Bangalore:
After the Andhra and Karnataka Assembly elections, we have clear evidence of the Dalits and minorities voting against Indira Gandhi’s party for the first time. The opinion expressed by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India and many Muslim organisations, apart from the 45 Muslim MPs, has further confirmed that the minorities are feeling very insecure in India.
Parameshwara Rao, president of the Ambedkarities Conference, Hyderabad, whose organisation had backed the Telugu Desam leader, N. T. Rama Rao, told us here that in AP at least 20% of the Dalits had for the first time voted against Mrs. Gandhi. In Karnataka, Muslims voted against Muslims set up by the Congress and proved their secular spirit by voting for the Hindus set up by the Opposition parties. So too, the Dalits voted against the Congress. So much so in AP, near Chittoor and in Karnataka, near Mysore, the high caste Hindus burnt alive many Dalits in retaliation. Parameswara Rao felt that with this election, Indira Gandhi was as good as dead. The resolution passed at the CBCI meeting in Bombay clearly indicated the fears of the tiny Christian community that always stood with Indira Gandhi. Its secretary general Bishop Thumma of Vijayawada said that “the prohibitive legislation eroding the freedom of religion on the lines of the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill was being proposed by other States”. (Deccan Herald, Jan. 11) He also referred to the Bills endangering trusts and endowments, harassment of missionaries and refusal to extend residential permits. Christians have won the hearts of the poor suffering people of this country by their great service, particularly to the Untouchables and tribals. Mother Teresa won the Nobel award for such a service in India. But the Ruling Class of India, which sent its children only to Christian schools (Mrs. Gandhi and her children were educated in Christian schools), seldom had appreciation for the good work. Hence, it was constantly troubling Christians through all sorts of pinpricks. And the resolution passed by the CBCI, which rarely antagonises the Govt., sums of the feelings of minorities. The bid to ban cow slaughter, which had the blessings of Mrs. Gandhi, is yet another proof the Govt’s anti-Christian attitude. But what is more surprising was the speech made the pro-Congress Muslim leader Moulana Asad Madni, also a Congress member of Parliament and president of the Jamat Ulma, a pro-Congress organisation of Muslims. Inaugurating the 24th session of his party in Bombay on Jan. 14, he said “Muslims and other minorities in India were feeling insecure even after 36 years of independence due to communal clashes taking place in the country”. (Indian Express Jan. 15). We could understand other Muslims making such a statement. But Madni is a close confidant of Mrs. Gandhi. Not only Christians and Muslims, even Sikhs have also been feeling insecure. That every Sikh was checked before entering Delhi during the Asiad proved that Sikhs are no exception. It is insecurity that made them demand Khalistan. Meanwhile, we have received reports of the RSS biggest show of force at Poona on Jan. 15.
