MINORITIES - 2002 - Indian Social Institute

10 TH September
India secular, not theocratic: BJP (7)
New Delhi: The BJP said on Monday that it would now remind Congress president Sonia Gandhi daily that
India was a "secular, not a theocratic state". Giving a new spin to its "no-foreigner for high office"
campaign, BJP general secretary Rajnath Singh, asked her to refrain from tarnishing the country's image
for the "sake of vested political interest". He had earlier flagged off Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's
Gaurav yatra from Phagvel in Gujarat. He had said the yatra had been launched to restore the pride of
Gujarat which had been tarnished by the Congress following the violence that ensued in the wake of the
Godhra carnage. The Congress, however, termed Modi's campaign as one focussed solely on dividing
people on communal lines. Rajnath said: "We request Sonia Gandhi to maintain a balance and not indulge
in politics to fulfil vested political interests and thereby tarnish the nation's image. It seems to me that
Gandhi has forgotten that India is not a theocratic state but a secular one." (Times of India 10.9.02)
RSS wants Art 25 clarified for better religious harmony (7)
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 9 : RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan has asked the Minority Commission to suggest
to the Centre the need for a legislation against conversions. This, he said, would ensure good relations
among communities. Sudarshan’s remark, published in an interview to RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya,
came in the wake of reports that some Sikh families had converted to Christianity in Chhattisgarh. Minority
Commission member Tarlochan Singh, in another interview carried alongside Sudarshan's piece, alleged
that Article 25 of the Constitution was being misused to carry out conversions. This Article, according to
Singh, gives one "the right to propagate one’s faith, not convert. Singh recalled that he had pleaded with
the Constitution Review Commission ,for a proper explanation of this Article and a clarification that it does
hot allow conversions. (Indian Express 10.9.02)
12 TH September
Deprivation affects Muslims more (7)
Muslims in India suffer from substantially greater economic deprivation than Hindus. The divide is far
greater in urban In dia, where a proportionately larger number of Muslims re side. This is the portrait of
India's two main religious groups as re vealed in the results of the 55th round countrywide survey conducted
in 1999-2000 by the Na tional Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), the au tonomous body of the
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. It is the same 'official' NSSO surveys which yield
usually re liable estimates of consumption expenditure, employment and other characteristics that are
routinely used as inputs for pol icy-making by the Government. Some of the main findings of the survey
are: The NSSO estimates show that a larger proportion of Mus lims than Hindus suffer from low levels of
consumption. The best summary economic measure is how much a person spends on food, clothing,
enter tainment and other items of consumption. Average con sumption expenditure by each member of a
family was less than Rs. 300 a month in 29 per cent of rural Muslims, while the corresponding proportion
for rural Hindus was 26 per cent. (These are people who belong to the bottom 20 per cent, grouped
according to con sumption.) (Hindu 12.9.02)
13th September
Musharraf rakes up Gujarat killings (7)
NEW YORK, SEPT. 12. The Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, today targeted "Hindu fanaticism" at
the United Nations General Assembly and called on the international community to hold accountable those
re sponsible for the murder of 2,000 Muslims in Gujarat. Leaving no window of an opportunity for
reconciliation between India and Pa kistan, Gen. Musharraf used the General Assembly to put forward
most of his old arguments against New Delhi, but signif icantly added Gujarat to his long list. "Last
February, an estimated 2,000 in nocent Muslims were massacred in Guj arat with the complicity of BJP
State leaders... The international community must act to oppose extremism with the same determination
it displayed in combating terrorism, religious bigotry, ethnic cleansing and fascist tendencies elsewhere in
the world, he said. 9Hindu 13.9.02)
Hunt is on for the controversial Modi tapes (7)
Ahmedabad: Looking for the Modi tapes? These tapes can shed light on the Gujarat chief ministers
reported attack on the minorities during the gauray yatra. But only a few know where to find them. And