<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Fighting fit again </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
BJP back in action mode
It is churlish to claim, as the Congress and its allies are doing, that the BJP, after deliberations at its National Executive and National Council meetings in Lucknow, has precious little to say apart from reiterating its commitment to building the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. That's a too-clever-by-half effort to deflect attention from the issues raised by the BJP at its weekend conclave and the fact that it is once again looking robust and assertive, ready to take on its political adversaries. The reason for this attempt to pillory the BJP by taking recourse to half-truths is obvious: The sharp attack launched by the party on the Congress by zeroing in on issues that have begun to agitate the masses shows that the country's main Opposition is not only alive and kicking, but also ready to join battle after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus. The bulk of the attack is rightly directed at the Congress's policy of unabashed appeasement which is fast turning into obsessive minorityism. While it is nobody's case that Muslims should be excluded from the development process or denied the fruit of the country's economic growth, the blatant and crass pandering to rank communal sentiments in the guise of welfare initiatives that is being witnessed has not only shocked people across the country but also left them alarmed. It would be instructive to recall the prelude to India's partition and the colonial Government's divide and rule policy; history, it seems, is being seduced by the Congress and its handmaidens to repeat itself and inflict on the nation a tragedy of far greater magnitude whose consequences shall visit upon both Hindus and Muslims with devastating ferocity. The UPA Government's "Muslims first" policy, as enunciated by a Prime Minister pathetically indifferent to national - and nationalist - concerns, and its manifestation in the form of sly attempts to introduce communal quotas, apart from the regime's loathful belief that by glossing over crimes committed by terrorists it will secure Muslim support, accords on India's least of all minorities the status of 'special citizenship'. And, the BJP cannot be faulted for pointing out that if "unchecked, the attempt to create a special citizenship for Muslims will pave the way for a second partition".
<span style='color:red'>Indeed, when the BJP declares that the "Congress is playing havoc with Indian identity and nationalism" and that the "UPA has made Muslim appeasement and vote-bank politics the hallmark of governance", it is not exaggerating the threat perceived by the masses, including Muslims who do not wish to be set apart from the rest of India for special treatment but be treated with dignity which is every citizen's right. For, after 50 years of Congress rule, Muslims realise, better than anybody else, how little they have gained from the party that claims to be its protector and benefactor. They also understand that the Congress's efforts to "re-open old wounds," will only bleed the community and push it further away from the national mainstream.</span> There is merit in the BJP's assertion that "by separating Muslim issues from the rest, the UPA Government is creating an artificial divide, breeding resentment and nurturing divisive forces". Those Muslims who tend to get misled by the Congress's policy of appeasement would do well to ponder over what the BJP has to say - for their welfare as well as that of their country. As for the Congress, it will now have to reckon with a real Opposition party.
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The Pioneer Edit Desk
BJP back in action mode
It is churlish to claim, as the Congress and its allies are doing, that the BJP, after deliberations at its National Executive and National Council meetings in Lucknow, has precious little to say apart from reiterating its commitment to building the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. That's a too-clever-by-half effort to deflect attention from the issues raised by the BJP at its weekend conclave and the fact that it is once again looking robust and assertive, ready to take on its political adversaries. The reason for this attempt to pillory the BJP by taking recourse to half-truths is obvious: The sharp attack launched by the party on the Congress by zeroing in on issues that have begun to agitate the masses shows that the country's main Opposition is not only alive and kicking, but also ready to join battle after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus. The bulk of the attack is rightly directed at the Congress's policy of unabashed appeasement which is fast turning into obsessive minorityism. While it is nobody's case that Muslims should be excluded from the development process or denied the fruit of the country's economic growth, the blatant and crass pandering to rank communal sentiments in the guise of welfare initiatives that is being witnessed has not only shocked people across the country but also left them alarmed. It would be instructive to recall the prelude to India's partition and the colonial Government's divide and rule policy; history, it seems, is being seduced by the Congress and its handmaidens to repeat itself and inflict on the nation a tragedy of far greater magnitude whose consequences shall visit upon both Hindus and Muslims with devastating ferocity. The UPA Government's "Muslims first" policy, as enunciated by a Prime Minister pathetically indifferent to national - and nationalist - concerns, and its manifestation in the form of sly attempts to introduce communal quotas, apart from the regime's loathful belief that by glossing over crimes committed by terrorists it will secure Muslim support, accords on India's least of all minorities the status of 'special citizenship'. And, the BJP cannot be faulted for pointing out that if "unchecked, the attempt to create a special citizenship for Muslims will pave the way for a second partition".
<span style='color:red'>Indeed, when the BJP declares that the "Congress is playing havoc with Indian identity and nationalism" and that the "UPA has made Muslim appeasement and vote-bank politics the hallmark of governance", it is not exaggerating the threat perceived by the masses, including Muslims who do not wish to be set apart from the rest of India for special treatment but be treated with dignity which is every citizen's right. For, after 50 years of Congress rule, Muslims realise, better than anybody else, how little they have gained from the party that claims to be its protector and benefactor. They also understand that the Congress's efforts to "re-open old wounds," will only bleed the community and push it further away from the national mainstream.</span> There is merit in the BJP's assertion that "by separating Muslim issues from the rest, the UPA Government is creating an artificial divide, breeding resentment and nurturing divisive forces". Those Muslims who tend to get misled by the Congress's policy of appeasement would do well to ponder over what the BJP has to say - for their welfare as well as that of their country. As for the Congress, it will now have to reckon with a real Opposition party.
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