MINORITIES - 2002 - Indian Social Institute

assured of the Govern ment's commitment to their welfare. The delegation complained that though the
community has been targeted — their prayer sessions interrupted recently at a school, for instance — the
po lice had been "inactive in bring ing the communal forces to book (Hindu 24.11.02)
25 th Nov.
People should speak against intolerance (7)
CUTTACK, NOV. 24. The eminent journalist and MP, Kuldip Nayyar, today warned that India like the
former Soviet Union will disin tegrate if the people fail to speak out against religious intolerance and
injustice. Delivering the Nabakrushna Choudhury memorial lecture here, Mr. Nayyar regretted that the
spirit of tolerance, accommodation and human values was slowly shrinking and "we are not speaking out
against the injustice corruption and intolerance".
Mr. Nayyar said politicians who were supposed to build the country had betrayed it and what happened
during the emergency still persisted. He said politicians had destroyed the country and politics had sunk to
an all-time low. Today, Rajya Sabha seats are being openly sold and even the political parties are
charging a fee from 'House aspirants'. In Parliament at least 20 per cent of the members are
history-sheeters, (Hindu 25.11.02)
Absence of pre-emptive measures led to carnage (7)
NEW DELHI, NOV. 24. Taking a strong view of the failure of intelligence agencies to anticipate the
potential dangers of the Godhra carnage earlier this year, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on
Empowerment of Women noted that it was the absence of pre-emptive measures which led to the
violence, death and destruction of the magnitude witnessed. In its report on 'Violence against women
during riots', tabled in the Lok Sabha recently, the com mittee took a stern view of the fact that instead of
taking preventive measures, the violence was sought to be explained as a fall-out of Godhra. Also, it noted
with regret that no effort had been made by the State machinery to either confiscate the widely circulated
hate literature or identify those responsible for the circulation, which further vitiated the atmosphere.
(Hindu 25.11.02)
26 th Nov.
BJP MLAs disrupt Buddhist meet (7)
Bhopal: A group of BJP MLAs forced their way into the venue of the International Buddhism Conference
here on Monday and disrupted it, alleging that the organisers were distributing a booklet which insulted
Ram, Sita and Hanuman. The booklet "is dirty, has vile intentions and has portrayed Ram, Sita, Hanuman
and even Krishna in a light which would hurt every Hindu's senti ments", said Bhagwan Das Sabnani, BJP
district president, who sat on a dharna protesting against its distribution. Trouble started after the inauguration
when chief minis ter Digvijay Singh left for a Press conference. As the first session got
underway, BJP's leader of the Opposition Babulal Gaur, ac companied by MLAs, rushed to the state
assembly auditorium, went up to the dais and shouted that the stall outside was dis tributing a booklet
which de graded Hindu Gods.
Subsequently, the BJP ac tivists took to the streets, burnt copies of the booklet and staged a dharna.
Home minister Ma-hendra Baudh, who is convener of the Buddhist meet, said the government would give
a fitting reply to the BJP. (Times of India 26.11.02)
28th Nov.
14 foreigners embrace Hinduism (7)
KOZHIKODE, NOV. 27. Fourteen foreign nationals who are here to attend an international sym posium
on Vedic astrology have embraced Hinduism. The con version ceremonies were per formed at the office of
the Arya Samajam here in the last two days. Two of them later got married according to Hindu re ligious
rites at the Azhakodi Devi temple here. The Arya Samajam "purohit" (priest), Indrajit Singh, who performed
the rituals to initiate the foreigners into Hinduism, told The Hindu that he had received a few more
similar requests. The foreign nationals having the U.S. and British passports have assumed Hindu
names. (Hindu 28.11.02)
29 th Nov.