01-04-2005, 04:37 PM
CPM finds parallel between tsunami and BJP
New Delhi, Jan. 3: Linking natural disasters to perceived sin appears no longer the preserve of the religious right. Even, CPM, sworn ememies of religious bigots and bigotry, has said in an editorial in its latest issue of People's Democracy that the tsunami is the 'culmination of a legacy of hate and destruction' that was overcome politically this year.
The clumsy, convoluted text: "The tsunami striking us in the last days of 2004 must be seen not as an ominous signal for the future, but as the culmination of a legacy of hate and destruction that we, the Indian people, unitedly and finally overcame in the political sphere in 2004."
What does the tsunami have to do with the electoral defeat of the BJP-led NDA? When contacted, CPM general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet reacted with a long pause. "I will go through the piece tomorrow and then comment," he said.
The paragraph appears in the editorial of the issue of People's Democracy published last Saturday. The article, entitled "2005: Meet Challenges Steadfastly," grieves the death of the thousands washed away by the killer waves on December 26 and pledges support for the government in relief and rehabilitation.
Said Sitaram Yechury, senior politburo member and the party leader closely associated with the publication, "It is a statement against what the BJP is saying. The BJP-run government in Goa is advertising that theirs is a national calamity free state. Just because it is a BJP-ruled state. We are countering that with this sentence."
He added, "We mean that contrary to what the BJP is saying the tsunami is no ominous signal. This year has also witnessed the political defeat of the BJP."
Even CPM's Rajya Sabha leader, Nilotpal Basu tried to argue that the sentence has to be read in a 'figurative sence.'
"The intention is to convey to our readers that the people experiences a tsunami of hatred for five years under the NDA regime." But coming in the wake of saffron obscurantists trying to link tsunamis with the 'sin' of arresting the Kanchi Shankaracharya, the CPM will find it extremely difficult.
New Delhi, Jan. 3: Linking natural disasters to perceived sin appears no longer the preserve of the religious right. Even, CPM, sworn ememies of religious bigots and bigotry, has said in an editorial in its latest issue of People's Democracy that the tsunami is the 'culmination of a legacy of hate and destruction' that was overcome politically this year.
The clumsy, convoluted text: "The tsunami striking us in the last days of 2004 must be seen not as an ominous signal for the future, but as the culmination of a legacy of hate and destruction that we, the Indian people, unitedly and finally overcame in the political sphere in 2004."
What does the tsunami have to do with the electoral defeat of the BJP-led NDA? When contacted, CPM general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet reacted with a long pause. "I will go through the piece tomorrow and then comment," he said.
The paragraph appears in the editorial of the issue of People's Democracy published last Saturday. The article, entitled "2005: Meet Challenges Steadfastly," grieves the death of the thousands washed away by the killer waves on December 26 and pledges support for the government in relief and rehabilitation.
Said Sitaram Yechury, senior politburo member and the party leader closely associated with the publication, "It is a statement against what the BJP is saying. The BJP-run government in Goa is advertising that theirs is a national calamity free state. Just because it is a BJP-ruled state. We are countering that with this sentence."
He added, "We mean that contrary to what the BJP is saying the tsunami is no ominous signal. This year has also witnessed the political defeat of the BJP."
Even CPM's Rajya Sabha leader, Nilotpal Basu tried to argue that the sentence has to be read in a 'figurative sence.'
"The intention is to convey to our readers that the people experiences a tsunami of hatred for five years under the NDA regime." But coming in the wake of saffron obscurantists trying to link tsunamis with the 'sin' of arresting the Kanchi Shankaracharya, the CPM will find it extremely difficult.