2014 was incomplete and had failed to state any significant commitment towards the Community. They had insisted that the new Manifesto must expressly promise that recommendations of the Justice Sachar Committe, Justice Ranganath Mishra Committee, Prof. Amitabh Kundu Committee, Partly the recommendations of the Sudhir Commission of Telangana will be duly implemented and must outlay the time plan for the implementation of these recommendations. Those who had ignored the fact that the Party had inducted only one member from the Muslim Community in the 19 member Manifesto Committee, are now left with no doubt at all that the Congress Party is swiftly moving towards the suicidal policy of Zero representation to Muslim Community. It is obvious now that instead of fighting the Communalism of BJP the Congress Party has resorted to outwit BJP by being more Communal.

The Congress Party has always been notorious for taking Muslim votes absolutely for granted and also for practically being the B Team of BJP in terms of its attitude towards the Minorities. To the utter disappointment of those who hoped for any positive change in the attitude of the Party under the new leadership, things have changed only for the worse. If the latest Manifesto is any indication, the Party has for the first time, decided to stop even pretending to have any compassion towards the Religious Minorities in the Country. In a radical departure from its own tradition, the manifesto does not offer any independent slot to discuss the issues related to the Religious Minorities. Rather, it has clubbed them with the Linguistic Minorities and thereby manifested the latest unwritten policy of the party that is close to refuse recognition even to the existence of the Religious Minorities as a distinct entity.

Those who are under an illusion that the Congress Party might some day grow up to serve as a formidable Secular force in the country will have to embark on a search operation through the recently released electoral Manifesto of the Party even to be able to see any mention of the Religious Minorities. In fact there is no separate section for the religious minorities in the Manifesto while there are such section for almost all other important segments of the society. The promises and the commitments of the party for almost all important segments of the society have been laid out in the document in the form of 53 banners under 9 chapters. Religious minorities find a place only in a remote corner of the Manifesto, clubbed with the Linguistic Minorities (under the 39th banner, titled 'Religious And Linguistic Minorities' in Page 22). There are in total, 11 points under this banner and at least 6 of them are exclusively about the Linguistic Minorities, leaving the Religious Minorities with only 5 points in the new Manifesto. Except for a commitment to provide security against hate crimes nothing significant is found in this section.

Thus the Party from its side has completed the process of saying a loud Goodbye to the religious Minorities.

Of course there is a possibility, a tricky one, that can not be ruled out. Is the Congress Party so adversely influenced by the 'appeasement' propaganda that it wants to go out of the way to disprove the charge by teaching lessons to the Minorities? Or is the Party doing all this to provoke the Minorities to protest against the congress and show that as evidence to prove that Congress is on the course of agonizing the minorities rather than appeasing them. In any case a loud and effective protest against this hypocrisy of the Congress Party is urgently called for.

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Manuscripts of Bhagavad Gita, Natyashastra inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of World Register

18-04-2025 ¦ 18-04-2025 IST

Image Credit: X@gssjodhpur

New Delhi (PTI): Manuscripts of Bhagavad Gita and Bharat Muni's Natyashastra are among 74 new documentary heritage collections that have been added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.

Entries on scientific revolution, women's contribution to history and major milestones of multilateralism from 72 countries and four international organisations are included in the register, according to UNESCO.

The register consists of books, manuscripts, maps, photographs, sound or video recordings as a documentary heritage of humanity.

The development comes on World Heritage Day on April 18.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X, on Friday described the inscriptions as "a proud moment for every Indian across the world".

"The inclusion of the Gita and Natyashastra in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register is a global recognition of our timeless wisdom and rich culture. The Gita and Natyashastra have nurtured civilisation, and consciousness for centuries. Their insights continue to inspire the world," he said.

Preserved at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute and codified around the 2nd century BC, the Natyashastra of Bharat Muni is "an epitome of the Natyaveda, an oral body of knowledge of performing art containing 36,000 verses known as the Gandharvaveda," the UNESCO said in its citation list about the new inscriptions.

Bharat Muni makes a "groundbreaking statement in Natyashastra, asserting that 'no meaning can blossom forth without rasa', a profound contribution to world literature," it said.

The Natyashastra embodies a comprehensive set of rules that define natya (drama), abhinaya (performance), rasa (aesthetic experience), bhava (emotion), sangita (music), among others, thus articulating the character of Indian theatre, poetics, aesthetics, dance and music.

The "Manuscript collection of Bhagavadgita: ancient samgraha-grantha of Indian thought with worldwide readership and influence" also now finds a place in the coveted UNESCO register.

"The Bhagavadgita, containing 700 verses in 18 chapters, is embedded within the Bhismaparva of the epic Mahabharata. It takes the form of a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna with armies lined up for the great war intended to free Arjuna of dejection (visada)," the citation read.

Bhagavad Gita is a central text in the continuous, cumulative ancient intellectual Indian tradition, synthesising various thought movements such as Vedic, Buddhist, Jain and Carvaka, it said.

"Due to its philosophical breadth and depth, the Bhagavadgita has been read for centuries across the globe and translated into many languages," the citation added.

Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat also took to X on Friday saying this was a "historic moment for Bharat's civilisational heritage".

This global honour celebrates India's "eternal wisdom and artistic genius, the minister said.

"These timeless works are more than literary treasures -- they are philosophical and aesthetic foundations that have shaped Bharat's worldview and the way we think, feel, live, and express. With this, we now have 14 inscriptions from our country on this international register," he posted and shared some images of the two texts.

On Thursday, UNESCO added 74 new documentary heritage collections to its Memory of the World Register, bringing the total number of inscribed collections to 570, the world body said.

Collections are added to the register by a decision of UNESCO's executive board, following the evaluation of nominations by an independent international advisory committee.

Among the newly inscribed collections, fourteen pertain to scientific documentary heritage.

Ithaf Al-Mahbub, submitted by Egypt, documents the Arab world's contributions to astronomy, planetary movement, celestial bodies, and astrological analysis during the first millennium of our era, UNESCO said.

The archives of Charles Darwin (United Kingdom), Friedrich Nietzsche (Germany), Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen (Germany) -- which contain the very first recorded X-ray photographs -- and Carlos Chagas (Brazil), a pioneer in disease research, have also been included.

Several collections document key moments in international cooperation, including the Geneva Conventions (1864-1949) and their protocols (1977-2005) (Switzerland), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations), and the 1991 Windhoek Declaration (Namibia), a global reference for press freedom, the UNESCO said in the statement.

"Documentary heritage is an essential yet fragile element of the memory of the world. This is why UNESCO invests in safeguarding -- such as the libraries of Chinguetti in Mauritania or the archives of Amadou Hampate Ba in Cote d'Ivoire -- shares best practices and maintains this register that records the broadest threads of human history," UNESCO's Director-General Audrey Azoulay said.

The Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO also acknowledged the inscriptions of ancient Indian texts on the Register and thanked UNESCO.