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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Bomb disposal squad makes ‘suspect package’ safe at UK’s Gatwick Airport

23-11-2024 ¦ 23-11-2024 IST

London, Nov 22: A bomb disposal squad deployed as a “precaution” to the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport concluded an investigation into a "security incident" on Friday after making a “suspect package” safe.

The South Terminal of Gatwick Airport, the UK's second busiest airport after Heathrow, which was briefly shut owing to the incident reopened following the incident.

The Gatwick is around 45 km south of London.

Two people detained during the enquiries have since been allowed to continue their journey as the airport was opened.

“Police have concluded their investigation into a report of a suspect package at Gatwick Airport. Officers from the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team made the package safe, and the airport has been handed back to its operator,” Sussex Police said in an updated statement.

“Two people detained while enquiries were ongoing have subsequently been allowed to continue their journeys. There will remain an increased police presence in the area to assist with passengers accessing the South Terminal for onward travel,” the statement added.

Earlier on Friday, the incident caused severe disruption at the busy airport’s South Terminal, while the North Terminal of Gatwick Airport remained unaffected.

“Police were called to the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 8.20 am on Friday (November 22) following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage,” a Sussex Police statement said.

“To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with. As a precaution, an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team is being deployed to the airport. This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the South Terminal have been closed. We’d advise the public to avoid the area where possible,” it said.

Footage on social media taken outside the airport showed crowds of frustrated travellers being moved away from the terminal building.

Gatwick said it was working hard to resolve the issue.

“A large part of the South Terminal has been evacuated as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident," the airport said in a social media post.

“Passengers will not be able to enter the South Terminal while this is ongoing. The safety and security of our passengers and staff remain our top priority. We are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

Train and bus services that serve the airport were also impacted while the police carried out their inquiries.

In an unrelated incident in south London on Friday morning, the US Embassy area in Nine Elms by the River Thames was the scene of a controlled explosion by Scotland Yard dealing with what they believe may have been a “hoax device”.

“We can confirm the 'loud bang' reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by officers,” the Metropolitan Police said in a post on X.

“Initial indications are that the item was a hoax device. An investigation will now follow. Some cordons will remain in place for the time being but the majority of the police response will now be stood down,” it added.