SP cracks down on VHP to mislead minorities
The Samajwadi Party Government in Uttar Pradesh may gloat that it has effectively foiled the 84-Kosi Yatra that had been planned by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in the State, covering various places including Ayodhya. But it is mistaken in believing that it has had the last word on the matter. The issue echoed forcefully in Parliament on Monday and has spilled on the streets. The Akhilesh Yadav regime has claimed that it clamped down because the yatra could have vitiated communal harmony in the State. But he has not provided any material to substantiate the contention. If the Chief Minister has inputs from intelligence agencies that say the yatra could have led to a communal flare-up, he must reveal them. Not even prominent religious leaders of the minority community in the State had objected to the religious event. In fact, they, and the residents of the minority community in the State, could not have cared less because the yatra is an annual event which has not led to any serious communal discord in the recent past. On its part, the VHP had discussed the programme with the State regime beforehand and seemed to have got the green signal, presumably after the administration was convinced that the yatra posed no threat to communal accord. What led to the State Government's change of heart should not be much of a mystery. The Samajwadi Party has been desperately trying to woo the minorities as the lok Sabha election draws near, and it is willing to do just about anything to win over their support. What accounts for the desperation is the fear that the minorities, having already seen through the party's game and its poor record in meaningfully empowering them, are perfectly willing to dump the ruling party. The Akhilesh Yadav regime is prepared to, therefore, conjure fears of communal violence where none exists and position itself as a saviour of the Muslims. By coming down heavily on the 84-Kosi Yatra, the Chief Minister is hoping to send across the message to the minorities that he will not allow ‘Hindu fundamentalists' to have their way and destroy communal harmony. But if Mr Yadav is so committed, why have there been more than two dozen communal riots in the State since he took charge a little over a year agoIJ What action has he taken against the people, including allegedly his party leaders, who had a hand in the violenceIJ If only he had deployed a fraction of the massive police force which he used to crush the VHP's yatra, the communal outbreaks could have been either avoided or contained. Not surprisingly, many prominent Muslim religious leaders have slammed the Samajwadi Party Government for its over-reaction to the VHP's programme.
The Akhilesh Yadav regime had only recently tried to similarly invoke fears of a terrible communal crisis to win over the minorities over the Durga Shakti Nagpal issue. It didn't matter to the Government that the IAS officer had done absolutely nothing to arouse communal passion, and that no communal tension had in fact arisen out of her directive to demolish an illegal wall adjoining a mosque. Besides, she was merely following a Supreme Court directive. ‘If there is no communal issue, create it and milk the minorities for votes', has become the State Government's stated policy.