07-14-2008, 09:56 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Maoist perversion - Prachanda uses Muslims as pawns</b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
The Nepal Maoists, who have made the transition from being armed thugs fighting to subvert the state into legitimate and elected participants in the that country's Constituent Assembly without disowning their past or giving up their intimidatory tactics, have now vowed to grant 'special rights' to the Muslim community. This is of a piece with the Maoists's efforts to cleanse Nepal of its Hindu character and obliterate its cultural and civilisational identity. Chairman Prachanda of the CPN(Maoist) last week told a gathering of the so-called Muslim Mukti Morcha that Muslims in Nepal would be given 'special rights' as compensation for being 'suppressed'. He has promised to form a 'Muslim Commission' for the welfare of the minority community and develop historically important pilgrimage sites of the community as tourist destinations. On the face of it, these are innocuous promises but there is a sinister, dark edge to them. They suggest cleavages that are not real and a denial of rights that never happened. Though Nepal's monarchy, now reduced to the pages of that country's history, was seen as the protector of Hinduism and Nepal was the last Hindu Kingdom till it was redesignated a 'secular' state under pressure from the Maoists, in practice the palace was secular. Discrimination on the basis of religion was never practiced and Muslims have all along enjoyed equal rights, that have included access to pilgrimage sites.
The Muslims in Nepal comprise less than 10 per cent of the population, though these are approximate estimates. Traditionally, they are well assimilated with the rest of the population and have not needed special safeguards. The Muslims in Nepal have always considered themselves to be Nepali first and they have lived in harmony with Hindus and Buddhists. If such rights were to be given, it would constitute a break from the past and create needless friction. It is amazing that having pressed for a secular state, the Maoists now want to indulge in communal politics of the variety that we get to see in India. Are we then to believe that the concept of secularism has now come to mean sectarian politics and minority appeasement? Have India's cynical politicians set a standard for others to follow? That apart, there is reason to worry about Prachanda's journey into Muslim politics. It is entirely possible that the new political elite in Kathmandu have struck a Faustian deal with the ISI, hoping to use this Pakistani agency to further its anti-India agenda. Let us not forget that had it not been for Muslims the ISI could not have used Nepal's Terai as a launching pad for jihad against India.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The Pioneer Edit Desk
The Nepal Maoists, who have made the transition from being armed thugs fighting to subvert the state into legitimate and elected participants in the that country's Constituent Assembly without disowning their past or giving up their intimidatory tactics, have now vowed to grant 'special rights' to the Muslim community. This is of a piece with the Maoists's efforts to cleanse Nepal of its Hindu character and obliterate its cultural and civilisational identity. Chairman Prachanda of the CPN(Maoist) last week told a gathering of the so-called Muslim Mukti Morcha that Muslims in Nepal would be given 'special rights' as compensation for being 'suppressed'. He has promised to form a 'Muslim Commission' for the welfare of the minority community and develop historically important pilgrimage sites of the community as tourist destinations. On the face of it, these are innocuous promises but there is a sinister, dark edge to them. They suggest cleavages that are not real and a denial of rights that never happened. Though Nepal's monarchy, now reduced to the pages of that country's history, was seen as the protector of Hinduism and Nepal was the last Hindu Kingdom till it was redesignated a 'secular' state under pressure from the Maoists, in practice the palace was secular. Discrimination on the basis of religion was never practiced and Muslims have all along enjoyed equal rights, that have included access to pilgrimage sites.
The Muslims in Nepal comprise less than 10 per cent of the population, though these are approximate estimates. Traditionally, they are well assimilated with the rest of the population and have not needed special safeguards. The Muslims in Nepal have always considered themselves to be Nepali first and they have lived in harmony with Hindus and Buddhists. If such rights were to be given, it would constitute a break from the past and create needless friction. It is amazing that having pressed for a secular state, the Maoists now want to indulge in communal politics of the variety that we get to see in India. Are we then to believe that the concept of secularism has now come to mean sectarian politics and minority appeasement? Have India's cynical politicians set a standard for others to follow? That apart, there is reason to worry about Prachanda's journey into Muslim politics. It is entirely possible that the new political elite in Kathmandu have struck a Faustian deal with the ISI, hoping to use this Pakistani agency to further its anti-India agenda. Let us not forget that had it not been for Muslims the ISI could not have used Nepal's Terai as a launching pad for jihad against India.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->