This refers to Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's letter sent recently to Chief Ministers, asking them to ensure that no innocent Muslim youth is wrongfully detained.
The real controversy is not his letter but the reference to a particular religious community. Mr Shinde should realise that an extraordinary caring of a section of the people of specific caste, creed or religion, comes under the category of appeasement, and is not permissible under our Constitution which promotes secular values. Such short-sighted policies of the Congress-led UPA Government will be responsible for the regime's downfall in the coming election.
The people would prefer to come under the umbrella of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA rather than support the Congress-led UPA. The BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Mr Narendra Modi, has already promised to work for the betterment of all sections of the Indian population. Religion cannot become the basis of development policies or of policing.